There was a terror attached to those words that ran far deeper than ordinary fear.
"Celestial Dragons..."
On Fish-Man Island, that title represented a history people had tried to bury but never truly forgotten.
It meant slave ships, collars, disappearing mermaids, and greed that even ten thousand meters of ocean had never been enough to keep away.
For every beautiful mermaid, the Celestial Dragons were a threat hanging permanently overhead.
Shirahoshi had been sheltered for most of her life, but she was not completely ignorant.
"Don't be afraid, Shirahoshi."
A warm hand pressed gently against the outside of her transport bubble.
Vivi's long blue hair gleamed beneath the sunlight.
She was clearly uncomfortable with Mary Geoise herself, but she forced her expression to remain steady.
"We're official royal delegates, and the Marines are escorting us."
Vivi kept her voice low.
"That doesn't mean we should be careless. Stay close to us, don't wander anywhere alone, and if anything feels wrong, tell Vice Admiral Gion or Yamakaji immediately."
That was far more honest than pretending a diplomatic title automatically made them untouchable here.
Then Vivi smiled faintly.
"And besides... Zaraki-niisan is supposed to be coming to Mary Geoise too."
Shirahoshi looked toward her.
Vivi's smile strengthened.
"If he sees someone trying to hurt us, do you honestly think he'll just stand there?"
The answer was obvious.
Another girl stepped closer.
Rebecca.
The young woman from Dressrosa smiled at Shirahoshi.
"I've seen what happens when that man decides someone crossed his line."
Her expression became wry.
"I almost feel sorry for whoever tries it."
The image of Zaraki immediately surfaced in Shirahoshi's mind.
The man who had walked into Fish-Man Island's rebellion as though it were an inconvenience, cut through the crisis surrounding Noah, and treated enemies that terrified everyone else as obstacles barely worth noticing.
It was difficult to remain completely frightened while imagining him reacting to the same situation.
Shirahoshi slowly exhaled.
The tension in her shoulders eased.
...
Several paces behind the princesses, two Marine Vice Admirals walked side by side beneath their coats of Justice.
"Young people really do put an unhealthy amount of faith in that troublemaker."
Yamakaji exhaled a ring of cigar smoke.
There was little actual criticism in his expression.
"He's managed to win over half the royal daughters on the Grand Line."
"Save the jokes, Yamakaji."
Gion gave him a cold sideways glance.
Her hand never moved far from Konpira.
"You and I both know Headquarters did not send two Vice Admirals here just to make the royal delegations feel important."
Her gaze moved across the immaculate white buildings.
Everything was beautiful.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku expects trouble."
"And not only from the Revolutionary Army."
Yamakaji's smile faded.
He looked toward the young princesses ahead.
"Yeah."
He drew on his cigar.
"And Zaraki isn't exactly known for making tense situations calmer."
"If someone here crosses one of his lines..."
His gaze drifted toward Pangaea Castle.
"Mary Geoise could become a battlefield very quickly."
The Marines accompanying them remained quiet, but several officers who had personally fought beside Zaraki or seen what he had done at Sabaody and Fish-Man Island tightened their grips on their weapons.
Their loyalty was still to the Marines.
That did not mean they were comfortable with what might happen if the World Government deliberately turned on one of their own.
Neptune suddenly stiffened.
A chill crawled along his spine without warning.
His hand tightened around his trident.
To his instincts, everything about the Holy Land felt wrong.
The spotless marble.
The perfectly trimmed hedges.
The expensive floral fragrance drifting through the air.
Together, they felt less like proof of civilization than decoration placed over something rotten.
Sunlight poured down without obstruction. For fish-men accustomed to the softer illumination beneath the sea, the brightness felt strangely exposing.
As though they were not guests.
As though they were merchandise placed beneath a lamp.
"Father..."
Shirahoshi's trembling voice reached him.
Neptune turned.
His daughter was desperately trying to make herself smaller inside her enormous bubble.
Her frightened eyes were not fixed on the road ahead.
They were moving from one elegant window to another.
At first glance, the windows seemed empty.
Then Neptune noticed the silhouettes behind them.
People were watching.
