Fish-Man Island, inside Ryugu Palace where the royal family resides.
"Your Highness, a message has come from the immigration checkpoint… the King of the New World, Nishikawa Makoto, has entered the harbor."
Inside the magnificent palace hall, a fish-man guard was reporting to the current prince of Fish-Man Island, who also served as the captain of the guard, Neptune.
At this time, Neptune's physique was not yet as enormous as it would be in the future, but he was already quite burly.
"That monster who defeated Roger?"
Neptune was startled.
It wasn't strange for a powerful figure like that to come to Fish-Man Island and enter the New World, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon.
The surrounding ministers began voicing their opinions.
Some felt they should simply pretend not to see him and let him do whatever he wanted.
Even if he wanted to take mermaids, they shouldn't interfere.
After all, even the World Government had been taught a lesson by Makoto, making them behave like grandchildren. Their Fish-Man Island couldn't afford to provoke such an important figure.
But others objected.
They should take the initiative to communicate with him.
After all, what if Makoto felt that the fish-men hadn't properly played the hosts since he had personally come to Fish-Man Island, and got angry?
Both sides held their ground, arguing incessantly.
Neptune was silent for a moment, ultimately choosing the latter approach.
He decided to personally go and meet Makoto.
Judging from the fact that Neptune had gotten along well with Roger, Whitebeard, and even later with Garp, it was clear he had a tactful and adaptable personality, skilled at dealing with important figures from various factions.
Offend no one… that was his way of navigating the world.
Makoto and his group were unaware of the events unfolding in Ryugu Palace.
The players were busy admiring the unique scenery of Fish-Man Island and greeting these legendary creatures.
The mermaids darted through the coral thickets. Some curiously poked their heads out to look, some shyly hid behind rocks, and some bold ones swam directly over to wave at the women.
"So beautiful!"
"Look at that fish, it's colorful!"
"Miss Mermaid, can we take a photo together?"
The women were all having a great time.
Not long after Makoto's group landed, Beam, who had arrived on the island two days earlier, rushed over at high speed.
"Chainsaw-sama, I missed you so much!!"
Beam hugged Makoto tightly, snot flying everywhere as he shouted.
Makoto pushed him away speechlessly.
"Haven't we only been apart for a day?"
Beam enthusiastically declared that he had already gotten familiar with the place and would be Makoto's tour guide.
Seeing the kid's high spirits, Makoto let him have his way.
However, the women hadn't gone far with Makoto and the others before they were distracted by other things.
What attracted most of the women away was Fish-Man Island's Marine Shopping Mall.
This was a major attraction for tourists visiting Fish-Man Island… it often got ransacked by female visitors.
"Makoto-kun, we're going shopping!"
"See you on the ship later!"
"Muach!"
A group of women ran off in a flurry and disappeared around the corner of the coral building complex in the blink of an eye.
Makoto had no interest in accompanying women on shopping trips.
He sat down at a shop with Beam, ordered a pot of tea, and watched the fish-men and mermaids coming and going at the harbor. It was quite pleasant.
Makoto smiled and said, "A lot of people here probably mistake you for a fish-man, right?"
"Yep, they think I'm some kind of mutant."
Beam scratched his head, a hint of pride on his face.
"But it's okay, they didn't do anything to me. To be honest with you, Chainsaw-sama, I'm very popular here. Several mermaids have already confessed to me."
Seeing the smug look on the kid's face, Makoto smiled and said, "Oh? Then how about settling down here permanently?"
As soon as he said this, Beam's expression changed dramatically.
"How is that possible?"
He stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over his chair.
"The place where Chainsaw-sama is, that's my home!"
While feeling somewhat comforted, Makoto also felt a bit helpless.
He suddenly understood how Sasuke felt when facing Naruto.
This kid Beam was also a bit overly devoted.
Makoto took a sip of tea from his cup and said, "You should learn Fish-Man Karate here during this time. It's a fighting technique invented by the fish-men. It should suit you well. Later, I'll introduce you to Neptune..."
"Are you speaking of me, Nishikawa-sama?"
Before Makoto could finish, a voice reached their ears.
