One Piece: The Living Devil

"Let's keep going. These people will be handled by the Marines. As for those few of your kind, you can personally rescue them."

Rosse spoke as he walked toward the deepest part of the dungeon.

Inside the whole dungeon, there were about dozens of imprisoned humans, most of them female.

However, almost all were missing arms or legs, and bore the marks of having been tortured by Damon.

Many already had hollow gazes and had become completely numb.

Rosse had no intention of releasing this group of people himself. Each profession has its specialty, and the Marines would take care of these people properly.

After walking in about ten meters, Rosse and Otohime arrived in front of the innermost cage.

Inside this cage, there was a pool of water, where three fish-men lay weakly in the water, all in an unconscious state.

"Nia, Iya, Sanya?", Seeing the three female mermaids imprisoned, Otohime's pupils contracted sharply, and she instinctively cried out.

Because her Observation Haki was innate and had never been trained later on, it was actually weaker than those awakened later in life.

She could only roughly sense the number of people in the dungeon and the emotions hidden in their hearts.

That overwhelming sense of despair and numbness had already given her a huge shock.

Now seeing that the three mermaids imprisoned were people she knew, Otohime was completely shaken.

"You know them?"

Rosse looked up curiously and examined the three mermaids in the dungeon.

Their appearance and figure were at an average level. Not as good as Moa, but the advantage was that they were likely sisters. Aside from hair and tail color, the three mermaids looked nearly identical.

"I know them...", Otohime gritted her teeth, her gaze full of sorrow, "They are my handmaidens. They were with me when I went to Fish-Man Street."

'Why?'

'Back then, only I should have been attacked.'

The three handmaidens weren't with her but with her royal guards. How could they possibly appear here now?

"Your handmaidens?", Rosse raised his brows, showing a surprised expression.

This time, he was truly surprised.

He had only learned through CP's channel that the Fish-Man Gang had recently captured three mermaids. He had no idea these mermaids were related to Otohime, and were even her handmaidens.

To accompany Otohime to Fish-Man Street, they must have been close personal attendants, a very intimate relationship.

This wasn't something he had arranged, he could only say, it was a pleasant surprise.

"Mr. Rosse, can you wake them up?", Otohime's face looked a bit unpleasant, but she still looked at Rosse with a pleading gaze.

She had already asked Rosse for so much help, and she feared she'd have to trouble him many more times, which made her feel a bit guilty.

Clearly, she had just refused Rosse's invitation moments ago.

"No problem. But let's talk in a quieter place,".Rosse extended a finger and swiped it across the iron bars.

The bars as thick as a wrist were easily cut open by Rosse, leaving a large gap.

With his Devil Fruit power activated, the three mermaids were lifted by seawater and, under Rosse's control, floated one by one out of the cage.

Without pausing, Rosse led Otohime and the three unconscious mermaids quickly out of the dungeon.

Otohime did indeed need to find a quiet place, she had to properly sort out everything that had just happened.

They hadn't gone far when a Marine officer wearing the cloak of justice led a group of marines and quickly charged into the manor.

The humans in the cells were soon rescued, carried away on stretchers.

As they left, neither Rear Admiral Catacombo nor the marines looked very pleased.

It was only when they saw the Fish-Man manor engulfed in raging flames that they finally felt a bit better.

No matter what, in their hearts, they were grateful to Rosse.

Back then, even though they knew about it, they didn't dare to rescue these people. Who knew if there were powerful figures behind these gray forces?

Rosse might also be a Celestial Dragon, a noble in their eyes, but at least this time, Rosse did what they had always wanted to do but didn't dare.

———

On the other side, Rosse led Otohime and the three mermaids to a place where there were no people.

Rosse manipulated seawater to gently warm the bodies of the three mermaids.

The three had fallen unconscious due to the effects of drugs.

Although Rosse wasn't much of a doctor, purifying toxins from the body using seawater was a technique he had especially trained in.

It's easy to guard against overt attacks, but hidden dangers are hard to defend against.

In case of emergencies, he could provide timely aid.

The drugs inside the mermaids' bodies were quickly cleansed, and signs of awakening began to appear.

Under Otohime's anxious gaze, Nia was the first to open her eyes.

"Nia!", Otohime cried out with concern.

"Who's calling me?", Nia blinked confusedly, and soon noticed the environment had changed, it was no longer that pitch-black dungeon.

And the mermaid before her looked incredibly familiar.

After staring carefully, Nia said with some uncertainty, "Otohime-nee?"

Otohime's current appearance was completely different from before.

In the past, she would tie her golden hair atop her head and exude the dignified aura of a mermaid princess.

But now, Otohime let her golden hair fall all the way down to her waist and wore modified human-style clothing.

If it weren't for the fish tail, people would simply think she was a gentle human woman.

It was only because Nia had been with Otohime for nearly 15 years, having met her even earlier than Neptune by 10 years, that she could recognize her so quickly.

"Nia, it's me. How are you feeling now? Are you still in pain anywhere?", Otohime held Nia's hand with concern and looked her up and down as she asked.

Before becoming the queen, Otohime had been best friends with the three sisters, and they called each other sisters.

After she became queen, the three sisters followed her into the Ryugu Kingdom and became her personal maids. Their relationship was extremely close.

However, there was something she found odd.

Since entering Ryugu Kingdom, Nia had always addressed her as Princess Otohime, it had been a long time since she called her "nee(sister)."

But Otohime figured it might be because Nia had been frightened, and was just feeling emotional.

She didn't mind the form of address much anyway.

"Otohime-nee, I finally get to see you again! I'm fine now, my body feels good!", Nia hugged Otohime tightly in excitement, tears streaming down uncontrollably.

Since Otohime left, what they went through was like hell.

But they never blamed Otohime. On the contrary, now that they could see her again, they felt genuine joy from the bottom of their hearts.

"How did you get caught by Damon and the others?", Rosse looked at Nia and asked aloud.

Nia's physical condition was better than the other two mermaids. The other two probably needed more time before waking.

"And you are?", Nia looked at Rosse, hesitating for a moment. But soon, as if realizing something, her face lit up with pleasant surprise, "You're Otohime-nee's true love, the Celestial Dragon among humans, Lord Rosse, right?"

Otohime: "???"

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