Chapter 123

Chapter 123 "The Lucky Celestial Dragon and Fishman Island"

"It's okay, we're very familiar with this sea area, no need for a compass to recognize the way." The "we" here probably refers to Queen Otohime and the fish towing the boat.

For most ships to reach Fishman Island, aside from relying on a compass, they need an excellent navigator to constantly observe the surroundings and currents to avoid obstacles or getting caught in the wrong current.

According to Brook, once you accidentally enter a deep-sea current, it takes thousands of years to return to the surface.

So, many powerful pirates choose to tame a sea beast to tow the ship, increasing their chances of survival.

"By the way, earlier you mentioned sending a Celestial Dragon back to Mary Geoise. How did he end up stranded on Fishman Island?" Adrian was curious. Surviving a shipwreck shouldn't have left him alive at a depth of ten thousand meters on Fishman Island, right?
"I asked about this as well, and it's alright to tell you." Queen Otohime explained the details to them.

The incident started three years ago when Fisher Tiger caused a commotion in Mary Geoise, releasing a large number of slaves, including some fishmen from the Mjosgard family.

For three years, the Celestial Dragons had been pressuring the World Government and the Navy to retrieve their slaves, but with little success.

Then, this year, or more recently, when Fisher Tiger died and Jinbe joined the Seven Warlords, the entire Sun Pirates crew was granted amnesty, including the group of former slaves.

Most of the Celestial Dragons who lost slaves didn't care much anymore; as long as the mastermind was dead, they could just buy new slaves.

Mjosgard was an exception. He believed those were his family's possessions, so why couldn't he retrieve them? Since the Navy wouldn't help, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

So, this stubborn guy brought a group of regular guards on a ship to Fishman Island, intending to capture the fishmen himself.

But when they were about to reach the island, they were attacked by sea beasts. All of the guards on the ship died, and only Mjosgard, by some stroke of luck, survived and drifted to Fishman Island.

It might sound absurd, but considering it was a Celestial Dragon, it made sense. He probably believed that even sea beasts and currents should obey him.

"Although his motives were terrible, he has since corrected his ways. He released all the slaves and promised not to buy any more slaves in the future." Queen Otohime was quite pleased with her efforts in teaching him.

Teaching a Celestial Dragon to be good was almost like a miracle in Adrian's eyes. He even suspected Queen Otohime had the same purifying power as Nangong Wenyang.(Chinese Fictional Character)

"Um... should we turn off the lights? We're pretty conspicuous like this. I feel like those big fish outside might jump at us any moment." Adrian pointed at a large fish that could easily bite off half of the boat and said with a hint of fear.

"A little bit of light is fine. Many of the fish here have degenerated eyesight, so they don't rely on vision to catch prey," Queen Otohime explained. "Besides, Ankoro is one of the fastest here."

Ankoro was the name of the fish towing their boat. As if responding to Queen Otohime's words, Ankoro carried them through the sea swiftly, entering a small hole beneath the Red Line.

Compared to the Red Line, the small hole was still quite large for people and ships.

"That trench ahead is ten thousand meters deep, and Fishman Island is right below it!" Queen Otohime exclaimed joyfully. The week-long journey away from Fishman Island had felt quite long for her. She was eager to reunite with her beloved children.

After entering the trench, the scene suddenly brightened. Even though they were underwater, there was plenty of sunlight.

The most striking sight was a small island suspended in the water ahead, surrounded by huge and dense tree roots.

"That's the root of the Sun Tree, Eve. It can transmit sunlight from the surface to Fishman Island. That's why the island experiences the same day and night as the surface," Queen Otohime introduced. "It also provides air for Fishman Island. Thanks to Eve, we can feel sunlight and breathe underwater at a depth of ten thousand meters. We call it the Sun's blessing."

Sharkler knocked on his own shark head. "This seems totally unscientific."

Rui Mengmeng leaned on the railing, looking outside. "But it's really amazing, and this place feels like something out of a fairy tale."

Artoria looked around. "Just like Sabaody, it's a fantastical island. No, it's even more magical than Sabaody."

Yes, sunlight scattering underwater, islands contained in bubbles, colorful fish, seahorses, and all sorts of marine creatures, massive tree roots, and seaweed gently swaying with the currents.

Though it might not be scientific, it was truly beautiful.

Tom wanted to jump out and swim. It would be such a waste not to take a swim in such a wonderful place.

He was a very active cat, always eager to explore.

Tom jumped out of Queen Otohime's arms like a hungry cat and, with his eyes closed, dove into the water as if swimming.

He proceeded to swim all sorts of styles with his eyes closed: breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, freestyle. Tom showcased them all.

Satisfied, he turned back, landing on the deck, and shook his head to dry his fur. He didn't even notice how wet he was.

When he opened his eyes, everyone was laughing heartily.

Tom looked outside, confused, raising his paws in question, not sure what was happening.

It turns out, when Tom jumped into the water, Adrian had caught him effortlessly. While Tom swam with his eyes closed, Adrian held him in a way that matched his movements, helping him stay in position.

So, what everyone saw was Tom jumping onto Adrian's hands, pretending to swim with his eyes closed, and then hopping off with a satisfied look. They hadn't noticed his fur was dripping wet.

Suppressing a laugh, Adrian picked up Tom. "Alright, you've had your swim. When we visit someone else, don't mess around."

Tom nodded, he understood manners now.

Queen Otohime stopped laughing and said, "This is the backside of Fishman Island. We're entering through the main entrance."

Fishman Island was encased in two layers of bubbles. Between the layers was an air pocket. If someone illegally entered without using the entrance, they would fall through the air pocket, either back into the sea or onto Fishman Island, ship and all, likely destroyed.

Those who fell into the sea wouldn't fare much better. Once the coating on the ship touched the outer layer of the island's bubbles, the coating would be stripped away. In other words, they would fall into the deep sea unprotected and die due to the pressure.

So, Mjosgard's luck was truly exceptional. Encountering a disaster at sea and still managing to enter Fishman Island safely was quite fortunate.

As Queen Otohime's ship approached, the soldiers responsible for immigration checks became excited:

"It's the Queen! The Queen is back!"

"Great! Open

the entrance and report to Ryugu Palace!"

"Queen Otohime!"

Smiling, Queen Otohime stood at the bow and waved at the soldiers. "Everyone~ thank you for your hard work! I'm back, and I've brought important guests with me!"