Chapter 108: Fish-Man Island
In the deep, silent sea, the sphere composed entirely of seawater slowly moved away from the turbulent, terrifying undersea vortex and sailed into a seabed area dense with stone mountains.
Ten thousand meters below the surface of the sea, there was no light to speak of. In the pitch-black darkness, the chilling sound of the surging ocean currents was incomparably clear.
WHOOSH—
Suddenly, a golden sun rose from the top of Avant Heim, hanging above everyone's heads, illuminating the floating island and the surrounding seabed.
"Is that fire? No, this is life energy released by Louis." Kuina felt the rich life force emanating from it and instantly understood the nature of this warm sun.
"The captain's ability is really convenient." A slightly comical smile appeared on Goldberg's round face. He used the light source emitting life force to distribute the cooked food to all his partners.
It had to be said, Goldberg's decades of skill as a chef were masterfully refined. Although he was skilled in using a giant kanabō as long as he was tall, when cooking, he cut the sea beast's meat into small pieces that even a human wouldn't find large, making it convenient for his partners, who were much smaller than the giants, to eat.
Yelena took the giant's cooking, picked up her chopsticks, and began to eat. Feeling the sense of pleasure transmitted from her taste buds to her brain, she subconsciously narrowed her eyes, savoring the taste.
Soon, the Natural Water carried them away from the dark, undersea stone forest and gradually entered a gentler region. As they advanced, the number of surrounding creatures gradually increased. The massive shadows of mountain-sized creatures were faintly visible in the distance.
Many giant undersea creatures were attracted by the golden light and life force rising from the seabed. They subconsciously gathered, circling and swimming around Avant Heim, forming a spectacular scene above everyone's heads.
But soon, before they could fully appreciate it, this scene was broken. A massive anglerfish approached and opened its cavernous mouth, wanting to swallow the sun, which contained a powerful life force.
To this, Yelena frowned slightly. A red light flashed in her scarlet eyes, and her body exuded a terrifyingly horrifying aura.
"Get lost—"
Conqueror's Haki erupted, penetrating the water barrier and creating ripples on the seabed. It bombarded the giant anglerfish's mind, making it instantly lose consciousness. Its eyes rolled back, and it tumbled over in the deep sea.
Hajrudin and the others were taken aback. They subconsciously focused their attention on Yelena and exclaimed, "That's Conqueror's Haki! Yelena has it too?"
To this, Yelena calmly nodded. "Although I don't know the specific reason, I do indeed possess this quality."
Back on Siam Island in the West Blue, Yelena had awakened her own Conqueror's Haki. When she asked Louis about it afterward, she learned that she had the same Conqueror's Haki as him and Shanks. Later, under Louis's guidance, she had mastered the ability to control it freely, but she still couldn't get the hang of Conqueror's Coating. Louis had said that her body itself was not yet strong enough; she still had a long way to go before she could master it.
Hajrudin and the others heard this and thought about how Yelena, although not as strong as Louis, was still a monstrously powerful being at such a young age. For such an existence to possess Conqueror's Haki didn't seem so unacceptable.
To this, Uta and Daz Bonez both looked as if it were nothing strange. In contrast, Kuina, who had only recently learned about Haki, was a little dazed as she looked at Yelena's calm expression.
"Conqueror's Haki... will I have that quality?" She subconsciously looked at her own hands and fell into thought. "A swordsman like Zoro, who my father thinks so highly of, should have Conqueror's Haki, right?"
Thinking of this, Kuina's gaze became firm, and she subconsciously tightened her grip on her Wado Ichimonji. "I'm still too lazy. I must work twice as hard." She felt that the probability of her possessing Conqueror's Haki was far lower than Zoro's. If she wanted to defeat him in their final duel, she had to put in more effort.
Kuina looked up at Louis and decided that from today on, she would cut down her rest time, including meals and washing up, to three hours. With Louis around, she didn't have to worry about dying from overexertion during training; she could train herself to death.
The small interlude quickly passed. A rare light began to appear on the path ahead. It was the precious light transmitted by the Sunlight Tree Eve, providing illumination for Fish-Man Island.
As they advanced, an island wrapped in a bubble slowly appeared before everyone's eyes. The coral beneath the giant bubble was brilliantly colorful. Schools of fish from the outside swam among them, and giant sea beasts and fish swam leisurely. The sunlight transmitted by the Sunlight Tree Eve scattered through the surface of the sea, creating mottled light and shadows, forming a dreamlike underwater wonderland.
Louis's extremely excellent vision penetrated the bubble, taking in the full view of the interior, his eyes filled with an unshakable sense of wonder.
Fish-Man Island is an island located at the bottom of the Red Line, directly below the Holy Land, Mary Geoise. It is home to over five million merfolk and fish-men. The former have the unique appearance of having an upper body identical to a human's and a fish's tail for a lower body. It is said that they are the fastest swimmers in the sea. At the age of thirty, the females can split their fishtails into human legs to walk on land; the males do not have this ability.
As for the fish-men, in terms of appearance, one can only say they look a little better than Deep Ones. Only their grip strength, which is said to be ten times that of a human, is somewhat impressive. However, the difference in grip strength between different human individuals is greater than that between a human and an insect. For example, Whitebeard and Charlotte Linlin are as pure human as they can be. Even if they can split mountains and crack islands, you can't revoke their human status.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that the method of reproduction for merfolk and fish-men is not the legendary external fertilization, but viviparous, just like humans.
Just then, Uta transformed into her Siren form, flapped her wing-fins, and with a flick of her pink fishtail, quickly swam over to sit on Louis's shoulder. Uta skillfully hugged Louis's head. Her mysterious fishtail swayed lightly against his chest, and her charming, bright face was filled with a deep sense of anticipation.
Among everyone, Uta was the one most looking forward to the adventure on Fish-Man Island. Ever since she had eaten the Siren Fruit, she had always wanted to see the Ryugu Kingdom and the mermaids, who were world-renowned for their beauty.
She pointed a fair finger with a sharp nail at a distant cove and said excitedly, "Louis, look! Mermaids!"
To this, Louis habitually reached up to steady Uta, then turned to the others standing behind him. "Alright, prepare to land!"
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