BlackStar_BH:
Hello everyone, I know that over the past few months, I have almost abandoned this fanfic for several reasons that I cannot fully explain here. However, this time I want to be honest with you — I will not drop this fanfic no matter what happens. I will continue working on it.
That said, I will need to change the pacing of the story. I'll be speeding things up and skipping over many parts. The fanfic will no longer follow One Piece chapters with the same level of detailed coverage as before. My goal now is to elevate the story's quality and push its pace to the next level…
Stay tuned.
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From Fisher Tiger's perspective, Jimbei's reaction was reasonable at this moment. After all, if the "human" pirates interfered in the fishmen's own disputes, that would only make things far worse for the late Otohime's dream than they already were now.
"But… it can't be helped. I see no reason to be lenient with Hody… that man has completely lost his senses," said Tiger with a complicated expression.
He had never expected a day would come when he would encourage a human to defeat one of his own kind.
Many readers of the fishman race shared the same complex feelings as Tiger in this moment, including Jimbei, whose counterpart was the one opposing the matter entirely.
"Does he really want to stop Luffy from intervening the hard way!?" said Jimbei, sweating.
"A battle between Jimbei and Luffy? Nyuuu~ I wonder who would win!" shouted Hatchi as he looked toward the final scene of the chapter.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
Chapter's Events:
— — — — — — — — — — — —
"Nyuuu… Hody doesn't want to capture you and use your power for himself…"
"…he's too afraid of the threat that your power presents," Hatchi said to Shirahoshi.
"That's why he joined forces with Decken, a man with the perfect power to take your life…!!!"
"Hody is the kind of man who will eliminate anything that stands in his way…!!!" Having nearly lost his life at the hands of Decken, whom Hody had ordered to do just that, Hatchi understood this very well.
"I have heard all about this power I am supposed to possess…" said Shirahoshi.
"But you must understand, I have never actually spoken to a Sea King in all of my life…!!!" Her honesty was plain.
"I still do not feel sure that I even have the ability to…" This was truly how she felt.
"I see. Then we must make sure that Hody does not find out about this fact. It is to our advantage if he fears the worst…" Jimbei's thought was correct; fear of the unknown was enough to hold Hody Jones back a little.
"Shark!! Take me to the Ryuguu Palace!!" Luffy mounted the shark Megalo before entrusting Shirahoshi to Sanji.
"Sanji! You take care of Crybaby for me!!"
"Wait, Luffy-kun!!" exclaimed Jimbei.
"You and your crew must not do battle with Hody!!"
"Is it… because we're humans?" asked both Chopper and Franky.
"Don't you two say it!! That just makes things more confusing!!" yelled Sanji in a comedic scene. How could a reindeer and a cyborg even count as humans, anyway?
"That is correct… Your involvement would only serve to fuel the bad feeling against humans…" That was what Jimbei was worried about.
"You must leave this to me!!" Jimbei declared that he was the one who should resolve this matter.
"Jimbei!! That man has captured my friends!!" Luffy grabbed his hat, a terrifying look crossing his face—even for Jimbei.
"If I don't do something about that Hody, my friends and everyone else will be in trouble."
"I'm going!! If you really want me to stop…"
"…then you'll have to make me!!!" Luffy's stance was crystal clear.
"Luffy…!!"
"As a one-time comrade, I had hoped that you would listen to reason…" Jimbei sighed, but he had expected this.
"But I suppose I was foolish. You truly are that man's brother…" The brother Jimbei referred to was Ace, whose nature was exactly the same as Luffy's.
"If you refuse to back down… then you leave me no choice…!!!" Jimbei cracked his knuckles. It seemed a fight was unavoidable.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
"Oh my God! Will a battle really break out between Jimbei and Luffy!?"
"Don't tell me they'll become enemies!!"
"That's impossible! Luffy owes Jimbei his life…"
"This isn't the right scenario!"
"Why?! Luffy has every right to kick Hody's ass! He's clearly threatening him using his friends as leverage!"
"What's going on with Jimbei? He seems far too muddled… he must be under immense pressure lately. Could it be Big Mom?"
…
"See? Everyone agrees Luffy has the right to intervene."
Tiger pointed behind him, where the crowd of readers in the grand Art Store tavern was discussing Jimbei's current actions in the manga.
After all, he should never have tried to stop Luffy from saving his friends in the first place.
