บท 555: An Earnest Request

When Alex emerged from Apocrypha he had a large smile on his face, and a spring in his step.

"You look pretty happy." Anne said in observation.

"Kinda. I just spent the last few hours or so fucking Hermione in the ass. Not only is she nice and incredibly tight, but it feels pretty good to make such a prideful girl more honest with herself."

Anne just rolled her eyes at her husband and his blatant desires. But she did have an idea what Alex was talking about since Hermione had an 'holier than though' attitude towards a lot of them, which was fairly amusing when there were actual goddesses and angels amongst Alex's harem.

So she couldn't help but to feel amused at the idea of the stuck-up bookworm screwing her face up in ecstasy as Alex violated her backside, though Hermione had never gotten THAT bad. But even if her mouth was still dishonest, her body was far more truthful.

The remainder of Alex's time in the space-time orb was spent pampering his empress a little bit, until the duo were intruded on by Alec and Anna. But neither minded as the four of them spent some time together as a family.

But all too soon the time came for them all to get ready for the day. Anne had her work on Wano to keep her occupied, the kids had school, and Alex needed to return to Fishman island.

"Ready to go home Shirahoshi?" Alex asked the mermaid princess as he met up with her before exiting the space-time orb.

"Eh?! Um...yes...." She replied distractedly, making Alex wonder what was wrong.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Oh, yes!" Shirahoshi quickly answered, though she didn't say what was wrong.

With her not volunteering anything else, Alex led her out of the space-time orb so that they appeared within the Misty Manor. Then, he led her out of the manor and into Alexandria.

The princess was immediately snapped out of her melancholy as she looked around at all of the strange sights, since she had been taken straight to the Misty Manor the night before, and then directly into the space-time orb.

"This, is Alexandria. The Capitol city of Asora." Alex said while sweeping his arm widely to gesture towards the large city.

"Amazing..." Shirahoshi uttered in awe.

"It is. There are numerous different cities and settlements that have been established in Asora, but this is the largest with the greatest variety of life compared to the others." Alex told her.

He then began leading Shirahoshi through the streets while pointing out some of the different places and things to see as they went. He showed her his favorite shops and stops, as well as the different landmarks that could be seen around Alexandria, such as the massive tree Anne had planted in their park.

"Out on a date, your majesty?"

"Another new wife sire?"

"She's so beautiful..."

Everywhere they walked Alex and Shirahoshi were hailed with greetings either from his subjects calling out to him, or from those who were amazed at Shirahoshi's beauty. The poor mermaid princess practically became a mermaid bobble-head as she was looking around at all the different people.

"U-um.... Mr- err.... Alex..." Shirahoshi said awkwardly to him, making her face turn red from referring to him so familiarly. "Aren't we returning to Fishman Island?"

"Yes, but let's make a couple stops first." Alex said as he continued escorting her around. The next stop though was outside of Alexandria, and at New Raisen.

"Amazing!" Shirahoshi exclaimed as she hurried around the seaport excitedly. It was the first time she'd ever seen the ocean from a 'human' point of view.

But not only that, there were also numerous people and races around here related to the sea that she had never heard about, like the Dagon, Weresharks, Werecrocs, different mermaids, and several different water dwelling Youkai.

Chief amongst those Shirahoshi became aquatinted with though was Ingvild Leviathan, who was currently at the beach with the massive Leviathan that she had tamed back in Ehito's divine realm.

"You must be the mermaid princess I've been hearing about." Ingvild said as Alex introduced them.

"Yes... Hello Ms. Ingvild-Sama!" Shirahoshi declared respectfully.

"Just Ingvild is fine. But you're quite the beauty. I don't suppose you can sing as well?" Ingvild asked as she looked Shirahoshi up and down.

"U-um... I don't know..." Shirahoshi admitted shyly.

"Either way she's not going to be joining your peerage Ingvild." Alex said, already knowing what Asora's top idol was thinking.

"Awww~..." Ingvild sighed since Alex saw through her.

There were two reasons Alex wasn't going to let Shirahoshi join Ingvild's peerage, firstly that Shirahoshi herself wasn't built for direct combat. Instead she possessed the power to command sea kings in a way that made her a tamer-type, like Ingvild herself with dragons. The second was that...

"Anyways, I'm planning on having Shirahoshi established as the goddess of the sea once she permanently moves to Asora." Alex said, making sure his voice was loud enough that it carried to those around them.

"Oh!" Ingvild exclaimed in surprise when she heard that.

"Eh!?!" Shirahoshi exclaimed as well, before...

