Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for only $7 to get early access to upcoming chapters!
> > Patreon.com/inkshield <<
----------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 32
Watching Neptune suddenly hesitate and waver,
Tian Chen continued:
"Your Fish-Man Island race, if you join the Giant Empire, will not only be able to live on Sabaody Archipelago, but will also receive this Emperor's full protection."
"Believe me—these benefits far surpass the meager handouts you ever received from the Whitebeard Pirates or the World Government!"
Neptune frowned at this.
He remained cautious, carefully weighing the pros and cons.
But every time he thought about what Tian Chen intended to do— openly making an enemy of the entire world— a chill ran down his spine.
After all, joining the Giant Empire meant standing against the whole world together.
That required tremendous courage.
No matter how you looked at it, the Fish-Man Island race truly lacked the courage to become enemies with the entire world.
Yet Neptune also felt that outright rejecting Tian Chen the Great Emperor would be unwise.
Shirahoshi was still in Tian Chen's hands.
If he angered the man and Tian Chen later did something terrible to Shirahoshi, the loss would far outweigh any gain.
So…
Neptune deliberately found fault:
"Let's speak frankly!"
"Your Giant Empire is essentially just the whole of Sabaody Archipelago."
"Although it has absolute defense, in this King's eyes, the living space here is still far too small."
"Furthermore, right now the waters outside Sabaody Archipelago are completely blockaded by the World Government and Marine Headquarters."
"For these two major problems you currently face, how exactly do you plan to resolve them?"
"Don't tell this King that you can fix everything with just a casual move of your hand."
Tian Chen, upon hearing this, gave a very confident laugh.
"It seems this Emperor must lay some cards on the table for you!"
"In truth, this Emperor possesses the supreme ability to freely alter the size of territory."
"If you feel Sabaody Archipelago is truly too small… how about this Emperor expands Sabaody Archipelago a hundredfold?"
"As long as your Fish-Man Island race joins, this Emperor will grant you true freedom on land."
"What?! You can directly expand the territorial area of Sabaody Archipelago by a hundred times?"
Neptune was utterly stunned.
If Tian Chen could really increase the area of Sabaody Archipelago a hundredfold… such an ability was simply too outrageous to even imagine.
"But… how could that possibly be done?"
"Even if you are an extremely powerful Devil Fruit user, there's no way you could achieve something on that scale, right?"
"I think you'd better stop trying to paint grand illusions for this King. This King is not some three-year-old child."
"Between us, a little more sincerity would benefit everyone!"
Neptune looked at Tian Chen with solemn seriousness.
"Of course…"
"Unless you let this King witness the reality right now."
"Expand the territorial area of Sabaody Archipelago a hundredfold."
"Otherwise, this King's limited perspective truly cannot comprehend it."
But if… Tian Chen really could do it—expand Sabaody's territory a hundredfold— then honestly, Neptune would be tempted.
He could very well decide to lead his entire race to live on Sabaody Archipelago.
But right now, how could Tian Chen directly expand Sabaody a hundredfold?
According to the system's conditions, he must first subjugate a nation or a race, and have them join his Giant Empire in order to gain one opportunity to expand the empire's territory a hundredfold!
Facing Neptune's demand, Tian Chen remained even calmer.
"Heh heh…"
"This Emperor will repeat the same thing I said earlier."
"Only if your Fish-Man Island race joins this Emperor's Giant Empire will this Emperor choose to expand the territory a hundredfold."
"And this is precisely a test of your trust in this Emperor!"
"If you don't even have this much trust…"
"Hmph!"
"This Emperor will be disappointed—not only in you, but in your entire Fish-Man Island race!"
"In short, let me remind you once again—"
"This Emperor's power surpasses the understanding of everyone here."
"If gods truly exist in this world, then this King is that god."
Within the Giant Empire's domain, with the supreme King's Power blessing him, he truly was akin to a mighty deity.
After all—even if a real god descended, inside his Giant Empire's territory, they too would be easily trampled under his feet.
After finishing, Tian Chen waved his hand.
He sent Neptune back to Sabaody Archipelago.
Prince Fukaboshi watched his father King Neptune suddenly disappear a moment ago and suddenly reappear now.
The maneuver was truly bizarre.
He immediately stepped forward to support the slightly dizzy Neptune and asked urgently:
"Father, are you alright?"
"And… where did you go just now?"
Neptune slowly regained his senses.
"Don't worry, this King is fine."
"I just went to meet Tian Chen the Great Emperor."
Fukaboshi's heart stirred.
He thought to himself—Tian Chen the Great Emperor's methods really were heaven-defying.
How laughable— when his father disappeared earlier, many humans around had been boasting about how powerful Tian Chen was.
He had scoffed at them, arguing nonstop, thinking they were just bragging.
He never expected… it was actually true!
What a face-slap.
"Then… Father, what did you and Tian Chen the Great Emperor talk about?"
"And… how is little sister Shirahoshi?"
"Is she… doing okay?"
"She… hasn't been… hurt, right?"
The moment Fukaboshi thought about how humans had special fetishes toward their race's mermaids— let alone his sister Princess Shirahoshi, the rarest and most beautiful mermaid on Fish-Man Island— now fallen into human hands…
Hiss!
He didn't dare imagine what fate awaited her.
Even though Shirahoshi's body was enormous… she had probably already been reshaped into various forms, right?
