Chapter 199: Plans in Motion

Chapter 199: Plans in Motion



"Garcelo! How good to see you again!" Hody Jones greeted the electric eel fishman whom he had teamed up with in his endeavor.

"How long before you can enact your plan? I've waited too long for this already." Garcelo responded in an annoyed tone.

Hody didn't outwardly show his anger at the lack of respect he was used to. "We'll be able to do it today. I've finally gotten a hold of and arranged a meeting with Vander Decken. His own goals line up with ours nicely, he'll agree to assist."

"And if he doesn't?" Garcelo asked.

"There's always plan B..." Hody said.

"Plan B is expensive. I'd rather return to the Neo Marines having exceeded expectations, not just having met them." Garcelo countered.

'You won't be returning to anyone.' Hody thought to himself, then said "Don't worry, it'll all work out."

"Boss, Vander Decken is here!" One Of Hody's goons called out.

"Speak of the devil..." Hody spoke.

...

The unconscious members of the Straw Hats had woken up in Camie's house where she explained that their other friends were safe and had wandered off to do their own things.

Hearing that, they decided to tag along with Camie so she could show them around a bit and deliver some fresh clams to Pappag, his favorite food.

Once they reached the surface they were greeted by a number of beautiful mermaids, which caused Sanji to go wild and frolic through the shallow water with them.

Merry and Chopper were very popular with the mermaids as well, most of whom had never seen a land animal with fur before.

"You're just so fluffy and pretty, Merry! I can't get enough of this, what was it called, wool? And the color is so shiny, is it made of real gold?" A mermaid named Kairen said, whilst hugging and petting Merry.

"Baaah~" Merry answered.

"You're not just adorable, but you're a doctor as well? So impressive~!" A mermaid called Adele pinched Chopper's cheeks.

"Quit trying to butter me up, you stupid bastard~!" Chopper spoke harshly, but his body language indicated his delight at the praise.

Neptune's army.

"Why are we waiting? I can cut them up right now. *hic*" The blue-ringed octopus merman, Hyouzou said.

"P-please don't do that, Hyouzou! Neptune's army and the princes are with them!"

Hammond, a conger fishman, spoke hurriedly but respectfully.

"You sayin' I can't beat 'em? *hic*" Hyouzou slurred menacingly.

"No, o- of course not, Hyuozou! But if we attack now we might mess up Hody's plans!" Hammond whispered to him desperately.

The mention of Hody seemed to sober up Hyouzou a bit. He'd never admit it, but he was a little bit afraid of Hody. He didn't even fear Arlong back in the day, in fact Arlong was afraid

of him!

"*hic* Whatever, Hody isn't gonna be happy about this though." Hyouzou said, taking a swig of rum.

By now the Straw Hats had boarded the royal gondola and were headed to the last known location of Caribou.

"We were actually looking for you specifically, Straw Hat Luffy." Prince Fukaboshi said.

"Really?" Luffy asked, swinging his legs from the edge of the gondola.

"Jinbe left a message with us to deliver to you when you arrived, two in fact." Fukaboshi said. Seeing that Luffy was listening he continued. "First is that he would wait for you at the Sea Forest. The second is that you should not fight Hody Jones."

"Oh, Jinbe huh?! I was looking forward to seeing him again! But... Hotty James? I don't even know who that is...." Luffy tilted his head in confused thought.

"Hody Jones is the captain of the so-called New Fishman Pirates. He's a bit of a menace, seeing that his men attack many of the ships coming through fishman island, which hurts the businesses here somewhat. Akkamanbo!" Prince Manboshi explained.

"Hmmmm, I see... I have a question." Luffy said.

"Go ahead, we'll do our best to answer any questions that you may have. Do-Re-Mi-Fa!"

Prince Ryuboshi said.

"Do mermen poop?" Luffy asked shamelessly.