"Goddess-Sama!" One of the surrounding Dagon cried out as they hurried to greet Shirahoshi.

"Wait-"

"Goddess-Sama!" Another cried.

Soon Shirahoshi was surrounded by dozens and then hundreds of people as they all tried to greet their new goddess. Ingvild was the Asoran goddess of water, but as the goddess of the sea, Shirahoshi would be significantly more important to the people of New Raisen specifically.

"Are you sure about making her a goddess of Asora?" Ingvild asked Alex suddenly.

"Of course. She's a crybaby now, but that's due more to a lack of real world experience than anything else. Besides, if she can properly master her powers, and learn a little magic on the side, she'll be an unbeatable force of the sea." He stated.

Ingvild looked at Alex curiously when he mentioned Shirahoshi's powers, but he didn't tell her any more at that moment. The fact was that if Shirahoshi was unable to control her powers properly, then she literally risked destroying entire islands by accident. Not to mention the entire One Piece world.

"But that's in the future. For the moment, there's something I wanted to ask you Ingvild. As well as Tamao and the others." Alex said, also mentioning the mermaids that were a part of her peerage from the Rosario Vampire world.

Even as he mentioned that to Ingvild, Alex also sent messages to a couple other people.

***

"Oh dear..." Muttered an elderly looking seahorse merman as he anxiously paced back and forth within the Ryugu palace.

"Something wrong Minister of the Right?" Asked a new voice, making the seahorse turn to see who was talking.

"Lord Dragon Emperor!" He exclaimed in surprise, before his eyes widened when he saw the entire crowd behind Alex.

"T-that's....you see...." He began, seemingly not knowing where to begin.

"Hmmm... I see. Hody has reappeared." Alex stated after spreading his senses throughout the entire kingdom, before realizing that King Neptune and the three Princes had gone out to meet the Fishman.

"Indeed." The Minister of the Right admitted ashemedly.

Ever since the princess revealed the truth behind the death of her mother, Hody had jumped right to the top of the most wanted persons list in the Ryugu kingdom. In response, he and his closest associates had all 'fled' into the open ocean to escape pursuit.

"Mr. Hody-Sama is here?" Shirahoshi asked worriedly.

"Yes... He has returned princess.... Princess?" The Minister of the Right asked curiously as he realized he couldn't see Shirahoshi's massive figure anywhere.

"She's right here." Alex said, stepped aside to reveal the normal-sized Shirahoshi, who was walking on two legs.

"!!!"

"P-p-p-PRINCESS!"

Not just the Minister of the Right, but every other official within the palace all gaped at Shirahoshi in shock at seeing her like a 'human'.

"What is with that appearance, princess!" The Minister of the Right demanded urgently.

"Eh!?! I-is it bad...?" Shirahoshi asked emotionally, before tears began to form in her eyes.

"!!!"

"N-NO! I was just surprised is all!" The Minister of the Right hurriedly said to reassure her.

"It's ok Shirahoshi. Wether it's how you currently look, or your mermaid form, both are equally beautiful." Alex said to reassure her, before shooting the Minister a dirty look.

"The reason Shirahoshi looks like this is because of a couple rings I made for her to change her appearance. The mermaids that already call Asora home can change their appearance to mimic humans, so we don't really have any mermaid friendly facilities just yet for those who can't. Plus there's the fact that we don't have any Giants either, so she wouldn't be able to fit in any buildings without shrinking down a bit."

As Alex was explaining the reason for the change to Shirahoshi's body, a group of the women behind him stepped forward and proceeded to change their form, their human legs shifting into a long tail while fins appeared on the side of their head.

The group quickly turned back to their human from though since there was currently no water in the palace, and they didn't have the bubble rings used by the merfolk to get around when that was the case.

"Now then, let's go see about Hody." Alex said, before waving his hand to transport the entire group to the city below.

Leaving aside the shock of the Minister and the other officials, the group was greeted by a scene of destruction as numerous different Fishmen rampaged, with a great white shark Fishman leading them.

"WHERE IS HE!???" Roared the Fishman.

"WHERE IS THE HUMAN WHO CALLS HIMSELF 'DRAGON EMPEROR'!????"

"Hody! Your rampage stops here!" Declared the eldest of the three Prince's, Fukuboshi, as he charged forward into combat.

"Humph! You think that will be enough?!" Hody sneered with his glowing red eyes, before moving faster than Fukuboshi could follow.

"Gah!" Fukuboshi cried out as he took a hard hit from Hody, and was blasted back into one of the residential buildings.

