502 Starting from One Piece

Queen Otohime picked up the newspaper and quickly skimmed through it. Over the years, almost every headline had been about Kaito.

From the battle on Sabaody Archipelago all the way to the final destruction of Mary Geoise, every piece of news had relentlessly shaken Queen Otohime's nerves.

By the time she put the newspaper down, her expression had already grown numb.

Seeing that Queen Otohime hadn't moved for a long while, Shirahoshi let out a soft "hey!"

She stretched out a soft, pale little hand and waved it in front of Queen Otohime's face, saying,

"Mother, are you alright?"

Queen Otohime stiffly turned her head and murmured,

"I—I'm fine, I just feel like this is a bit unreal. Pinch me, I'm a little confused!"

Shirahoshi obediently pinched Queen Otohime's cheek. The sensation brought Queen Otohime back to her senses a little.

She looked at Kaito's photo in the newspaper and sighed,

"What a godlike figure… It's such a shame I never witnessed his rise."

Hearing Otohime praise Kaito made Shirahoshi feel even happier than if she had been praised herself.

She said cheerfully,

"It's okay! In a bit, Mother, you can talk with Kaito-sama properly. He's an incredibly gentle person!"

Queen Otohime put down the newspaper and looked deeply at Shirahoshi. Being looked at like that made Shirahoshi instinctively lower her head, but she quickly realized—she hadn't done anything wrong! Why should she bow her head?

She grabbed Otohime's hand and led her to a huge window. Through it, they could see the sun hanging high in the sky. Shirahoshi pointed at the sun and said,

"Mother, look! Everyone on Fishman Island can see the sun now! This is something Kaito-sama did too. Back then, he controlled several giant Sea Kings and pulled Fishman Island up to the surface. You wouldn't believe how shocking it was!"

Otohime gazed at the sun above. Thankfully, today's sunlight wasn't harsh. She suddenly asked,

"Shirahoshi, are there still human slave-hunting teams on the island? How are the humans and our people getting along now?"

"Not anymore! Ever since Kaito-sama came, no bad people have shown up again. The ones who come now are all friendly tourists or merchants. Everyone gets along very well!"

Hearing Shirahoshi's words, the last heavy stone in Otohime's heart finally fell away. She let out a long breath. Seeing the happy smile on Shirahoshi's face made her feel incredibly fortunate.

It felt as if she had simply gone to sleep and woken up to find all her worries gone. The goal she had pursued her entire life had been effortlessly accomplished by a young man.

She held Shirahoshi's hand and said seriously,

"Shirahoshi, let's go outside. I want to thank Kaito-sama in person. He is the great benefactor of our entire race!"

Shirahoshi wasn't used to her mother being so serious. She hesitated a moment, then replied,

"Mother, you really don't need to be so formal… Kaito-sama is very easygoing…"

Otohime smiled knowingly. She reached out and gently stroked Shirahoshi's cheek, then laughed,

"Then it's fine if I just go take a look at him, right? I won't take too much of your time!"

A rosy blush blossomed across Shirahoshi's face. She slightly turned her head and whispered,

"It's not like that… Kaito-sama doesn't belong to me alone. I just want to help you get to know him better."

Otohime smiled with deeper meaning and didn't expose her. She placed her hands on Shirahoshi's shoulders, turned her around, and urged,

"Alright, alright, let's hurry to the hall. I wonder what your father and the others look like now. I really want to see them already!"

Otohime and Shirahoshi arrived at the hall. Garp froze for a moment when he saw the figure behind Shirahoshi. He turned to Neptune and asked,

"Hey, look at the mermaid beside your daughter. Doesn't she look just like Otohime?"

Neptune turned his head and looked. He was also stunned at first sight and muttered,

"This isn't just 'looking like'… She's exactly the same as she was back then…"

He hadn't even considered the possibility that Otohime had been resurrected—after all, something like that was far too unbelievable.

It was Garp who finally reacted first. He exclaimed,

"I get it now! No wonder Kaito wanted to go off alone with Shirahoshi earlier!"

Neptune was startled by Garp and hurriedly asked,

"What do you mean? What does this have to do with the king?"

Garp swallowed hard, stared straight into Neptune's eyes, and said slowly and clearly,

"Neptune… as crazy as this sounds, I'm certain of it—that mermaid is Otohime. Kaito resurrected her!"

"What!?"

Neptune's roar instantly drew the attention of everyone present. The three princes—Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi—ran over and asked,

"Father, what happened?"

Neptune didn't answer. He just stared blankly at Otohime standing beside Shirahoshi. The three brothers followed his gaze—and were immediately struck as if by lightning.

Fukaboshi trembled and whispered,

"T-That's… Mother, right? Am I hallucinating?"

Manboshi stiffly shook his head and replied,

"It's not a hallucination. That is Mother! Look—she's smiling at us!"

Otohime waved her arm toward them and shouted,

"Everyone, long time no see!"

The guards and maids in the hall were all stunned. The entire hall fell silent in an instant.

Kaito, who was standing with Akainu and the others, smiled faintly. Akainu lowered his voice and said,

"Fleet Admiral, this was your doing again, wasn't it?"

Kaito shrugged, neither confirming nor denying.

Kizaru adjusted his glasses and exclaimed dramatically,

"It's not my first time seeing it, but the Fleet Admiral's ability is still unbelievably amazing!"

Aokiji had nothing to say. He casually added a few ice cubes to his drink, took a sip, and began spectating.

Meanwhile, Neptune's family had already reunited. Every single one of them was in tears, pouring out the longing they had held in for all these years.

Otohime looked lovingly at her three sons. Although their appearances had drifted somewhat from her expectations, they were at least sturdy and strong—that alone was enough for any mother.

After ten years apart, the six of them were finally reunited. Naturally, they had countless things they wanted to say, but with so many distinguished guests present today, they couldn't just indulge in reminiscing.

Otohime led her family toward where Kaito stood. Seeing the formation approaching, Kaito felt a headache coming on. Kizaru and the others had already taken several very deliberate steps back, leaving Kaito exposed in front.

The Neptune family came straight to Kaito and immediately bowed deeply. With their lower bodies being tails, this posture was their version of kneeling.

Neptune, as the king, took the lead and shouted,

"Endless thanks to Kaito-sama for your great kindness to our family and to all of Fishman Island! Long live our king!"