Chapter 110: Uta and the Merfolk
In the dream-like streets, filled with giant coral and scattered with beautiful mermaids, a merman as tall as a giant, with messy orange hair and holding a trident, stood opposite Louis.
Then, under the gazes of the baffled merfolk and fish-men, the king of the Ryugu Kingdom put on a sincere and enthusiastic posture and spoke to the figure with flawless white wings on his back.
"Respected guests, you have crossed the seas to come to our Ryugu Kingdom. I hope you will follow us to the royal palace, so that our kingdom may express its respect and welcome!"
The tall merman, with his thick body hair and red nose, bowed slightly. "Lord Archangel," he added, "I am Neptune, the king of the Ryugu Kingdom."
Louis raised an eyebrow. Although he knew that their arrival would definitely attract the attention of the Ryugu Kingdom, he hadn't expected King Neptune to be so humble.
From the separated crowd of merfolk, slightly strange whispers could be heard.
"His Majesty Neptune actually came to welcome them personally. What are their origins?"
"The last time something like this happened was when the legendary Whitebeard came here, right?"
The residents of Fish-Man Island gradually realized that something was amiss, and looks of confusion appeared in their eyes as they looked at Louis and his group.
After a moment, Louis looked up and met the pair of eyes, which were deeply set beneath a crown and held a hint of unease. "Alright. Thank you for your trouble, King Neptune."
As it happened, Louis also wanted to build a good relationship with Fish-Man Island. The power of an Ancient Weapon was formidable. The known true king of the world, Imu, possessed a weapon powered by a "mother flame," suspected to be the Ancient Weapon Uranus. To stand against them, he needed a weapon of the same caliber in his own hands. Shirahoshi might not need to be used, but he couldn't be without her, and he certainly couldn't let her fall into the hands of other powers.
Then, Louis turned to look at his partners behind him. "Do you all want to come along?" he asked. He directly skipped over Uta and Yelena, as the two of them would rarely leave his side under normal circumstances. For years, the three of them had always been together, even their respective rooms were right next to each other for easy visiting.
As his words fell, the group behind him looked at each other.
In the end, Hajrudin and his group were the first to express their thoughts. "Compared to the royal palace, we'd rather see the unique culture of Fish-Man Island."
To this, Daz Bonez said with a blank expression, "I'll go with the captain." Although he hadn't been an assassin for some time, he still retained some of the habits from that period. Compared to sightseeing, he preferred to stay by his "employer's" side.
"I'll go look around with Hajrudin and the others," Kuina said without the slightest hesitation, walking straight over to the four giants. Kuina felt that a giant's shoulder was wide enough for her to practice her sword swings.
Louis saw this and nodded. "Alright. I'll call you all when it's time to leave."
Just then, a gender-neutral voice came from under Yelena's special gas mask. "King Neptune, could you please have someone guide our partners on a tour of Fish-Man Island?"
Neptune agreed to these reasonable requests without a second thought. He turned his head and instructed the fish-men following him, "Dispatch a squad of soldiers to lead the way for our guests."
As his words fell, a squad of soldiers emerged from behind him and walked up to the giants. They looked up with awe and said, "Respected guests, please follow me."
Hajrudin heard them and nodded, then bent down and extended his hand, gesturing for Kuina to step onto his palm. Kuina was happy to do so; among the giants, Hajrudin's shoulders were the widest.
And so, Louis's group temporarily split up.
Louis, under the reluctant gazes of the numerous mermaids, followed King Neptune and boarded the royal vehicle.
Under the watchful eyes of all, the magnificent vehicle slowly passed through the largest plaza in Fish-Man Island, allowing Louis and the others on board to clearly see the pirate flag flying at the highest point in the center of the plaza. A cross-shaped set of bones, and a skull with a wide grin and a crescent-moon-shaped mustache. It was the flag of the world's strongest pirate crew, the Whitebeard Pirates. It represented that the nation of Fish-Man Island was under the protection of the current World's Strongest Man. Any act of provocation was trampling on Whitebeard's face.
Louis saw this and smiled without saying anything. It was just a silent warning. He wasn't so petty as to fall out with Neptune over it.
Compared to a flag, Louis was more interested in the whale shark fish-man sitting across from him. The "Knight of the Sea," Jinbe. A man who became one of the Seven Warlords to save his comrades, yet openly associated with Whitebeard.
As for Neptune, while smiling at Louis and the others, he was using his peripheral vision to size up Uta, who was sitting on Louis's shoulder and looking at the surrounding scenery with great interest. He was a little puzzled about this child. She looked very much like a mermaid, but also more like something else—something more dangerous, more terrifying.
The vehicle, pulled by the giant whale Hoe, sailed at an unhurried pace along the seawater-filled channel, slowly heading toward the royal palace located above Fish-Man Island.
Along the way, Uta looked down at the dreamlike scenery below, and a strange light shone in her purple eyes. She subconsciously let out a gasp of wonder. "It's—so beautiful here!"
To this, a look of pride appeared on Neptune's face. "The Ryugu Kingdom is a country known as the Undersea Paradise," he said with a laugh. "It's a one-of-a-kind dreamlike paradise in the world!"
Uta heard him and nodded, the wing-fins behind her ears twitching slightly. She did not hold back her praise. "Yes, it's wonderful! It deserves such a name!"
Neptune heard her, subconsciously scratched his head, and put on a very approachable posture. "Hahahaha—" he laughed. "Thank you for your approval!"
Then, Neptune's tone changed, and he asked thoughtfully, "Little girl, are you a mermaid who was stranded in the outside world and rescued by Lord Louis?"
As his words fell, Jinbe, who had not interjected, also pricked up his ears without a sound. He had wanted to ask this question for a long time, but seeing this unknown mermaid's intimate appearance with Louis, she didn't look like she was being abused, so he had pushed the question to the back of his mind.
To this, Uta turned her head, gently flicked the wing-fins behind her, and replied with a grin, "Nope! My name is Uta, and I'm from the East Blue! I'm the musician of the Archangel Pirates, and a childhood friend who grew up with Louis and the others!"
Although her ability-user traits were obvious, Uta still did not explicitly state the fact that she was one. Being hard to hide was one thing, but that didn't mean she would go around telling everyone.
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