"Your highness!" Exclaimed a blue whale shark Fishman, who Alex immediately recognized as Jinbe, one of the seven Warlords and future cremate of the Straw Hats. Though Alex had yet to see him officially join them in the manga.

Despite the ongoing battle between the forces of the royal family, and the New Fishman Pirates, Alex calmly ran his gaze over the battlefield as he took in the details.

"Hmm?" Hody hummed when he spotted a group of newcomers to destruction, before zeroing in on the human in the front with wild black hair.

"How kind of you to present yourself to me, Dragon Emperor!" He declared suddenly, gaining the attention of everyone before they too noticed the presence of Alex and his entourage.

"Sup Jody." Alex called back in greeting, not at all fazed.

"It is HODY human! Remember it, as it is the name of your executioner!" Hody snarled back at him.

"Ok, Boady. Anyways, you seem to be going on quite the rampage here." Alex said as he surveyed the destruction, getting his name wrong yet again.

"Well of course!" Hody declared while stepping forward cockily. As he did so, Alex noted that his hair was still black instead of white. Despite the fact that he was obviously still on the drug they were taking.

From what Alex recalled, Hody and his followers mass produced a drug they stole from the Royal treasury. It was a 'miracle' drug that made those who took it significantly stronger for a short time, but in exchange it also aged them significantly after they took it.

But, Hody ended up shoveling as much of the drug into his mouth as he could at one point, which gave him a MASSIVE strength boost while also dying his hair white. Despite this though, he had still been significantly weaker than Luffy, with the battle only being dragged on since Hody was able to escape into the ocean and luffy couldn't safely follow him.

Though they probably still didn't have nearly as much of the drug as they would two years from now, there was still apparently enough for Hody and his officers to use to make themselves stronger. But they were all such minor characters that Alex couldn't even be bothered to recall their names.

"We are the chosen few! Chosen to liberate the Merfolk and Fishmen from this prison at the bottom of the ocean, to take our rightful place as the rulers of this world above the lowly humans!" Hody declared with religious fervor.

"And we will start by eliminating YOU! The human who calls himself the 'Dragon Emperor', that even our traitorous king will consider bowing his head to! We are the 'heroes' that will save our people from being enslaved by your kind yet again!"

In the face of Hody's passionate and aggressive declaration, Alex just shook his head.

"Do you even bother doing research? I'm not a human you know." Alex said without any sense of urgency or concern.

"DO YOU THINK WE WILL BELIEVE YOUR LIES!" Hody roared as he surged forward at Alex, his trident raised as he prepared to skewer the Dragon Emperor where he stood.

*CLASH!*

Instead came the sound of metal striking metal, as someone stood before Alex to intercept the attack.

It was a youth with shaggy looking emerald green hair, dressed only in a tight pair of shorts that showed off the numerous tattoos that had been applied to his upper body. And in his hand was another trident, which he was using with a single hand to block Hody's from piercing Alex.

"Who....are you?" Hody growled at the interloper, while everyone else watched in amazement.

"I am Sanran of the Dagon. Student at the Academy, loyal citizen of Asora, and a devoted follower of our emperor." The youth stated.

"Dagon?" Hody asked in confusion, before he noticed that Sanran's ears were shaped like fins, and there was webbing between his fingers.

"Indeed. We can be considered the Fishmen of the world we originally came from." Sanran declared.

"""!!!"""

Shock spread throughout the vicinity at his declaration, while Hody stepped back from Sanran's in contemplation.

"Hmmm... You call yourself a Fishman, but you look almost exactly like a human." Hody sneered at him.

"Perhaps, but that didn't matter where we came from." Sanran stated, before slamming the butt of his trident into the ground. As a result, the entirety of Fishman Island began to shudder and rubber from the impact.

It had long since been ingrained into his people's minds that, while they did look notably more human than those gathered before him, they were NOT. And the only reason they were not actively enslaved and mistreated by humans or demons was because they were considered useful. If that had ever changed, then they would've been clapped in chains and turned into slaves like every other 'Demihuman'.

This had been why Alex brought Sanran with him, as he was the one who could sympathize and get through to the Merfolk and Fishmen the most. Whereas if Alex had fought Hody himself, they would've more than likely considered it more 'human' oppression towards misbehaving Fishmen.

"If you wish to continue going after his majesty, then WE will be your opponent." Sanran declared to all of the New Fishman pirates.

As he said that, numerous other Dagon stepped forward while readying their weapons to fight. They were all members of Sanran's peerage, which he decided to consist entirely as Dagon in order to be an inspiration to their whole species.

