"How did that pirate co to Fish-Man Island?"
In a bar, a fishman holding a red harpoon was smashing furniture in a fit of rage. His fury made him almost uncontrollably irritable.
This was Fish-Man Street, the infamous slum district of Fish-Man Island.
Once intended as a haven for orphans, the shelter built here over a decade ago had devolved into a lawless zone due to poor managent. Now, Hody Jones ruled Fish-Man Street with an iron grip.
"Damn it! Is that pirate going to ruin everything I've worked for?!"
Hody Jones growled, smashing bottle after bottle against the bar wall. Monts ago, he'd watched Vander Decken IX get captured. His closest ally had fallen, and Kalifa had cut off his prized hand. The mory of it still burned behind Hody's eyes, not just because of the loss, but the fear it awakened.
Vander Decken had been an important pawn. Hody still rembered the mont he witnessed Shirahoshi's terrifying ability at age six—commanding Sea Kings effortlessly. The realization that she was Poseidon, the ancient weapon, made her a threat beyond words. Hody's ambitions couldn't co true as long as she lived.
That's when Decken had appeared. A madman obsessed with Shirahoshi. Hody saw opportunity in the alliance. He wanted to overthrow King Neptune's rule and replace peace with dominance. Like the late Fisher Tiger, Hody loathed humans and saw coexistence as betrayal.
Neptune's foolish reign needed to end. Hody wouldn't just rule Fish-Man Island—he would beco Pirate King.
It had all been going according to plan—until he showed up. That so-called "god," the infamous pirate worth 1.5 billion Berries, the man who killed three Celestial Dragons and defeated Admiral Akainu.
"Rhett Vane," Hody spat the na, smashing his fist through a table. "I'll kill him! He has to die if I'm going to see this through!"
"That idiot Decken, I should've known he was useless! Teaming up with trash!"
The fishn behind him flinched as he seethed. Yet they looked at him with a mix of fear and reverence. To them, Hody Jones was the most powerful man in Fish-Man Street—stronger even than Kaikyo Jinbe.
"Human pirates, surrender to or die," Hody muttered, clenching his fists so tightly his knuckles cracked.
He couldn't stop thinking about Vane. The new threat to his ambitions. He had to crush him—completely.
"Boss... can we really take him on?" one fishman asked nervously.
"They say he defeated a legendary navy monster, and he's got two Devil Fruit powers! His strength is terrifying."
"He's been called a man comparable to Whitebeard—the one most likely to beco Pirate Emperor next."
The murmurs only fueled Hody's rage. He kicked one of his n through the bar doors. The fishman slamd into a wall and slumped unconscious.
"I'm the boss here! The strongest!" Hody bellowed.
In his mind, he was already the king of Fish-Man Street. The pirate Arlong had sailed to the East Blue and beco infamous. Fisher Tiger was long dead. Kaikyo Jinbe, though strong, no longer had control here.
This territory belonged to Hody Jones now.
Jinbe's ideals—peace, coexistence with humans—mirrored those of the late Queen Otohi. But Hody despised them. From a young age, he'd seen humans abuse fishn, enslave them, and even now, the human trade continued. He'd grown up warped by hatred. To him, Otohi was a traitor, and killing her was justice. He blad humans publicly, but in truth, it was his hand that ended her life.
No one else knew that. And no one ever would.
He felt no guilt. Fish-Man Island deserved to be ruled by power, not compassion. rfolk were superior. Humans were weak and vile. That was the belief Hody inherited from Arlong, though even Arlong seed soft by comparison.
"My enhancent drugs are ready," Hody said to himself, patting his pocket. Inside was a vial of ES—the banned drug of Ryugu Palace. One dose gave the strength of a hundred n, but it ca at a steep cost: rapid aging and the depletion of one's future potential.
But Hody didn't care. He needed power now, not later.
"With this, Rhett Vane won't stand a chance," he muttered. "I'll crush him, and the world will finally fear my na."
In the dark alleyways of Fish-Man Street, Hody's figure vanished, red harpoon in hand, destination unknown.
…
anwhile, Vane was unaware he'd beco Hody's next target.
It was still night, though dawn approached. Vane had left Ryugu Palace, stirred awake by a familiar sound he hadn't heard in so ti.
"Ding! Special fluctuation detected: Sunlight Tree Eve," ca the prompt from the [Investnt System].
"Sunlight Tree Eve?" Vane echoed.
It was the massive tree that supplied sunlight to Fish-Man Island, rooted thousands of ters beneath the sea. To the island's people, it was sacred.
"Special fluctuation... could it be a Devil Fruit?" he wondered, intrigued.
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