Both start in hell: but their talents are multiplied a hundredfold.

Shen Jue's disguise in the early stages was really good.

When Shen Jue finally showed a "follow orders but not orders" attitude, the Warring States Marshal on the other end of the Den Den Mushi was so angry that he almost yelled his military cap off Shen Jue, who was talking to the Den Den Mushi.

Garp burst into laughter, laughing so hard that tears almost streamed down his face.

When it comes to hunting down vicious pirates and wanted criminals, Shen Jue is always the first to rush in.

But if the World Government wants to use Shen Jue as a henchman to clean up the messes for the Celestial Dragons and the like, he will calmly say into the Den Den Mushi, "The signal is bad."

This infuriated the Warring States marshal.

Shen Jue's demeanor prompted Qingzhi to secretly approach him many times.

Aokiji made it clear, both openly and subtly, that he supported Shen Jue becoming the Fleet Admiral. He, Aokiji, was not like that hothead Akainu.

As for Kizaru, who prefers to slack off the most, he still maintains that same lazy attitude.

Shen Jue secretly noted this down.

Before arriving at Fishman Island, Shen Jue had already mentally rehearsed the scene of confronting King Neptune.

Shen Jue knew that if he invited Neptune to join his operation in the name of "naval justice," the old king would make up countless excuses and refuse in every way possible to protect his fragile peace.

However, if the invitation were replaced with "eliminate the Celestial Dragons and overthrow the World Government," King Neptune's reaction would likely be quite different.

First, he was terrified, then he refused, and then he would not hesitate to let his three sons empty half of the Dragon Palace Kingdom's treasury, just to contribute to the cause of General Shen Jue of Xuanxie.

At this moment, Neptune on the throne seemed to have lost all his energy. He remained silent, neither immediately refusing nor agreeing, but instead fell into a long period of contemplation.

Neptune's gaze fell on Shen Jue's resolute face.

In a daze, Neptune seemed to see again the look on his beloved wife Otohime's face as she pleaded for peace before her death, and he could hear the cries of his daughter Shirahoshi hiding in the hard-shell tower, and the tragic plight of the Fish-Man Island people when they were enslaved.

The deepest pain and hatred buried in his heart were stirred up by Shen Jue's words at this moment.

Then, King Neptune rejected Shen Jue.

"General Xuanxie, you have spoken too inappropriately," King Neptune said with a sorrowful expression.

"Fishman Island loves peace and will not provoke any war."

Numbness filled Neptune's face, a mask of numbness and pain.

Shen Jue chuckled softly.

He had long anticipated this scenario.

It was perfectly normal for King Neptune to reject Shen Jue's proposal.

The shadow of world governments is everywhere.

From the supreme Void Throne Im and the mysterious Knights of God, to the navy and CP intelligence agencies spread across the world, and even the massive scale of its 170 member states.

Every force is a Damocles' sword hanging over Fishman Island.

The strongest person on Fishman Island right now is Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Fishman Island is so small in the face of such a massive world machine.

It was not just a difference in strength, but also a mockery of fate. The fish-men were born with arm strength ten times greater than that of humans, and should have been a dominant race with many powerful individuals.

However, due to their rigid prejudices, they viewed Devil Fruits as taboo.

Otherwise, with their advantageous maritime geography, they would have already monopolized the ocean's treasures and completely rewritten the world's landscape.

Every decision Neptune made was like walking a tightrope over an abyss; a single misstep could have caused Fishman Island to be completely swallowed up by the tides of history.

The current predicament is a reflection of this heavy pressure.

The fish-men are born with the ability to live freely on land and sea, yet they choose to huddle ten thousand meters below the surface of the ocean, clinging to life by the faint light of the Sun Tree Eve.

Why don't fish-men choose to live on the surface of the sea? Is it because they don't like it?

The answer is that the fish-men chose the deep sea not out of a preference for it, but because of an escape that lasted for hundreds of years.

Once the fish-men choose to return to the sunlight, what awaits them will not be an equal embrace, but greedy fangs.

In the Great Pirate Era, where the strong prey on the weak, Fishman Island was like an undefended treasure trove. Without the protection of powerful forces, it would only become a hunting ground for the strong to take whatever they wanted.