Even through the thick bubble wall around Shirahoshi, he could almost feel those gazes crawling across his daughter's shimmering tail.
Greedy.
Evaluating.
Some barely concealing excitement.
There was no diplomacy in those eyes.
No respect for the princess of a World Government nation.
Only the interest of buyers inspecting something rare.
Neptune's stomach turned cold.
'This is the Holy Land?'
The question felt bitter in his mind.
A glittering hunting ground wrapped in marble and gold was still a hunting ground.
Gion had clearly sensed the change in atmosphere as well.
Her hand settled more firmly against Konpira as she moved closer to the royal delegation.
...
Gion's callused hands snapped around the hilt of Konpira, and the familiar coldness of the weapon steadied her racing thoughts.
"Everyone—highest alert!"
Her voice was not particularly loud, yet every Marine officer behind her reacted immediately.
Almost at the same moment, something revolting appeared around the bend of the broad avenue ahead.
More than a dozen World Nobles were approaching in a sprawling procession, surrounded by scores of servants, guards, and slaves.
They wore their peculiar white suits with transparent bubbles enclosing their heads, some riding on the backs of enormous chained slaves while others reclined on platforms carried by exhausted servants.
Every face wore the same ugly mixture of arrogance and entitlement.
Celestial Dragons.
The atmosphere froze.
Those greedy gazes that had previously remained hidden behind windows were now completely exposed, settling openly on the royal delegations—and most intensely of all on Shirahoshi.
The last trace of color disappeared from Neptune's face.
He instinctively shifted his enormous body forward, trying to place himself between the approaching nobles and his daughter's carriage.
"Tch."
Yamakaji took a hard drag from his cigar.
"They really rolled out the welcoming committee."
His eyes swept across the approaching procession.
Gion ignored the joke.
Her pupils had narrowed.
This did not feel accidental.
Whether the Five Elders had arranged every detail or simply knew what the World Nobles would do once they saw Shirahoshi, someone had clearly allowed the situation to develop instead of preventing it.
And Shirahoshi was the perfect pressure point.
If a Celestial Dragon tried to enslave the princess of Fish-Man Island in front of Zaraki, everyone who knew him could predict the result.
He would not bow.
He would not negotiate.
He would draw his sword.
Once that happened in the Holy Land, neither Sengoku nor Garp would have much room left to protect him.
'Those bastards...'
Gion's gaze sharpened.
"There's no time to hesitate. Yamakaji, cover the royal delegation. Bastille, get that side gate open. We're moving everyone back toward the Bondola station."
Bastille reacted immediately.
The huge Vice Admiral had only taken a few steps toward the stone gate when five dark figures dropped into his path.
Black suits.
White masks.
A pigeon perched calmly on the shoulder of the man standing at their head.
CP0.
"Vice Admiral Gion."
Rob Lucci's voice came coldly from beneath his mask.
"What exactly are you doing?"
"My job."
Gion slowly drew several inches of Konpira from its sheath.
"These people are official representatives of World Government member nations. My orders are to protect them."
Lucci tilted his head.
"The Holy Land has its own security."
His masked face turned fractionally toward the approaching World Nobles.
"Drawing Marine weapons here and creating a confrontation with the residents of Mary Geoise would be an exceptionally poor decision."
"Move."
Gion's fingers tightened.
Lucci did not.
"The Marines were assigned to escort the delegates here. Nothing more."
The implication was obvious.
Whatever happened next, CP0 expected the Marines to stand aside.
Before Gion could answer, a familiar nasal voice squealed from the front of the World Noble procession.
"Ooooh...!"
Saint Charlos had spotted Shirahoshi.
His cloudy eyes widened as drool immediately gathered at the corner of his mouth.
"What a huge mermaid!"
His finger shot toward her.
"I WANT HER!"
"I'm putting her in my aquarium!"
Vivi's stomach turned.
Rebecca looked equally disgusted.
"SAINT CHARLOS!"
Gion stepped forward.
"This is Princess Shirahoshi of the Ryugu Kingdom. She is an invited delegate to the Reverie."
Her eyes blazed.
"Do not touch her."
Charlos flinched.
Then Gion added:
"And you already know what happened the last time you decided to point a weapon at someone under Zaraki's protection."