Chapter 266: Shirahoshi, the “Poseidon”!
"So what are we supposed to do now?! The Ark of Promise just got blown to pieces by that reckless brat with a single punch!!"
A Sea King resembling an ancient mosasaur let out a heavy roar, stirring violent currents throughout the surrounding waters.
"What else can we do?! Shut up, you brainless idiot!"
Another gigantic Sea King shaped like a colossal oarfish lashed its whip-like body through the ocean.
"Didn't you see what was wrapped around that kid?! White flame clouds! That's the mark of awakening—it means he inherited the power and will of that damned Joy Boy!"
"You believe me when I say this—if you show even the slightest hostility toward him…"
"…our old bones are getting turned into fish paste today."
"Kururururu… the old ribbonfish is right."
A deeper, calmer voice echoed through the abyss like a moving underwater mountain.
The speaker was the largest among them—
a gigantic turtle-like Sea King.
Slowly turning its enormous head, its gaze pierced through Fish-Man Island's bubble membrane and settled precisely upon the plaza below.
More specifically—
upon the pink-haired mermaid princess looking upward with obvious worry and anxiety written all over her beautiful face.
"And besides…"
"Can't you all feel it?"
"That boy… seems to have a rather extraordinary relationship with our 'King.'"
The other Sea Kings slowly shifted their colossal eyes toward Shirahoshi.
They could clearly sense it.
Every ounce of the princess's attention and emotion was focused entirely upon the tiny human floating outside.
The concern in her eyes was genuine.
So was the attachment.
An awkward silence suddenly spread among the deep-sea rulers capable of destroying entire nations with ease.
Fight?
They probably couldn't win.
And the human seemed incredibly close to their "King."
Not fight?
Well… Noah still got destroyed.
Someone had to explain that.
Meanwhile—
at the center of the vacuum domain—
Luffy folded his arms and listened to the Sea Kings openly discussing him.
His eyebrow twitched slightly.
A faint smirk appeared on his face.
'Interesting…'
'They think I can't understand Sea King language, huh?'
'Talking about how to deal with me right in front of my face…'
'If you giant idiots weren't Shirahoshi's subordinates…'
'…I'd scatter your ashes across the ocean.'
"Our King… please come speak with us."
A vast, ancient, yet extremely gentle voice suddenly echoed directly within Shirahoshi's mind.
"Eh?!"
Shirahoshi trembled slightly.
Confusion filled her blue eyes as she instinctively looked around.
But all she saw were the unconscious citizens around her, along with Zoro and the others standing tensely in the distance.
"Don't look around, Princess Shirahoshi… we are speaking to you."
"Our King, please come to us."
"Do not worry… the others cannot hear our voices."
One after another, different voices echoed gently within her mind.
Some calm.
Some warm.
Some ancient and wise.
It felt as though countless unseen beings were whispering to her at once.
Shirahoshi bit her lip nervously.
Her long eyelashes trembled uneasily.
She looked upward toward the mountain-sized shadows of the Sea Kings…
Then toward the small but dependable figure floating ahead of her.
In the end—
her absolute trust in Luffy, combined with the strange instinct calling from deep within her soul—
made her decision.
Taking a deep breath, Shirahoshi gracefully swam upward with a firm swish of her giant pink tail.
When she finally arrived beside Luffy and rose to the same level as the Sea Kings—
"Our King… we are pleased to speak with you once more. It has been ten years, has it not? You have grown into a truly beautiful young lady."
The turtle-like Sea King crowned with coral projected warm emotions akin to a loving grandfather.
"Um… my name is Shirahoshi."
Though timid, she still gathered the courage to respond.
"Why… do all of you keep calling me 'King'?"
"Because that is your destined identity, Princess Shirahoshi."
Another Sea King resembling a gigantic whale answered in a calm voice.
"Every several hundred years…"
"…the ruler of the seas is reborn into this world in the form of a mermaid princess."
"And you, Princess Shirahoshi, are the King awaited by this era."
"You are one of the Three Ancient Weapons spoken of throughout history…"
"Poseidon."
"You were born with the supreme authority to command and communicate with all Sea Kings."
Shirahoshi stood there blankly.
The sheer amount of information overwhelmed her completely.
She had spent the past ten years trapped inside a tower.
A crybaby.
A coward.
Even Luffy called her "Crybabyhoshi."
How could someone like her suddenly become a legendary Ancient Weapon?
The ruler of these godlike sea monsters?
"It may be difficult to accept this power and responsibility immediately,"
the elderly turtle Sea King gently reassured her.
"But please believe us…"
"This power may become an immeasurably great help to the one standing beside you."
"A help… to Luffy-sama?"