They turned their heads and saw a large fish-man holding a trident, accompanied by a group of fully armed guards, approaching Makoto.
It was the future king of Fish-Man Island… Neptune.
"You're really big."
Beam looked at Neptune's physique and muttered quietly.
Makoto glanced sideways with a light laugh. "I didn't expect you to come see me proactively."
"You flatter me, Lord."
Neptune bent his waist, maintaining a very low posture.
But unfortunately, his stature was too large. Even when he bent his waist to the extreme, his head was still much higher than Makoto's.
"How could I not come to pay my respects when the King of the New World has deigned to visit my humble abode?"
Makoto smiled. "Just call me by my name. That nickname is too ugly."
As he spoke, Makoto stood up and continued, "But I threw your good friend Roger into prison. Don't you hate me?"
Neptune broke out in a cold sweat.
To be honest, even if he did hate him, he wouldn't dare show it.
He had also read the newspaper. Good grief, the World Government had almost been toyed to death by Makoto. In Makoto's eyes, Fish-Man Island was probably no more than a grasshopper.
"Yo-you flatter me, Lord."
Neptune showed a smile uglier than crying.
"Roger has his own adventures. I wouldn't interfere casually."
Makoto couldn't hold it in anymore.
'Wasn't this the line Ace said to Luffy in the original work?'
Seeing that Makoto seemed to be in a good mood, Neptune wasn't as nervous as before.
"Please come to Ryugu Palace for a chat, Lord. We have prepared a banquet and mermaid song and dance."
Makoto didn't refuse this.
After all, he had intended to introduce Beam to stay on Fish-Man Island to learn Fish-Man Karate… with the help of Neptune, the local boss, things would go much more smoothly.
In a few years, he would have a super-strong version of Jinbe.
Originally, Makoto should have called the women along.
But when he heard Neptune say 'mermaid song and dance', he deliberately chose to 'coincidentally' forget about it.
After all, which man brings his wife along when going to a club?
And Neptune clearly understood this unspoken rule as well.
He didn't mention Makoto's female companions at all along the way.
The banquet hall of Ryugu Palace was even more luxurious than Makoto had imagined.
Under the lighting, the entire hall refracted dreamlike light.
The banquet tables were filled with specialties of Fish-Man Island… various seafood dishes, desserts that would make even future Big Mom drool, and a type of coral wine with a faint sweetness.
But the most eye-catching were the dancing mermaids.
Mermaids of exceptional beauty danced in the pool at the center of the banquet hall.
The music started, and the mermaids' dance grew increasingly passionate.
Then, as they danced, they danced right into Makoto's arms.
"Come, Lord, have some wine."
A red-haired mermaid raised a wine cup and brought it to Makoto's lips.
Another blue-haired mermaid was more direct. She took Makoto's hand and placed it on certain parts of herself, her eyes hazy, her breath fragrant like orchid.
Makoto fully experienced the feeling of a pleasure-seeking decadent life.
But to be fair, the experience was only just okay.
Even though Neptune had repeatedly hinted that the bedchambers were right next door and he could take any mermaid he liked, the most excessive thing Makoto did was hold these mermaids in his arms and feel them.
He didn't do anything more extreme.
This actually made the mermaid sisters feel disappointed instead.
'Seriously, your golden cudgel is poking me, so why aren't you using it?'
Makoto pretended not to notice.
How to put it... His interest and desire for these unnamed female characters who didn't even have a face or name in the original work weren't very high.
Even if their looks surpassed those of female characters with significant screen time in the original works, like Haruno Sakura from Naruto or Higashiyama Kobeni from Chainsaw Man, Makoto still didn't have much interest.
If they had been mermaids who appeared in the original work, like Shyarly, Camie, or Princess Shirahoshi, it would have been different.
Maybe this was a common affliction of isekai'd people.
His little brother only reacts to female characters who have high popularity in the original work… at the very least, characters with names.
Those NPCs who have no screen time or even names in the original work simply don't arouse any interest.
It's the same principle as why readers of fanfiction expect the author to include female characters from the original work.
I came here to read fanfiction, and you go and create an original female character? What's that supposed to mean?
What Uchiha Megumi, Senju Kei… what the hell are those?