Just thinking about it a little made Fukaboshi feel intense pain.
Too painful!
My poor little sister Shirahoshi…
"Don't worry—Shirahoshi is fine."
"She might even be so happy right now she's about to take off."
Neptune remembered how his daughter Shirahoshi had defended Tian Chen the Great Emperor instead of her own old father.
His heart couldn't accept it.
"..."
Fukaboshi was completely stunned.
His little sister was so happy she was about to take off?
She… she was having that much fun?!?!?
Neptune saw Fukaboshi's reaction and immediately knew the boy had misunderstood.
Smack!
He slapped Fukaboshi on the head.
"You little brat!"
"What nonsense are you imagining?"
"Come—let's return to Fish-Man Island first."
"This King has a major matter to discuss with all of you."
Neptune and his group quickly returned to Fish-Man Island.
Neptune summoned the left and right ministers, as well as his three princes.
He also specially called for Madam Shyarly.
First he had Madam Shyarly divine the future of Fish-Man Island.
After the divination, even Madam Shyarly was shocked.
Previously she had divined that the prophecy foretold Fish-Man Island heading toward some form of destruction.
She had never spoken of it.
But in this latest divination… the prophecy now contained a single ray of hope.
It foretold that Fish-Man Island might rise to unprecedented heights.
What did this mean?
Could this ray of hope be the act of joining the Giant Empire?
So Madam Shyarly honestly explained both the previous and current prophecies.
When Neptune and the others heard it, they were deeply shaken.
There was such a thing?
Everyone present held great faith in Madam Shyarly's divination art.
Every prediction she made had come true.
"Father, I think it's feasible!"
"I trust Madam Shyarly's prophecy!"
"Yes—I believe in this prophecy too."
"Moreover, although Tian Chen the Great Emperor's words sound outrageous, the methods he has displayed on Sabaody these past few days have completely surpassed our understanding."
"Exactly!"
"This Tian Chen the Great Emperor probably isn't bluffing—he really can expand Sabaody Archipelago's territory a hundredfold."
"Right now he's just testing our sincerity."
"And as the Great Emperor of the Giant Empire, it's entirely reasonable for him to test us in this way."
The three princes spoke one after another.
All three of them were filled with yearning and anticipation for life on the surface.
With Madam Shyarly's prophecy supporting them, they naturally looked forward even more to a bright future.
Seeing this, Neptune felt ready to take the gamble in his heart.
However…
he still turned to the two ever-steady left and right ministers beside him.
"What do you two think?"
The two short-statured ministers pondered deeply before replying:
"Your Majesty, this old minister believes we can take the risk and try."
"Moreover, Princess Shirahoshi is still in his hands."
"If we refuse, I'm afraid Princess Shirahoshi may inevitably suffer harm because of it."
Seeing even the left and right ministers agree, Neptune's confidence surged.
He looked up at the sunlight rays overhead.
But those rays brought no warmth at all.
"Very well—then we join the Giant Empire and take a gamble on a better future!"
At the same time,
in his heart he silently prayed:
Dear Queen Otohime…
Please watch over and bless the Fish-Man Island race.
Never let us fall into eternal ruin.
Everyone present saw their King make this resolute decision.
Even Madam Shyarly couldn't help feeling a surge of excitement at this moment.
"You all wait here for this King's good news."
"This King must return once more to Sabaody Archipelago and negotiate with Tian Chen the Great Emperor the terms of joining the Giant Empire."
Not long after,
Neptune arrived again on Sabaody Archipelago.
Tian Chen sensed it and this time personally came out to greet him.
"Hahaha, King Neptune—welcome once again to this Emperor's Sabaody Archipelago."
"Hmph… I suppose everything has been under your control from the beginning?"
Neptune saw Tian Chen smiling so smugly and immediately understood—Tian Chen had foreseen everything.
He had truly been pinned down tight!
"Where did you get that idea?"
"This Emperor sincerely hopes for your race to join."
Tian Chen laughed with genuine pleasure.
So the two of them returned to Celestial Palace and discussed some follow-up matters.
Among them—
although Neptune agreed to join the Giant Empire, he set conditions:
He hoped the Fish-Man Island race would have an autonomous area on Sabaody Archipelago, etc.
To Tian Chen, none of these were problems at all.
In any case, the Giant Empire would only grow larger in the future.
He had no desire to personally manage every little thing.
He only needed his invincible domain to keep expanding!
"Very well—since you've been so straightforward!"
"In three days, this King will bring the majority of Fish-Man Island's citizens and officially join your Giant Empire."
Neptune declared with great satisfaction.
...
Three days later.
Neptune led more than five hundred thousand citizens from the depths of the sea in a grand procession and ascended onto Sabaody Archipelago.
They officially joined Tian Chen's Giant Empire.
"Tch tch… now Sabaody Archipelago is really going to become lively."
"Hehehe, I heard the mermaids of Fish-Man Island are all beauties."
"Maybe from now on we'll have a chance to marry a few ourselves."
"Hahaha… gotta say, Fish-Man Island actually has some sense of the bigger picture."
"But if this keeps going…"
"Sabaody Archipelago's living space is only going to get smaller!"
"I wonder how Tian Chen the Great Emperor will solve this problem?"
...
Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for only $7 to get early access to upcoming chapters!
> > Patreon.com/inkshield <<
----------------------------------------------------------