"Those are your wanted criminals, not entirely gifts…"
Yang Tao stared at Neptune.
"It seems so… but you defeated me."
"..."
Yang Tao suddenly felt like he had fallen into a trap, and asked unwillingly, "Don't tell me that if I defeat you, I can be your son-in-law."
"Of course not, I still need my approval."
"You approve of me??"
Neptune let out a peculiar laugh and said, "How could I not approve of a son-in-law who can rival the Four Emperors?"
"Your daughter is only 14 years old!!"
"She will grow up sooner or later, and you captured Vander Decken IX, rescued her from the Hard-Shelled Tower, and you are also a human from the land. My daughter will fall in love with you."
Yang Tao: "..."
Goodness, while he was calculating the other party's daughter, the other party was already calculating him.
Unfortunately, he couldn't simply sell his body because he coveted Shirahoshi's beauty.
Compared to appearance, he felt that Jean, who always told dirty jokes, was better, and another point was that he and Jean were both beings who would not truly die.
He didn't have to worry about situations of separation by life and death.
Looking at Neptune, the helpless expression on Yang Tao's face disappeared, and he calmly sat back in his chair and said, "King Neptune, instead of making me your son-in-law, you might as well hope that Shirahoshi becomes a being who surpasses the Four Emperors."
"Shirahoshi will still live in Ryugu Palace at night, and during the day I will take her to other sea areas to train her ability to control Sea Kings. The 'Sea King' cannot be a crybaby vase."
Neptune nodded gently, then said, "Coming back to live at night?"
"Special ability, I can allow Shirahoshi to move freely in some places I have marked."
Neptune's eyes instantly lit up, it was no joke.
"Really?? Can you take me to the land to explore?"
Yang Tao: "..."
Although he knew that Neptune was unreliable and would often sneak out of Ryugu Palace, hearing that he had such an ability was like a cat smelling fish.
A king constantly skipping work.
No wonder Ryugu Palace's Right Minister constantly reprimanded Neptune; on one hand, the Right Minister was old, and on the other hand, Neptune was a hands-off manager, throwing everything to the Right Minister to handle.
Perhaps if Yang Tao led Shirahoshi in a rebellion, the happiest would be the Right Minister.
"As long as you can handle the Right Minister, it'll be fine."
...
Late night.
The sky was full of stars, and waves washed over the tails of several mermaids.
Shirahoshi, Neptune, the three Shark brothers, as well as the Right Minister and the Seahorse Left Minister, all gazed obsessively at the starry river in the sky.
"It's truly too beautiful, much more beautiful than described in books."
Princess Shirahoshi's excitement was palpable; after coming out of the Hard-Shelled Tower, she had actually arrived on land.
She also saw the cosmos and forest she had always yearned for.
Yang Tao, lying on a beach chair basking in the moonlight, looked at the 'earth' fish soaking in the sea, and slightly tilted his head to look at Alvida, who had an envious expression beside him, and said with a smile, "Why are you so dejected?"
"This is cheating!!"
"Haha, she's only 14…"
Alvida: "..."
At first, when Alvida saw Princess Shirahoshi, she was immediately amazed; even as a woman, she felt that Shirahoshi was truly too cute.
Alvida sighed and said, "The Captain's taste is truly unique…"
"Your taste is unique. This is the 'Sea King', Poseidon, the 'Sea King' with the power to destroy the world."
"Ah? The Sea King is a mermaid?"
This kind of news was not something a commoner like Alvida, who mixed in the Four Seas, could know, and even some forces in the Grand Line and New World did not know.
Creak.
A wooden door appeared out of thin air on the beach. Yang Tao immediately sat up and looked at the wooden door, only to see Eric poke his head out from the wooden door and show a relieved expression after seeing him.
Instead, Yang Tao frowned and asked, "Eric, your wife is gone again?"
Eric: "..."
Your wife is gone!
"My wife is fine, someone is looking for you, a kid named Sasuke… oh, shit… Yang, what is that in the sea? Mermaids?"
Eric saw Neptune's family lying in the sea and almost popped his eyes out.
Yang Tao stood up and teased Eric, saying, "Eric, don't look so inexperienced. They're just a few mermaids. It's a shame you already have a wife, otherwise I would have taken you to Fish-Man Island to see them…"
Eric stared blankly at Neptune's family and said, "I understand the principle, but why are the mermaids so big?"
"It's a matter of your viewing angle. This is the principle of distant objects appearing larger than close ones. Wait for me, I'll go talk to them first."
"Distant objects appearing larger than close ones?"
Eric felt his mind was a bit slow to grasp it.
After instructing Neptune to return to Fish-Man Island immediately at dawn, Yang Tao followed Eric through the wooden door back to the Overworld.
Eric was still immersed in the dream of encountering mermaids and asked in confusion, "No… Yang, I can understand mermaids, but these mermaids are too big."
He still found it somewhat incredible. Yang Tao walked towards Sasuke while explaining, "There are many kinds of mermaids. There are those with large bodies like them, and also some small ones less than a meter tall, and mermen can grow up to 80 meters."
"80 meters??? Wouldn't that be much taller than an average building??"
Sasuke was currently standing on the grass, observing his surroundings. Hearing the sound, he looked at Yang Tao walking over.
"Boss, Naruto is gone."
Sasuke's words piqued Yang Tao's curiosity, and he asked, "Gone? What do you mean, 'gone'?"
"After we separated the night before last, Naruto seemed to have disappeared. I went to his house to look for him but couldn't find him."
Hearing Sasuke's words, a figure with a bandage wrapped around his head immediately appeared in Yang Tao's mind.
Danzo.
Konoha has thousands of scapegoats, and Danzo carries at least half.
"After Naruto disappeared, was there anything unusual in Konoha?"
Sasuke gently shook his head and said, "No."
"What about Kakashi?"
"He had a temporary mission and left the village yesterday morning."
Upon hearing this, Yang Tao also had a guess in his heart. Konoha's lack of reaction was the biggest problem. It seemed that Danzo had most likely made a move.
Even the Third Hokage might have been involved.
Otherwise, how could Konoha's nuclear weapon disappear without any reaction?
"Sasuke, Naruto is very likely being controlled by Danzo."
Hearing this, Sasuke frowned, and a hint of worry flashed in his eyes as he said, "Boss, can you rescue Naruto?"
Sasuke and Naruto could be said to have a love-hate relationship.
"Let's go, let's go see the situation first."
Yang Tao had no particular like or dislike for Naruto.
"Eric, I'm going out for a bit. When I get back, I'll take you around."
"Be careful!"