"Three!" Roger's booming laugh echoed through the Sea Forest. He held up the rubbing of the Road Poneglyph as if it were a priceless treasure, his eyes shining like a child's on Christmas morning. "Only one more to go until we reach the Final Island!"
The rest of the crew erupted in a deafening cheer. The end of their long journey finally felt within reach. The exhaustion from their perilous voyage vanished, replaced by pure excitement and anticipation. Neptune watched the rowdy pirates, shaking his head with a helpless sigh, but he didn't try to quiet them.
"Your Majesty Neptune." A timid voice spoke from behind the group.
Everyone turned to see a small mermaid, no older than ten, nervously clutching the hem of her dress. She looked at the loud, boisterous humans with fear in her wide, deep eyes—eyes that held a wisdom far beyond her years. In her arms, she cradled a crystal ball.
"Shyarly? What are you doing here?" Neptune asked, surprised to see her.
The young mermaid didn't answer him. Her gaze swept over the pirates and landed on the Poneglyph containing Joy Boy's apology. Her eyes filled with a shocked confusion, as if she were seeing something impossible.
"The promise… it will be fulfilled…" she murmured, her voice soft but clear enough for everyone to hear. "In ten years… our 'King'… will be born…"
"King?" Neptune repeated, startled.
"It's… the Mermaid Princess…" Shyarly's small body began to tremble, as if she were being hit by the force of the vision. "The legendary Princess… who can… speak with the Sea Kings!"
The name of the Ancient Weapon, Poseidon, instantly surfaced in the minds of Rayleigh and Kozuki Oden. Their expressions darkened. They had read about this power on the Sky Island Poneglyph and knew exactly what this prophecy meant for the world.
"Hahaha!" Roger's loud laugh once again shattered the serious atmosphere. He threw his arm around Neptune's broad shoulders, patting him on the back like an old friend. "Did you hear that, Neptune? You're going to have a daughter in ten years!"
"Huh?!" The burly Fish-Man King froze, his cheeks turning a deep shade of red. "Y-you idiot, what are you talking about! I'm not even married yet!"
"Then you'd better get on with it!" Roger winked, completely ignoring the king's embarrassment. "Ten years will fly by in a flash. Don't you dare be late for the birth of our Princess!"
The crew couldn't help but chuckle at the king's flustered reaction. Roger's interest had now shifted completely from the Poneglyphs to the small, miraculous mermaid. He crouched down to meet Shyarly's gaze, looking at the crystal ball in her arms with fascination. "You're a fortune-teller, aren't you, little lady? How about you tell our fortunes, too!"
Shyarly shrank back, intimidated by his intense, fiery eyes.
"Don't be afraid, Shyarly. They aren't bad people," Neptune said, though his voice held a trace of resignation.
With the king's reassurance, Shyarly calmed down slightly. She cautiously looked up at Roger, then closed her eyes and placed her hands on the crystal ball. A moment later, her eyes snapped open, her pupils constricting as if she were looking right through Roger and into the distant future.
"I see… grand cheers… and… a lonely end…" Shyarly's voice was filled with confusion. "But… it's not an end. It's a beginning… The sea… it's boiling…"
"Oh? Sounds interesting!" Roger grinned, completely unfazed by the cryptic prediction. "What about him? My First Mate!" He grabbed Rayleigh and pulled him forward.
Shyarly looked at Rayleigh, and a strange expression crossed her face. The image in the crystal ball blurred, and when it cleared, the handsome, legendary swordsman was gone. In his place was a scruffy old man covered in grease, hammering away at a ship's hull. "Are you… a coating craftsman?" she asked, tilting her head uncertainly.
"Pfft— Puhahahaha!" Buggy and Shanks burst out laughing.
"A coating craftsman? Mr. Rayleigh? No way!"
"The mighty 'Dark King' is going to retire and fix ships?!"
Rayleigh himself was stunned for a moment, then he stroked his chin and laughed freely. "Sounds like a quiet life."
"My turn! Come on, little lady, let me see my future!" Jabba boomed.
Shyarly looked at him, and the light in the crystal ball shifted. "I see… a fierce battle," she said, her expression serious. "Your opponent is huge, like a mountain, but it's covered in shadow. I can't see what it is…"
Jabba's breathing grew heavier as a wide grin spread across his face. "Now that sounds more like it!"
"But…" Shyarly's voice turned strange. "You aren't using a weapon." Jabba looked confused. The little mermaid continued, "You… with your bare hands… you wrestled that giant beast… and pinned it to the ground."
The crew exchanged glances, an image of a shirtless Jabba wrestling some colossal monster instantly popping into their heads. "Were your clothes… torn off in the fight?" Shyarly added.
Finally, all eyes turned to Kyle, who was trying his best not to laugh.
"It's our musician's turn!" Roger declared. "What kind of world-shaking masterpiece will he create?"
Shyarly turned to look at Kyle. The moment their eyes met, the little mermaid recoiled as if she'd been struck by an invisible force. She fell backward, the color draining from her face as, for the first time, her future-seeing eyes filled with absolute terror.
"Shyarly!" Neptune shouted, rushing to catch her.
The crew's laughter died instantly. Something was very wrong. "What is it? What did you see?" Rayleigh asked, his voice low and serious.
"I… I can't see it clearly…" Shyarly's voice trembled uncontrollably. She clutched her head, her body shaking. "The earth is splitting apart… rising and falling like waves… the sky is shattering like a mirror… Giant waves… giant waves are swallowing everything…"
Her fragmented, terrified words sent a chill through the entire crew. This wasn't a battle she was describing. It was the end of the world. The Sea Forest fell into a dead silence.
"Then… what about Kyle?" Jabba asked, his voice now dry.
Shyarly looked up, her eyes wide with a terror that seemed to swallow all light, and gave Kyle one last, horrifying look.
"He's right there…" she whispered. "In the center of it all…"
"With his back… to the whole world."
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