One Piece: Starting by Refusing Shanks

Kaku utilized the power of his Silence Fruit.

As a result, no sound could be heard from outside the bubble surrounding the three of them, no matter how much they talked.

Leading the way ahead, Neptune sensed something unusual. He glanced back at Takumi and his group, only to see them talking but hear nothing.

"Hmm?" Neptune scratched his head, puzzled. "Are you three whispering? I can't hear anything."

Kaku deactivated the Silence Fruit's effect inside the bubble.

"No," Kaku smiled. "We weren't saying anything."

"Oh? Really?" Neptune laughed heartily. "Hohohoho, seems like I made a mistake. By the way, we Fish-Men don't eat meat or fish, so we've prepared a lot of underwater vegetables, bread, desserts, and large clams and scallops for you."

Enel frowned, unimpressed. "That's it? No meat, and you call this a banquet?"

Neptune laughed again. "Hohohoho, although we don't have your preferred meat, I assure you that the food we've prepared won't disappoint."

Takumi asked just one question: "Do you have alcohol?"

Neptune nodded matter-of-factly. "Of course, there's alcohol at a banquet."

Enel chimed in, "What about fruit juice?"

Neptune waved his hand. "Besides meat, anything else you want should be available."

Enel finally nodded in satisfaction. "That's more like it."

Before long, Neptune led Takumi and his crew into a spacious room, where a large table filled with food awaited them.

Apart from a few Fish-Man guards at the entrance, the room was otherwise occupied only by Takumi's group, Neptune, and his seahorse attendant.

"Hohohoho, please, help yourselves." Neptune pointed at the table brimming with dishes, smiling warmly.

Though the dishes on the table looked quite decent, and the clams and scallops were bigger than their heads, with one bite likely enough to fill an average person halfway, the atmosphere was oddly quiet—not exactly what one would expect for a banquet.

However, while the atmosphere may have lacked liveliness, Neptune had thoughtfully ordered the entire dining table to be wrapped in a bubble membrane.

This way, Takumi and his crew only needed to step into the bubble.

Takumi wasn't one for noisy events, so this arrangement worked for him.

Kaku and Enel had no objections either, and the three immediately dug in without hesitation.

Neptune watched them, his smile never fading.

The seahorse attendant, however, muttered under his breath, "Were these three starving for days or something? They eat so much..."

"Hohohoho," Neptune didn't seem bothered at all. "It's been a long time since we had guests in the palace. Tonight, prepare more food, and we can have a proper lively banquet."

"Hey!" Enel stuffed a large chunk of scallop into his mouth, speaking through his chewing. "So, were you just planning to give us this lousy excuse for a meal?"

"Hohohoho," Neptune laughed, "Not at all, not at all. It's just that we've already eaten, so we aren't joining you right now. Anyway, since you'll be staying at the palace for three days, I'll make sure you are well treated."

After the trio finished eating and drinking their fill, Neptune had initially intended to assign someone to show them around the palace. His seahorse attendant, worried about the situation, volunteered himself. Neptune, having no objections, allowed the seahorse to act as their "tour guide."

At first, Takumi, Enel, and Kaku politely followed the seahorse, listening to his explanations.

Then, as they approached a building separated by a bubble membrane, the trio stopped in unison.

The seahorse was still passionately talking about the history of Ryugu Palace and hadn't noticed the three people behind him were no longer following. When he turned a corner, he bumped into two patrolling soldiers.

One of the Fish-Man patrolmen looked at the seahorse talking alone and asked curiously, "Sir, what are you doing?"

The seahorse sounded annoyed. "Isn't it obvious? I'm showing guests around the palace."

"Uh, guests?" The two patrolmen glanced at each other. "Where are the guests?"

The seahorse pointed behind him impatiently. "They're right behind me. Three humans. Can't you see them?"

"But... there's no one behind you, sir..." one patrolman awkwardly replied.

"What? That's impossible." The seahorse looked back, and indeed, no one was there. He was stunned. "Huh? What's going on? The three humans were just following me! This is bad... They must have had a reason for coming to Ryugu Palace. Damn it, could they be after the treasure? But the treasure vault is still far from here..."

Suddenly, a dreadful realization struck him, and his face turned pale. "Oh no! The Hard Shell Tower! They must be targeting Princess Shirahoshi in the Hard Shell Tower! Damn it, you two, quickly inform King Neptune and the princes!"

"Y-yes, sir!" The two patrolmen, equally frightened, hurried off to report.

The seahorse immediately turned back and raced towards the Hard Shell Tower as fast as he could.

Meanwhile...

After separating from the seahorse, Takumi's group crossed through the bubble membrane, entering the area around Hard Shell Tower.

Once they passed through the membrane, the bubble surrounding them burst.

The interior of Hard Shell Tower wasn't submerged in water—there was air—so they no longer needed the bubble.

"Whoa, this princess sure is a big one," Enel commented while walking.

Although Kaku's Observation Haki could sense Shirahoshi's direction, he could only detect the presence and not any detailed information about her.

"A big one, huh?" Kaku mused. "King Neptune is certainly large, but his sons aren't particularly big. The mermaid princess is supposedly their younger sister, so one would expect her to be smaller than her brothers."

Enel snorted, "Just admit it, Long Nose. When it comes to Observation Haki, you're trash compared to the Thunder God."

Kaku was speechless.

Not to be outdone, he retorted, "Well, in terms of common sense, you're just an idiot."

Enel's mouth twitched. "Can't handle losing, can you?"

Kaku laughed, "Maybe you need me to explain what 'sore loser' actually means?"

"Damn it, looks like you're itching for a beating!"

No sooner had Enel said that than Takumi, who had been walking between them, suddenly stopped.

The two of them exchanged puzzled glances.

Without a word, Takumi punched them both on the head, effortlessly knocking them to the ground.