Next Bonus, 100!!
Fish-Man Island.
Gyoncorde Plaza.
Princess Shirahoshi's words sent a shockwave through the crowd.
Unlike King Neptune, her tragic life had earned her the sympathy of the people—just as it had for her mother, Queen Otohime.
No one believed she would lie.
The doubt that followed was therefore immense. It crashed over the plaza like a tidal wave, slamming into Hody Jones where he stood on the execution platform.
A thousand voices tangled together—a chaotic roar that was impossible to distinguish from cheers, accusations, or curses.
Hody stood on the scaffold, gazing out at the sea of faces.
He cleaned out his ear.
Such an annoying buzz.
'Vander Decken is a useless piece of trash... He couldn't even control one princess. Or did he betray me? It doesn't matter now. The die is cast.' he thought.
A wide, manic grin split Hody's face. "Gyahahaha! So what if I did it?"
"I'm the one who killed Queen Otohime!"
His declaration was met with a stunned, absolute silence.
The Fish-Men, King Neptune included, stared back with expressions of utter disbelief.
"It was really you?" Prince Ryuboshi cried out, his voice choked with a mixture of rage and grief. "You killed our mother?"
"Gyahahaha! That's right," Hody roared, playing to the crowd. "Hatred must not be allowed to fade! The cruelty of the humans, the blood debt of our ancestors—how could we ever forget?"
"Otohime was a traitor to the Fish-Man race! How could she forget that pain and kneel before those human scum?"
"All humans must die!" he bellowed, his voice resonating with years of simmering rage. "And that includes you—the foolish royal family who betrayed our people, and all the Fish-Men who aid them! You all deserve to die!"
"We are the chosen ones! The righteous avengers!"
"We are the New Fish-Men! And I will build a new Fish-Man nation, a nation where humans are our slaves and we reign supreme!"
Hody threw his arms wide and laughed, a wild, unrestrained sound.
"All of you who would follow me—rejoice! Anyone who defies the New Fish-Men, be they human or Fish-Man, will be executed!"
"The new era begins with the deaths of these traitors!"
He glared down at King Neptune and his sons.
The plaza was quiet for a fraction of a second, then erupted into chaos. Some, realizing they had been deceived, screamed in fury, cursing Hody's madness.
Others, swayed by his venomous charisma, cheered.
"Do not live in the shadow of hatred!" King Neptune pleaded, his voice cracking. "The flower of hatred bears only bitter fruit!"
But it was too loud. His words were swallowed by the din.
Prince Fukaboshi's voice crackled over the island's broadcast system, urging the citizens to leave Gyoncorde Plaza, promising to bring peace and deal with the Fish-Man District.
Hody didn't stop him.
He was confident. The royal family had no chance of turning this around.
He just watched them with cold eyes. "Leave," he sneered. "All of you who are unwilling to become New Fish-Men—get out of here. The weak and the cowardly are not worthy. Only those who remain are my true comrades."
It was a test. Only now would he know who was truly with him.
"Hody, a lot of people are leaving," the giant squid Fish-Man, Ikaros Much, said, a note of worry in his voice.
Hody was unconcerned.
"So what? Those who follow us will be rewarded. Those who leave... will be our slaves. This is a holy war! Only the strong-willed deserve to live!"
—————————
Jin arrived on a rooftop overlooking the plaza.
He scanned the scene. There were about a hundred thousand people in the square. Most were Fish-Men, but there were also about twenty thousand humans.
Some were in chains. Others bore the "slave" tattoo of the New Fish-Man Pirates.
Did he feel any sympathy?
Not really.
From the looks of them, they were either pirates or slave traders who had been captured by Hody. Not exactly innocents.
'I suspect Hody had a hand in many of the so-called 'human attacks' on the mermaids,' Jin thought. 'He's been fanning the flames of hatred between the two races. A man who would stop at nothing.'
Hody Jones may fly the banner of anti-oppression, but in reality, all he opposes is being oppressed. He has no problem oppressing others, of enslaving them. He exploits the weak in his own territory—not just humans, but other Fish-Men and mermaids as well.
This kind of twisted extremism has nothing to do with race, justice, or revenge. It's pure ego.
Equality? The future of the Fish-Man race? Hody doesn't care about any of that. He just wants to use the name of equality to be 'more equal' than everyone else.
Putting humans in chains and collars, driving them like cattle... how is that any different from the Celestial Dragons?
This isn't the story of the dragonslayer becoming the dragon. This is just a swarm of insects who wish they could be dragons.
—————————
After fifteen minutes, thanks to Prince Fukaboshi's repeated pleas, another forty thousand people had left. A little over half remained.
The exodus had slowed to a trickle.
It was time.
Both Jin and Hody felt it.
"King Jin!"
Jin turned. It was Madam Shyarly. Her face was pale, her expression fraught with anxiety.
"What did you see?"
She was silent for a moment, her eyes fixed on him. "Death," she whispered, her voice trembling. "The instantaneous death of tens of thousands."
Jin was intrigued. Her predictions were indeed powerful. "Are you here to stop me?"
Madam Shyarly bowed low. "They may have done wrong," she pleaded, "but... do you really have to kill them all?"
"Do you think a mob of fanatics, a plague on their own country, deserves to be forgiven?"
"They are hateful," she said. "But they are also pitiful."
Jin laughed, a cold, humorless sound.
"The world will always find a reason to justify the actions of a 'vocal minority.' Slavery, robbery, plunder, war... all in the name of humanity, tolerance, and freedom. And here you are, using 'they are pitiful' as an excuse to ask for leniency for criminals. Madam Shyarly, if you have so much compassion, shouldn't you be trying to stop them, not me? Or is it that you've come to me because you think I can be reasoned with... and they can't?"
"Go," he said. "I'll give you a chance. Let's see how many consciences you can awaken with this 'love and tolerance' of yours."
Madam Shyarly gave him one last, deep look and then descended into the plaza. Hody had already given the order to execute the royal family.
The guillotine was being raised.
"STOP!" she screamed. "You'll all die! Everyone will die! Leave this place! Go home! Don't be enslaved by hatred! Don't look at the world with such prejudice!"
A murmur went through the crowd.
"It's Madam Shyarly!"
"What is she talking about?"
"Die? We're about to become the rulers of the world! We're not afraid of death!"
"Hmph. What does someone from the upper crust like her know about our suffering? About the despair of having no future?"
"Yeah! She's Arlong's sister, and she won't even join us!"
Her heartfelt plea was met with mockery, scorn, and contempt.
No one took her seriously.
Someone shoved her from behind, and she stumbled and fell. She scrambled back to her feet, only to be pushed down again.
The crowd watched, their faces impassive.
Her head was bleeding. She looked up and saw a sea of cold, merciless eyes... and the falling blade of the guillotine.
"Gyahahaha—" Hody's laugh was cut short.
CRACK!
A bolt of lightning shot across the plaza and slammed into the guillotine, shattering the execution platform into a thousand pieces.
~ 60 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
sp-atreon/dragonnx
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