There were two Knights, one who wielded dual katanas while the other used a massive sword, two Rooks that were twins armed with spiked gauntlets, and two Bishops that were armed with Dresspheres since Dagon couldn't naturally use magic. The rest of his peerage were Pawns that were armed with any number of weapons or martial techniques, including the FFWCR, while his Queen was a Dagon that had also become a Wereshark.

"You got this?" Alex asked Sanran without any sort of worry.

"Of course, your majesty!" Sanran declared without taking his eyes off of Hody and the others.

This was the first task ever given to him by his emperor. He will NOT fail!

"Good. I expect nothing less." Alex told him, before turning back to another of the people behind him. "If any of them try to escape into the ocean through the bubble surrounding the island, can you take care of them?"

"Of course." Ingvild declared, before she used her power to create numerous massive pillars of water that morphed into dragon heads.

The entire atmosphere of the city froze as the massive dragon heads loomed over them menacingly, creating an oppressive atmosphere over the entire island. What also didn't help matters was that Tamao and the other mermaids in her peerage prepared to help if need be, while Ingvild's massive leviathan Levi was also waiting just outside the island to pick its teeth with anyone that tried to escape.

"Now then." Alex said to the royal family. "Shall we return to the palace since they've got things settled here?"

Without waiting for an answer, Alex waved his hand and transported everyone but Ingvild, Sanran and their peerage members back to the palace.

"Your majesty.... I am deeply sorry for our failure..." King Neptune said apologetically.

"Your back?" Alex asked with a deadpan.

"..."

King Neptune didn't want to say it, but his back was still incredibly sore from the show of strength he did to intimidate Drake the day before.

"Here." Alex said with another wave of his hand, as he readily fixed the Merking's back for him.

"Ah.... Thank you your majesty!" King Neptune exclaimed as he readily bent and stretched himself to test his new back.

While he was at it, Alex also healed the three Prince's of their injuries.

"Think nothing of it. You all would've won if it hadn't been for the drug they were using." Alex said while waving away his thanks. And he wasn't just being kind either. The ONLY reason Hody and the others were a threat was because of the drug.

"Perhaps..." King Neptune said in contemplation, before he noticed the final person Alex had brought with him.

"Oh? And this is?" He asked.

"Greetings your majesty. I am Sephie, one of Alex's wives and the head of foreign relations for Asora." Sephie said while bowing her head respectively.

"Ah..." Neptune uttered to her greeting, suddenly becoming bashful from Sephie's beauty and regal bearing. She HAD been the queen of the Devilukian empire after all.

"Sephie here is to help negotiate the possibility of the Merfolk and Fishmen migrating to Asora. Not only can we create a brand new home for your people somewhere on the ocean itself, maybe an island or something, but they could also reside nearly anywhere is Asora that they may wish."

"Indeed." Sephie said as she picked up where Alex left off.

"If there are any concerns you have with relocating, feel free to let to me know and I can address them to the best of my abilities. But if the idea of complete relocation is completely off the table, then we can also discuss connecting Fishman Island to the new island with a portal. That way anyone who wants to move is able to, and those who wish to stay here can stay in contact with them."

"O-oh..." King Neptune uttered, more than a little overwhelmed with everything Alex and Sephie were saying.

But he also understood that they weren't going to make everyone leave Fishman island. That was the best thing in his opinion, due to the agreement made between Joyboy and the ancient mermaid princess, Poseidon.

This way his people would be able to move to a safer home full of opportunity, and they wouldn't need to completely abandon Noah, or their promise to Joyboy.

"I don't quite understand everything you're telling us, but I thank you for your understanding of us." Neptune said to them, making Alex and Sephie smile.

"Not a problem. But now I must leave you in Sephie's more than capable hands." Alex said, giving the Charmian a quick kiss on the cheek, before approaching Shirahoshi as well.

"I'll see you later, but it's time for me to finally enter the New World. I've got some business there before we assault Mary Geoise." Alex told her.

"O-ok!" She said unsurely, before Alex proceeded to give her kiss as well on her forehead.

Immediately Shirahoshi's entire head turned bright red from embarrassment, and Alex could even see a cloud of steam forming over her.

Without another word, Alex proceeded to change into a Wereshark before all of them, stunning all of the Fishmen and Merfolk who hadn't seen it before, before he leapt up and burst through the bubbles surrounding the palace into the open sea. Obviously, Levi let Alex by while maintaining a watchful eye on Hody and his goons.

...

*Later*

"Jomun....." King Neptune sighed tiredly after all of the work and discussion was over with.

Well, maybe not.

"You wanted to see me father?" Fukuboshi asked as he hesitantly opened the door to the king's chambers.

