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Chapter 174 - Chapter 174: Descent Upon Fishman Island

Just like the people of Fishman Island, all the marines aboard the Six Paths of Reincarnation were left wide-eyed, staring in shock at the massive, boundless hemispherical crater that had appeared where Kaito had just vanished.

Even Kalifa, who was somewhat familiar with Kaito's powers, was so stunned by the miraculous sight that her glasses nearly slid off her face.

Under the effects of Kaito's super Almighty Push, the surrounding seawater was repelled outward by sheer force, forming a cascading motion that pulled it toward the depths of the enormous crater. Even the warship began sinking toward the seafloor.

And at the center of the crater's bottom—ten thousand meters below the surface—Fishman Island, once protected and hidden by a massive bubble, was now fully exposed to the sunlight.

Once everything was in place, Kaito's body turned into a flash of lightning and, in the next second, he reappeared on the deck of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

He paid no mind to the stunned expressions of those around him. Having anticipated their reactions, he raised a hand and clenched it in the air.

Immediately, the entire warship began to levitate, slowly rising until it hovered above Fishman Island.

...

Then he released his grip, and the warship began its gentle descent toward the island.

...

On Fishman Island—

King Neptune and Jinbei stood with their heads tilted back, blankly watching the warship descend from above.

Plenty of foreign ships had come to Fishman Island before, but never had one made such a dramatic entrance.

...

...

Especially for Jinbei, this move of Kaito's once again shattered his perception of the man's power. The awe and reverence he felt toward Kaito had reached its peak.

All eyes remained fixed on the warship as it descended gently like a drifting balloon. Once it landed, the seawater overhead seemed to respond to some unknown signal and gradually closed in above the island again.

A large number of marines disembarked and lined up neatly along the street, forming a clear path.

Not a single soldier glanced at the merfolk or fishmen—creatures rarely seen by ordinary people. At that moment, all of them had their eyes locked on the warship's exit, their gazes burning with zeal.

Caught up in the tension of the moment, the island's residents didn't even dare to breathe loudly. Subconsciously, they followed the marines' eyes, staring in the same direction.

Finally, under the watchful gaze of the entire island, a tall figure draped in a coat of justice stepped into view.

It was Kaito.

Kalifa and Ain followed closely behind. As soon as they stepped off the ship, the two women noticed the towering presence of King Neptune among the crowd.

Kaito scanned the group briefly and, just as he'd expected, Princess Shirahoshi wasn't among the welcoming party.

According to the anime's storyline, she was still hiding in the Tower, evading attacks from the Mark-Mark Fruit user Vander Decken.

Once Neptune and the others saw Kaito, they immediately recognized him as their intended guest—the Navy Admiral, Shikiryū.

But before Neptune could react, the blue-skinned Jinbei stepped ahead of him, eyes shining with excitement as he greeted Kaito.

"Admiral Shikiryū! Thank you so much for coming to visit Fishman Island. We've been eagerly awaiting your arrival!"

Jinbei's tone was the epitome of respect. In his mind, Kaito's visit would surely bring immense and immeasurable benefit to Fishman Island.

Kaito smiled slightly at him.

"Jinbei, isn't this reception a bit... too grand?"

"Not at all. Everyone's been looking forward to your arrival!"

Kaito didn't reply. His Rinnegan swept over the merfolk and fishmen gathered to greet him.

Wherever his gaze landed, many couldn't help but lower their heads instinctively under its oppressive presence.

But not everyone submitted. A few fishmen stubbornly held their ground, raising their chins to meet Kaito's gaze with undisguised loathing—and more obviously, fear.

Clearly, they belonged to a faction.

And the one at the center was someone Kaito recognized: Hody Jones, future captain of the New Fishman Pirates, who hadn't yet reached the age he appeared in the anime.

Standing beside him were several familiar lackeys from the anime as well, but Kaito wasn't the least bit interested in their abilities and couldn't even be bothered to remember their names.

Noticing their defiant stares, Kaito let out a cold snort of disdain.

Boom!

A terrifying pressure descended upon Hody Jones and his underlings.

They instantly dropped to their knees, the ground beneath them cracking under the sheer force. Blood spilled from their legs and filled the fractures.

Even so, fishmen did have much tougher physiques than regular humans. That amount of blood loss was startling, even by their standards.

And it wasn't over.

The pressure intensified further, forcing Hody and the others flat onto the ground in a spread-eagle "大" position, utterly disgraced.

The surrounding crowd, confused and alarmed, quickly distanced themselves from the group. Hody and his crew had always been aggressive and hostile, never liked by the majority of Fishman Island's residents. For now, no one dared approach them.

Jinbei and Neptune realized immediately that Kaito was displeased by Hody's attitude. They rushed to apologize, offering no excuses for Hody and his gang.

Kaito wasn't the kind of person who acted without reason. His show of force had been deliberate—he simply disliked these radicals.

The fact that they dared look at him with such suicidal eyes made it worse. If it weren't for Neptune, Jinbei, and the sincere attitude of most merfolk residents, he would've flattened the entire group right then and there.

In any other place, these guys would've already been turned into fish-paste by his pressure alone.

Even now, though Kaito had spared their lives, they were completely unconscious and had to be dragged back to Fishman District by others.

Speaking of Fishman District—that was one of the key areas Kaito planned to deal with on this trip. Most of the anti-human sentiment originated there.

Once Hody returned, if he behaved, fine. But if he used this as an excuse to launch a rebellion, that would play right into Kaito's hands. He could use that moment to eliminate all the radicals in one clean sweep.

Thinking this, Kaito waved a hand at Neptune and Jinbei to show that he wasn't angry. Then his gaze shifted to the three princes standing behind Neptune.

As Shirahoshi's older brothers, the three of them didn't resemble her at all. Kaito guessed it was probably because they took after their father Neptune, while Shirahoshi had inherited the looks of her mother, Queen Otohime.

The three princes, still young men, grew tense under Kaito's gaze. They assumed they'd somehow offended their distinguished guest.

Little did they know that this "distinguished guest" was merely making a mental note about how drastically different their art style was from their sister's.

Shaking off those random thoughts, Kaito recalled the true reason he came here—Poseidon, one of the Ancient Weapons.

He looked at King Neptune and asked,

"Besides these three princes, I heard that His Majesty Neptune also has a little princess. Why didn't she come to greet us?"

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