A weak nation has no diplomacy, let alone the right to talk about dignity and the future.

Therefore, Neptune was not inactive; he was simply doing his utmost to maintain this last refuge amidst the despair.

He was not a foolish monarch, but a fish-man king who, amidst the great waves of history, tried his best to protect the candlelight, but ultimately was powerless to do so.

Shen Jue did not demand that King Neptune immediately grant his request; instead, he handed King Neptune a Den Den Mushi equipped with anti-eavesdropping features.

This time, King Neptune did not refuse Shen Jue.

After receiving the Den Den Mushi from King Neptune, Shen Jue bid farewell to him.

Despite King Neptune's repeated attempts to persuade him to stay, Shen Jue remained determined to set sail.

In the end, the king could only lead his court ministers, the three princes, Princess Shirahoshi, and countless people from Fishman Island to line the harbor and see them off.

Shen Jue, along with Hina, Drake, Smoker, Chopper, and their group, waved goodbye to the enthusiastic mermaids one by one.

Meanwhile, the navy under Shen Jue's command had already become friends with the fish-men in the past few days.

Before parting, they were given bags and bags of gifts, and they were all beaming with joy.

Even the minor injuries sustained during the previous campaign to eliminate the pirates and wanted criminals hiding on Fishman Island didn't seem to hurt as much now.

"Brother Shen Jue." Drake approached Shen Jue and whispered in his ear.

"How did it go? What was King Neptune's reply?"

Shen Jue said with a smile, "As I expected, he refused."

Drake's tense shoulders relaxed slightly; he was naturally on Shen Jue's side.

However, Shen Jue's elder brother so bluntly proposed to King Neptune to rebel, which in his view was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Fishman Island has been weak for a long time. Although King Neptune is benevolent, he has neither the ambition nor the strength to contend for supremacy.

This move is not only impractical, but could also plunge the entire Fishman Island into an abyss of no return.

"Drake," Shen Jue smiled and waved goodbye to the many mermaids, then whispered, "Don't be discouraged."

"They'll help whoever wins."

Hina boarded the ship first, followed closely by Smoker and Drake.

Shen Jue lagged behind, with Chopper perched on his shoulder. The little reindeer was also tightly clutching a pink cotton candy bigger than his head, which it was happily licking and reluctant to let go of.

As the sailors boarded the ship one after another, Shen Jue stopped in his tracks.

Amidst the puzzled gazes of the crowd, Shen Jue raised his head on the side of the warship and gestured with his hands in the air as if measuring something.

At that moment, the air in Fishman Island's harbor suddenly tightened, and even the water flow stopped.

Shen Jue stood quietly at the harbor, with mermaids seeing him off and Princess Bai Xing tearfully pleading with him to stay.

Previously in the Sea Forest, Shen Jue had Hina record the apology text left by Joy Boy in the Sea Forest, but Shen Jue and the others did not find the red Poneglyph that guides them to the final island, Laugh Tale.

The gazes of everyone on the warship followed Shen Jue's movements upwards, finally settling on the enormous, double-layered bubble dome of Fishman Island, which emitted a faint blue glow.

The double-layered membrane acts like a barrier, separating the oppressive weight of the deep sea from the tranquility of the island. Now, under the refraction of sunlight, it has a dreamlike quality with seven colors.

"What is Brother Shen Jue looking at?" Drake frowned slightly, his hand unconsciously resting on the two swords at his waist.

Smoker exhaled a puff of smoke from his cigar, his eyes filled with doubt, and said, "I don't know, but I feel that what Brother Shen Jue is about to do will definitely not be small."

Hina adjusted the sunglasses she was wearing 10000 meters deep in the ocean, her gaze fixed on Shen Jue's back, a strange premonition rising in her heart.

Shen Jue remained silent, only closing his eyes slightly, when intensely dense black and red electric arcs suddenly erupted around him.

The overwhelming aura of a king, transcending the mortal realm, and carrying a terrifying aura that seemed to tear the heavens and earth apart, erupted completely at this moment!

"Buzz!"