Chapter 146

Chapter 146 - Civilized Tourism, Starting from Myself

The bright sunshine poured down, and the colorful corals spread everywhere, emitting light. Fish of various sizes gathered or dispersed, and there were also blue and white giant whales swimming around.

This is an almost impossible scene in reality. Even in this world, it can only be seen in the Sea of Forest southeast of Fish-Man Island.

The so-called Sea of Forest does not mean that there is a forest underwater, but rather, it refers to the vast expanse of huge corals here, which, when viewed from the outside, are almost like forests on land.

Those fish-men who dare not go to the surface rely on this coral forest to imagine what the forests on the ground look like.

"Wow! Such a beautiful place!" Rui Mengmeng exclaimed, leaning on the bubble window of the Ryugu Palace.

"It's really beautiful!" Shirahoshi also exclaimed.

To ensure that Adrian and his group have a memorable journey, Queen Otohime specially brought Shirahoshi to accompany Adrian's party to the Sea of Forest.

Altria was originally quietly watching and, upon hearing Shirahoshi's voice, asked curiously, "Has Shirahoshi never been here before?"

Shirahoshi shook her head and pouted, saying, "No, Father and Mother never allowed me to come here, and my brothers wouldn't bring me either."

Queen Otohime explained, "Because this place is close to Fish-Man Street, it was fine when Tiger and Shirohige were here, but after they went to sea, they couldn't ensure the movements of the criminals in Fish-Man Street. They couldn't bring out a large number of troops just for sightseeing."

Fish-Man Street and the Sea of Forest are two relatively famous places, both of which are not on Fish-Man Island itself but in the deep sea outside Fish-Man Island.

The difference is that the Sea of Forest is full of sunlight and beautiful scenery, while Fish-Man Street is almost the opposite, although it holds the significant Noah ship, which is of great importance to the residents of Fish-Man Island.

That was the giant ship that the Mermaid Princess and Joy Boy had agreed to use eight hundred years ago to move all the residents of Fish-Man Island to the surface. It was almost as big as half of Fish-Man Island and could carry all the residents of Fish-Man Island.

However, something happened at that time, causing Joy Boy to fail to fulfill the agreement.

Specifically, what happened is not known, but it was the time when the World Government was established, so this matter is probably related to the World Government.

In the middle of the Sea of Forest, there is a large open space covered with many small corals that look like shrubs and flowers. There are also many shipwrecks piled up around.

A hemispherical bubble envelops this open space and part of the coral forest, and it's here that the Straw Hat Pirates, due to not entering Fish-Man Island through the entrance, were washed into this large bubble by the sea current. They were almost undamaged and incredibly lucky.

Adrian and his group were temporarily resting here now. Tom and Shirahoshi were running around curiously.

The others were marveling at various corals or looking through the wreckage of ships.

Adrian wondered whether to carve a "We were here" mark here or take a few pieces of coral back as souvenirs.

However, he decided against it in the end. He could just take a few photos later. If he wanted coral, he could collect it elsewhere. This place was such a beautiful attraction; he shouldn't casually destroy it.

"In fact, the Fish Bus has recently extended its route to here, making it much more convenient for children to come and play in the future," Queen Otohime said, pointing to a sign not far away.

Adrian clearly saw the words "Fish Bus Sea of Forest Station" written on it. It looked just like a bus stop!

"Huh? Is that Queen Otohime and Princess Shirahoshi?" A mermaid came out of the coral forest, wearing a dark hat and thick-framed glasses. To facilitate movement in places without water, she also wore bubbles around her waist, just like Shirahoshi.

"Mr. Den?" Queen Otohime recognized him and introduced, "This is Mr. Den, a shipbuilder and researcher of the Sea of Forest, and the younger brother of the world's greatest shipwright, Mr. Tom."

"Meow?" Tom came over, pointed at himself, and made a puzzled expression. He only had one cousin, a cat that looked exactly like him, so Jerry Boy couldn't tell them apart, but he wasn't a mermaid.

Adrian patted his cat's head and said, "They're not talking about you."

Seeing Den's puzzled expression, Queen Otohime explained, "This cat is also named Tom, and this is..."

She introduced Adrian and the others one by one and said, "They are my lifesavers and important guests I invited from the surface."

"So you guys are the humans who saved the princess. Thank you so much!" Den courteously removed his hat.

"No need to be so polite." Adrian and his group had heard this kind of gratitude many times recently, which showed how much Queen Otohime was loved.

"It turns out that Mr. Cat and his older brother have the same name. I hope you have a chance to meet each other." Den seemed to look forward to the scene where the two Toms would meet.

Tom tilted his head and also looked forward to meeting Tom.

In addition, Den was particularly interested in Sharkler. "May I ask, Mr. Sharkler, did any of your ancestors have robots?"

Because fish-men and merfolk will randomly show the genes that appeared in their ancestors, Den immediately thought of this when he saw Sharkler.

"No." Sharkler knew about this and explained helplessly, "I don't have any ancestors. I'm just a normal robot assembled from parts by humans."

"I see." Den understood this point and boldly speculated, "So, does that mean that your descenDents will have robots?"

"...," Sharkler was speechless. Although their B-series robots had human emotions and could fall in love and even get married, they probably didn't have the ability to produce offspring, right? Unless they learned

the technology themselves and made a little robot—a true "creation of humans."

However, Sharkler clearly didn't want to talk much about this topic. He changed the subject and asked, "When the princess mentioned researching the Sea of Forest, what did she mean?"

"That's my interest." When it came to his professional field, Den began to talk endlessly, "The Sea of Forest is so mysterious. It is blessed by the Sun Tree Eve, with beautiful coral everywhere, and whales and other fish gather here. However, ships that have sunk near Fish-Man Island always end up drifting here with the currents. It's so beautiful and full of life here, but it's like a graveyard for ships."

Seeing the countless shipwrecks around, everyone thought that calling it a "ship graveyard" was not incorrect.

"So many shipwrecks. Could there be any treasure?" Rui Mengmeng blurted out her question. Generally, when shipwrecks are mentioned, people often think of treasure.

Den seemed to understand this feeling and smiled as he said, "This place has been visited by countless fish-men and merfolk. Anything of higher value was picked up a long time ago."

"What a pity."

"It's not a pity at all. To me, the real treasure is the Sea of Forest itself." Den seemed to really like this place. "If you want to tour around, why not let me be your guide?"

No one refused Den's kind offer, and under his guiDence and explanations, they saw various wonders and got to know various strange fish.

Then, in the coral forest, they saw a square black stone.

The stone was about four meters high, and there were mosses growing on many parts of its surface, giving it an aged appearance.

The front of the stone was covered with square and regular characters that no one present recognized. These characters did not belong to any common language, so they were not included in Adrian and his group's language pack.

This is said to be the historical text that records the blank 100-year history, commonly known as the "Void Century".