Shirahoshi subconsciously glanced sideways at Luffy.
At the thought of being useful to him—
of no longer being someone who merely needed protection—
the fear and resistance inside her heart toward the title of "Poseidon" slowly began to melt away.
A pure, trusting smile blossomed across her face.
"I… I'll work hard to accept it and learn how to use it!!"
"Speaking of which, Our King…"
Another voice interrupted mischievously.
It belonged to the long, serpent-like oarfish Sea King.
"Have you perhaps… fallen in love with that human boy?"
"L-Love… with Luffy-sama?!"
The question exploded in Shirahoshi's mind like a bomb.
In an instant—
her entire face turned bright red.
The blush spread from her neck all the way to the tips of her ears.
Even her giant tail stiffened in embarrassment.
BOOOOOOM—!!!!!
Just as Shirahoshi looked moments away from fainting out of sheer shame—
and the oarfish Sea King silently congratulated itself for its "brilliant" question—
a tremendous explosion suddenly echoed through the sea.
A gigantic swollen bump instantly appeared atop the oarfish's island-sized head.
Its enormous body stiffened violently before spinning uncontrollably through the ocean with stars swirling in its eyes.
Clearly—
it had just suffered an incredibly powerful punch.
"You idiots with seaweed for brains—!!!"
Luffy's furious roar exploded like thunder through the vacuum field.
He withdrew his fist, white steam still drifting from his knuckles.
Veins bulged on his forehead as he shouted at the stunned Sea Kings:
"Don't go filling Crybabyhoshi's head with weird stuff!!"
Silence.
The giant Sea Kings stared at him with widened eyes full of horror and disbelief.
An icy chill shot straight from their tails to their skulls.
"W-Wait…"
"You can actually hear us talking?!"
Which meant—
all those private discussions about "that brat," "fish paste," and teasing Shirahoshi about romance—
had been heard perfectly clearly?!
This wasn't private conversation anymore.
This was dancing on the doorstep of death itself.
"T-That makes no sense!"
One giant eel-like Sea King nearly shrieked.
"The last human capable of clearly understanding us…"
"…was over twenty years ago!!"
Luffy lightly landed back on the plaza.
The blazing white flame clouds and silver lightning around him rapidly faded away.
His hair returned from white back to black.
And the carefree grin everyone recognized returned to his face.
Looking around at the countless unconscious citizens sprawled across the plaza like harvested wheat, he laughed loudly.
"Shishishi! Why's everybody passed out?!"
"Oi, you idiot rubber captain!!"
Sanji took a deep drag from his cigarette, trying to calm his still-racing heartbeat.
Cold sweat remained visible on his forehead.
"Don't unleash your Conqueror's Haki at full power so recklessly!! Were you trying to wipe us out too?!"
For someone like Sanji—who still hadn't awakened Conqueror's Haki—
facing Luffy's terrifying Haki after being amplified by the power of Nika felt utterly overwhelming.
Even the aftershocks alone felt like staring directly into an abyss.
It was power on an entirely different level.
"Shishishi, sorry about that!"
Luffy scratched the back of his head without the slightest sincerity.
Looking at the "battlefield" of unconscious bodies around him, he finally looked a tiny bit embarrassed.
"Sometimes… when the power starts overflowing, it's kinda hard to control!"
To be fair—
he wasn't entirely making excuses.
Conqueror's Haki was the most unique of the three forms of Haki.
The most dependent on innate talent and spirit.
And also the hardest to control perfectly.
Even "Red-Haired" Shanks—widely considered one of the greatest users of Conqueror's Haki alive—could unintentionally affect others when fully unleashing it.
As for Luffy—
his already extraordinary Conqueror's Haki had been amplified to terrifying heights after awakening the power of Sun God Nika.
It had reached a level even he himself still didn't fully understand.
Completely restraining that power without harming others was unimaginably difficult.
'As expected…'
Beneath Luffy's carefree smile, a trace of seriousness flashed silently through his thoughts.
'Compared to the legendary Joy Boy…'
'I still have a long way to go before I can truly master this power.'
"Oii… you monsters…"
A weak, deeply resentful voice suddenly came from nearby.
Trafalgar Law was currently collapsed against a broken coral pillar with Kikoku resting across his knees.
His face remained pale, his legs still trembling slightly.
He glanced at Straw Hat Luffy and his terrifying crew—
all casually chatting as though what just happened had merely been light exercise—
then looked down at his own miserable state.
Remembering the overwhelming Conqueror's Haki that nearly knocked him out along with the rest of the island…
Law silently rolled his eyes harder than ever before and turned his face away.
He genuinely didn't want to look at these inhuman freaks anymore.
Comparing yourself to monsters only leads to suffering.
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