One Piece Gunslinger

However, Leon still had some questions. He could understand most of Neptune's thinking, but there was one thing he couldn't understand: "I have a question. Are you really so sure that the Revolutionary Army will win?"

Yes, offering help in times of need is hundreds of times better than adding to someone's success. But the help must actually bring them to life; if it doesn't save them and you end up getting yourself killed, then it's a losing proposition.

With the support of Fishman Island, would they be able to defeat them? Obviously not. Fishmen and mermaids, although possessing unique advantages in the sea, are already superior to ordinary humans from the moment they are born.

However, the biggest problem is still the small population. The number of people in a single country is simply too small. Compared to the nearly two hundred countries ruled by the World Government and the Revolutionary Army, they are insignificant. Even if these darlings of the sea could fight ten against one, they would hardly make a ripple. Not to mention that although the Fish-Men have a higher starting point than humans, they lack high-end combat power like the Marine Admirals among humans.

So why would Neptune still gamble on the Revolutionary Army? It concerns the survival of the entire race. Even with Whitebeard's backing, he can't be this reckless. Whitebeard can't protect you forever.

Neptune took a deep breath before answering the question, "If there has to be a reason, it's probably a divination."

"Is it Mrs. Shirley?" Li Ang asked immediately.

Neptune paused for a moment before saying, "I didn't expect you to know this. Yes, it's Mrs. Shirley."

Mrs. Shirley is a mermaid. Well, mermaids aren't supposed to be beautiful, but that's a fitting description for Mrs. Shirley. She's also Arlong's sister and runs a mermaid café on Fish-Man Island.

Of course, none of that matters. The important thing is that Mrs. Shirley is considered a remarkable fortune teller, known throughout the entire Fish-Man Island. While the accuracy of her predictions cannot be pinpointed to specific times and places, their accuracy is undeniably 100%. However, the results of her divinations are almost always bad.

No one knows the principle behind Madam Shirley's divination, nor whether it's because she ate a Devil Fruit related to divination. In any case, it's a very magical ability.

Another person with divination abilities is the magician Hawkins, one of the Supernovas. However, the source of his divination abilities is more clearly defined: his Devil Fruit power.

How could Neptune not know about such a cheat-like existence, and how could he not make use of it? He would definitely have Lady Shirley divine some important national affairs. On the contrary, it would be a waste not to utilize it.

Even Li Ang's planned purpose in coming to Fishman Island was to find Lady Shirley and ask her to divine something.

To be honest, divination is like using various scientific methods to predict tomorrow's weather in modern times. You might say predicting the future is against nature? Absolutely not. Predicting the future is for the convenience of life.

Furthermore, people are constantly improving their technology and are already working to overcome the challenge of earthquake prediction. Current technology allows for warnings up to ten seconds before an earthquake strikes.

With advancements in technology, it's believed that various natural disasters, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods, will be predictable by humankind. Therefore, don't view divination and prediction as something so despicable, or think that the strong disdain divination; destiny is in your own hands.

Think of it like using fantastical methods to make a weather forecast. The weather forecast predicts you'll get wet, but you bring an umbrella and break the prophecy. Well, fate is indeed in your own hands.

It's true that predictions, due to their inaccurate and unclear descriptions, can sometimes be misleading. But aren't weather forecasts often unreliable too? That didn't stop Neptune from seeking help from Mrs. Shirley. Besides, Mrs. Shirley had never made a wrong prediction.

So Neptune made this decision based on Mrs. Charlotte's prophetic abilities, and Leon believed it.

"So, according to the prophecy, the Revolutionary Army will eventually defeat the World Government?"

However, Neptune shook his head.

Li Ang then asked, "Could it be that the prophecy foretold that Fishman Island would prosper because of this?"

Neptune shook his head again.

So none of this applies here. Why did you decide to stand on the same side as the revolutionary army? What kind of divination did you do?

Leon didn't say it aloud, but Neptune had already seen it in Leon's eyes. He explained, "More than ten days ago, when news of Dressrosa being occupied by the Revolutionary Army was flying everywhere, I went to see Madam Shirley. Now Fish-Man Island is adjacent to both the Revolutionary Army and the World Government, and I think this might be an opportunity for the Fish-Men."

So, based on the Revolutionary Army's actions, I divined a question: who will win in a future war between the World Government and the Revolutionary Army?

Leon could understand Neptune's entire divination; if he were in Neptune's shoes, he would have done the same. While his primary concern was the future of Fish-Man Island, the more conditions he set and the more complex the questions, the more ambiguous the conclusion became. This was an unacceptable order for Neptune, who was willing to stake everything on the entire Fish-Man Island.

"The results of it?"

“Then Mrs. Shirley’s crystal ball shattered,” Neptune said.

Li Ang could understand the crystal ball shattering; the impact on the entire world was immense, and prediction was extremely difficult. Moreover, the presence of someone like Li Ang, who wasn't a local resident, made the situation even more unpredictable.

