"Let me see who come here? The high-and-mighty royals actually lowered themselves to step into our Fishman District!"
As Sherwin and the others approached, someone inside the district shouted mockingly.
Following that shout, a large number of fishmen emerged from every corner, most of them glaring at Shark Star with clear hostility.
"What brings the noble prince to our Fishman District today?"
The fishman who spoke first glanced curiously at Shirahoshi and Sherwin, then continued provoking Shark Star with a sharp, mocking tone.
But Shark Star, full of grief and fury as he sought to avenge his mother, had no patience for pointless chatter. His voice was heavy as he demanded, "Where is Hody Jones?!"
The moment he spoke, the fishmen ahead of them — along with many who had gathered to watch — all showed a wary reaction.
"Why are the royals looking for Boss Hody?"
"I knew it! That group around Hody keeps preaching hatred toward humans. There was no way they'd avoid a reckoning forever!"
"Helping humans deal with your own people… just like Hody said, the royal family lost their dignity long ago!"
"Think about Queen Otohime! She wanted peaceful coexistence with humans, and they ended up killing her!"
The surroundings filled with noise and bitter accusations. Although not every fishman in the district agreed with Hody Jone extreme ideals, their dislike toward humans — and toward the royal family — was even stronger.
"Enough!" Shark Star roared, cutting through the chatter with anger. He demanded once more, "Tell me! Where is Hody Jones?!"
It was rare to see Shark Star lose his temper like this. The fishmen who had been shouting moments earlier fell silent for a heartbeat — but only for a heartbeat.
They quickly returned to their noisy disregard, treating his words as nothing worth listening to.
Watching from the side, Sherwin curled his lips. A prince with almost no authority in the Fishman District… no wonder that in the future, when Hody Jones tried to overthrow Neptune,
he could easily gather nearly a hundred thousand fighters. Even after publicly confessing that he had killed Queen Otohime, his followers showed no reaction at all.
Just as Sherwin was considering whether to nudge Princess Shirahoshi to use her Observation Haki to locate Hody Jones, the man himself pushed through the crowd, his lackeys trailing behind him.
"So it the three princes. May I know what business you have with me?"
Hody Jone words sounded polite, but the contempt in his tone was unmistakable. Then his gaze shifted toward Shirahoshi — and the Felynes.
"Shirahoshi… and… the Hunter Sherwin Felynes?!"
The moment he recognized them, Hody Jone eyes narrowed sharply. A cruel smile spread across his face right after.
As a schemer who had long been planning to overthrow King Neptune, he naturally couldn't miss the news of Sherwin arrival.
He also already knew that the Arlong Pirates had been wiped out by Sherwin and his companions.
Although Arlong had long ceased to be the childhood hero he remembered — especially after Jinbe forced him to the East Blue — Hody Jones was still enraged that Arlong had died at the hands of humans.
Because of that, he and a few loyal followers had been discussing ways to take revenge on Sherwin. They hadn't expected their target to walk right into their territory on his own.
He hadn't seen Sherwin himself, which was a slight disappointment… but killing the Felynes to lure Sherwin in seemed like a fine alternative.
Because he failed to recognize Sherwin beneath the Felyne combat suit, Hody Jones continued plotting silently in his mind.
But Shark Star gave him no chance to act. The blue-haired prince raised his trident and pointed it at Hody Jones, roaring,
"Hody Jones! I hereby arrest you for murdering Queen Otohime and stealing the treasures of Ryugu Palace!"
"What?! The one who killed Queen Otohime was Hody?!"
"I thought the killer was a human! Didn't Hody claim he was the one who caught the culprit?!"
"But Prince Shark Star wouldn't joke about something like this!"
"Does that mean… Hody was the real murderer?!"
The crowd erupted again. Many of them hated the royal family and humans largely because of Otohime death.
After all, Queen Otohime truly had persuaded most fishmen to let go of their prejudice and try to trust humans.
But that assassination shattered their hopes, and the fact that the royal family still sought peace with humans only deepened their disappointment.
"Hmph! So you finally found out?"
Hody Jones made no attempt to deny anything. Not only did he admit it outright, he even loudly proclaimed his so-called "great achievements" to Shark Star and the surrounding fishmen.
"That woman was too much of an obstacle! Wasn't she?! She actually demanded that we all get along with humans and called revenge against humans a 'bad thing'! And she nearly succeeded in her foolish dream! So I killed her! And pinned it all on the humans!"
He swept his gaze around the stunned residents of Fishman District and roared,
"Can you tolerate something like that?! Not only refusing to avenge our suffering, but bowing down to the humans who once persecuted us?!"
"Of course not! We have to strike back—hard!"
Several of Hody subordinates shouted immediately, fanning the flames.
With their incitement, the Fishman District residents—who already held little goodwill toward humans—also began shouting, closing in on Sherwin and the others with clear intent to turn hostile.
There were indeed a few Fish-men who didn't want to rebel, but the moment someone showed the slightest sign of wanting to leave, the fanatics beside them knocked them to the ground.
"You trying to run off and report this?!"
A few Fish-men surrounded the fallen ones, growling fiercely.
Under that pressure, the others who wanted to leave were forced to join the mob advancing toward Sherwin and the group.
"Sherwin, I think I finally understand why Mother told me not to hate Mr. Hody…"
Tears welled in Shirahoshi eyes as she looked at the Fish-men closing in. She suddenly murmured,
"People controlled by anger and hatred… they're terrifying, and so pitiful…"
"So? What are you going to do now?" Sherwin tilted his cat-like head, amused.
"I-I want to obey Mother words… and not hate Mr. Hody." Sniffling softly, Shirahoshi expression was timid but her voice was unusually resolute.
"But the one who caused all this—Mr. Hody—must be punished! If he keeps spreading hatred among our people, Mother dream will never come true!"
Her current thoughts seemed similar to the manga version, yet compared to the girl who only knew forgiveness, this Shirahoshi—though still kind—was no longer naive.
To be honest, Sherwin had expected her to give him another cliché speech about forgiving her enemy and letting everything go.
But her reaction surprised him slightly. Thinking it over, though, it was indeed something Shirahoshi would choose.
After all, letting go of hatred isn't something you accomplish just by saying it.
"In that case… Huamei."
In the next moment, an overwhelming wave of Conqueror Haki churned the surrounding seawater and swept across the entire Fishman District.