Chapter 233 Mariejois
"Nice to meet you. I'll be escorting you to Mariejois from here on."
A tall man with fluffy black hair and an eye mask on his forehead stood lazily behind the warship's railing, speaking with extreme lassitude.
"Oh, you're—" Neptune's eyes widened in surprise.
"Admiral Aokiji," Brett said, standing beside Neptune, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Though kings attending the Reverie all receive Marine protection, having an Admiral personally escort them—this should be a first, shouldn't it?"
The man who appeared before them, saying he would escort them to Mariejois, was undoubtedly one of Marine Headquarters' three Admirals.
Aokiji Kuzan.
"Well," the languid man raised his hand to scratch his fluffy hair, "because you're distinguished guests."
King Neptune of the Ryugu Kingdom himself wasn't particularly special. Though he was indeed a giant male merman, to the government he was just a king of an ordinary member nation.
But Brett, who came with him, was different.
This guy was a real monster.
Aokiji was well aware—the government dispatched him not to escort them safely, but quite the opposite—to stop this guy if he tried anything.
The government was truly worried that at this critical moment of the Reverie, this guy might cause some trouble.
Brett naturally understood very well what the government and Aokiji were thinking.
But he didn't mind.
"That's quite nice then," Brett said with a smile. "Having a Marine Admiral escort us—that's something I never imagined before."
Aokiji's mouth twitched.
"Anyway, lead the way, Admiral Aokiji."
Aokiji just nodded, probably too lazy to respond to Brett's words, and turned back toward the deck.
The Marine warship immediately changed course, heading toward the distant Red Line. Brett's side also had their ship follow.
Fish-Man Island was truly very close to Mariejois. Following the Marine warship, they hadn't gone far before arriving before a massive base beneath the Red Line.
On both sides of the Red Line—Paradise and the New World—the government maintained a base each.
These were bases used to connect to Mariejois above.
The bases had bubble ships that floated up to Mariejois using bubble technology.
Brett and Neptune disembarked here. Neptune had a ring of bubbles around his waist. Following behind them were numerous guards.
The guards were several squad leaders Brett had drawn from the Immigration Bureau, plus a batch of elites.
Of course, none were former Sun Pirates members, none were slaves once imprisoned at Mariejois.
These former Fish-Man District punks were now all excellent soldiers, each stone-faced, hands on weapons, maintaining vigilant states.
Aokiji glanced at them briefly, couldn't help but sigh inwardly—these guys weren't ordinary fish-men.
Their strength was all extraordinary.
Really, even Fish-Man Island had become too powerful now.
"Kuzan! What a coincidence!" Laughter suddenly came from behind.
Brett turned toward the sound and saw a Marine with Vice Admiral insignia on his shoulders also approaching with a group.
Brett raised an eyebrow.
Among the group following that Marine, several were very familiar to him.
Leading was a middle-aged man with a somewhat square long beard. He held the hand of a little girl who was looking curiously at Neptune. The girl had brilliant blue hair as beautiful as the sea.
They appeared to be father and daughter.
Behind this father-daughter pair followed two other guards—one wearing white robes with a long sword at his waist, his face pale as paper.
The other wore a coat with a long blade at his waist, black hair hanging down from both sides of his face like drooping ears.
Brett recognized them.
Father and daughter from Alabasta's Nefertari family and their guards, right?
King Cobra and Princess Vivi, along with their guards—Pell the Falcon and Chaka the Jackal.
"Ara ara ara, King Cobra of Alabasta has also arrived?" Aokiji bowed slightly in greeting to the newcomers.
Theoretically speaking, the status of member nations' kings was still slightly higher than Marine Admirals.
"No need for formality, Admiral Aokiji. This time we could arrive safely thanks to the Marines' help," King Cobra, an amiable man, said with a smile as he greeted Aokiji.
"This is our Marines' duty." Aokiji also smiled slightly.
If only Fish-Man Island was as easy to get along with as this king.
"This must be—" King Cobra's gaze fell on Neptune. "King Neptune from Fish-Man Island, right? And—"
He also looked at Brett, his expression and tone both grave. "Director Brett."
Brett nodded in acknowledgment with a smile.
"Nice to meet you. Please take care of us going forward, King Cobra," Neptune also greeted amiably with a smile.
"Hahaha! Same here," Cobra laughed. "Everyone on the seas now knows of Fish-Man Island's power."
"But even so, this is our first time attending the Reverie," Neptune said, his smile unwavering.
The two began exchanging pleasantries.
Brett lowered his head. The little princess holding her father's hand was currently looking at him curiously.
Brett showed her a smile.
The little princess shyly hid behind her father.
Then quickly, she peeked out her head again.
Cobra noticed this and said somewhat apologetically to Brett, "Sorry, Director Brett. This child really likes watching that movie of yours."
Understood.
So she was seeing a character from the movie appear before her and felt it was quite wonderful?
"In that case, I'll help the little princess get an autographed photo from Tesoro later," Brett said with a smile.
"Really?" The princess, who'd been somewhat shy moments ago, excitedly jumped before Brett, her two small fists clasped together at her chest.
"Of course." Brett chuckled lightly.
"That's wonderful!" The little princess happily sniffled. "When I get back, I'm definitely going to show off to Koza!"
This was the lively Princess Vivi from the original story.
"Well," Aokiji scratched his hair somewhat helplessly at the side. "Let's head to Mariejois first."
Taking back his earlier sentiment.
Fish-Man Island was already troublesome enough. If they let them connect with even more member nations, the government would really have a hard time dealing with them.
"Right, we'll have plenty of time to chat afterward," Neptune said with a smile. "King Cobra, let's talk more once we're up there."
"Of course." Alabasta's king readily nodded.
This king of Fish-Man Island was surprisingly easy to get along with.
Everyone boarded the ascending bubble ships, traveling up along the Red Line's steep mountain walls.
Until they entered the clouds, until they rose above them.
Then they finally reached the Red Line's summit. And at this moment, what appeared before them was a white city.
Mariejois—they'd arrived.
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