But if the crystal ball exploded, why did Neptune still say that he chose the Revolutionary Army based on the allegory? Doesn't that mean he knew nothing at all?

"You're probably thinking, if that's the case, why did I make this decision?"

Very good, you can read minds now.

Li Ang remained silent, letting Neptune continue.

“The reason is actually quite simple: it’s because we didn’t see anything,” Neptune said, and then fell silent.

Li Ang was stunned. "So that's all you've explained? What the hell? It's like you haven't said anything at all."

However, since Neptune didn't say anything, it meant the answer was already out. Li Ang carefully pondered this sentence and put himself in Neptune's shoes, thinking about what he would do if he were the king of the Dragon Palace Kingdom.

Sure enough, the answer soon became clear: he would make the same decision as Neptune.

There is indeed a reason, and that is that nothing was divined.

Chapter 307 More Work to Do

"Oh, I see."

"Yes, that's right."

The logic is actually quite simple: no matter how prophetic Madame Charlotte's abilities are, there must be a limit and certain limitations. She can't predict everything; otherwise, she would be an omniscient and omnipotent god.

Therefore, it was neither Mrs. Shirley's inability to predict who would win or lose in a war between the Revolutionary Army and the World Government, nor was it surprising to Leon. It was perfectly reasonable. The issues involved were far too complex.

However, this is based on the premise that it is from Li Ang's perspective.

Li Ang believed this because he was a member of the Revolutionary Army, and one of the highest-ranking members of the Revolutionary Army. Relying on the wisdom of another world spanning thousands of years, even if Li Ang only learned the basics, he was confident that he could contend with the World Government.

Even so, Li Ang wasn't entirely confident of victory, nor was he certain he could overthrow the World Government through his subsequent plans and methods. Even a weakened giant is still formidable; even if the Revolutionary Army gained some advantages, the World Government still held a significant advantage.

However, from the perspective of other indigenous peoples, this is not the case at all.

Neptune was not Leon, and he knew nothing about the Revolutionary Army. He was unaware of their strength. This was true not only for Neptune, but for almost all the native inhabitants.

Conversely, anyone who believes the Revolutionary Army can fight the World Government is either incredibly wise and possesses a vast and deep intelligence network; that person is simply mentally challenged.

Li Ang only came up with the idea of ​​kicking out Neptune after a long time.

The rest of the logic is simple.

Predicting the outcome of the battle between the World Government and the Revolutionary Army is tantamount to predicting the development and direction of the world. It seems incredibly complex, but it's actually extremely simple. You don't even need Mrs. Shirley to predict it; most people could predict the outcome of "World Government victory."

To give an analogy, it's like if you asked Mrs. Charlotte to predict which direction the sun would rise tomorrow, you'd almost expect to get a look of affection from her that would be reserved for children with intellectual disabilities.

Then, using your status as king, you finally managed to persuade Lady Shirley to divine whether the sun would still rise in the east tomorrow. The result astonished both you and Lady Shirley: the divination couldn't predict whether the sun would rise in the east.

Doesn't this tell us the whole story? There's a huge problem here.

Divining which direction the sun rises from is undoubtedly divining an immense question—the operation of a stellar galaxy, the universe itself. This is far more complex than any battle between two armies.

But beneath this enormous exterior lies an extremely simple question: without needing divination, one knows that the sun will rise from the east.

Now, the essence of these two questions is the same: both ask Mrs. Charlotte to divine a seemingly grand but incredibly simple question, but the result is unexpected—the question is not simple at all and cannot be divined.

Imagine if people on Earth knew that the sun might not rise in the east tomorrow, half of them would immediately turn to Satan.

Once Neptune learned that it was uncertain who would win, there was no point in thinking about it anymore; he simply sided with the Revolutionary Army without any hesitation.

A win rate is enough. Neptune believed that even something obvious could be made complicated by the Revolutionary Army. So, it seemed not impossible for the Revolutionary Army to take some more action and work harder to increase their win rate.

It seems that Madam Shirley's abilities are too overpowered and too extraordinary. Even if she didn't divine anything, it's as if she divined a lot of things.

This made Li Ang look forward to consulting Mrs. Xia Li again.

Regardless, Neptune has now opened the island to the Revolutionary Army, making the entire Fish-Man Island accessible. Leon only needs to instruct the Revolutionary Army to send some people down to spread their ideology. Later, they can integrate a large number of fish-men and mermaids into their ranks.

Since Neptune has opened his doors wide, offering you free access to Fishman Island's resources and manpower, if you have the ability to take them away, then Leon might as well be even more shameless.

He simply said, "So, I can take anyone away, including Shirahoshi?"

