Chapter 544: The Great Migration
"Sorry to keep you waiting, partner!"
The laugh that reached Brett was one only he could hear - deep and rolling and completely unhurried despite the circumstances. Out of the black water all around him, enormous shapes came rushing in.
Leading them was Alexander, Brett's old friend from the deep sea. The proud warrior shrimp came in fast, his long tail sweeping around to shatter several falling boulders in one motion before he'd even slowed down.
"Leave the rest to us, partner!"
Alexander's laugh was broad and unrestrained. "By the command of our king, it is we who will save Fish-Man Island today!"
Brett let out a long breath.
With the Sea Kings here, the burden had just dropped considerably.
He looked around. In every direction, the dark water had been replaced by something darker still - the silhouettes of Sea Kings, arriving in numbers that were difficult to comprehend. One thousand, two thousand, more than that. Every Sea King in the surrounding waters, including those from the Calm Belt, had responded to Shirahoshi's call. Brett couldn't count them, but he knew with certainty that with this many, the crisis could be weathered.
The Sea Kings called to each other in long, resonant cries. Despite their size, they assessed the situation quickly - intelligence not lesser than a human's, working out the problem in moments.
Then they divided.
One group rose toward Brett's position above the island, joining the effort to intercept the falling rocks from the Red Line.
Others spread outward around the island's perimeter, positioning themselves in the path of the lateral debris surge.
Even the smallest Sea Kings present were well over a hundred meters long. Many of the larger ones measured in the thousands. For creatures of that scale, using their bodies as shields against falling rock was not difficult. They simply placed themselves in the way - and when your body is several kilometers of solid muscle and bone, that counts for quite a lot.
The falling stones that made it past the Sea Kings above, Brett's clouds caught. Between them, nothing reached the island.
The lateral surge was met by the Sea Kings positioning themselves in layers around the perimeter, effectively building a living mountain range around Fish-Man Island. The rolling wall of debris broke against them and went nowhere.
Brett's clouds helped fill in the gaps.
And in this way, the immediate threat was contained.
Though Brett knew it wasn't over. Imu and the weapon were still up there. The bombardment could resume at any moment.
Fish-Man Island was no longer safe.
It was a painful conclusion to reach. Everything that had been built here, everything that had been achieved - to abandon it suddenly like this, there would be no recovering what was left behind. But the calculation was clear.
If Imu was willing to give up Mariejois, then Brett could afford to give up Fish-Man Island.
He shifted to his hybrid form and pulled out his Den Den Mushi.
Neptune answered immediately.
"Brett! What is the situation up there?"
"The immediate threat is under control for now. But the Red Line above us is gone - Imu destroyed it."
Brett was direct. "I don't want to say this, but Fish-Man Island is no longer safe. We have to move."
Neptune went still on the other end.
"There's no time to hesitate. We have to do this now."
Brett's voice was firm. "Have Queen Otohime address the whole island. It's time to use the Promised Ship - the one Joy Boy left eight hundred years ago."
"Tell everyone to go to the Sea Forest. To the Ark Noah. Then have Shirahoshi have the Sea Kings carry everyone out."
A brief silence.
Then Neptune said: "Understood. Leave the island to me."
"Good."
Brett ended the call.
He stood in the deep water for a moment. It was a painful thing, this decision. Fish-Man Island had been built into something remarkable, and leaving in a hurry like this meant leaving most of it behind.
But there was no other way.
Below him, the island was coming alive with activity. He could hear it - the voices rising, the energy shifting from fear into motion.
Through the speaker system that carried across the whole island, Otohime's voice reached him.
"My people. I know this decision is difficult to accept without warning. But Fish-Man Island is in its most dangerous hour!"
"The enemy has destroyed the Red Line above us. Brett is up there right now, holding back the falling rock to keep us safe."
"The protection that the Red Line once gave us is gone. This deep water may no longer be enough to shield us."
"If we stay, what waits for us may be the end."
Her voice cracked. Genuinely. Brett could hear it, and something in his chest pulled tighter.
"So I'm asking you - leave our home behind."
"Let us begin a new journey. Let us find a new home."
"Go to the surface. Go where the sun shines and the sea wind blows."
"Go to everything we have dreamed of."
The island went quiet for one suspended moment.
Then:
"If it comes to that, then so be it!"
"Staying here means dying - of course we go find somewhere new!"
"And we finally get to go up to the surface! I've never seen real sunlight in my life!"
"We can't fight alongside Brett, but at least we won't slow him down!"
"Goodbye, Fish-Man Island. We're leaving."
Brett listened to all of it.
His people had not disappointed him. Not in this.
The whole island moved at once. People began gathering what they could carry and making their way toward the Sea Forest, toward the ancient ship that had been waiting in those waters for eight hundred years.
The one who would fulfill the promise this time was not Joy Boy.
But the promise would be kept.
The great migration of Fish-Man Island had begun.