"The Perfume Snake needs a complete remodel.
Two hours later, at the pier in Fish-Man Bay.
Seeing Shirahoshi, Hancock, and others sitting on the Perfume Snake, taking up almost half of the deck, they couldn't help but feel a headache.
Although the Perfume Snake is more than twice the size of the Thousand Sunny, Shirahoshi still looks a bit cramped sitting on it.
Metaphorically speaking, sitting on the Thousand Sunny is like sitting on a chair, while the Perfume Snake is more like a sofa.
To accommodate Shirahoshi on a voyage, we need to build a new ship, at least the size of Whitebeard's Moby Dick, so she can move freely.
Fortunately, Neptune agreed and immediately summoned the best shipwrights from Fish-Man Island to remodel the Perfume Snake.
"Weihahaha! We will be companions from now on. Please take care of me, Jinbei."
Burgess approached Jinbei with a friendly hand extended.
However, Jinbei, indifferent to Burgess's gesture, replied:
"Don't get me wrong. I didn't join your pirate group; I'm just here to protect Her Highness the Princess."
"pfft, a guy who doesn't give face," Burgess muttered, waving his hand in displeasure. He then reported to Rhine:
"Hey Captain! Are we really taking this guy with us? I don't think he's very reliable."
Rhine smiled and didn't comment. He understood Jinbei's chivalrous personality and wasn't confident about recruiting him. Moreover, with Whitebeard still alive, if not for Rhine's intervention, Jinbei would likely have joined the Whitebeard Pirates.
Having Jinbei around was a bit troublesome, not because Rhine minded an extra crew member, but because doing anything to Shirahoshi in Jinbei's presence would be very difficult. Rhine decided to find an opportunity to get rid of Jinbei but not rush it. After all, he hadn't yet found a way to make himself bigger or Shirahoshi smaller. For now, it was fine to bide time and develop the relationship.
Rhine would never allow Shirahoshi, as the Sea God, to eat a Devil Fruit and become a Devil Fruit user—it would be a waste. He needed to find a way to become bigger.
For the next half month, Rhine and his team stayed on Fish-Man Island until the Perfume Snake's renovation was completed. During this time, Jinbei sensed something unusual. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it made him feel uneasy. Vander Decken IX hadn't launched another attack on Princess Shirahoshi in that half-month. In fact, just days before Shirahoshi left the Shell Tower, Vander Decken IX had continued his attacks. However, less than a week later, the attacks stopped.
It was strange. Everyone on Fish-Man Island knew Princess Shirahoshi had left the Shell Tower. Vander Decken IX should have known too, yet there was no movement from him. Jinbei frowned as he watched Princess Shirahoshi chatting with Nami and Perona. Under such circumstances, Vander Decken IX should have been attacking frantically. What was going on? Jinbei couldn't believe the villain had given up his evil plans against Shirahoshi.
In a deserted area of Fish-Man Street, Lafitte, Shiryu, Poison Pink, and other core members of Rhine's crew gathered around the corpses of a dozen Fish-Men. They were members of the New Fish-Man Pirates and the Vander Decken family. Among the corpses were Hody Jones and Vander Decken IX.
"Uh ah ah ah..."
Members of the New Fish-Man Pirates lay on the ground, screaming in pain. More than 90% of their bodies were soaked in venom.
"Asshole, asshole," Hody Jones gritted his teeth, glaring at Lafitte and the others.
Originally, Rhine intended to keep Vander Decken IX alive as leverage against Neptune. But after Shirahoshi came out, Vander Decken IX threw more than ten weapons a day at her, which annoyed Rhine. So, he ordered Lafitte and the others to eliminate them. Lafitte used his hypnosis technique to control Hody Jones and lure Vander Decken IX, then wiped out both groups.
"Hahahaha I've been poisoned too much, I can't live anymore~~" Poison Pink said, panting.
"No, the captain ordered us to destroy the bodies and erase all traces. This must not be known," Lafitte reminded. Although Rhine had decided to kill Vander Decken IX, he insisted that Neptune and others shouldn't find out. Otherwise, Shirahoshi would be taken back.
"I see~" Poison Pink responded, and three terrifying poisonous dragons rose behind him.
