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Chapter 30
Carrying a trace of curiosity,
after chatting a few more sentences with Princess Shirahoshi,
Imu discovered
that the mind of the mermaid before her
was genuinely extremely innocent.
For example,
when she directly asked Shirahoshi:
"Why are you so afraid of me?"
This little fish
honestly explained
the exact reason why she feared her.
Imu was stunned on the spot.
She hadn't expected Shirahoshi
to possess such terrifying perception
toward the danger level of those around her.
Imu immediately decided in her heart
to completely discard every trace of malice and displeasure toward Princess Shirahoshi.
She would only show the most friendly side possible.
First build a good relationship with Shirahoshi.
Perhaps one day,
she could successfully make use of Shirahoshi.
After this attempt,
the subsequent conversations between Imu and Shirahoshi
really became smoother and smoother.
Shirahoshi no longer sensed any threat or fear from Imu.
Very quickly she changed
into sweetly calling her "Shabai-onee-sama" every sentence,
her voice growing even sweeter!
...
King Neptune
arrived with overwhelming momentum.
Accompanied by one prince and tens of thousands of soldiers,
he set foot on Sabaody Archipelago.
His beloved daughter Shirahoshi
had been abducted from Ryugu Palace!
He was furious beyond measure—unforgivable.
"Hmph!"
"Your Giant Empire has gone too far in bullying others!"
"Today, if you do not return my daughter—Princess Shirahoshi—"
"this King will mobilize the full military might of Fish-Man Island and wage war against your Sabaody Archipelago."
"To the death!"
King Neptune glared furiously and shouted in a deep voice.
Over the past few days,
he had actually learned quite a bit
about the events that occurred on Sabaody Archipelago.
He acknowledged that this Tian Chen the Great Emperor who appeared out of nowhere
truly possessed extraordinary, unfathomable strength.
He had established the Giant Empire here
and liberated the slaves of Sabaody Archipelago—
among them countless mermaids and fish-men who had been captured by humans and turned into slaves,
finally able to escape and return safely to Fish-Man Island.
Originally, he had planned
to find a time to come up
and personally thank Tian Chen the Great Emperor.
But he never expected
that Tian Chen would send Silvers Rayleigh down
to directly abduct his daughter.
It was no different from robbery.
Hypocritical and sanctimonious!
Utterly despicable!
...
The surrounding melon-eating crowd,
upon hearing Neptune's declaration,
responded with mocking cold laughter.
Not only did they dismiss it,
they openly gloated, showing no respect for Neptune at all.
"Tch tch… your Fish-Man Island race really doesn't know how blessed you are!"
"No sense of the bigger picture at all!"
"And you still dare dream of going to war with the Giant Empire?"
"Heh heh… you people are simply courting death!"
"Princess Shirahoshi being favored by our Tian Chen the Great Emperor
is the kind of fortune your Fish-Man Island couldn't find even if you searched with lanterns!"
"If I were the king of Fish-Man Island,
I would have already welded myself permanently to the invincible thigh that is Tian Chen the Great Emperor!"
"Forget one Shirahoshi—even if the Great Emperor wanted every mermaid on Fish-Man Island, I'd give them all!"
"Sigh… it's a pity we aren't you, and we don't have a daughter with such wonderful fortune."
Neptune's mouth twitched violently.
He glared at them with blazing anger.
These damned scoundrels…
What did they understand?
Did they really think Tian Chen the Great Emperor was simply captivated by Shirahoshi's beauty?
Clearly he had abducted Shirahoshi
to use her as leverage— forcing this King to lead the entire Fish-Man Island race
into joining his Giant Empire.
His methods were despicable to the extreme!
Even worse…
he had known all along
that Shirahoshi harbored the power of the Ancient Weapon Poseidon.
Now he intended to exploit Shirahoshi's immense power
to rule over the entire sea.
But doing so…
wouldn't that push the entire Fish-Man Island race into the abyss?
In Neptune's view,
Tian Chen's strength was indeed unfathomable.
But by establishing such a towering, attention-grabbing Giant Empire here,
and openly displaying his ambition to rule the entire world…
sooner or later,
he would become the target of the world,
the public enemy of every nation.
How could the power of one country
stand against the combined might of the entire world?
One misstep and they would fall into eternal ruin.
The Fish-Man Island race
had no desire to be dragged into that abyss.
...
At that moment, a large squad of golden-armored guards
arrived at the scene.
Neptune and his group immediately tensed, weapons half-drawn, ready to fight.
But the leading golden-armored soldier spoke to Neptune with respectful courtesy.
"Greetings, King Neptune!"
"Our Great Emperor invites you to come to Celestial Palace for a discussion!"
Neptune was momentarily stunned.
He looked somewhat dazed.
Staring at the golden-armored guard in front of him.
What was this?
Such a polite attitude?
Was this some kind of Hongmen Banquet trap?
But even if it was a trap…
Neptune had no choice but to go to Celestial Palace.
Shirahoshi was still in their hands.
"Hmph… this King wants to see exactly how your Great Emperor plans to threaten this King."
Neptune flicked his sleeve with a cold snort.
Up in Celestial Palace on the throne,
Tian Chen, seeing that Neptune had agreed to come,
extended his hand and commanded the omnipotent King's Power.
In an instant, he teleported Neptune directly into Celestial Palace.
Neptune felt the world spin violently.
He had no idea what just happened.
When he looked around,
he realized he was no longer in his original spot.
Without any warning, he had arrived inside a grand hall.
The place was sacred, majestic, and resplendent in gold.
At the very top of the hall, on the towering throne,
sat a young man of extraordinary presence and striking handsomeness.
Dressed in black dragon imperial robes,
he gazed down at him with calm, indifferent eyes.
For some reason,
Neptune suddenly felt an unprecedented pressure.
An urge welled up inside him— a desire to kneel and worship the figure before him.
Tian Chen rose with a faint smile.
In the blink of an eye, he descended from the throne
and appeared right in front of Neptune.
"Welcome, King Neptune, to this Emperor's Celestial Palace as my guest."
The moment Neptune thought of his daughter Shirahoshi
still in this man's hands,
rage surged through him.
Guest my ass!
"Hmph, spare me your damn pleasantries!"
"Get straight to the point!!!"
"What exactly do you want in exchange for releasing my daughter Shirahoshi?"
Tian Chen met his gaze with a gentle smile.
"King Neptune, this Emperor suddenly feels you must have misunderstood something!"
"First of all, this Emperor has neither harmed nor threatened Princess Shirahoshi."
"Princess Shirahoshi is currently inside this Emperor's Celestial Palace."
"But she said she really likes it here."
"She wants to bask in the sun here, gaze at the blue sky and white clouds, and when night falls, look up at the starry sky."
Tian Chen spoke with warm gentleness.
He had no intention of making an enemy of Neptune.
Shirahoshi was already firmly in his grasp.
As for Neptune…
he could only treat him for now as an angry father-in-law still fuming.
"Hmph, Shirahoshi is innocent and simple—you've deceived her."
"But if you think you can use that to trick this King into compromise, you're truly laughable!"
Neptune glared darkly and spoke in a low, cold voice.
Tian Chen responded with an indifferent smile.
As long as Shirahoshi liked it here and was unwilling to leave for the time being,
Neptune could be easily controlled.
"Hahaha… but have you seriously considered this?"
"Right now, isn't Princess Shirahoshi safer here with this Emperor than if she returned to Fish-Man Island?"
Neptune's heart jolted at those words.
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like!"
"But you surely understand the meaning better than this Emperor does!"
Tian Chen's lips curved into a slight, knowing smile.
...
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