Chapter 422 - 261

Chapter 262: The Long-Awaited Truth!"That's not true—!!!"A voice, like a beam of pure sunlight piercing through the deep sea, suddenly rang out.The voice still carried the soft, sweet quality characteristic of the Mermaid Tribe,but at this moment, that softness contained an unprecedented, clear, and firm strength, even carrying a hint of a tremble born from excitement."Imperial Mother... Imperial Mother was not assassinated by a human!"These sudden words were like a clap of thunder, exploding in everyone's ears.In an instant, everyone was as if frozen by a spell, stunned into silence!Their gazes, filled with unbelievable shock and blank confusion, all turned toward the source of the voice!!Princess Shirahoshi's long pink hair fluttered slightly with her excitement; her sea-blue eyes were brimming with tears, yet they shone with an exceptionally bright, unquestionable light."Oh—?"Luffy had been tilting his head somewhat boredly, but the moment he heard Shirahoshi speak, a strange glint flashed in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled into an interested arc.'So, you're finally going to... speak the truth, Shirahoshi?'Luffy wasn't actually that obsessed with past rights and wrongs; he cared more about the people and things right in front of him.Even though he knew some of the inside story, he never thought about taking the initiative to expose it.In his eyes, that and the present were already issues on two different levels.But at this moment, seeing Shirahoshi—who always cried and hid inside her giant body—actually step forward to face the deepest pain and accusations... Luffy couldn't help but let a smile curl onto his lips.The growth of a companion always made him exceptionally happy!!"The person who murdered my mother..."Shirahoshi's voice trembled slightly but was exceptionally clear. She raised her hand, her slender finger pointing straight at the blood-soaked figure in the rubble,—is you, Hody Jones!""...?!"Time seemed to freeze once again.Not just Neptune and Jinbe, but all the Ryugu Palace personnel who heard this sentence had faces written with shock and bewilderment.For over ten years, the realization that Queen Otohime died from a "human pirate's sniper shot" had long been branded into everyone's memory like a scar, becoming one of the roots of the ethnic divide.Now, this foundation was shaken, and it was personally denied by the Queen's own daughter!"Ah... Hahaha! My dear Princess Shirahoshi,"After a brief moment of shock, Hody Jones burst into hoarse and frantic laughter.He struggled, using the residual power of the energy steroids and his final madness to stagger to his feet from the rubble.Blood continued to drip from his ruptured skin, blooming into eye-catching flowers on the ground."You really... know how to joke! Evidence? What evidence do you have to prove such a ridiculous accusation?""And, since you 'knew' the truth, why for these past ten years... have you remained silent, letting everyone believe it was done by humans?""Mekaro can testify for me!"Shirahoshi took a half-step forward urgently, her giant fish tail swaying uneasily,"Back then... Mekaro saw it with his own eyes!""That pet shark you keep?"Hody sneered, spreading his blood-matted palms, his tone full of contempt and manipulation,"It is your 'person,' so naturally it will speak for you. Based solely on its word, you want to overturn a ten-year conclusion and erase the crimes humans committed against the Queen?""Princess, you are simply too naive and too easily manipulated."Dealing with a sheltered princess who knew nothing of the world seemed easy for him.As long as he stuck to the lack of concrete evidence and questioned the credibility of the witness, it would be enough to turn this accusation into a muddled mess."Oh? Is that so?"A lazy voice cut in.Luffy had at some point started picking his ear, his expression indifferent as if they were discussing what to eat for dinner.He lowered his hand and looked at Hody with a calm gaze:"The ones standing here are all our people."He pointed at Shirahoshi, then swept his gaze over Neptune, Jinbe, and the Ryugu guards in the hall,"If we don't believe what Shirahoshi says... are we supposed to believe a guy like you who brought pirates to our door, shouting about murder and arson?"As he spoke, he slowly straightened his body.With this simple movement, an invisible pressure began to permeate the air.He looked at the Fishman before him, who had been repeatedly heavily wounded by Jinbe yet always managed to get back up like a'sit-up' under the support of energy steroids; his eyes gradually narrowed, revealing a cold light of impatience.Looking at the events of Fish-Man Island, there was a subtle difference from Luffy's past and future adventures.The'sit-up' drama of being knocked down and stubbornly standing back up, which should have been borne by him as the 'protagonist,' seemed to have all gone to this Hody Jones.Watching him jump back and forth like an unkillable cockroach, Luffy felt... a bit annoyed."Then..." Luffy's voice was very light.In the next second, his figure vanished from Hody Jones's sight like a ghost!"—Let's end it here."A cold sneer actually came from directly above Hody's head!Hody's face changed drastically; an extreme sense of crisis made all the wounds on his body sting!He jerked his head up, only to see a large hand covered in Armament Haki, forged like steel, fingers splayed, coming down on him at a speed he couldn't react to at all!That hand accurately and crudely grabbed his entire skull. The massive force instantly squeezed his skull, making his vision go black and cutting off all sound and thought.And then—BOOM!!!!!!Luffy gripped Hody's head, and without any fancy moves, simply and violently slammed him... down into the earth!With the point of impact as the center, the ground within a radius of hundreds of meters was like it had been struck by a meteorite!The hard coral rock slabs shattered layer by layer, arched up, and then completely collapsed, forming a shocking, giant crater!The deafening roar was accompanied by a visible shockwave, mixed with sky-blotting dust and rubble, sweeping violently in all directions!The entire Ryugu Palace seemed to tremble violently under this strike!As the dust settled slightly, the scene at the center of the pit was revealed.Luffy was slightly bent on one knee, maintaining a downward-pressing posture.His right hand