Neptune saw that Shirahoshi had already made up her mind, so he no longer tried to stop her.
Instead, he told his three sons to follow Sherwin as well—both to protect her and to represent Ryugu Palace in judging Hody Jones.
In addition…
"If Shirahoshi accidentally activates her ability, you must stop her immediately," Neptune warned seriously.
"If anyone else finds out, she'll be in real danger!"
"So… since you know it dangerous if she exposed, why didn't you try to help her master her ability sooner? Being able to control it is far more reliable than hoping she simply doesn't lose control, right?"
Sherwin couldn't help saying this in confusion.
"Besides, if Shirahoshi learned to use her power properly, she could command the Sea Kings to hunt down Vander Decken.
She wouldn't have needed to spend all those years alone inside the Hard-Shell Tower."
"This…" Neptune stared blankly and murmured, "I… I never thought about that…"
Sherwin rolled his eyes. The mentality of the fish-man royal family and that of Hody Jone group were like complete opposites—one wanted to solve everything with violence, while the other wanted to solve everything with peace.
Then Jinbe stepped in to speak fairly on Neptune behalf. "Princess Shirahoshi was already marked by Vander Decken when she was very young.
So even if we wanted to secretly train her ability without others noticing, it would have been impossible."
"How is it impossible?" Haibara Meow on Sherwin shoulder looked at Jinbe with open disdain.
"Since you can hide Shirahoshi inside the Hard-Shell Tower, bringing in one or two Sea Kings shouldn't be difficult, right? She has nothing else to do while staying there, so she could have practiced her ability during that time, meow!"
"It definitely wouldn't be as simple as Ai-chan makes it sound, but it still something that could be done if you put in the effort," Purah Meow added in agreement.
"Your real problem is that you never even thought about actively developing Shirahoshi ability, meow! Check-it!"
(ゝω)~☆
"..."
Neptune and the others were left speechless by the two little cats talking back and forth.
"You're right. Running away from a problem is never the right solution."
After a brief silence, Neptune admitted his mistake.
But even compared to the power of Poseidon, Neptune cared more about his daughter feelings.
So he turned to Shirahoshi and asked, "Shirahoshi, are you willing to train your ability?"
"I… I'll do my best!" Shirahoshi raised her small—well, big—fist, answering without much confidence.
Neptune smiled with relief, then looked back at Sherwin. "I'll leave the rest to you. Please take good care of her."
…
Fish-Man Street was originally established as a place to take in the orphans of Fish-Man Island.
But with the fish-men notoriously poor management, the atmosphere quickly deteriorated and the area turned into a gathering place for criminal groups.
Later, even though Fisher Tiger managed to unify Fish-Man Street, he soon left, and after his death the entire area fell into even greater chaos.
After Queen Otohime death, Neptune no longer had the energy to manage it, so it simply spiraled on its own…
It had to be said—Neptune was truly a failed king. His actions didn't make him a tyrant, but a mediocre, even incompetent ruler was undeniable.
And for a leader, incompetence can be worse than cruelty.
Yet even such a Neptune was still evaluated positively by much of the fish-man population… only in a world as rotten as the sea of pirates.
At least Neptune treated the residents of Fish-Man Island main area fairly well.
Furthermore, Fish-Man Island present situation perfectly fit Neptune long-standing "governing style": when facing problems, his first instinct was always to avoid them and delay.
In contrast, Queen Otohime ideas may have been naïve, but at least her determination and execution were strong.
Also, the location of Fish-Man Street was a major problem.
If placing it outside the twin giant bubbles was due to a lack of usable space on Fish-Man Island, that could still be understood.
But putting it somewhere where even the Sunlight Tree Eve could barely shine any light was simply absurd.
The people there lived almost permanently in dark, oppressive waters. It would've been a miracle for Fish-Man Street to develop good morals in such an environment.
Sherwin also couldn't understand why Fish-Man Street was built beside the enormous Noah Ark that the fish-men had guarded for generations.
The place already lacked light, and with that colossal thing blocking what little there was, it was no different from a dark prison.
And even after completely losing control of Fish-Man Street, Neptune never considered relocating Noah.
Even though he had shouted on the "Noah" that the ship absolutely couldn't be damaged because of the "promise," before that he had still left it lying for nearly ten years among a group of disobedient Fish-Men…
The most meaningful thing King Neptune had probably ever done for the Fish-Men race was making a good friend like Whitebeard.
While Sherwin kept grumbling inwardly, they rode the giant oarfish toward the outskirts of Fish-Man District, where most of the area was shrouded under Noah shadow.
"You all know how to use bubble coral, right?" Shark Star took out several short tube-like corals and handed them to Sherwin.
"The touring vessel can't go any farther. You'll need waterproof coating to continue."
But Sherwin waved his hand. "These bubbles are convenient, but they're not as good as the diving suits my cats make."
As he spoke, he pulled out a brown cat-paw canister, and Robin, along with all the Felynes except the two research cats, each took out canisters of different colors and patterns.
When they learned they were heading to Fish-Man Island, Haibara Meow and Purah Meow had prepared full-coverage waterproof combat suits for everyone—cats included.
With a flash of colorful light, Sherwin and Robin transformed into cat-fur humanoids, while the Felynes, already being cats, naturally wouldn't put on another cat suit.
Instead, they changed into a unified, sci-fi-styled set of combat gear.
The combat suits were based on the Mizutsune-inspired design from the Monster Hunter world, except they weren't as angular as the original and had those two meaningless "braids" removed.
The overall shape was smoother, and each Felyne had personalized color adjustments to match their taste.
As for Haibara Meow and Purah Meow, the two research cats wanted to personally experience the effect of bubble coral, so they chose to apply waterproof coating, covering their upper bodies in bubbles.
"So… amazing!"
Shirahoshi watched Sherwin and Robin, now in their "cat" forms, with pure envy, clearly more fascinated by their fluffy combat suit appearances.
Meanwhile, Shark Star and his brothers stared wide-eyed at the Felyne Mizutsune-style gear.
After changing into their combat suits, Sherwin and the others swam out through the oarfish bubble and followed Shark Star and the others toward Fish-Man District.