Neptune's expression suddenly turned very grim as he shook his head slightly. "I don't know! How she died, where she died—there are no answers to these!"
Taro was instantly dumbfounded. Just as he was about to speak,
he heard Neptune add,
"However, her death is inseparable from Dark King!"
Is it really Dark King?
Was there really a problem with the timeline I speculated earlier?
Taro was shocked to the extreme, and his tone became anxious.
"Your Majesty, you said you don't know how she died, so how can you be sure she is already dead?"
"And on what basis do you conclude that her death is related to 'Dark King'?"
Neptune looked at the shocked Taro, thought for a moment, and responded,
"Your two questions are actually one and the same!"
Taro's shocked face instantly turned into one of bewilderment. "Huh?"
Neptune sat cross-legged again, staring straight at Taro, and solemnly exhorted,
"This is information that only successive Kings of Ryugu are permitted to know. I am willing to violate my ancestral teachings to tell you."
"However, you must never let Shirahoshi know. Please guarantee this!"
Taro realized that things were not simple. He stood up, thought for a while, and said in a solemn tone,
"I guarantee it!"
Neptune stared at Taro for a while longer, then nodded.
"I believe you!"
He paused before continuing,
"Because no one knows how she died!"
"However, there are 'people' who can judge whether she is alive or dead. Do you understand what I mean?"
Taro was confused for a moment upon hearing this, then he suddenly realized and blurted out,
"Are you talking about those Giant Sea Kings?"
Neptune nodded heavily. "Exactly, it's them!"
Taro had a new doubt.
"But Your Majesty, as far as I know, only 'Poseidon' can communicate with Giant Sea Kings. How did they... the news of the Mermaid Princess's death...?"
A wave of sadness, pain, and anger flashed in Neptune's eyes.
"They don't deliver messages by'speaking', but by 'doing'!"
Seeing Taro's brow furrowed, Neptune reminded him:
"Taro, do you know about 'Aqua Laguna'?"
Taro was stunned for a moment, raising an eyebrow.
"I know. Water Seven is hit by a massive tsunami every year, and this massive tsunami is named 'Aqua Laguna'. One just happened a few months ago, but this...?"
As he spoke, his eyes suddenly widened in disbelief.
"You... you mean... Aqua Laguna is caused by Giant Sea Kings? Why?"
The sadness in Neptune's eyes deepened. He raised his head, seemingly trying to stop tears from flowing.
"I said just now, your two questions are essentially one!"
"You should know what kind of place Water Seven is!"
Taro was dumbfounded, as if a bomb had exploded in his head, his brain buzzing.
pluton is the great masterpiece of the Shipwrights of Water Seven!
After being dazed for a long time, Taro took a deep breath.
"I think I understand what you mean!"
"You judged that the Mermaid Princess of that era was dead through the abnormal behavior of the Giant Sea Kings causing a massive tsunami..."
"And then, based on the fact that the target of the tsunami was Water Seven, you concluded that her death was related to pluton!"
"That's it, right?"
Neptune first shook his head, then nodded.
"It wasn't me who made that judgment!"
"It was the judgment made by the King of the Dragon Palace who was a contemporary of the Mermaid Princess!"
"Of course, we successive kings also recognize this judgment!"
Taro's expression turned heavy. "In other words, this isn't empirical evidence?"
Neptune shook his head. "Taro, I know what you are doubting!"
"After 'Aqua Laguna' passes, it leaves a special 'gift' for the locals: sea salt! You know about it, right?"
Taro nodded. He had an impression of this salt.
As a top chef, Sanji was once impressed by this salt!
It was an excellent seasoning that could be called 'All-Blue Sea Salt'!
"Do you know what it means that such sea salt is left behind?"
After asking, Neptune gave the answer without waiting for Taro's response.
"It means that the seawater forming the massive tsunami indeed gathered from the East, South, West, and North Blues!"
"The Calm Belt, like the four seas, is also divided in two by the Red Line. Yet, the Giant Sea Kings separated in different places could work together to cause a massive tsunami."
"If this wasn't an order from their 'King', then it's enough to prove that an event occurred that forced them to take this action!"
"That event was that their 'King' had died!"
Neptune paused here, seemingly giving Taro time to think.
After a while, he continued,
"The sides of the Calm Belt in the first half of the Grand Line are the East Blue and South Blue, while the West Blue and North Blue on the sides of the Calm Belt in the New World are further from Water Seven."
"Yet the tsunami only formed its scale in the waters near Water Seven!"
"This proves that their target was very clear: Water Seven!"
"Now, do you understand why the King of the Dragon Palace of that era made such a judgment?"
Taro had been thinking. It had to be said that Neptune's words made a lot of sense.
After thinking for a while longer, he raised his head.
"But with the ability of Giant Sea Kings, if they really wanted to destroy Water Seven, it should be an easy task. How could it be that for so many years...?"
Neptune looked down at Taro with great appreciation in his eyes.
"Taro, your thinking is very sharp! Indeed, destroying an island is not a difficult task for them!"
Then, he sighed again.
"The reason they controlled their 'retaliation' to this extent was probably just to force 'that person' to show up!"
Holy crap, how is another new character being unlocked? (Haha, just the author's mischievous sense of humor~ keeping the readers guessing, hey, I'm just having fun!)
Is there no end to this?
Taro was dumbfounded. "That person? Who?"
Neptune shook his head. "This person only exists in the last words left by the King of the Dragon Palace at that time!"
"On the day that Mermaid Princess died, she said, 'I have to go see a companion'!"
Taro was stunned for a moment. "A companion?"
His heart was pounding. Holy crap, this person couldn't be Joy Boy, right?
There's no reason for Joy Boy to kill Poseidon either?
Neptune probably saw what Taro was thinking, his eyes were a bit strange, and he wondered in his heart,
Was Taro's reaction doubting the Joy Boy of 800 years ago?
The current Joy Boy doubting the previous one?
That's freaking ridiculous!
He quickly waved his hand and spoke rapidly,
"How could you think 'that person' is Joy Boy?"
"It's not! Because the Mermaid Princess said those words to Joy Boy!"
Taro first widened his eyes in utter shock, then scratched his hair in distress.
"Your Majesty Neptune, I say, can you finish everything you know in one go!"
Neptune tugged at his beard, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"That's it. Those were all the last words of the previous king!"
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