"Wait a minute, Captain Rhine promised to take this guy back," Shiryu said, pulling out his sword and piercing Vander Decken IX. In the next second, the poisonous dragons dissolved the bodies of Hody Jones and the others into liquid.
A month passed, and the Perfume Snake was rebuilt to be as large as the Moby Dick. The whale head of the Moby Dick was replaced with a sea snake head on the Perfume Snake.
"Father, I will miss you," Shirahoshi said, holding Neptune's hand with tears in her eyes. Due to their size difference, the scene looked odd. Neptune comforted his daughter, then turned to Rhine on the Thousand Sunny, bowed deeply, and said:
"I'll trouble you to take care of my little girl, Lord Rhine."
Because of his relationship with Rhine, Neptune changed his address from "Sir" to "Your Excellency."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. With me here, even if the Five Elders come, they won't touch Shirahoshi," Rhine smiled confidently.
"There are no hairs on people..." Shirahoshi muttered under her breath.
When the Rhine Pirates arrived, more than a dozen large ships entered Fish-Man Island. When they left, only the Thousand Sunny, the new Perfume Snake, and the Sword of Xebec sailed out. Tens of thousands of citizens from Amazon Lily had stayed on Fish-Man Island. In some ways, they were Rhine's "hostages" left by Neptune, similar to protons exchanged between countries in the Sengoku era. But Neptune wouldn't do such a thing.
"I'll leave it to you to take the helm, Jinbei," Rhine said, patting Jinbei's shoulder with his hands on the rudder.
Although Rhine didn't initially think Jinbei would be useful, at least now his hands were free, and he didn't have to sail the boat himself. Most of his main subordinates, including Weevil and Burgess, had moved to live on the Sword of Xebec. Only Nami, Perona, Hancock, and himself remained on the Thousand Sunny. Rhine didn't want his women to steer the boat, so he had been doing it himself. With Jinbei's arrival, it became much more convenient.
Jinbei, at the helm, had a dark expression but endured it for Princess Shirahoshi's safety. Yet, he felt increasingly uneasy. Had Van der Decken IX died? There had been no attacks on Princess Shirahoshi for over a month. Jinbei didn't believe the villain was dead. For eight years, he tried various methods to find him and failed, even asking the Whitebeard Pirates for help. How could he die as soon as the Rhine Pirates arrived?
However, Jinbei couldn't count on the fact that Rhine was a time traveler with many ways to kill garbage like Van der Decken IX.
The sea surface of the New World was relatively calm. Suddenly, bubbles appeared, reminiscent of the Whitebeard Pirates' operation during the Summit War. A few seconds later, three loud bangs erupted, and three ships broke through the waves: the Thousand Sunny, Perfume Snake, and Sword of Xebec.
"Captain, there are three starting islands after arriving in the New World. Where should we go first?" Lafitte, the navigator on the Sword of Xebec, asked Rhine, glancing at the permanent compass on his wrist.
Lischled, raijin, and Mysteria were the three closest islands after arriving in the New World through Fish-Man Island, known as the three starting islands of the New World.
Rhine pondered for a moment, then took out a coin and tossed it in the air, saying:
"Go to Lischled Island if it's heads, Mysteria Island if it's tails. If it stands, we'll go to Thunder Island."
Hearing Rhine's words, Nami and the other women were speechless. Was there an option for the coin to stand?
A week later, they arrived at Mysteria. When the three ships of the Rhine Pirates docked, the pirates on a dozen other ships in the harbor didn't panic or flee. Instead, they showed greed and desire, shouting rebelliously:
"Look! They're coming! The Rhine Pirates!"
"Hahaha! I'm going to chop off that guy's head and make a name for myself!"
"The Pirate Empress is also on that ship, right? If I have the chance to taste that woman, I'll die with no regrets!"
"The government's latest bounty for this group is billions of Berries. Kill any one of them, and you'll get rich!"
These pirates were not in the same camp. Their goals varied—some sought bounty, some women, and some fame—but their target was the same: the Rhine Pirates!
Witnessing this, Rhine couldn't help but laugh out loud:
"Hahaha! I didn't expect to enjoy the same treatment as Whitebeard so soon."