After receiving the letter from King Riku, I returned to the port town of Acacia and set the Charlotte Angie's course northeast. We skirted the coast of the main island toward Green Bit.
Initially, I had considered docking the ship directly at the small island, but the sheer ferocity of the local wildlife was worse than the reports suggested.
My crew would have been fine, but the ship was a different story. No matter how advanced the Charlotte Angie was for its time, I wasn't about to let it be swarmed by that many monsters.
The so-called "Fighting Fish" were overwhelming in number. They possessed massive, inward-curving horns and wide maws lined with serrated teeth.
Even the "small" ones were over three meters long. With their jet-black, iron-hard scales and sharp dorsal fins, their most notable trait was their absolute bloodlust.
The moment they spotted movement, they would launch themselves like living missiles, using every ounce of muscle to ram their targets with enough force to send a human flying.
「Is this the bridge that leads to Green Bit?」 I asked.
「Yeah,」 the cafe owner replied, nodding toward the iron structure. 「They reinforced it with iron after the Fighting Fish kept destroying it, but it didn't matter. No one uses it now. That 'No Entry' sign says it all.」
I thanked the owner, moved to the entrance of the iron bridge, and began dismantling the barricades. Leading a squad of about ten men, we ventured out onto the span.
When we reached the midpoint, a massive crash echoed as a Fighting Fish lunged out of the water toward us. I raised a hand to stop my subordinates from drawing their rifles.
「Steady. I've heard bullets just bounce off those scales. Stay back; I'll handle these things myself.」
As I gave the order, another fish slammed into the iron railing, bending the thick metal with ease.
「But Rear Admiral! Those monsters are bending iron like it's paper!」 a newly appointed corporal shouted.
「Relax, Corporal,」 the squad's Major interjected. 「You're new to this unit, so you wouldn't know, but the Rear Admiral will be fine.」
The corporal didn't look convinced. Realizing that showing was faster than explaining, I stepped forward.
「The Major is right, Corporal. Look... even a human can do this if they train hard enough. Don't worry.」
With a grunt, I gripped the iron railing and ripped a section of it clean off with my bare hands. The corporal's face went pale.
「...Understood. Standing by for the assault,」 he managed to stammer.
「Alright, you big brutes, let's play. Major! I'm going in. Watch the perimeter!」
I lunged forward, meeting an airborne Fighting Fish mid-leap. I drove a straight punch into the space between its eyes, and the creature's head burst like a balloon.
Splattered with blood and ignoring the Major's shout of "Rear Admiral, you're overdoing it!", I stripped off my boots, coat, and pouches.
I tossed aside my tank top, leaving only my trousers. After planting my rod firmly in the ground, I took a deep breath and dove into the dark, churning depths.
Below the surface, I was surrounded. The Fighting Fish, true to their nature, swarmed this small intruder. But the creature that had entered their domain was not the helpless prey they were used to.
The first one tried to impale me with its horn; I countered with a punch to its skull. The second opened its maw to crush me; I grabbed its upper and lower jaws, prying them apart before delivering a sharp kick to its temple.
The third tried a high-speed ram; I braced myself, held out a hand-blade, and let its own momentum do the work, gutting it from gill to tail as it passed.
One after another, I tore through them using every strike in my arsenal—punches, elbows, kicks, headbutts, and chokes.
After what felt like several minutes, I breached the surface and hauled myself back onto the bridge.
「Sorry for the wait,」 I panted. 「Even I have a five-minute limit underwater. Major! The area around the bridge is clear! Move the squad across now!」
With a roar that echoed across the water, I signaled the team to sprint across the bridge while the remaining fish were still reeling from the slaughter.
The Kingdom of Fairies: Rear Admiral Krieg
"Well, this is quite something..."
"An impressive jungle, to say the least, sir."
Stepping off the bridge and onto Green Bit, we were greeted by the wreckage of ships—likely victims of the Fighting Fish—scattered across the sand.
Beyond that lay a forest so dense and primal it felt like a physical wall.
The contrast between the pristine beach and the claustrophobic greenery was jarring, but we had a mission. I ordered the squad into formation, and we pushed into the brush.
We hadn't been walking long when a voice rang out from the foliage, though no speaker was in sight.
"Humans over there! Stop right there-less!"
"Who's there?! Show yourself!" The corporal instinctively leveled his rifle, but I pushed the barrel down.
"Easy, Corporal. We're Marines! Am I correct in assuming you are the Tontatta of Green Bit?"
"That's right! Are you bad humans? Or good humans?"
Knowing these dwarves, they'd believe literally anything I told them. I could have claimed to be a saint and they'd have cheered. But I'm a Marine, not a con artist.
"That's for you to decide! We're here because your people took our weapons. I have a letter here from King Riku himself!"
"What! From King Riku-sama? But that doesn't mean you're good humans-less! If you're good, you'll give us your weapons or your food-less!"
"We should discuss that face-to-face first. Show yourselves!"
I'd brought plenty of rations specifically for trade, knowing a simple demand for return wouldn't work. After a moment of rustling leaves, they emerged.
"We've shown ourselves-less! Now show us the letter from King Riku-sama!"
They were barely twenty centimeters tall, each sporting a long, pointed nose and a thick, fluffy tail like a squirrel.
"Dwarves... they really exist..." the corporal whispered.
"I explained this to you," the Major grunted. "If you're going to be in Headquarters, start studying your racial geography."
The elder dwarf took the letter and squinted at it. "...It is indeed King Riku-sama's hand. Though it only says we should talk."
"Here's the deal," I said, getting straight to the point. "You took our weapons in Acacia. Normally, I'd arrest you for theft, but your laws are your own here. I've brought food to trade for their return. How about it?"
"You big-humans want your weapons that badly-less?"
"They belong to us, yes."
"We will discuss this with everyone-less. Wait a moment."
They huddled in a tiny circle, whispering furiously. As they talked, I ran through my mental notes on the Tontatta.
There was Leo, the user of the Stitch-Stitch Fruit (Nui Nui no Mi), and the princess—Mansherry, was it?—with the heal-heal powers.
Then there were the Bug-Bug Fruit (Mushi Mushi no Mi) users, Hornet and Beetle models.
I wonder about Vice Admiral Onigumo, I thought. He definitely looks like a spider Zoan, though he claims it's Life Return. "Alright! We will take you to our kingdom! But too many big-humans is a problem-less! Pick a few to come with us!"
I took the Major with me, following the tiny scouts through a hidden cave entrance beneath the jungle.
"Rear Admiral... this is far more developed than I expected," the Major muttered.
"Agreed. I thought it would be a few huts, but this..."
Emerging from the tunnel, we found a sprawling, subterranean city. It was beautiful, integrated perfectly with the giant roots of the forest above.
"Of course it is-less! This is the Great Forest our tribe has raised for generations! There isn't a plant we can't grow-less! We've gathered the things we took from Dressrosa in one place. Find your weapons there-less!"
The elder spoke with immense pride. In the original timeline, Doflamingo exploited this pride and their gullible nature to force them into growing SAD for his SMILE factory.
Thinking of SMILE sent a chill down my spine. Artificial Zoan fruits that could be mass-produced to create an army of ability users. From what I remembered, it was a terrifying prospect.
I need to be careful, I thought. If someone like Doflamingo or even the Government gets a hold of this botanical expertise, the balance of power will shatter.
I wasn't aware of the "defects"—the fact that SMILE only worked for one in ten people and robbed the "failures" of their ability to express anything but a laugh.
To me, with my incomplete knowledge, the Tontatta were the potential source of a flawless, artificial army. That made them a high-priority asset—and a high-priority target.
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