Chapter 344: Fish-Man Island - The Poneglyph of Historical Record

The Fish-Man who appeared in the Sea Forest, wearing a hat, was Den, the younger brother of shipwright Tom.

Tom was the shipwright who had built ships for the former Pirate King, Roger, and had constructed the sea train in Water 7.

Like his brother Tom, Den was an accomplished shipwright. Additionally, he was a scholar specializing in the Sea Forest. So his presence there was quite normal.

The identity of Princess Shirahoshi was not something the Ryugu Palace would casually let out without precautions. Even if she was truly leaving the palace, she would be accompanied by many royal guards.

However, Den scanned around several times and saw no guards—only Takumi and the other two. Moreover, they were clearly human. It was impossible that King Neptune would allow his precious daughter to leave the palace in the company of unknown humans.

This could only mean that Shirahoshi had likely been abducted by these three humans!

Realizing this, Den jumped off the wrecked ship he was standing on and rushed toward Shirahoshi at full speed. He positioned himself between Shirahoshi and Takumi's group, shielding her as he whispered, "Princess Shirahoshi, are you alright?"

Shirahoshi looked puzzled, "Ah, I'm alright."

"Don't worry, Princess. I'll protect you with my life," Den said resolutely.

"It seems we've been mistaken for enemies," Kaku said with a relaxed expression.

Enel yawned in boredom. "This is beneath me. Fighting this guy would be like child's play. No fun at all. I'm tired, Long Nose—you're up."

"Oh no, it's a misunderstanding!" Shirahoshi immediately realized what was happening and quickly clarified, "These gentlemen aren't bad people. They were invited to Ryugu Palace by my brother. I asked them to bring me here to the Sea Forest. Really!"

"What?" Den asked in shock. "Does His Majesty King Neptune and the three princes know you've left the palace, Princess?"

At this, Shirahoshi awkwardly smiled, "Father and my brothers don't know yet... but Takumi promised to return me before dinner, so there's no need to worry. I'll explain it to Father and my brothers when we get back. It should be fine... I think."

"Ugh..." Den sighed, clearly at a loss. "Princess, you're being far too reckless... but I think I understand why you came here."

Den pointed to a small, European-style tombstone not far away. "Queen Otohime's grave is over there, Princess. Go ahead."

Hearing this, Shirahoshi nodded gratefully. Without hesitation, she went over to her mother's grave, her hands clasped together, tears forming in her eyes as she began silently praying.

Takumi and the others didn't follow her.

Taking advantage of this spare moment, Takumi mentally asked the system, "What's the final task on Fish-Man Island?"

Soon, the system responded.

[Ding! Gain the approval of Neptune and his three sons to complete the final task on Fish-Man Island.]

This mission... seemed neither too easy nor too hard.

Takumi turned his gaze toward Shirahoshi, who was still praying with her back turned to them.

It appeared that the final task would probably require Shirahoshi's help.

"Uh? What's going on?" Enel's voice suddenly broke the silence. "Aren't you into girls with pigtails? Why do you keep staring at that giant crybaby?"

Takumi: "..."

Takumi silently withdrew his gaze and focused on Enel instead. "Say that again."

Seeing the potential danger, Enel quickly coughed and said, "Ahem, this place looks nice. I'm going to take a walk. Call me when we're ready to leave."

As soon as he finished speaking, Takumi had already thrown a punch.

Den was surprised to see how quickly things had escalated between the two of them and initially considered intervening.

However, Takumi's punch missed. Enel had predicted the attack before Takumi even made his move and quickly shifted into his elemental form, evading the blow.

"Do you think you can just run?" Takumi sneered and used Soru to chase after him.

Den, watching the astonishing speed of both Takumi and Enel, was left stunned. "Are they Devil Fruit users?"

"That big guy is, but our captain isn't," Kaku said nonchalantly.

Den looked at Kaku with confusion. "Shouldn't you try to stop them from fighting?"

Kaku simply shrugged, "Stop them? No way. I don't want to get hit myself."

"What a strange group," Den said with a chuckle.

Kaku looked around at the shipwrecks scattered throughout the area. "Isn't this supposed to be a graveyard? There's a lot of wrecked ships here."

"Indeed." Den sighed, "All the shipwrecks floating down here eventually end up in this place. It's more like a graveyard for ships."

"Looking closely, a lot of these wrecks were once great ships. What a pity."

Den seemed intrigued. "Hmm? You seem to know a lot about ships."

Kaku laughed heartily, "Haha, not too much. I'm a shipwright myself, after all."

"Well, what a coincidence! So am I," Den replied cheerfully. "It looks like the Princess will be praying for a while longer. There's a shipwreck that drifted here a few days ago. It's still about fifty percent intact. Care to have a look with me?"

"Sure," Kaku agreed with a smile.

Meanwhile, Takumi chased Enel, throwing several punches. After missing three times, he finally landed the fourth punch.

With a cry, Enel was sent flying backward, crashing into a large blue stone slab carved with ancient symbols.

If it had been any ordinary stone, it would have shattered from such an impact.

But this stone was exceptionally tough—it didn't even chip.

"Damn it, you sure hit hard," Enel groaned as he struggled back to his feet. "Can't you be a bit gentler? You keep hitting me like that—aren't you afraid you'll lose me someday?"

Takumi unexpectedly responded with a half-joke, "Out with the old, in with the new."

"Huh? What did you say?" Enel's expression twitched. "What do you mean by 'out with the old, in with the new'? Are you trying to kick me off the crew? Let me tell you, I'm not someone you can just kick off! And even if you try, I'll make sure whoever replaces me ends up dead!"

Takumi: "..."

"Don't joke about that again," Enel said unhappily. "You can punch me however you like, but don't ever talk about getting rid of me again, got it?"

After a moment of silence, Takumi responded calmly, "Alright."

"That's more like it," Enel said, his mood improving slightly. He then turned and looked at the stone behind him. "What kind of rock is this anyway? It's so hard... Hmm? There's writing on it?"

Takumi glanced at the blue stone slab behind Enel and casually said, "It's a Poneglyph—one of the stones that records history."

"A Poneglyph?" Enel turned around, inspecting the neatly inscribed symbols on the slab with a serious expression. "What the hell is this gibberish? I can't understand a single word..."

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