The Pirate Princess Becomes Queen

Vivi really couldn't get any more benefits out of her.

Ten days after Whitebeard left the Ryugu Kingdom, she also bid farewell, for Yamato of Wano Country was still waiting for her...

"Um... um, could you...?" Before leaving, Bai Xing's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz as she mumbled.

If it weren't for the vampire form greatly enhancing Vivi's hearing, she wouldn't have been able to hear what Shirahoshi was saying.

"What can I do? What's wrong? We're friends, I'll definitely help if I can," Weiwei said firmly.

Shirahoshi looked like she was about to cry, and Karu the duck had already quietly taken out a cat toy. She forced herself to hold back, her face full of sadness: "I want to go for a walk..."

As if afraid that Weiwei wouldn't understand, she added, "I want to go see my mother... Waaaaah!"

Bai Xing started crying again, and snot was running down her face.

Weiwei was both annoyed and amused, but ultimately she didn't laugh. Perhaps she wanted to visit her mother's grave?

She felt as if the whole world was under some kind of curse. Among the people she knew, apart from Charlotte Lola, every single one of them—Robin's mother, Yamato's mother, Ace's mother, her mother, and now Shirahoshi's mother—it seemed that everyone's biological mother was dead!

"You mean Queen Otohime? Come on, let's go see her, but... I don't know the way..."

Bai Xing hadn't left the house in years and didn't know the way. Plus, she was a bit absent-minded, so Weiwei didn't dare let her lead the way. She could only go find the old catfish, Minister Zuo.

In the end, Shirahoshi, with her pet shark Megaro, and Vivi, with her pet duck Karu and whale Laboon, this strange group, led by the old catfish minister, left the palace and headed to a place called the Sea Forest in the northwest of Fishman Island to pay homage to Shirahoshi's mother, the woman who dedicated her life to making mermaids and fishmen accepted by the world again, Queen Otohime.

Queen Otohime is buried deep in the Sea Forest. Many mermaids and fish-men like to merge with this underwater forest after their death. As Shirahoshi's mother and King Neptune's wife, Queen Otohime, like many of her people, chose this place as her resting place.

"Wow! Such strong Observation Haki! Oh, it's not quite Observation Haki..." Upon arriving at the Sea Forest Cemetery, Vivi sensed the will remaining within the forest by listening to all things.

"What?" Shirahoshi also has Observation Haki, but it's inherited from her bloodline; she was born with it, but she just doesn't know how to use it.

Weiwei made a gesture to say "we'll talk about it later" and closed her eyes to feel it for herself.

The intense emotions, fueled by Observation Haki, now echoed like a persistent melody above the Sea Forest.

Queen Otohime is undoubtedly dead, but her innate Observation Haki has an extremely strong infectious effect. All things have a spirit, and the queen's thoughts infected the other "dead".

It's a bit strange, but the fish-men and mermaids buried in the Sea Forest are all different. Some are poor, some are kind, some are resentful, and some are cunning. But now, all these remaining wills have been infected by Queen Otohime's emotions and have become one voice.

Queen Otohime's thoughts were transmitted in a peculiar way. She herself was dead, and her domineering aura naturally dissipated into the air, but this influence, through word of mouth, had become the mind of the Sea Forest.

This forest, once used as a cemetery, now has a mind of its own.

Vivi glanced at her panel and found that her Observation Haki would fluctuate every seven or eight seconds. Although she couldn't pick up any attributes, the sounds in the forest provided her with a lot of real and pure emotions, allowing her Observation Haki to steadily improve.

She apologized to Yamato again in her heart, knowing that it would probably take a few more days because she had found new wool.

"Well, you might not believe it, but I was deeply moved by the story of Queen Otohime, and I want to stay here and remember her for a few days."

She made a point of emphasizing the word "a few days".

She secretly gave Karu the duck a wink. The once innocent duck had started acting since becoming her owner.

The duck rubbed its eyes with a handkerchief, and soon its eyes were red and swollen. Anyone who didn't know better would think that its mother was buried in the grave.

The duck cried. Seeing that even strangers were so emotional, how could Bai Xing, who was naturally gentle, hold back? She started wailing. The pet shark and pet whale, who were nearby, didn't know what had happened. Seeing that Bai Xing and the duck were crying, they also started shedding tears.

In the end, even the old Minister of the Left, covered his face with his sleeve, his body trembling, and began to reminisce about Queen Otohime's past.

Vivi's request to stay for a few days was readily granted, and that afternoon, King Neptune and his three princes also came to mourn the deceased.

The old king recounted the story of how he met his wife to his children, sometimes crying and sometimes laughing. Vivi didn't interfere in their family affairs. She wandered around the Sea Forest and, as expected, discovered the historical text with ancient writing. It was such a large stone that it was hard not to see it.