was still tightly gripping Hody Jones's head, lifting his entire body like a broken doll out of the deep crater and holding it high in the air.Hody's limbs hung limply; no one knew how many bones in his body were shattered. Blood soaked his tattered clothes, dripping down.He had completely lost consciousness, or rather, his signs of life were weak to the extreme."It's over."Luffy's voice had no ripples.On his arm, crimson-gold lightning of Haoshoku, like a living thing, flowed down his arm and surged through Hody's broken body.Then, the muscles in Luffy's arm bulged, and he threw him with a sudden burst of force!"Shuu—!!!"Hody Jones's broken body turned into a blurred afterimage, flying straight out toward the endless deep sea outside Ryugu Palace at a terrifying speed that broke the sound barrier.In the blink of an eye, he disappeared at the edge of everyone's vision, leaving only a gradually dissipating white vapor trail."OK."Luffy brushed off non-existent dust from his hands and stood up straight, his face returning to its relaxed expression.If he could still survive that... then the guy probably wasn't a Fishman but had really used some 'immortality' cheat... On the other side, Neptune, Jinbe, and the others didn't even have the mind to confirm if Hody Jones's afterimage flying into the deep sea was dead or alive.Their minds had long been completely seized by Shirahoshi's earth-shattering words."Shirahoshi... is, is what you just said... true?!"Neptune's giant body leaned forward slightly, his voice trembling with excitement. In his weathered eyes was a mix of unbelievable shock and a sliver of hope he didn't dare to confirm."Father... Boss Jinbe..."Seeing the unprecedented solemnity and expectation on the faces of her father and Jinbe, Shirahoshi nodded vigorously, her voice soft but incredibly clear:"Yes... yes! Everything I said is true!""Princess,"Jinbe took a deep breath, trying to calm the ocean-like waves churning in his heart, but his voice still carried a heavy huskiness,"This is a matter of great importance... Why... did you hide it for ten whole years and only say it now?"This news almost overturned the heaviest realization and source of pain in his and many Fishmen's hearts.The Queen had actually died at the hands of a compatriot?This was even more sorrowful and infuriating than dying at the hands of a human."Because... before Mother passed away, she told me..."Shirahoshi lowered her head, her long eyelashes trembling slightly. She quickly wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, forcing back the tears that were about to overflow.She couldn't cry; she had to be strong. If she cried randomly, she would be disliked by Lord Luffy.She struggled to keep her voice steady:"Mother told me... not to hate the killer."She looked up, toward the spot on the hall wall where Queen Otohime's portrait used to hang."Mother always taught me, and taught everyone, that true strength is not the power of revenge, but the courage to not be bound by hatred and to choose forgiveness and progress... That's why I kept this secret and didn't tell anyone.""This..."Jinbe and Neptune looked at each other, both seeing extreme shock, realization, and a heavy, long-awaited sense of relief in each other's eyes.Queen Otohime, until the final moment of her life, was still carrying out her beliefs, even protecting the killer who assassinated her to prevent the chain of hatred from continuing to spread.Neptune's giant palm slowly tightened and then loosened, an unprecedented light gradually igniting in his eyes:"Perhaps... it is time for our Fish-Man Island to truly return 'justice' to the humans.""This might be... the perfect opportunity to break the years of estrangement and heal the rift!"Ever since his beloved wife fell on the eve of the "Petition to move to the surface" activity that should have led toward peace, Neptune had been trudging forward, carrying his wife's unfinished ideals.But in the depths of his heart, how could he not have been tortured by the poisonous thorn of "the Queen died at the hands of humans"?True, unreserved forgiveness and reconciliation—how easy was that to say?Now, the truth was out.The killer was not a human, but extreme hatred from within.And among humans, there had appeared a "savior" like Luffy, who had saved Fish-Man Island from crisis several times.Hope, like sunlight piercing through ten thousand meters of deep sea, shone in truly for the first time.The Fishman race and humans might really have a future... of peaceful coexistence and mutual acceptance!Thinking of this, Jinbe's gaze involuntarily turned to the other side.Luffy was sitting cross-legged on the ground without any decorum, listening with great interest as Shirahoshi gestured and described various funny stories about Mekaro, letting out unreservedly loud laughs from time to time.Looking at his Captain's pure smile, Jinbe's gaze became exceptionally soft.He walked over and, with a rare, almost teasing tone, asked:"Luffy-kun, how about it... are you interested in becoming Fish-Man Island's true 'hero' who will be remembered by everyone?"He was referring not just to the physical rescue, but to the symbolic bridge that could link the trust of the two races."Ah? I don't want to!"Luffy didn't have a second of hesitation; his head shook like a rattle, and he answered decisively."Eh? Why?!"This answer stunned Neptune and the Ryuguguards who were eavesdropping nearby.This was a glory that would go down in history and be revered by all the people!Luffy stopped teasing Shirahoshi, turned around, put his hands on his hips, and announced loudly:"Because if you're a hero, when you have a victory party—""You have to share the most delicious meat with everyone else!"He wrinkled his nose, his expression extremely serious:"Then what would I eat?! I don't want to do such a losing deal!"Everyone: "..."An eerie silence enveloped the hall that had just been immersed in historical turning points and heavy truths.Neptune opened his mouth, finding himself completely unable to respond.The reverence and expectation on the faces of the Ryugu guards instantly froze, turning into an indescribable blankness.Inside the hall, historical gravity and Luffy-style nonsense intertwined in a strange way.But regardless, a corner of the dark clouds of hatred that had hung over Fish-Man Island for ten years had been quietly blown open by this breeze that "did not play by the rules."