After seeing all that Hody had done so far in the manga, readers—especially the fishmen—understood that Luffy really had to intervene. Jimbei alone wasn't enough to stop Hody's ambitions.
Jimbei had already failed to restrain Arlong, whose nature was lighter than Hody's, so Fishmen readers were already doubtful of his ability to stop Hody. It wasn't about not being strong enough—it was about resolve…
Seeing Otohime's image desecrated by Hody's men, Jimbei should have intervened quickly instead of trying to prevent Luffy from saving his friends.
That was what the readers thought, and it was what the "reader" Jimbei himself thought, too!
"Tsk… he really did it…"
Annoyance deepened on Jimbei's face as he saw his counterpart strike Luffy with Fishman Karate to stop him from riding Megalo.
But then his expression softened after seeing his counterpart explain the principles of Fishman Karate—its basis in water. It was actually wonderful to see such a valuable lesson being taught through his counterpart's mouth.
"Heh~ So our techniques will be leaked to the outside world… Don't you feel bitter being the one to do it, Jimbei?" mocked Arlong.
Jimbei looked at him indifferently, thought a moment, then replied: "It's an honor for me that Mr. Rob introduced our racial martial arts to the world through my counterpart."
Tiger smiled at hearing this. "You've always been the most talented of your generation when it came to mastering Fishman Karate, Jimbei. So it's no wonder Mr. Rob chose you to present it."
Hearing that, Arlong clenched his teeth in frustration… It was true that he was nowhere near Jimbei's level. He was far too weak in comparison. But that didn't mean he could accept it easily. His violent temper had always stemmed from jealousy of Jimbei.
"Ah!? Robin!?"
Seeing Robin intervene in his fight with Luffy, placing herself directly between them just as they were about to punch each other, Jimbei felt alarmed.
But then he burst out laughing—along with most of the readers in that moment.
"Ahahaha!!"
"Look at Sanji! Hahahaha!!!"
"All three of them got punched! Hahaha!"
"Was that just a clone of Robin!?"
"My God! When did Robin learn to make a clone of herself? Is she a ninja?"
"She must have become far stronger under the Revolutionary Army's guidance during the past two years."
…
In Shimotsuki Village of the East Blue, Arashi was furious.
"How could this happen!? Is this what you trained so hard for these two years!?"
"So that some evil fishman could capture you and throw you in a cage!?"
"Don't tell me that instead of becoming stronger, you've grown weaker? Tell me, Zoro?"
"It's one thing if the hostages are Usopp and Brook, but you? This is unacceptable!!"
Arashi voiced his endless frustration—especially after Sanji's fans had mocked Zoro's fans all over the global forum. There had been thousands of posts and clashes in the comments between the two completely opposed factions.
So far, Sanji's fan faction, led by the chef Zeff, had utterly dominated over Zoro's fan faction, which, of course, was led by none other than Arashi himself—Zoro's biological father.
Even if he hadn't yet appeared in the manga, his personal photo with young Zoro, barely a year old, was enough for Zoro's fanbase to recognize him as their spiritual leader.
"But… how could the future world's greatest swordsman allow himself to be captured and caged!?"
"Sigh~ I'm truly disappointed…"
"Well, why all the frustration? It's not like our son has had a proper chance to show off his skills yet… The underwater environment is far from suitable."
"There was no helping it, dear. He was captured while drowning, after all…"
Terra, Zoro's mother, was more forgiving, offering excuses here and there to ease Arashi's frustration.
"I agree with Jimbei. I like that he stopped Luffy from rushing off to save those fools! Zoro should rescue himself on his own."
…
Back on Fish-Man Island, King Neptune felt something strange as he followed the chapter's events closely, page by page.
"Why does she have that expression on her face…?"
What caught Neptune's eye was Shirahoshi's anxious look at the moment she heard Jimbei speak of how humans always destroyed everything good whenever they came close to achieving their dream.
"That expression… she must have something to say… something important."
For some reason, Neptune felt he understood this daughter he had not yet gained in this life, and likely never would.
"Let's see what it is you wish to say…"
Neptune turned the page to the next chapter, his expression full of anticipation.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 954: The Real Challenge in the New World.
Chapter 955: Exposed for What He Truly Is.
Chapter 956: Hody is the Hatred of the Fish-Man Race Accumulated Across Generations.
Chapter 957: The Destruction of Fishman Island?
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