Vivi placed one hand on the surface of the historical text while closing her eyes to listen, causing King Neptune, who had rushed over to explain it to her, to freeze for a few seconds.

"Can you hear that sound?"

"Yes, I can't read the text, but I can hear it."

"...Then, what does the text here tell us?"

Vivi smiled bitterly: "My interpretation may not be accurate. The emotions here are mostly guilt. To describe it in words, it should be a promise made by a human to your mermaid clan... um? a princess. He didn't keep the promise, so he left this stone tablet as a way of repenting and apologizing."

She wasn't lying; this information was indeed gleaned through her ability to hear all things. It might differ slightly from the original text, but the general meaning was similar.

She estimates that the earliest scholars who deciphered the Poneglyphs of Ohara had the ability to hear all things and know the general content. After that, they guessed and compared each character one by one, just like deciphering ciphers, and deciphered the text little by little.

"You really understand it!" King Neptune exclaimed in astonishment.

Weiwei emphasized, "I can't understand it; I can only get a general idea."

Chapter 187 History Eight Hundred Years Ago

King Neptune seemed hesitant and indecisive when facing Hody Jones, appearing to be a pushover. However, in his youth, he was a hot-tempered man and, before becoming king, was the strongest warrior among the merfolk, with a status roughly equivalent to Jinbe, the knight-errant of the merfolk today.

He knew Whitebeard and Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, and naturally knew about the ability to hear all things.

"You...you are a member of the D clan?" he asked hesitantly.

Vivi shook her head firmly: "It seems His Majesty the King is unaware of Alabasta's history."

King Neptune's eyes darted around; he knew virtually nothing about the history of any country on land, let alone Alabasta.

Human nations occasionally hold scholarly exchanges and state visits, which are beneficial for the dissemination of knowledge. However, the humans who take the Fish-Man Island route are either pirates or criminals. Who would come here with decent people? Expecting a bunch of pirates and criminals to spread culture and knowledge? Dream on.

King Neptune knew very little about the history of human nations.

Vivi didn't want to embarrass the seventy-year-old king too much, so she directly revealed the answer: "Anyone could be a member of the D clan, but I am the only one who cannot. I don't know if you know about the history of eight hundred years ago. You might not believe it, but I am a direct descendant of the Twenty-Nation Alliance. If the D clan is the enemy of 'God,' then we, we are the legendary 'God'..."

The Mermaid King knew this part of history, and he looked at Vivi with a hint of suspicion, as if she were a class enemy: "You're a Celestial Dragon?!"

"Yes, but no, the Nefertari family renounced their Celestial Dragon status."

King Neptune frowned, clearly confused. He, along with many mermaids, fish-men, and even human pirates, strongly believed in prophecies.

From Whitebeard to Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, and the secrets passed down through generations of the ancient Merfolk royal family, it all seems to point to one thing: a human will come to Fish-Man Island. This human will cause the mermaids and fish-men to abandon their conflicts and completely leave the sea. Merfolk and fish-men can then stand in the sunlight alongside humans. In ancient legends, they gave this "kind" of people a nickname: Joy Boy, the Happy Boy!

Whether it was "the boy" or not, Neptune and his team weren't even sure; the prophecy wasn't that accurate.

Men are fine, and women are fine too.

Previously, when Vivi was "listening" to the Poneglyphs, King Neptune thought that this person was most likely Vivi. Her abilities, identity, personality, and friendship with Shirahoshi seemed to fit in every way. But now, after hearing about her identity, he felt that it didn't seem like her.

They were eagerly awaiting a savior from the D clan, but instead, a descendant of the opposing 20-nation coalition arrived? That's a huge difference!

“Joy Boy… cheerful boy, the Joy Boy from eight hundred years ago made a promise with you to build the giant ship Noah. The reason he broke the promise and left a letter of repentance was because the Twenty Nations Alliance attacked the D Clan, right?” Vivi asked.

King Neptune nodded slightly. Eight hundred years ago, Fishman Island was indeed an important ally of the D. race. In addition to them, there were also humanoid races such as the Mink and Giant races. Everyone was united under the banner of the D. race, hoping to gain a status equal to that of humans.

The result was brutal: the 20-nation coalition assembled its entire army, defeated the D race, established a world government, and shattered the dreams of many races that sought to stand on equal footing with humanity.

Fish-Man Island endured for six hundred years. For that entire six hundred years, they were treated as "fish" rather than intelligent life forms, until they joined the World Government two hundred years ago, which slightly alleviated their oppressive situation.

The seeds of hatred did not originate with Aaron and Hody Jones, but in much earlier times.

