"Everyone! The scales of victory have tipped in our favor. Everything will be decided tonight—"
Thud—
Thud—
Thud—
Suddenly, a series of frantic and panicked knocks interrupted the meeting.
The sound didn't come from within the hall but through the emergency communication pipe from the distant port area.
A soaked scout fish-man stumbled into the council hall, his face pale and eyes filled with terror, barely able to stand.
"R-Report, Your Highness Daken! Something terrible has happened! Outside... outside is in chaos!"
Daken's expression instantly darkened as he roared in fury.
"What are you panicking for? Stand straight and speak like a proper fish-man! Even if Aegir is leading an attack, there's no need for you to lose your composure like this."
The scout fish-man knelt on the ground, mustering all his strength to shout a name, his voice choked with tears and despair.
"Ro—Rocks Pirates!"
All sound in the room vanished instantly, plunging into deathly silence.
Daken's anger was extinguished as if doused with icy water. His body stiffened abruptly, sweat instantly beading on his forehead and dripping down his serrated cheeks.
"Wh-What nonsense are you spouting? The Rocks Pirates? They're busy suppressing rebels in the New World, fighting against the World Government and the Navy. Why would they care about us?"
"Iron Armor" Guru glared fiercely, trying to deny this absurd news.
It wasn't just him—from Daken to all the surrounding fish-men, everyone wore expressions of sheer terror.
Fish-Man Island was somewhat isolated from information. Their audacity to trample the Rocks Pirates "underfoot" and incite numerous pirates to sweep through Fish-Man Island was based on exploiting a timing gap—they planned to seize power on Fish-Man Island while the Rocks Pirates were preoccupied.
As for afterward, Daken had already devised a response plan. Once Fish-Man Island was secured, he would immediately align himself with the World Government and the Navy, openly switching sides.
Then, he'd let the Navy and the World Government battle the Rocks Pirates while Fish-Man Island reaped the benefits.
Though it was unclear where Daken got his inexplicable confidence, this was indeed what he thought and intended to do.
As a fish-man supremacist and racist, Daken wasn't particularly strong, but he had plenty of ideas.
This, in a way, was a common flaw among many weaklings in this world—they often had a frog-in-the-well perspective, unaware of how vast the world truly was.
That's why they were so shocked upon hearing news of the Rocks Pirates.
In their understanding, with the New World in turmoil, the Rocks Pirates from top to bottom should be far too busy to intervene.
The scout's lips trembled as he pointed outside, his voice shaking uncontrollably.
"No! It's not Rocks himself. It's that monster, one of the four senior executives under Rocks—Beast Brian, Your Highness!"
That name exploded like a heavy bomb in the council hall.
Beast Brian!
The faces of all the core members in the hall instantly drained of color.
They were all seasoned veterans who had fought their way through the underworld for years. No one was unaware of what that name represented.
A top-five world-class figure in the Rocks Pirates, with a formidable record of achievements, even personally slaying a veteran Navy Admiral.
The fanatical light in Daken's eyes was instantly replaced by terror. As if struck by lightning, he rushed to the scout, grabbing him by the collar.
"Impossible! Why would he come here?!"
"His—his ship! Where is it?!"
Daken roared, his voice filled with sharp desperation.
The scout was scared out of his wits, trembling as he pointed toward the ceiling of the government hall. "His—his Black Submersible Warship! It's stopped outside the bubble! He didn't submerge! He just—just fired two enormous crimson beams directly into Fish-Man Island!"
"The entire island is bathed in that bloody light! That light carries a pressure that can make one's soul tremble!"
"Crimson light?!"
Daken abruptly released his grip, staggering back several steps.
Such a high-profile approach made it clear that Beast Brian's arrival this time was definitely not going to end simply.
"Heh, heh... So, the Rocks Pirates have come after all."
"Damn it, why couldn't it have been a few days later? Just a few more days and my ambition could have been realized. By then, even the World Government might have intervened."
Daken muttered to himself. His original ambition of Fish-Man supremacy now seemed as fragile as glass under the pressure of the "Beast."
He knew full well that Brian's target was not his brother Aegir, but the rebellion he himself had instigated.
This "meaningless farce" had clearly wasted the time of this top-tier pirate.
"Hurry! Immediately! Hide all weapons! All rebel actions cease! At any cost, send someone to show him goodwill! We are not his enemies! We are innocent!"
Daken's voice was filled with hysteria, but he was already too late.
Outside the windows of the government hall, two crimson beams brimming with an aura of destruction pierced through everything, dyeing the entire underground hall the bloody hue of a hellscape.
Brian's "Judgment" had descended.
Outside the massive Coating of Fish-Man Island, the Devourer, like an awakened primordial beast, gazed down upon the ancient island.
The enormous Energy Focusers on both sides of the bow lit up. Two crimson beams, over ten meters in diameter, focused through special filters and imbued with Haki Will, shot forth violently!
BOOM!!!
The crimson light, with an unstoppable, brutal force, pierced through hundreds of meters of seawater, tore through Fish-Man Island's Coating Bubble, and with a heart-palpitating, tyrannical aura, dyed the entire Fish-Man Island a bloody red.
Within the beams, it seemed as if tormented souls were wailing—a deterrent effect created by Brian channeling his own Conqueror's Haki Will into the attack.
The sudden crimson light completely shattered the facade of chaos that had masked Fish-Man Island.
Every creature on the island, regardless of strength, was plunged into primal fear by this invisible pressure.
The once-bustling Coral District fell deathly silent.
Goods fell from the hands of Fish-Man merchants. Pirates searching for mermaids all halted in their tracks simultaneously.
"My God! Has a Sea King gone berserk?!"
An elderly fishman's knees gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.
He felt that the radiance brought not only a visual impact but also a soul-crushing pressure, making even breathing unbearably difficult.
Under the beam of light, every scale on the fishmen seemed stained with blood. They sensed an invisible force rapidly draining the courage from their hearts. This was Brian's most direct warning to them: those who resist will die.
Many fishmen with weak strength, stimulated by the light, rolled their eyes back, foamed at the mouth, and fell unconscious. Some foreign Pirates and wanderers, no longer concerned with their dignity, scrambled frantically into the crevices of the coral reefs. They understood better than the locals where this intimidation came from.