Hack Narcissus Island Port.
A group of shipwrights with heavy dark circles and haggard faces watched with tears in their eyes as the massive silhouette of the st. freya sank into the sea.
This wasn't because they were reluctant to see that group of beautiful female pirates go, but because after three months of high-intensity work, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Ever since they learned that the one commissioning them for the coating was the world's unique female Great Pirate "queen of thunder," Charlotte Linlin—whose bounty exceeded two billion Berries—they had put their absolute best effort into the coating.
Especially after a few short-sighted fools who provoked them were turned into grey-haired old men, the shipwrights were all trembling with fear, not daring to be the least bit negligent, only wishing to send this great deity and her dangerous crew away as quickly and safely as possible.
For some reason, the first four meticulously completed coatings were personally destroyed by that powerful female Captain for various reasons (which were actually due to unfavorable divination results), forcing them to rework and do it over.
"Old Wang, this coating work... are you going to keep doing it? I don't want to anymore," a hoarse-voiced shipwright muttered.
"I'm not doing it either!"
A hunched, middle-aged man nearby, looking as if he were at death's door, weakly agreed as he rubbed his aching lower back.
"The wages I earned this time are enough for my whole family to live without worry for the rest of our lives. This is the first time, the very first time, that I've nearly lost my life just for a coating job! This damn coating trade! Even a dog wouldn't do it!"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, several young men nearby who had recovered some of their spirits began to discuss excitedly:
"Hey! Do you think they'll still need a coating at Fish-Man Island to go to the New World? Should we get a small boat, coat it, and follow them down? After all... they pay way too much! They paid one hundred million Berries directly this time! Even split among us, I'll get several million!"
"Go! We must go! I'll go find a suitable boat right now!"
Old Wang, who had just been shouting that "even a dog wouldn't do it," was suddenly energized as if injected with chicken blood. His back was no longer hunched, and he jumped up excitedly, looking like a completely different person from his previous dying state.
"Eh? Old Wang, didn't you just say that even a dog wouldn't be a coating artisan?"
"Yeah, Old Wang, didn't you say you had enough money to spend?"
The crowd booed, looking at him teasingly.
Old Wang's face flushed, but he immediately retorted righteously:
"Who said that? I don't remember! Besides, what's wrong with being a dog? Who would turn down money?! My money is enough for retirement, but my son hasn't been settled yet!
Stop the nonsense, hurry, hurry, hurry! Quickly mix the remaining Yarman Sweet Potato Resin! I'm going to bring our workboat over!"
...Deep beneath the sea.
Following a specific Current and under the command of the Navigator Vina, the st. freya steadily advanced into deeper waters.
Outside the coating, the light gradually dimmed, replaced by a bizarre and magnificent underwater world.
Strange jellyfish emitting a faint phosphorescence looked like a moving starry sky, while schools of fish of various shapes and colors darted past. Occasionally, massive deep-sea beasts with hideous or strange appearances cast heart-pounding shadows in the distance.
"Wow! It's so beautiful!"
"Look at that fish, it's so ugly!"
"Are those Sea Kings? Heavens, they're much larger than Sister Gölz and Sister Ripley!"
On the deck, the Female Warriors of the Heavenly Calamity Pirates pressed against the inner wall of the coating, marveling at the scenery outside with faces full of novelty.
The fantastical and winding underwater scenery, creatures with appearances beyond imagination, and the massive Sea Kings containing primal power—everything left these girls, who were venturing deep into the sea for the first time, incredibly shocked and excited.
Unlike the relaxed Crew members, Charlotte Linlin sat cross-legged alone in the center of the deck, her eyes tightly shut. Her powerful Observation Haki was pushed to its limit, acting like an invisible radar to carefully sense every movement in the surrounding waters.
A giant Sea King, comparable in size to a small mountain, seemed attracted by the ship. As it swam in front of the st. freya, an invisible yet majestic Haoshoku pressure radiated outward with Charlotte Linlin as the center.
The Sea King's massive body suddenly froze. As if sensing extreme danger, it immediately turned around and fled the area in a panic.
Even though the Tarot card divination showed that the voyage was safe, Charlotte Linlin still didn't dare to relax in the slightest. Ten thousand meters beneath the sea, the power of nature was enough to annihilate everything; currently, she had absolutely no confidence in confronting the ocean head-on.
Even when facing a powerhouse like Rocks, she had hidden trump cards to deal with him. But here, unless one of the three blades she carried could unseal all its power, she would always feel like she was walking on thin ice.
This feeling of her life not being entirely within her own control made her very uncomfortable.
"In the end... I'm still too weak," Charlotte Linlin murmured in a low voice, withdrawing her released Conqueror's Haki and opening her eyes to watch the retreating figure of the Sea King.
"Cap—" Kuri's faint voice came from beside her, seemingly wanting to ask something.
"Hmm?" Charlotte Linlin glanced at her sideways with a hint of danger.
Kuri shuddered and quickly corrected herself, saying in a somewhat awkward tone, "O... otousan, what are we going to Fish-Man Island for?"
Charlotte Linlin withdrew her gaze, her eyes sweeping over the lively and beautiful girls in the prime of their youth on the deck, finally looking toward the light gradually emerging from the darkness in the distance:
"To recruit Fish—no, to recruit Mermaid. So that in the future, when you landlubbers accidentally fall into the sea, someone can fish you out in time."
It wouldn't matter even if they couldn't recruit through formal channels; at worst... they would just "borrow" a few. Although forcibly taking them didn't quite fit her usual style, in her position, one sometimes couldn't help but do certain things to achieve their goals.
Furthermore, the target was limited to Mermaid! Fishman were absolutely out! This wasn't racial discrimination; she just couldn't stand the thought of the flower-like girls she had painstakingly raised being "carried off" in the future by some guys with strange skin colors and perhaps strange smells!
She would not interfere with the crew's freedom of marriage and love, but at the very least... she had to oversee the standards!
"Mermaid?! Do Mermaid really exist in this world?" Kuri's eyes widened in surprise. Just a few months ago, Mermaid were dreamlike creatures that only existed in fairy tales, but she never expected to have the chance to see them with her own eyes.
"Haven't you already seen Giants and Sea Kings? What's there to be surprised about? You even called someone Mama before." Charlotte Linlin found the little one's reaction quite amusing.
Recalling the scene when she first boarded the ship and called Ripley Okaasan just for a bite to eat, Kuri's face instantly turned bright red.
"That's different! Mermaid are legendary creatures!"
"Are Giants not legends too?"
"Gia... Giants are also legends, bu... but it just feels different!" Kuri's little face was conflicted as she desperately tried to argue, yet couldn't quite explain why.
"Mamamama! If it feels different, then it's different." Seeing Kuri's cute, conflicted expression as she struggled to express herself, Charlotte Linlin couldn't help but laugh heartily.
Teasing children was indeed the most fun.
"Get ready, we're almost there."
With Charlotte Linlin's reminder, the st. freya smoothly passed through the massive bubble membrane covering the entire island, officially arriving at their destination.
"Is this... Fish-Man Island?" A soft and bright beam of light shone on Kuri's face, which was filled with wonder.
Appearing before everyone's eyes was a magnificent, dreamlike kingdom encased in a double-layered bubble.
Completely different from the dim deep sea they had traveled through, this place had a bright "sky" just like on the surface, with white "clouds" floating about, and the entire island was bathed in warm and magical "sunlight."
"Yes, this is Fish-Man Island," Mia explained to the curious crowd.
"The glowing object above us that simulates the cycle of day and night is the source of life that supports the light of the entire island—the Sunlight Tree Eve."
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