Sadgeo was not Joy Boy.
From the very beginning, this had always been within Ozz Dotor's expectations.
After all, he was not trying to create an unbeatable "father" figure for himself, but to make the world more interesting.
So rather than calling Sadgeo a clone of Joy Boy, it was more accurate to say he was an artificially created child of destiny.
"Hoo…"
Seated leisurely at a table, sipping a drink unique to Fish-Man Island, Ozz Dotor let out a slow breath and opened one eye.
He glanced toward Madame Shyarly beside him.
The two had known each other for a long time. Back when she was young, she had divined for the Roger Pirates and foretold the coming of Poseidon.
Naturally, Ozz Dotor was curious enough to have his own fortune told.
"Long time no see, Shyarly. You've grown even more beautiful."
A faint smile curved at the corner of his lips.
Now fully matured, Shyarly possessed the elegant figure typical of a shark mermaid, with a tall, voluptuous build and a cold, dignified aura. In sheer size, she was even slightly larger than Ozz Dotor.
"I didn't expect Lord Ozz Dotor to have the interest to visit me."
Taking a slow drag from her cigarette, Shyarly stood and poured him a cup of coffee.
Ozz Dotor, however, looked slightly displeased.
He hated bitter drinks.
With a snap of his fingers, he added three packs of sugar and a generous amount of milk before finally taking a sip.
"I'm just here to enjoy the show."
"It seems you already know the truth behind the disturbances on Fish-Man Island?"
Shyarly had not made a prophecy in a long time, but she still had her own sources of information. She knew that certain unwelcome guests had arrived.
"You could say that."
Ozz Dotor smiled faintly.
"I also want to see who Fish-Man Island will ultimately fall to."
His expression carried a hint of amusement.
He had already seen that members of the Big Mom Pirates had arrived ahead of time.
There were also those self-proclaimed New Fish-Man Pirates, a bunch of thugs acting on their own.
Fish-Man Island really was lively.
Should he make things a little more difficult for them?
...
Elsewhere, Luffy and his crew had already adapted to Fish-Man Island with Camie's help. They successfully entered the island and learned that the New Fish-Man Pirates were planning to overthrow the Ryugu Kingdom and take revenge on humanity.
"Surrender, Straw Hat Luffy, and Neptune!!!"
"We will take control of this country, and during this year's Reverie, we will slaughter the kings of the human kingdoms and announce the existence of our fish-man race to the world!!!"
The anger of a race was never born from a single individual, nor could it be controlled by one.
Even though the original captain of the New Fish-Man Pirates, Hody Jones, had been casually killed by Ozz Dotor years ago, the accumulated discrimination and persecution suffered by fish-men and merfolk, along with the death of Fisher Tiger, continued to fuel that rage.
The internal conflict among fish-men was inevitable.
History would still repeat itself. That was the inertia of the world.
That was why Ozz Dotor held no strong bias against the Celestial Dragons, nor did he harbor excessive goodwill toward the Revolutionary Army.
In a sense, they were the same kind of people.
Likewise, he held no illusions about their origins, whether it was the Twenty Kings or Joy Boy.
And so, he created Sadgeo.
Joy Boy represented light.
Davy Jones represented darkness.
Two legacies meant to overthrow the Celestial Dragons.
Joy Boy passed to Roger, then to Luffy.
Davy Jones passed to Rocks, then to Teach.
Sadgeo was the fusion of those two inherited wills.
Add in Shanks, a man entangled between light and darkness, and Sadgeo became something that was neither purely good nor evil.
A man destined to bring something unexpected to the World Government.
Naturally, he would be incompatible with Luffy, the true inheritor of Joy Boy's will.
The same applied to Blackbeard.
This was the contradiction of black and white sharing the same destination, yet opposing each other.
"So you want to resist humanity… that's quite a deep grudge."
"Can the strength of the fish-men be used for my purposes?"
"Shishishi…"
Standing within the Ryugu Palace, Sadgeo looked out at the assembled fish-man army.
Luffy and the others had already gone to confront them.
King Neptune had wanted to go protect his people as well, but there was something inside the palace that concerned him even more.
"Could it really be… that you have returned?!"
"But how is that possible…"
Sadgeo tilted his head slightly.
"You know me?"
The legend of Joy Boy had been deeply ingrained in every generation of Fish-Man Island's rulers.
As former subordinates of Poseidon, they had been entrusted with protecting the "Promised Ship," Noah.
Even without seeing his true face, the feeling they had always imagined matched the man before them.
"I… suppose so."
"I see. Then I'll keep it simple. Follow me and let's cause some chaos, fish-men."
"Overthrow the World Government."
"What?!"
"Overthrow the World Government…"
Sadgeo grinned.
"Of course. If you want to become the king of the world, you have to defeat the current rulers, don't you?"
"Well… it might be difficult for me alone."
"So I'll just have to drag the entire world into it."
"But…"
Neptune's face was covered in cold sweat.
Logically, the fish-men's stance should align with Joy Boy's, resisting the World Government.
But something about this situation felt wrong.
This Joy Boy was not the same as the one from the legends.
At that moment, a disturbance erupted in the plaza outside the palace.
"What is that?!"
Everyone looked up.
A massive wooden ship descended from the sky, enormous beyond imagination.
Standing beside Shirahoshi, Queen Otohime, who had been trying to calm the rioting fish-men, turned pale upon seeing it.
Then they heard voices echoing through the sea.
"We have brought Noah…"
"We have waited for the day of destiny, never abandoning our duty!"
"We will confront Joy Boy!!!"
Sensing these overwhelming thoughts with Observation Haki, Otohime's face turned pale.
Luffy released a surge of Conqueror's Haki, knocking down the fish-man rebels, then looked up at the massive ship with a serious expression.
"This is bad!!!"
He began inflating his fist desperately, preparing to stop the disaster with brute force.
As for Sadgeo, he appeared as well, his eyes lighting up with excitement as he gazed at the ancient and weathered Noah.
"Now that's a ship worthy of me!!!"
Shirahoshi trembled as she looked toward Noah in the distance.
"Our king, do not worry. We have only come to demand an explanation from Joy Boy…"
The colossal Sea Kings pulling Noah looked at her with guilt in their eyes, but even more so with anger.
They turned their attention inward, sensing the presence within Fish-Man Island.
"???"
"How… are there two Joy Boys?"
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