When that destructive gray lightning tore through the palace and pierced into the deep sea, the entire banquet hall fell into a bizarre silence, as if even time itself had frozen.
A faint ozone smell lingered in the air.
Through the massive coral windows, everyone could clearly see a "tunnel" of boiling bubbles shooting straight from Ryugu Palace toward the distant, unknown darkness of the deep ocean.
Gulp.
King Neptune, the sea hero who had ruled Fish-Man Island for decades, swallowed with difficulty.
His enormous body trembled slightly.
'What was that?'
'Was that Rehn's true power?
'Was that the "efficiency" under Admiral Haiiroyo?'
'Just the aftereffects alone made the deep sea boil.'
Neptune had no doubt: if that lightning had targeted Ryugu Palace, this century-old royal palace would have been reduced to dust.
"F-Father…"
From inside the bubble came Shirahoshi's trembling voice.
She had nearly fainted from the lightning and now peeked through her fingers at Renzo in terror.
"T-that round lightning man… h-he…"
She was afraid.
But what frightened her more was the white-haired small man in front of her, the one who hadn't even blinked since the beginning.
Neptune suddenly snapped out of it.
Looking at his shivering daughter, then at Renzo, calm as if he had merely sent a servant to fetch a newspaper, a surge of overwhelming joy shattered ten years of despair in his heart.
"Shirahoshi!"
His voice turned hoarse with emotion. He swam up to her bubble and pressed both hands against it, tears forming in his eyes.
"My child! Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid!"
"You… you've been saved!"
"Huh?"
Her eyes filled with confusion.
"Saved?"
"Yes!"
Neptune pointed at Renzo with near-pilgrim reverence.
"Look carefully! This lord is from Marine Headquarters No! He is Admiral Haiiroyo Lord Renzo himself!"
"Haiiroyo?"
Shirahoshi had never heard the title. For ten years, her only information source had been her father and brothers.
"You don't need to understand the title!" Neptune said urgently.
"You only need to know, this lord is one of the strongest and most benevolent beings in the world!"
"He personally promised to protect Fish-Man Island!"
"Protect… Fish-Man Island?"
The eldest prince swam forward, equally excited.
"And Lord Rehn, he went to capture Vander Decken IX!"
"Lord Renzo will personally end the nightmare that has tormented you for ten years!"
Shirahoshi's gigantic body trembled violently.
Her pupils widened. For the first time, her tear-streaked face showed shock and disbelief.
"C-capture… Mr. Decken?"
Her timid personality still used honorifics.
"'Mr.'? That bastard!" another prince roared.
"C-can he really be caught?" she asked weakly. "Didn't you say he hides far away where no one can find him?"
"Before, yes."
Neptune inhaled deeply and looked at Renzo's back with absolute reverence.
"But in this world, no 'trash' can escape Lord Haiiroyo's 'cleanup.'"
Shirahoshi finally understood.
Her huge blue eyes filled with tears again.
But this time, they weren't fear or sadness.
They were hope.
The first light of freedom to shine into her ten-year darkness.
Was the nightmare… really ending?
She looked at the tiny white-haired man.
He simply stood there, quietly drinking coffee, yet carried a presence more reassuring than even her father.
"Uu…"
She covered her mouth as tears cascaded like a waterfall.
"WAAAAAHHHH!!!!"
Her sobs shook the entire hall again, but this time they carried relief and gratitude.
"L-Lord Renzo!"
Gathering the greatest courage she had in ten years, she tried to bow awkwardly within the bubble.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"I… I don't know what to say, but truly… thank you for helping me, and for protecting Fish-Man Island!"
Her voice was utterly sincere and pure.
"What a touching scene~," Kizaru commented idly while clapping.
Renzo only paused slightly.
He finished his coffee and placed the cup back onto Monet's tray.
Without turning around, he spoke calmly:
"I am merely…"
"…cleaning up the 'noise' disturbing my vacation."
"And," his voice cooled, "cleaning up the 'trash' that displeases me."
"That's all."
This casual attitude, reducing a nation's ten-year nightmare to mere "noise" and "trash", instead brought Neptune and Shirahoshi unprecedented reassurance.
This was the composure of the truly powerful.
To them, a natural disaster.
To him, simple cleaning.
And then
Crackle!
A gray flash brighter than before tore open space and returned precisely to the banquet hall.
Rehn was back.
From departure to return, only two minutes had passed.
The entire hall stopped breathing.
Neptune's eyes nearly popped out.
Two minutes?!
A round trip of at least 14,000 meters of deep sea, plus combat and capture, this exceeded his understanding of speed.
Rehn appeared as his usual round self.
But his expression was extremely ugly, filled with undisguised disgust.
"Lord Renzo!"
He dropped to one knee with a loud thud, voice full of shame and anger.
"This subordinate has failed!"
Renzo frowned slightly.
"Where is he?"
"N-No! I captured him!"
Rehn pointed at his elegant butler uniform, trembling with fury.
"That bastard, that 'trash'! His ship was a rotten, stinking, garbage-filled cesspit of ten years' worth of filth!"
"My ceremonial attire made to serve you… has been contaminated!"
He wailed in grief.
"This is the greatest humiliation! Lord Renzo, please allow me to bathe and change immediately!"
"…"
"Granted."
"Thank you, Lord Renzo!"
Relieved, Rehn stood up, then suddenly remembered something and swung his arm forward.
BOOM!!!
A filthy, soaked, foul-smelling humanoid figure slammed onto the marble floor like a piece of trash.
"AAAAH!!!"
Princess Shirahoshi screamed.
She recognized him.
Though she had never seen him in person, he had haunted her nightmares for ten years.
"It's… it's him! Father! It's him!!!"
The man sprawled on the ground was an extremely ugly fish-man.
Four legs. A ridiculous, mold-rotted captain's outfit. Seaweed-like messy hair.
He was Vander Decken IX.
His condition was miserable, charred black, hair standing on end and smoking.
Clearly, Rehn had performed a high-efficiency sterilization during capture.
"Ugh…"
Decken groaned and slowly opened his eyes.
He was utterly confused.
A minute ago, he had been on his broken ghost ship, admiring his secretly drawn portraits of Shirahoshi and preparing to throw another "love axe".
Then, a gray lightning bolt.
And nothing.
Now every part of his body hurt like a thousand electric jellyfish had stung him.
"Where… am I?"
His vision focused.
He saw:
A stunned King Neptune.
Three princes filled with killing intent.
Kizaru watching with a weird expression.
And then
Inside the giant bubble…
The one he had obsessed over for ten years
"P-Princess Shirahoshi?!"
His eyes widened.
"Y-you left that iron shell?! Have you come to accept my love?!"
Even now, the madman's thinking was abnormal.
"You are Vander Decken IX?"
A cold, emotionless voice came from above him.
He looked up.
A white-haired man stared down at him.
Those gray eyes did not resemble human eyes
They were like a god gazing at a disgusting insect.
"W-who are you?!" he shouted despite his fear.
"Whoever you are, don't interfere! Princess Shirahoshi is mine"
"Too noisy."
Renzo interrupted him.
He glanced at Rehn, who had already gone to change clothes, then at Shirahoshi trembling in fear inside the bubble.
"Monet."
"Yes, Lord Renzo."
"Record this."
His tone was like a judge pronouncing sentence.
"Fish-man: Vander Decken IX."
"Charge one: continuously producing 'noise,' severely affecting the vacation quality of a Marine Headquarters Admiral."
"Charge two"
His eyes fell on Shirahoshi's tear-streaked face.
"…polluting my line of sight."
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu