Pirate: I'm about to do something big!

The main street of Fishman Island.

Mermaids and some patrolling Neptune soldiers on either side of the street are looking at the strange combination on the street.

But this combination isn't surprising; it's simply two humans and three fishmen.

Fishman Island serves as a transit point connecting the first half of the Grand Line and the second half of the New World, with countless ships entering and leaving the island every day, making it a busy cargo port.

Many humans take a break on Fishman Island while the ships are docked for transit, and some fishmen from Fishman Town also come to buy daily necessities.

It's not unusual for humans and fish-men to appear separately on Fishman Island, but it is strange for humans and fish-men to travel together on Fishman Island, especially since these three fish-men are the captain and two core crew members of the Sun Pirates who came from Fishman Island.

"Mr. Tiger, are you on your way to see Queen Otohime?"

"Yes, this is a human friend I met outside, and I would like to take him to meet Queen Otohime."

"Really? Mr. Tiger has made human friends too!"

Tiger is very popular on Fishman Island. His feat of free-climbing the Red Line and liberating the Celestial Dragon slaves of the Holy Land Mary Geoise is regarded as a hero by the people of Fishman Island.

The current King Neptune and Queen Otohime of Fishman Island treat Tiger as an honored guest.

Like Tiger, the couple is dedicated to improving the relationship between mermaids, fish-men, and humans.

However, the fact that the Celestial Dragons and other world nobles were supporting the underground slave trade and trafficking fish-men and mermaids behind the scenes meant that their ideas remained just ideas and could not be put into practice.

Even now, the mermaids and fishmen of Fishman Island remain wary of humans who stay on the island. Business can be done, but making friends is difficult.

That's why Alyosha was so eye-catching walking with Tiger and his group of fishmen; even the Sea King's soldiers from the Dragon Palace couldn't help but come over to ask.

After receiving a definite answer from Tiger, the soldier who had asked the question also sounded amazed.

Alyosha asked Tiger in Fishman Street why, despite being part of Fishman Island, Fishman Street didn't even have the right to bask in the sunlight. Tiger was speechless.

Seeing this, Alyosha decided to go alone to the Dragon Palace on Fishman Island to get some answers for Tiger and the others.

Tiger knew Alyosha's strength, so he could only follow along with Jinbe and Arlong.

"Mr. Alyosha, please wait a moment."

As the Dragon Palace drew ever closer, Tiger quickly walked up to Alyosha and blocked his way.

"Are you scared, Mr. Tiger?"

"I just want to ask King Neptune and Queen Otohime this question myself."

"Sure, I'm also curious why the supreme ruler of Fishman Island can't treat mermaids and fishmen equally. Don't worry, this is your home, I won't do anything reckless."

Having received Alyosha's assurance, Tiger breathed a sigh of relief and walked ahead.

The Sea King's soldiers guarding the Dragon Palace, seeing that it was Tiger in person, even though he was followed by Alyosha and Tesoro, did not question him further and allowed Tiger to lead Alyosha and the others into the Dragon Palace.

Seeing the attitude of these Sea King soldiers towards Tiger, Alyosha's doubts deepened.

This is a small but significant observation. Tiger is so respected on Fishman Island and is a guest of the royal family. Even though Tiger has angered the World Government by setting sail and forming the Sun Pirates in recent years.

However, Fishman Island is protected by Whitebeard. Ships that can ignore the World Government's ban and transit through Fishman Island are either pirate ships or illegal merchants and smugglers from the underworld. The World Government can't do anything to Fishman Island except to annoy Fishman Island at World Conferences involving member states and prohibit Fishman Island from participating. It doesn't really affect Fishman Island itself.

He couldn't think of any reason why Fishman Island wouldn't improve the environment of Fishman Street; it didn't seem like something King Neptune and Queen Otohime would do, as Tiger had said.

"If the problem isn't with the royal family or Tiger, then there must be another reason. Speaking of which, was Shirahoshi born around this time?"

Alyosha pondered to himself that the current King Neptune of Fishman Island and Queen Otohime had three sons and one daughter.

Princess Shirahoshi is the youngest of them all. Although she is young, she is large in stature, and at the age of 15 or 6, she has a physique comparable to that of a giant.

This is her talent; she is the mermaid princess of Poseidon, one of the three ancient weapons from eight hundred years ago in the world of One Piece.

As a living ancient weapon passed down through generations on Fish-Man Island, Shirahoshi is born with the ability to communicate with and command Sea Kings. In this world dominated by the sea, this power is quite formidable.

But this also put her in a situation where she was coveted by others.

"Mr. Tiger, this should be your first return to Fishman Island since you formed the Sun Pirates, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Alyosha, please believe me, King Neptune and Queen Otohime just like me, overlooked the fact that Fishman Street needs sunlight, it wasn't intentional."

"Yes, I believe you."

Alyosha also confirmed a fact from Tiger's answer: the mermaid princess Shirahoshi had been born for some time.

Now he knows where the problem lies.

King Neptune and Queen Otohime did not lack the desire to improve the environment of Fishman Street, but were delayed by other matters.

For example, other people besides them realized that Shirahoshi, the mermaid princess, was actually the ancient weapon Poseidon.

Just as Alyosha was piecing together the clues in his mind, three male mermen carrying tridents walked over.

"Mr. Tiger, I'm sorry, Mom doesn't have time to see you right now."

Why?

Tiger hadn't expected to be turned away at the royal palace when he returned to Fishman Island, but it was clear that the three dragon princes didn't want to explain the reason to Tiger. Alyosha, however, grabbed Tiger's shoulder, walked past Tiger, and called out to the three mermaid princes.

"Your Highness, perhaps I can help you."

"Human, who are you?"

"My name is Alyosha Ran. I am a friend of Mr. Tiger and the one who can solve the problem that is currently troubling King Neptune and Queen Otohime in how to protect Princess Shirahoshi."

As Alyosha uttered Shirahoshi's name, the three mermaid princes who were about to leave also changed their expressions.

The look in his eyes toward Alyosha turned unfriendly, and he was about to press for more information when he heard a horn sound from inside the Dragon Palace.

The sound of horns echoed within the Dragon Palace, and the three mermaid princes had no choice but to temporarily abandon Alyosha and his group, leading the assembled Sea King's army soldiers in a hurried departure in one direction.

"Follow them, Mr. Tiger. It seems we've both misjudged the crux of the problem."

Having said that, Alyosha leaped into the air and followed the direction in which the Dragon Palace soldiers had left.