Chapter 222: The Songstress Appears
Queen Otohime was singing her heart out on screen.
Her eyes closed, completely immersed.
In fact, she wasn't the only one immersed.
At least at the Mermaid Cafe, all the customers were quietly listening with rapt attention.
Though they saw her often—She periodically gave speeches and was familiar to everyone on the island—when had they ever heard her sing?
Never. Not once.
Otohime's speeches were always for the nation and its people. Before this, she'd never shown any intention of displaying her artistic talents.
But now things were different.
"Pretty good," Brett said quietly.
"Mm." Shyarly nodded. "Worthy of Her Majesty."
Honestly, this wasn't particularly strange.
Mermaids had once been called sirens. In that era when maritime contact was infrequent, they were legendary monsters who used song to lure sailors at sea.
Their voices were naturally exceptional.
Though Queen Otohime wasn't the best singer among mermaids, she was still quite good.
At least her level should be sufficient for an idol.
Queen Otohime's advantage had never been her voice alone.
When she finished her song, continuous cheers rang out across all of Fish-Man Island.
Though Fish-Man Island had never supported Otohime's political aspirations, her prestige had always remained high. Everyone knew this woman truly worked tirelessly for Fish-Man Island's development.
She genuinely loved this country and everyone on this island.
So naturally, without any surprise, she successfully advanced to the next round.
While Fish-Man Island's preliminaries were underway, broadcasts were simultaneously starting worldwide.
This was a grand audition for the entire world.
Thus, the effect of Tesoro placing Fish-Man Island's preliminaries on the first day became apparent.
Nearly every broadcast location was packed with surging crowds.
That was Fish-Man Island, after all!
"Wow! So many mermaids!"
"So beautiful—every mermaid lady is breathtakingly gorgeous!"
"Fish-Man Island must be paradise! This is amazing!"
"I've decided—no matter what, I must visit Fish-Man Island at least once in my life! Visit that dreamlike nation!"
Just as the preliminaries began, such cheers started echoing in every corner of the world.
Who could resist beautiful mermaid ladies?
Then people across the seas saw a heavyweight figure appear.
"Eh? What's happening? Why does this woman seem so popular? Even the surrounding contestants are cheering!"
"Queen? She's Fish-Man Island's Queen?"
"No way! Fish-Man Island's King is actually letting his wife participate in auditions?"
"She's quite pretty though."
"Really? I think compared to the other mermaid ladies, she's not particularly outstanding."
"But she's the Queen! Think about it—Fish-Man Island's Queen!"
"Oh! When you put it that way, that's actually pretty great! I support her advancing!"
For the first time, Queen Otohime began gaining influence worldwide. People across the seas were learning her name.
The first day's preliminaries ended amid such excitement. Tomorrow would broadcast the Longarm Tribe's preliminaries, disappointing people worldwide.
Fish-Man Island's contestants were either beautiful mermaid ladies or bizarrely diverse fish-men. Compared to them, what was interesting about longarmed people whose arms were just a bit longer than ordinary humans?
But regardless, the schedule was set. Audiences had no choice.
That evening, Tesoro couldn't wait to call Brett.
"The preliminaries went extremely smoothly and caused a sensation worldwide!"
His voice was smug, his proud expression clearly visible on the Den Den Mushi's face.
"Morgans says we need to add more broadcast points. Otherwise, with the current scale, once the excitement builds further, we might not be able to support it."
He had a point. This was just the opening success. As the program continued, enthusiasm would certainly keep rising.
After all, where in this world had there ever been entertainment programming like this?
People whose entertainment consisted of reading newspapers—how could they resist such a program?
"Hahahaha! We're going to captivate the world again!" Tesoro laughed heartily.
This probably wasn't an exaggeration.
The second day featured the Longarm Tribe's preliminaries. Brett habitually watched the broadcast with Shyarly at the Mermaid Cafe. The customers watching together had only increased from yesterday.
Fish-Man Island's residents were still quite curious about this race.
When Apoo took the stage and used various parts of his body as instruments, all the audience members exclaimed in amazement.
Brett nodded lightly. Tesoro did have good judgment.
Apoo's appearance wasn't particularly outstanding, but his ability was simply too flashy. Using such an ability anywhere but on stage would be a waste.
In fact, Apoo's appearance similarly sparked enthusiasm in other parts of the world.
This guy was a Devil Fruit user—in this world, ability users were synonymous with the strong!
How could such a person participating in auditions not generate excitement?
The following two days featured broadcast preliminaries for the Longlegs and Snakeneck tribes. Though these two groups lacked particularly standout figures, with audition excitement steadily climbing, viewership data looked excellent.
Combined with the World Economic News Agency's extensive reporting and newspaper introductions of popular preliminary contestants, the entire world's passion seemed mobilized.
Then finally came humanity's preliminary broadcasts.
For humans, because they were divided into several different regions, broadcasts from various regions alternated.
Tesoro had selfishly saved the Dressrosa competition zone for last as the finale. He felt Viola's exceptional dancing would surely make a spectacular impact.
But—
Watching the girl singing wholeheartedly on screen, Brett felt somewhat stunned.
The girl's voice was crisp and pleasant, like a flowing spring—melodious song like early spring morning leaves bearing dew swaying in the wind, conveying vigorous vitality and abundant energy.
"Truly beautiful!" Even Boss Shyarly couldn't help but say in wonder. "I've never heard such lovely singing!"
Indeed, the singing was excessively beautiful. At least all the audience members here were listening entranced.
This was incomparably superior to Queen Otohime's half-baked singing.
However, she seemed somewhat familiar.
Where had he seen her before?
Brett looked at the girl's half-red, half-white hair, somewhat uncertain.
"Brett, this girl should definitely be one of the final members!" Shyarly said with certainty.
"Well—" Brett felt awkward. How should he answer? Say that Tesoro had already rigged the selection?
"Hey, hey, hey!" In Dressrosa, Tesoro nearly crushed his chair's armrest. "What's with this girl—this heavenly singing voice!"
Bad, bad, very bad!
Just hearing this singing made him feel ashamed!
Just listening to her voice already made him want her as a final group member!
Viola?
Who's that? Doesn't ring a bell.
No, no, Tesoro! Don't forget your original intention of rigging this!
Mr. Tesoro fell into tremendous internal conflict.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the New World, on some island—
"Boss! Boss! Come quick!" A fat man was sprinting rapidly toward a large ship docked at the shore.
"It's Uta!"
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