At the Sea Forest

Underwater at Ryuuguu Palace, Zoro faces Hody Jones directly while the fish-men reel in disbelief. Hody groans, "URGH HHH ...!" and someone shouts, "BOOO OOOO OSS!!!" A soldier cannot understand the speed of Zoro's movement: "How is a human able to move faster than a fishman underwater?!" Another cries, "What the heck is that guy?!!" Even bound by the sea itself, Zoro presses Hody hard enough that the soldiers panic. Hody, still trying to keep command, orders, "All right, meeen!!! We are not letting that swordsman escape!!! Take your energy steroids!!!" The soldiers obey and bite down with "CHOMP" after "CHOMP," while another stares at Neptune's aura and asks, "What is this un-naturally twisted aura?!!!"

Zoro slices through Hody underwater, and Hody gasps, "Hah hh!!! ...!" Neptune, carried through the flooding palace, thinks only of getting his men out alive: "As I thought, I must evacuate all my men from the palace..." He calls, "One-eyed swordsman! It will not be long before the entire palace is sub-merged!! Grab onto my body!!" Zoro answers from nearby, "Over here, Zoro!!" Neptune knows the crisis is now survival, not victory: "Now it is just a question of how long my poor old back will hold out..." Hody refuses to give up the palace and yells, "I am going to make a path! Come, my soldiers! This is not the time to fight!! Flee the palace!!!" The soldiers shout, "Neptune's going to do something ...!!" and "What is he ...?!" Neptune unleashes "Merman Combat!!" and a vast current surges through the palace.

Neptune's power sends the palace into motion. His men answer, "Yes, your majesty!" and he commands, "Go forth, my soldiers!!!" Fish-men are caught in the current and cry, "OWWW WWWW WWW..." as the evacuation route opens. Some of Hody's men notice the royal side is not fighting back: "...Why, those...!! They're running away without even fighting us!!" Neptune's soldiers shout, "We're out of the castle!! Keep on going straight!!" and "Swim through the connecting way, and head for the inland regions of the island!!" The king's technique is named "Ultramarine!!!" and the current blasts everyone outward with a roar of "GUAA AAAH HHHHH HHH!!!"

Neptune's current slams bodies against the walls and sweeps allies and enemies alike through the palace. Someone yells, "H - hey, old guy ...!!! Get a hold of yourself!! Please!!" Neptune groans at the strain: "Wha aaaaa aaat?!! My body...!! Unghh... It will not move!!" He laments, "Ahhhhhh!! How cruel the bonds of age can be!!" His men cry, "Your majesty?!!" and "King Neptune!!!" as the king stalls. In a shadowed panel, Hody watches silently, then the rushing water continues to carry the escapees. Neptune manages one more desperate push, and someone screams, "HOE!!" before the current and whale-like force rush onward with "HOEE EEEEEE EELL!!!"

Megalo and Hoe pull Neptune and the others from danger. The rescued soldiers shout in relief, "Thank goodness!!! You have saved us!!!" Hoe bellows, "WHAAAAAAAAAALE!!" while Neptune groans, "OWW WWW WWW ...!" Zoro, still underwater and nearly out of air, is not safe yet. He mutters through the bubbles, "......!! I'm out of... breath ...!!" The current, the whale, and the scattered soldiers fill the water around him as the palace crisis keeps unfolding. Even after cutting Hody down, Zoro is now fighting the simplest and most dangerous enemy for a human below the sea: the lack of air.

The soldiers try to obey Neptune's retreat. One answers, "Y... yes, sir!!!" while another shouts at the king, "What are you hanging about for?!!! Obey your king's orders!!!" Neptune apologizes as he is dragged away: "My apologies... to you all...!" At the same time, Hody's forces realize Neptune is escaping. "Your majesty!!!" they cry. "You must not turn back!!! Find the princes!!! Bring them here!!!" Hody, furious that his target is slipping away, snarls, "Damn that Hordy... I thought he was out for the count?!!" Around him, confusion spreads: "What's this ...?" and "Who knows...? Looks like some dead man's skeleton..." Another voice insists, "I will not... allow you to die here...!!!" while the underwater battlefield remains chaotic and unresolved.

The scene shifts to the Ocean Forest, where Luffy beams at the sight before him. "Whoa!! This place looks pretty coool!!!" Shirahoshi, overwhelmed because she has wanted to come here for so long, cries, "Uwaaaahh!! Thank you so much, Luffy-sama...! I have always... always wanted to come here ...!" Luffy laughs, "Hyah hahh!" and looks to the wounded Hachi: "Maybe we'll be able to rest and heal you up here...?" The forest is vast and bright, with sunlight filtering through the sea and shipwrecks lying among coral and trees. From below, voices call up: "Ahh!! It's the sunny!!" "Heyyy, Frankyyy!!" "Is this where you've been this whole time~~?!" Franky recognizes the arriving group and shouts, "Ouuwww!! Is that... Luffy?!! Hmmm?!" Then he sees Shirahoshi and reacts, "Well, hot damn! That's quite the pinup-girl you've brought with you!!"