"Yes. Come in my son." Neptune said while gesturing to his eldest child.

Fukuboshi entered the room and closed the door behind him, wondering what his father called him for.

"Tell me, what do you think of all of this?" Neptune asked him.

It didn't take a genius to guess what the king was asking about, as Fukuboshi answered, "it's all happening so fast... Part of me believes it's an amazing opportunity for our people, but I also feel as if this isn't the future my mother hoped for us..."

King Neptune nodded in agreement as he said, "indeed. But with the world changing the way it is, we can either change with it, or fall behind."

The goal of King Neptune's late wife, Otohime, was for them to join the World Government to establish themselves as the equals of humans, and to live alongside humans on the surface. She had been so dedicated to this goal, that she personally accompanied a wounded Celestial Dragon to the holy land Mary Geoise, and placed herself in the position of greatest danger to show that they could coexist.

By accepting Alex's offer though and moving to Asora they would be able to coexist with surface dwellers, but not those of this world. Plus there was the fact that Alex was the enemy of the Celestial Dragons and the World Government, so in a way they would be going against her wishes by aligning themselves with him.

But, as King Neptune already said, the world was changing.

There was no point in them aligning themselves with the World Government if they were going to be destroyed soon by Alex, which King Neptune fully believed that he could and will.

"I would say the real question is who should lead our people in this new world..." King Neptune suddenly said.

"!!!"

"Father! What are you saying?!" Fukuboshi demanded in surprise.

"I'm saying that not everyone will move to this Asora. So someone will have to stay here, while someone else will need to lead our people there." Neptune explained. "And I want that someone to be you, my son."

"But father-!"

"But nothing. Just like how the world is changing, the relics of the past like myself should stay behind. It is time for you to step forward, and lead our people into the unknown future."

The king fell silent after he finished saying his piece, as there was nothing else for him to say on the matter. Though the opposite seemed true for Fukuboshi, the prince did not say what he wanted to. This was good, since Neptune's mind was made up.

And just as well, as someone else knocked on the doors to his chamber at the moment.

"Yes?" Neptune called out to whoever was knocking.

"Father-Sama, can I talk to you...?" Came a timid voice, which both Neptune and Fukuboshi recognized instantly.

"Of course Shirahoshi!" Neptune cried as he hurriedly opened the doors to his chambers, revealing the once again giant mermaid Shirahoshi. It had quite the shock for Neptune to see his daughter as a normal sized human, but she had quickly explained why while demonstrating the power of the rings Alex gave her.

"That is all, Fukuboshi." Neptune said to his eldest son, dismissing him since he had said everything he needed to.

"Is Brother-Sama in trouble?" Shirahoshi asked worriedly as her brother left the room.

"Not at all. I just told him something he didn't necessarily want to hear. But enough about that, what did you need?" Neptune asked his daughter.

For a moment Shirahoshi said nothing, instead taking in a deep breath as she steeled herself for whatever it was she wanted to talk about. But then she said something that Neptune never thought he hear from his daughter's lips.

"Father-Sama, please teach me how to fight!"

"..."

"Huh...?"

That was all that could escape Neptune's lips to his daughter's request, which was that LAST thing he thought she'd ever ask him.

"I said I would like to learn how to fight, Father-Sama!" Shirahoshi declared once again to his earlier utterance, proving that he had not misheard what she said earlier.

"I see..... And may I ask why you suddenly with to learn how to fight, my daughter?" The King asked her seriously.

"Because...." Shirahoshi began, before looking down in thought.

"Because I'm tired of being a burden... I'm tired of people needing to protect me... And I don't want to be a useless flower in a garden! I want to be of use to Alex!"

As she declared such, the king was utterly taken aback from how serious his daughter was. Her eyes as she made her plea were the firmest he had ever seen them, and he could literally feel the waves of Haki rolling off of her body.

Otohime was naturally gifted in the use of Observation Haki from birth, being able to use it to even dodge bullets and sense those around her to the point that she was also able to feel the pain and suffering they had felt. It only made sense that Shirahoshi was also naturally skilled in Haki, though she had never been trained in it.

However Neptune could feel it now as his beloved daughter declared her intention to become stronger, despite the fact that no one could ever imagine her hurting even a fly.

"Shirahoshi...." He said in a soft voice full of warmth.

"Father-Sama...?" She asked confusedly.

"Come child. I believe it's time I told you something."

With such clear determination and devotion towards the Dragon Emperor, Neptune decided that it was time to tell his daughter the truth about her powers. How she possessed the ability to even destroy the world if she so wished.