Merry's Transformation Opportunity
Jinbei brought Tiger and Merry and soon arrived at Ryugu Castle.
Two familiar figures were already standing at the palace gate. They were Queen Otohime of the Dragon Palace Kingdom and King Neptune.
Otohime was born with the "Observation Haki" that allows her to hear the inner voices of others. Not long after Tiger approached Ryugu Castle, she felt a strong cry from him.
Now, Otohime is looking at Tiger with sad eyes.
"Lady Yiji..." Tiger stopped.
"Tiger, you're back." Otohime's voice was very gentle. She fixed her eyes on Merry and said, "Good boy, can you help me accompany my daughter Shirahoshi?"
Merry felt relieved by the gentle gaze and nodded happily: "No problem, ma'am."
It followed Otohime's mount, Moby, a lively manta ray, to another room.
"Jinbei, you should go down first. We need to talk to Tiger about something. Please don't let any fishmen come and disturb us."
"Okay." Jinbei didn't ask any more questions. He vaguely felt that something very important was about to happen. After he retreated, he personally guarded the door of the hall and did not let anyone approach.
Only Tiger, Otohime and Neptune were left in the hall. The atmosphere between the three fish people was very heavy, and no one knew what they talked about.
Merry followed Moby to Shirahoshi's room, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the oversized cradle in the middle.
In the cradle, a huge mermaid baby was lying. She had short pink hair and a red and pink striped fish tail on her lower body.
Although Shirahoshi is only one year old, her body length has reached two meters, which is dozens of times longer than Merry.
Meli climbed onto the cradle and compared herself to her, realizing how tiny she seemed.
Shirahoshi suddenly opened her eyes and saw an octopus appear beside the cradle. It immediately stretched out its hand happily towards Meli.
"Ya ...
Ka, kawaii!!!
Meli was completely attracted by Shirahoshi's cute appearance, and instantly forgot the difference in their size. It stretched out a tentacle and wrapped around Shirahoshi's fingers, as if shaking hands.
Bai Xing smiled contentedly, with a pure and happy light in her eyes, looking cute and sweet.
Meli's emotions began to fluctuate violently, and he felt a strange power surging in his heart.
It soon realized that the mermaid baby in front of it seemed to possess incredible power.
The little octopus tried hard to recall and soon remembered what happened a year ago.
At that time, Meli suddenly sensed that an abnormal riot had occurred among the sea kings in the deep sea, and he also heard the sea kings conveying a message to each other: Our king was born!
At that time, Meli didn't quite understand the meaning of this sentence. Now, after seeing the white star, it suddenly understood.
So, is this big guy the "Sea King" mentioned by the sea kings?
"Ah~ Pu~" Bai Xing couldn't speak very well yet. She waved her chubby hands at the little octopus and babbled.
The clear and tender baby voices echoed in the room like a string of silver bells.
Miraculously, Meili actually understood Shirahoshi's baby talk and responded to her excitedly: "I'm glad to meet you, too, Shirahoshi."
Bai Xing's eyes suddenly became brighter, and the corners of her mouth widened like a blooming flower, revealing two short, newly emerged front teeth hidden inside.
"Ah~ah~"
The two little cuties communicated with each other without any obstacles and started chatting happily.
I don't know how much time passed, but Otohime, Neptune and Tiger finally finished their conversation and came to the front of the cradle.
Meli calmed down his excitement a little and greeted them seriously.
"Poor little thing, I heard what Tiger said about you," Otohime gently stroked Merry's head, her voice full of pity, "You look so malnourished. Why did you leave the eggshell before it was time to hatch?"
???
What did Otohime mean by this?
When Merry heard what Otohime said, he was immediately confused and his eyes were full of doubts.
Although its body is small, it has always eaten a lot. It feels that it is very healthy and not malnourished.
Besides, what do you mean, it’s not hatching time yet?
When it woke up from the deep sea, it was no longer in the eggshell.
Did Princess Otohime, like Dr. Surina, mistake it for a baby mermaid?
Merry tilted her head and scratched her face with her tentacles. "I'm not malnourished. I usually eat and drink well. I'm quite healthy. Besides, I was only this small when I was born. I've grown so much in the past five years."
The little octopus said this while using his tentacles to measure his own size.
However, Otohime standing next to Merry is 2.24 meters tall, Tiger is 5.2 meters tall, Neptune is 12.2 meters tall, and even the one-year-old Shirahoshi is more than two meters long. The mermaids and fishmen around them are tall and mighty, making the little octopus, which is only a few dozen centimeters tall, look particularly tiny.
"I I I~~" Neptune couldn't help laughing, and his loud voice echoed in the palace.
