Roya's tone was relaxed and carefree.
Hearing his words, the two women were momentarily stunned.
Ain hesitated before speaking, "Lord Roya..."
She couldn't bring herself to finish.
After all, they were in the deep sea. If a large-scale attack were launched,
the coating would surely break, and they would all perish.
But if it were a small-scale attack, it would be like tickling the massive five-thousand-five-hundred-meter Sea King before them.
The result would still be death.
No matter what they did, it seemed hopeless!
Just then, a series of explosive sounds reached the warship.
These sounds were caused by the Squid Sea King rapidly swimming toward them.
Its enormous body carved a path through the ocean, churning the water violently and creating the current scene.
In other words, the Sea King had already arrived right in front of the warship.
Roya turned to see the Squid Sea King extending its colossal tentacles toward the ship.
Beside him, Stella's face had turned as pale as it could possibly be.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine. Leave it to me," Roya reassured them.
He slowly rose from his seat,
walked to the edge of the ship, appearing utterly composed, without a trace of panic.
Ain and Stella's hearts were in their throats.
As they wondered what Roya would do, they also feared he might damage the coating.
The atmosphere was unbearably tense.
The gigantic Squid Sea King had already stretched its tentacles to the warship, mere moments away from touching the coating.
Roya slowly closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them.
A terrifying Spirit Pressure, akin to Conqueror's Haki, surged from his body.
Vast and majestic, as heavy as Mount Tai.
BOOM!!!
In an instant,
this Conqueror's Haki, centered on Roya, enveloped the Squid Sea King in the blink of an eye.
With a range of six thousand meters, the Haki erupted in full force under Roya's control.
Thanks to Roya's deliberate protection,
Ain and Stella weren't knocked unconscious, but even so,
they could feel the hellish aura emanating from him.
At this moment, the Conqueror's Haki materialized into a tangible force.The terrifying pressure forced the 5,500-meter-long squid Sea King to retract its tentacles.
But that wasn't all.
Under Roya's full control, his Justice cloak billowed without wind.
Splurt! Splurt! Splurt!
Under the warship's lights, Ain and Stella could only watch as cracks split open across the Sea King squid's body, ruptured by the sheer force!
The Conqueror's Haki that had previously swept in all directions was now tightly controlled by Roya—completely suppressed onto the creature.
The Sea King squid writhed and coiled in desperate struggle, churning the deep sea into turbulent waves even at these depths.
Yet, no matter how it flailed, its tentacles could never reach Roya or the warship beneath his feet.
One could only imagine just how terrifying this Conqueror's Haki truly was!
"T-Too strong!"
"Is this our master's power?!"
"To wield Conqueror's Haki at this level—only Lord Roya could achieve such a feat!"
The two women's eyes sparkled with admiration as they gazed at Roya's back, as if trying to etch his figure permanently into their minds.
Spirit Pressure and Conqueror's Haki were extremely similar—yet still different.
For instance, the sheer offensive force far surpassed that of Conqueror's Haki.
"Since you came, don't think about leaving. After all, this world operates on the law of the jungle!"
With those words, Roya unleashed his Spirit Pressure in full, instantly shattering the 5,500-meter-long Sea King squid into dozens of pieces!
This—was the White Pigeon!
The Marine Admiral feared by countless pirates, possessing the strongest Admiral-level strength to date!
Ain and Stella both thought the same in their hearts.
Slowly retracting his Spirit Pressure, Roya's expression remained unchanged—as if he had merely performed a trivial task.
Under the women's watchful eyes, Roya returned to his seat and resumed savoring the delicacies before him.
Then, he spoke to Ain and Stella:
"This is an advanced application of Conqueror's Haki. You should train your mental fortitude—perhaps you might awaken it yourselves."
"Don't think of Conqueror's Haki as something excessively rare."
"The more you believe it's rare, the harder it becomes to awaken. Understood?"
Upon hearing Roya's words, Ain immediately realized—this was his guidance for them.
She quickly stood from her seat and saluted.
"Understood, Lord Roya!"
At the same time, she thought to herself: So that's why Lord Roya encouraged us to train our minds—he wanted us to awaken Conqueror's Haki!
Seeing Ain's earnest reaction, Roya couldn't help but chuckle.
"Alright, now that the crisis is over, let's continue enjoying the feast Stella prepared."
"Mhm!"
Both Ain and Stella nodded eagerly.
With the danger gone, their appetites had suddenly returned in full force!
——
In the time that followed, Roya controlled his Phantom to safely navigate the warship through the deep sea's treacherous currents, eventually arriving at Fish-Man Island.
Meanwhile, at the Ryugu Palace, under King Neptune's orders, his ministers followed him to the island's harbor.Fishman Island also had a harbor, as centralized management was necessary.
A faint smile played on Roya's lips.
He clearly hadn't expected Neptune to personally come out to receive him.
Ain and Stella, as they were about to enter Fishman Island, couldn't suppress their girlish excitement, eagerly taking in all the sights around them.
"Look, look! Fishman Island is actually enveloped by a giant bubble!"
"There are even clouds here! And possibly air too! This is unbelievable!"
"So this is Fishman Island, 10,000 meters below the sacred Mary Geoise!"
...
While the two women marveled, Law guided the warship into Fishman Island.
Suddenly, the system's electronic voice echoed in Roya's mind.
[Ding, congratulations to the host for successful check-in. Reward obtained: Peak Observation Haki! Peak Observation Haki allows the host to predict an enemy's next move while also foreseeing events five minutes into the future! Additionally, it enables communication with all things!]
Hearing the system's announcement, Roya froze momentarily...