Chapter 115: An Empire
The idea of having Uta and Princess Shirahoshi become sworn sisters to bring her closer to their faction, and thus bring an Ancient Weapon under his control, was much better than the "political marriage" Yelena had proposed. Furthermore, the relationship between Uta and Shirahoshi was already quite good. Achieving this seemed not to be difficult.
It's just... "How do we make Neptune and his several princes willingly facilitate this without being too abrupt?" Yelena asked another question after some thought.
To this, Louis's gaze fell on Uta and Shirahoshi, his eyes deep. "Let's first let their relationship develop naturally," he said in a distant tone. "We'll figure out the rest, or leave it to time."
Louis felt that if he told Uta about this, having her approach Shirahoshi with a hidden purpose might be counterproductive, and it wouldn't be fair to Uta. Moreover, Louis didn't want Uta to be exposed to the dark calculations of the human heart too early.
Yelena frowned slightly. She felt that Louis had said something, and yet said nothing at all.
"Let's leave the despicable, ugly calculations of the human heart to us filthy adults," Louis said in a deep voice, looking at the two girls who were smiling from the bottom of their hearts.
To this, Yelena's brow relaxed, and the corners of her mouth turned up in a gentle, serene smile.
"But—" Yelena raised a hand and gently stroked Louis's cheek. "I'm the only adult here~" she said in a meaningful, distant tone.
Louis: "..."
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, a speechless look in his eyes.
Meanwhile, inside the palace behind them.
A merman wearing a hood, under the guidance of a guard, came directly before King Neptune and Jinbe.
Neptune stopped what he was doing and looked down at the young woman before him, who had the tail of a shark. "You've come to us so suddenly. Is there something you need, Shyarly?"
The female merman, called Shyarly, slowly took off the hood that was attached to her blue top, revealing a head of short black hair that covered half her face. She looked up, her pale skin revealed under the soft light, the traces of dried blood tears clearly visible at the corners of her eyes. Her blue eyes fell on the giant merman before her.
"Your Majesty Neptune, I have come this time because of that group of pirates who arrived at Fish-Man Island a short while ago."
Neptune was stunned. Jinbe, who had been quietly observing the outside, also turned his gaze toward her.
Then, Neptune subconsciously glanced outside the door, then raised his hand to dismiss the surrounding guards. He bent down and asked in a low voice, "Shyarly, have you had another prophecy?" As he spoke, a deep unease appeared in his eyes, and his face looked a little nervous.
Shyarly was a fortune-teller famous throughout Fish-Man Island. Everything she had ever predicted had come true. At the age of three, she had predicted that the Sea Kings were waiting outside Fish-Man Island for the birth of the Mermaid Princess. At four, she had foreseen that the Great Pirate Era was about to impact the entire world. When Roger arrived at Fish-Man Island, she foresaw that the island's gates would be destroyed. She knew that a Summit War would break out in the future, and that Whitebeard, who was currently at his peak, would die at Marine Headquarters seven years from now.
In short, Shyarly's predictions and prophecies had a 100% accuracy rate.
Jinbe slowly stepped forward. He looked at his little brother's sister and said with a complicated expression, "Shyarly, is something going to happen to that Louis in the future? Or will he destroy—"
To this, Shyarly shook her head at Neptune and Jinbe. She raised a finger to the un-wiped blood tears on her face and said in a tone filled with a faint fear and confusion, "No. I cannot see anything about that man. And on my second attempt, I almost lost my own life."
Shyarly slowly explained that she had seen the winged boy when she was shopping in the mermaid cove, and her curiosity was piqued. After returning to her café, she had done a divination on a whim. The first time, she saw nothing. After the second attempt, she had cried tears of blood, coughed up blood, and fainted. When she woke up, she was in a hospital bed. Later, she had wanted to try a third divination on the boy, but her intuition told her that she would not have a third chance, and in the end, she stopped.
Neptune and Jinbe were utterly dumbfounded. Shyarly had foreseen the Great Pirate Era and Shirahoshi's birth without any consequence, yet she had nearly lost her life while trying to divine Louis's future.
After exchanging glances, Neptune asked tentatively, "Then why have you come to the palace?"
Shyarly straightened her face and explained in a complicated tone, "After that, I did not give up on divination. Instead, I changed my target to the others in his group."
"I saw an empire."
"In that empire, I saw merfolk and fish-men living on land and in the sky with happy smiles on their faces. They were surrounded by many rare races. The Giant race, the Mink tribe. People with brown skin and fire on their backs. People with feathers on their forearms. People who were much larger than humans but not as big as giants, with giant dogs by their side. People with wing-like decorations on their backs..."
Jinbe and Neptune's eyes widened, and their hearts were thrown into turmoil.
Giants, fish-men, merfolk, Minks, Lunarians, and two different types of Skypieans. Neptune had heard of these special races from Roger's mouth. Almost all of them were enemies of the World Government. And in the future, they would actually be gathered together, living in the same country. This meant that this empire would possess the power to rival the World Government.
Then, they both subconsciously looked into the distance, at Shirahoshi playing and singing with Uta, and only one thought remained in their minds. Queen Otohime's dream has become a reality. In the future, the fish-men and merfolk are truly living under the sun!
Shyarly's words continued.
"A beautiful song spread throughout the world. More than 70% of the world's populace was cheering the names of two princesses— In the midst of the song, the prejudice against merfolk and fish-men disappeared. We truly became a race living under the sun."
Her words paused. Neptune and Jinbe were speechless, their pupils trembling violently, unable to recover for a long time. In their two pairs of disbelieving eyes, there was a hint of longing.
Shyarly saw this and lit her pipe, giving them time to digest this information. Her eyes passed over the main gate and landed on the massive white object that could be clearly seen even from the kingdom. She was wondering if this unidentified object parked on the seabed was the weapon from her prophecy, the one described as being made of countless crystals and covered in innumerable cannons.
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