Luffy casually introduces the giant mermaid to the others: "I'll introduce you! This is crybaby!" Shirahoshi, flustered by the nickname, corrects him: "Crybaby, huh?! I see! You'd better get your act together, lady! Y - yes... My apologies... My name is Shirahoshi." Then Luffy spots Jinbe and explodes with relief: "JIMBEI?!! Ahhhh!! It's really you!!! They told me you weren't here!" Jinbe answers, "What's this? Then, you didn't come here because you got my message?" Luffy admits, "I thought I wasn't gonna be able to see you!!" Shirahoshi greets him with proper respect: "Ah, Princess Shirahoshi... I did not expect to see you here. It is a pleasu..." Franky explains that Robin has also been through: "Robin showed up here a while back, too. Says she's looking for something. She went off into that big coral forest." And when Luffy appears, someone cries, "Luffy-kun!!! I barely recognised you!! It has been quite some time!"

Hatchan suddenly recognizes the princess and screams, "Princess Shirahoshi !!!!!?!!!" Shirahoshi turns and cries, "Hachiiiiiiii?!!" Hachi is battered and barely conscious, groaning, "Nyu uu..." Luffy asks him, "Hey, if it isn't Octoman! What the heck happened to you...?" Franky prepares to move him: "Hey, Franky! I'm gonna lower Hachi down! Could you grab him for me?" Someone asks in surprise, "But why are you here?!!" Hachi, still emotional despite his injuries, says, "Ahhh, mermaid princess!! Why, in your glorious presence... Nyuouuuu... Jimbei-san?!" Jinbe, seeing the wounds, asks, "How did you get those wounds?! And how in the world are you here?! Were you not captured along with Arlong?!"

Sanji's condition finally reverses, and Chopper's relief is immediate: "He's cured!!! He's started acting just like he always used to around women!!" Sanji, restored to his old form of madness, praises Shirahoshi with full force: "It is as though I am a hopeless artist...! ...No paints that I possess can hope to express your radiance! No canvas in the world can contain your beauty!" The others react with exasperation. "Sanji's back to his old crazy self!!!" someone says. Another asks, "Why is Princess Shirahoshi here?!!" and Franky demands, "Who are you?!! What are you doing on board the Sunny?!" Den answers from the ship: "That's Den-chan! He's the brother of my old teacher Tom!! He's re-coating the Sunny for us!" Franky takes it in: "I see! A teacher who's coating Franky's brother!!" Jinbe, alarmed for Shirahoshi, says, "Our majesty, Princess Shirahoshi...!! I know why you must have come here, but it is too dangerous for you to leave Shell Tower!" Luffy notices something and says, "Ah!"

A new attack comes flying toward Shirahoshi, and she dodges with a sharp "Hah!" Luffy realizes the threat is still following her: "Another one... That's about the tenth one since we left him back there. He sure doesn't give up easy..." Jinbe shouts at him, "You see?! Why in the world did you bring the princess here, Luffy-kun?!" But Shirahoshi, still smiling despite the danger, reassures everyone: "She'll be fine! She's got me - right?!" Luffy answers, "Yes!" while someone sweats, "Outrageous ...!!" The page makes clear that Vander Decken's thrown objects remain locked onto Shirahoshi even after the escape, turning the peaceful Ocean Forest into another dangerous stop.

At the grave Shirahoshi wanted to visit, Luffy asks, "So this is the grave she was talking about, huh?" The memorial stands quietly in the Sea Forest while the Sunny rests nearby. Jinbe explains the weight of the place: "She's been sitting there for ages... That is the resting place of her mother, the queen Otohime..." He adds, "The princess was unfortunate enough to fall foul of Vander Decken with the worst possible timing... Unable even to attend her mother's funeral, she has been sealed away in Shell Tower for these ten long years..." Shirahoshi kneels with her hands together, finally before her mother's grave. Jinbe understands the pain behind the visit: "She must have so many things... ...she wishes to say to her mother now..."

The calm is interrupted by more urgent news. Someone calls, "Luffy yyy!!!" and another reports, "What?! He's with Princess Shirahoshi ...!!" Luffy, hearts still floating around Sanji in the background, asks the practical question first: "Hey!! Nami!! Has the banquet started yet?!" Nami answers from afar, "Nnnn Nami-san!" and someone notes, "Yep, he's cured." Then the real crisis arrives: "To think that Ryuuguu Palace has fallen into such peril ...!!" The others react, "Hordy did such a thing?!" and "Is this true?!" Luffy asks, "What's happened to Zoro and the others, then?!" Shirahoshi trembles, "Father has been captured?! I cannot believe it...!" and turns to Hachi in alarm: "Hacchin! ...What happened to you?!" Nami admits, "I don't know. I was going to go back for them once I found you..."

Jinbe stops to apologize, taking responsibility for old wounds before the new crisis can be solved. "I must apologise... It seems that you have been drawn into our troubles all too quickly..." Luffy listens as Jinbe continues, "This may be sudden... But please understand, when I met Luffy-kun two years ago, even more so than now... ...it was simply not the time to speak of such things!" Then Jinbe bows to Nami and the others: "But at the same time, I must apologise... Jimbei-san... I harbour a profound gratitude towards those responsible for putting a stop to the terror... ...that Arlong and his crew wreaked in East Blue ...!!! This was your doing, was it not? I must extend you my thanks ...!!!" The page ends with Jinbe's confession landing heavily on Nami: "For eleven years ago, the one responsible for unleashing Arlong upon the waters of East Blue... ...was none other than myself!!!"

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