Shirahoshi is no ordinary mermaid; she is first and foremost Neptune's youngest daughter, and also the "Sea King" born only once every few centuries, possessing the talent to command Sea Kings. She is considered one of the three Ancient Weapons, along with "Pluto" and "Celestial."

Even now, she is still a "little" loli who is not yet fourteen years old.

Merfolk are generally different from fish-people; they are typically kinder. Furthermore, they do not eat fish. Therefore, they possess the ability to communicate with fish and even command them.

Shirahoshi is among the elite of the mermaid race, and her abilities extend beyond ordinary fish, even reaching sea kings. If she could gather sea kings together to form a powerful force, it would indeed have the potential to overturn the entire world.

No one could resist this ability, not even Li Ang.

Just after Li Ang shamelessly brought up this question, Bai Xing's three brothers also got agitated: "Don't you dare lay a finger on my sister!" "Are you kidding me?" "I won't let you take Bai Xing away."

They're practically three sister-protecting fanatics. It looks like if Li Ang says he wants to take Bai Xing away again, they'll come up and wrestle with him.

However, Neptune wasn't as excited as his three sons; he merely sighed. White Star had been locked inside the Hard Shell Tower by him since childhood to protect her from Vander Decken's attacks.

Vander Decken understood why he was targeting Shirahoshi; anyone in the world who knew about Shirahoshi's abilities would find it hard to resist the temptation. Since the Revolutionary Army knew of Shirahoshi's existence, it was to be expected.

However, from another perspective, given the Revolutionary Army's style, they wouldn't do anything to Shirahoshi. Even if they used her abilities, they wouldn't do anything terrible. On the contrary, handing her over to the Revolutionary Army might even help Shirahoshi control her unstable abilities.

So Neptune thought for a long time before answering, "If you're willing to grant me one condition, I'll agree."

"Oh? What are the conditions?"

I'm not afraid of you setting conditions; I'm afraid of you refusing outright. Li Ang is fully confident that he can fulfill all the conditions Neptune has set.

"As long as it's possible..."

"boom!"

At this critical moment, a violent explosion interrupted their conversation.

"Explosion? There was an explosion up there?" Li Ang was completely bewildered. This was the royal palace of Fishman Island, how could there be an explosion? It couldn't have been a gas cylinder in the kitchen that exploded, could it?

However, less than two seconds later, Prince Shark Star told Li Ang the answer: "The direction is towards the Hard Shell Tower. It's that bastard again. This time he actually sent the bomb over."

Seeing the three princes' angry expressions, Li Ang understood what was going on. It turned out that Vander Decken had sent Bai Xing another gift.

Isn't he afraid of blowing Shirahoshi up? Li Ang didn't quite understand Vander Decken's thinking. His goal was also to obtain Shirahoshi's "Sea King" power, so he targeted her when she was only a few years old, wanting to marry her. He even planted the Target-Target Fruit power in her, threatening her safety.

The problem is, the more VanderDeacon acts this way, the tighter Neptune will protect him. His intelligence is simply hopeless.

Logically speaking, even if Vander Decken did something even more outrageous, increased the threats, or even killed Shirahoshi, he still wouldn't be able to win her over. The command was increasingly fueling the crowd's rejection. Shirahoshi herself, her brothers, and Neptune all shared this sentiment: even in death, they couldn't let such a man marry her.

Strong fortresses are often breached from within, while strong external attacks sometimes only make those inside more determined to resist.

If Leon were still in Vander Decken's position and wanted to obtain Shirahoshi's abilities, the first step wouldn't be to leave behind the Target-Target Fruit power for future threats, but rather to reform himself.

By bringing the Vander Decken Pirates to submit to King Neptune, it's believed that King Neptune wouldn't refuse to help them. After all, a simple nod would eliminate the Vander Decken Pirates, who had plagued Fish-Man Island for years, and also provide a significant boost to their cause.

The second step was to dispel Neptune's suspicions. He needed to realize that after surrendering, he was genuinely doing good. That meant saying goodbye to the future, and gradually developing into the second heroic organization on Fish-Man Island.

The first heroic organization revered by all fish-men and mermaids was the Sun Pirates, led by Jinbe. Vander Decken could very well become the second.

However, this plan has one drawback: it will take a long time. Whether it's alleviating Neptune's suspicions, convincing him that Vander Decken has truly reformed, or becoming a new hero of the merfolk, all of this will require time.

However, this long process is unavoidable. After all, Princess Shirahoshi needs time to grow up. So, once all this is settled, Princess Shirahoshi will be around the age to get married. At this point, a sudden, unexpected proposal would be incredibly effective.

With widespread public support and Princess Shirahoshi's naivety and kindness, the matter was settled. Even if Neptune eventually realizes his mistake and objects, it will be too late; Shirahoshi herself will agree.

Compared to scheming, this kind of open and aboveboard strategy is much more effective. As long as nothing unexpected happens, Neptune will be powerless to reverse the situation.