Chapter 343: Fish-Man Island - The Sea Forest

Vander Decken IX didn't even get a chance to see Shirahoshi before he was taken out.

At the same time, Takumi's system notification rang in his mind.

[Ding! Successfully eliminated Vander Decken IX. Sign-in progress increased by 30%. Current total progress: 70%. Reward: Target-Target Fruit.]

Takumi wasn't surprised that killing Vander Decken IX completed a progress milestone. However, the fact that the system immediately handed him Vander Decken's Devil Fruit as a reward was unexpected. What kind of logic was this?

Was the system now this convenient when giving rewards?

Takumi had no desire for Devil Fruits, yet they kept being sent to him. Perhaps a fruit shop was in his future...

"Um... Did something happen?" Shirahoshi timidly asked. Stuck inside Megalo's mouth, she could only see what was in front of her and had no idea what was going on outside.

"Nothing." Takumi casually responded.

Shirahoshi looked worried. "I think I heard something just now. Was there another weapon flying over?"

"Just an axe, a piece of wood, and some trash," Kaku said with a smile. "Don't worry, it's all been taken care of."

"Oh." Shirahoshi sounded apologetic. "I'm sorry for causing trouble for you all."

"It wasn't that much trouble," Kaku replied, genuinely curious. "By the way, what's the Sea Forest like? It sounds interesting."

After a moment of silence, Shirahoshi smiled. "It's... a graveyard."

"A graveyard?" Kaku asked, surprised. "Are you going to pay respects to someone?"

"Yes," Shirahoshi nodded softly. "My mother is buried there. Ever since the grave was built, I've wanted to visit, but I've never had the chance."

"I see," Kaku replied. "You're a very dutiful child."

Shirahoshi blushed. "Not really. Since the grave was built, I haven't visited even once. I've failed as a daughter."

"But it's not your fault you couldn't go. It's not something you can be blamed for."

"Anyway, thank you so much." Shirahoshi's cheeks flushed, and she smiled happily. "By the way, you three are humans, right? Can you tell me what the surface world is like? Although we get a little sunlight here on Fish-Man Island, it's still over ten thousand meters below the surface. We've never seen what the sun really looks like. Also, at night, there are supposed to be many stars in the sky, right? What do the stars look like? Are they beautiful?"

"Well... how to describe it..." Kaku rubbed his nose thoughtfully. "If you're that curious about the surface, why don't you just swim up and take a look?"

"I'd love to go see it," Shirahoshi sighed. "But Father says humans on the surface are too dangerous. It would be wonderful if, one day, humans could live in peace with merfolk and stop capturing mermaids. That's always been my mother's wish, and it's also what my brothers and I hope for."

Talking about this, Shirahoshi's grip on Megalo's teeth tightened.

"True, changing people's prejudices can't be done overnight," Kaku said with a sigh. "That's just how things are. Wanting to live in peace with surface-dwellers is a difficult dream."

"Haha, let's not dwell on that." Shirahoshi shifted the conversation. "What are your names, by the way? I don't think I know them yet."

"I'm Kaku," he said easily. "The guy who calls himself the God of Thunder is Enel, and our captain is Takumi."

"That's wonderful," Shirahoshi said with a bright smile. "Can I be friends with you three?"

"I don't have a problem with that," Kaku replied, glancing at Takumi and Enel. "But I can't speak for our captain or that big oaf Enel."

Enel growled, "Long-nose, did you just insult me?!"

Kaku shrugged. "You must've heard wrong. Someone as civilized as me would never insult anyone."

"You!"

"Hahaha," Kaku laughed, "Besides, don't you always call me 'idiot'? What, you think you can dish it out but can't take it?"

"Bastard, you're getting bolder with your lies!"

"Haha, that's all thanks to you. If you treated me better, I'd have no reason to provoke you, would I?"

"I'll show you!"

"Bring it on, I could use some exercise."

The two started arguing again.

Just as they were about to start brawling, Takumi punched them both in the head, sending them flying back onto Megalo's back.

The sudden blows caused Megalo to lose altitude, and he dropped dozens of meters before struggling back up, sweating profusely and doing his best to continue on course.

"Damn it..." Enel shouted, rubbing a lump on his head. "Why do you always go for the head?! Do you even know how much it hurts?!"

"Oh," Takumi replied indifferently, "Sorry about that."

Enel blinked in surprise. "What? You actually apologized? No way! What's going on?"

Kaku was just as shocked.

Takumi added, "I forgot I promised to hit your face and not your head. I'll remember next time."

Enel was left speechless.

Kaku burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Captain, you're getting cheekier by the day."

Though Shirahoshi didn't understand everything, she could gather from their conversation that they were joking around. She smiled. "You three are really funny. I'm so jealous."

After flying for nearly an hour, Megalo finally arrived at a beautiful coral-filled area scattered with shipwrecks.

Outside the coral thicket, a bubble covered the area.

Outside the bubble swam all kinds of fish, some of which were huge whales.

The main attraction was the bright sunlight that bathed the entire coral area, even more radiant than the light that reached the Coral Apartments.

Seeing the destination ahead, Shirahoshi could hardly contain her excitement. "Are we there? Is this the Sea Forest? It's so beautiful!"

As Megalo entered the Sea Forest, Shirahoshi eagerly wriggled out of his mouth.

Takumi, Enel, and Kaku jumped off Megalo's back, landing on the ground of the Sea Forest.

Megalo let out a relieved sigh.

Shirahoshi started looking around, exploring.

At that moment, a merman wearing a black hat and a black t-shirt poked his head out from a wrecked ship. Upon seeing who it was, he was stunned. "Are you... Princess Shirahoshi?"

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