King Neptune sighed heavily. They had already joined the World Government; what more could be said? In essence, they had surrendered.

He wasn't keen to talk about history from 800 years ago.

“Eight hundred years ago is far too long for the merfolk. Joy Boy built a giant ship that could allow all merfolk and fish-men to rise to the surface together, but he never came. Perhaps it was because of the war…” The old king thought for a moment and asked a question that had been on his mind for a long time. He had asked Whitebeard and Pirate King Roger this question, and today he asked Vivi about it again.

"Since you know this history, do you think... do you think another Joy Boy will emerge in the modern era?"

Joy Boy is a metaphor; King Neptune was more curious about whether there was such a human who could lead mermaids and fish-men out of the sea.

Vivi hesitated for a moment: "There should be one. The will of the D clan still spreads across the sea. The person you're waiting for will appear at a crucial moment, like that guy who just left a few days ago?"

Rather than pinning her hopes on the single-minded Luffy, Vivi thought Ace was more reliable.

Sunny, handsome, gentle, polite, sincere, and strong, with similar backgrounds and bloodlines, Ace is basically a pirate version of Minato Namikaze. Vivi thinks Ace is more reliable than Luffy as the savior of the fish-men.

"Is that so... You think it's that boy? Is he a member of the D clan?" King Neptune didn't immediately hear who she was referring to, and then paused to think.

Vivi directly exposed Ace's background: "He is the son of the Pirate King Roger, a posthumous child, at least, well, that's what he said in Wano Country."

Neptune was overjoyed and, as he carefully recalled Ace's appearance, became increasingly excited.

This involves Whitebeard, One Piece, and most importantly, the boy fits the legend perfectly. In the legend, there is a sun god who will free all slaves and allow all intelligent life to enjoy the sunlight. Ace's abilities are very similar to those of the sun god.

Vivi didn't delve into the so-called "savior" matter, as it had nothing to do with her. Even if she wanted to help Fishman Island, she couldn't lend a hand because the two sides were too far apart.

Seeing King Neptune pondering the connection, she checked her own panel and discovered that by listening to all things, she now had an "Ancient Script Deciphering" ability, currently at level 1.

"I'm very curious about this ancient script. I'd like to study it here for the next few days. Is that allowed?"

This historical text is Joy Boy's apology to the mermaids eight hundred years ago. It's not actually that valuable; many people, including Pirate King Roger and Whitebeard, have seen it. King Neptune wouldn't mind adding Vivi to the list.

"can."

The reason for mourning Princess Otohime was simply untenable, and now Vivi had another excuse to decipher ancient texts, so she stayed in the Sea Forest.

Watching my Observation Haki steadily increase every day, and occasionally letting my mind wander to ponder these ancient characters, time flies by.

Chapter 188 Whitebeard and Ace

King Neptune pondered for several days before finally calling Whitebeard. He hadn't called even when Vander Decken IX had harassed him so much, but now, thinking about the future of merfolk and fishmen, he suddenly became resolute.

"What? I just left and another incident has occurred?" Whitebeard was surprised when he received a call from his old friend. Another fishmen revolt? Are the fishmen over there forgetful?

The Mermaid King quickly explained, "No...it was in the Sea Forest. I discovered that the human princess could hear the information in the Poneglyphs."

The white-bearded man said nonchalantly, "It's just listening to all things, what's so special about that?"

In his words, it was like a skill that was widely available...

King Neptune chuckled twice, not arguing with his old friend about the issue, but instead explaining the purpose of his phone call.

"Your newly adopted son, Ace? He's Roger's biological son, isn't he?"

Whitebeard paused for a moment, then asked, "How did you know?"

Neptune did not sell Vivi off; he knew that the two sides did not get along well due to their positions, so he used an excuse.

"I think he looks a lot like Roger... He's a member of the D. clan, isn't he? His relationship with Roger, with you, and that boy named Ace—could he be the modern-day Joy Boy? My friend, this matter is extremely important to me, far more important than my life. Please give me a definite answer. I know you and Roger discussed this before." The Mermaid King asked earnestly.

“Joey Boy…” Whitebeard hesitated for a moment, and suddenly the wine in his bowl seemed to have lost its flavor.

Of course he knew the name; aside from never having been to Laugh Tale, he was practically no different from the Pirate King.

He knew almost everything that Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, knew. The old man was uneducated, but he was wise.

To be fair, he had no ulterior motives in adopting Ace as his godson; it was simply that the two got along very well. He had no intention of using Ace's identity as a "rare commodity" to dominate the seas.

When his adopted son suddenly became connected with Joy Boy, and recalling some of the things Roger had told him before his death, his first thought was, "Oh, so that's how it is. Fate is amazing."