Attracted by the laughter, Shirahoshi stretched out his hand from the cradle and babbled to Neptune.
Neptune hurried over, rocked the cradle, and coaxed the baby in a low voice.
Otohime gently continued to explain to the little octopus, "Most mermaids reproduce by laying eggs. The young usually absorb enough nutrients in the eggshell and hatch during the incubation period. Because of the sufficient nutrition, they grow very quickly in the first few years. This is also to enable the young to develop self-protection skills as early as possible and adapt to the dangerous environment of the seabed. However, you hatched early, so your body didn't get enough nutrition. Therefore, in the past five years, you have only grown so little."
Merry blinked: "But I'm not a mermaid, I'm just an ordinary octopus."
"How could you be an ordinary octopus?" Otohime sighed, looking at Merry with tenderness and pity. "It seems you know nothing about your own race. However, this is not surprising. The reproduction method of the octopus mermaids is more special than that of other mermaids. They quickly enter a period of aging after laying eggs, and die after their pups hatch. Therefore, many octopus mermaids are orphans from birth and have no idea of their own situation."
The more Meli listened, the more familiar it sounded. Dr. Surina had mentioned this matter before. She left Fishman Island just to find a solution.
However, Meili was still a little confused: "But, if I don't absorb enough nutrients, I shouldn't be able to break out of the shell, right?"
Otohime shook her head, confusion in her eyes. "Logically, that's true. I don't know why, but you were born prematurely and haven't entered the next stage of growth."
After hearing so much news suddenly, Meli was completely confused.
Otohime soothed him, "However, you have managed to survive on the Grand Line for so many years with such a fragile octopus body. It's really not easy, and it's really amazing."
Hearing the compliment, Merry shyly raised her tentacles to scratch her face: "Hehe~~ Actually it's not that bad. I'm lucky."
"It's a bit strange. Because the Octopus's reproduction method consumes too much life, no one is willing to give birth these days. How did you end up stranded outside Fishman Island?"
"Let's not worry about this problem for now." After listening to Otohime's words, Tiger couldn't help but feel anxious. "Princess Otohime, King Neptune, what should we do with Merry in this state? Merry saved my life. Now that I know there is something wrong with his body, I can't just ignore it."
Neptune stroked his thick beard and said, "Don't worry. Fishman Island occasionally has premature cubs. There are indeed ways to repair premature cubs."
Tiger's eyes lit up: "Please tell me, what do I need to do? How should I do it?"
Otohime smiled slightly: "All the fishmen are brothers. Even if you don't say it, we will not sit idly by."
Eh?
Hey!
Before Merry could react, Yiji and Tiger had already arranged everything for him.
"Don't worry, little one, we will all help you." Yiji gently touched Merry's little head.
Neptune ordered his servants to bring a crystal ball and pour various liquids into it.
Tiger looked at the contents of the crystal ball and asked, "Can this thing make Mellie back to normal?"
Neptune: "Yes, I just prepared a nutrient solution based on octopus eggs and arranged it to simulate the environment inside octopus eggs, recreating the growth process of octopus pups."
"Wow! This is so magical!" Meli never thought that she could experience life inside the eggshell again.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine when you wake up again."
"Well, I believe in Lady Otohime and King Neptune."
"Okay, you can go in."
"Get some rest, we'll be waiting for you here."
"good!"
Merry nodded and climbed into the crystal ball, the warm liquid slowly enveloping it.
The liquid seemed to have magical powers, gently soothing every inch of the little octopus's skin and bringing it an unprecedented sense of comfort, just like returning to its mother's arms.
“This feels really good.”
The little pink octopus gradually relaxed in the liquid. Looking at its expression, it seemed very satisfied and comfortable. It slowly closed its eyes.
The nutrients in the liquid gradually seep into the octopus's body, promoting a very magical change.
The upper body of the little octopus gradually revealed the outline of a human, and its small nose and delicate mouth became clearer and clearer.
The liquid in the crystal ball seemed to be cast with some kind of magic, flashing different lights as Meli changed, making the small body floating in it look like an elf under the sea, beautiful and mysterious.
Time passed quietly, and Meli's body gradually stabilized.
Outside the crystal ball
"What a beautiful transformation! Merry-chan's body is becoming more and more healthy."
"It's truly incredible. Lady Otohime, how long will it take for her to wake up?"
"Calculating the time, it will be one or two days."
"Very good."
Tiger raised his hand and touched the crystal ball, revealing a relieved smile.
Even though staying on Fishman Island delayed us for a while, it’s really great to see Merry’s body return to normal!
Now, he can finally concentrate on doing what he has always wanted to do!
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