"Now, we're here! This is my house" Pappagu said once the group had come to a stop in front of the massive building.
"It's huge!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Welcome home master-sama" the staff welcomed the starfish home and a few mermaids nearby started gushing about him too.
"Oh you're popular huh?" Luffy asked.
Pappagu laughed "Yeah! Are you guys surprised? When i'm in the water i'm just a fashionable starfish but on Fish-Man island i'm the president and a very popular designer of the Criminal Brand Co. The brand is known all over the world now and we have many stores in many countries, even the famous Doskoi Panda is" the starfish bragged but was cut off by Luffy.
"Oh, look at that! What is it?" the rubber man asked pointing to somewhere else.
"Are you listening Straw?!" Pappagu asked.
"The first floor is a Criminal store" Camie explained.
"Oh!" Luffy said "Let's go there!" he decided and ran off with the others following and completely ignoring Pappagu.
As they reached the store they heard something going on inside.
"What is it?" Luffy wondered.
"A shop assistant sounds troubled, a complaint?" Camie wondered.
"As i said, the clothes here are too expensive, they're cute but" a familiar voice trailed off.
"That must be" Usopp said sweatdropping.
"Yup, there's no doubt about it" Nicole said.
And everyone peaked in to see Nami at the counter haggling a discount.
"It's her as i though" Usopp said.
"No one haggles quite like her" Nicole chuckled a bit.
"Hey Nami!" Luffy called.
"Luffy!" Nami called back turning to the others.
"Nami-chin!" Camie greeted passing by the others and floating over to Nami.
"Camie! It's been a while, how are you?" Nami asked linking hands with the mermaid.
"Fine!" the mermaid replied with a nod.
"Hey, what's going on?" Pappagu asked as he came over.
"Oh Monsieur Pappagu, you came at the right time, we have a troublesome customer" the employee said referring to Nami.
"Hey, so you own this store huh? Why is everything so expensive? Are you ripping me off?" the redhead asked picking up the starfish by pinching his cheek.
"Well that's what they call brand equity because i'm a popular designer" Pappagu tried explaining but Nami wasn't having any of it.
"Give me a discount" she said pinching harder.
Pappagu got out of her hold however flipping around before he landed back down "We're friends aren't we? I owe you guys big time from two years ago, it's all free! Take as much as you want!" the starfish said.
"Free?! Really?! Guys, let's not show mercy!" Nami declared.
"Yeah!" the others echoed and all together they cleared out the entire store.
"Thank you!" Nami said with a smile.
"Monsieur, they took everything!" the employee said.
"You're so merciless!" Pappagu yelled at the Straw Hats.
"We're pirates, what did you expect" Nicole pointed out blankly.
"I'm happy for you guys" Camie said, then there was some commotion outside that drew their attention.
"Oh? What is it?" Brook wondered "Something's going on outside the store" he said.
"Monsieur! This is serious!" another employee yelled rushing in.
"What is it?" Pappagu asked.
"I-it's him!" the employee said.
"Him?" Pappagu asked.
"Just come look!" The employee said and went outside the shop with the others following him.
"Look! There in the air! He came from the palace!" The employee said pointing to the sky as someone riding a whale descended while chanting Jamon.
"What is it? A whale?" Luffy asked.
"I think it's rather whoever is riding it" Nicole said as they grew closer and the Straw Hats got a closer view of the unexpected visitor.
He was a huge coelacanth merman with a full head of curly orange hair and an equally curly and orange full beard that covered his face.
"Why did he come down to the lower world?" Pappagu wondered.
"This is the first time i've seen him in person" Camie said as the whale came to a stop infront of them.
"Who is that old man?" Luffy asked.
"Idiot, don't you know who he is? That man is the king of the Ryugu Kingdom on the Fish-Man island Neptune-sama!" Pappagu told them.
"That's a big merman there" Usopp said.
"I prefer mermaids" Brook said.
"He's a very hairy old man" Luffy said.
"That's rude! Get down on your knees now!" Pappagu yelled at the rubber man pulling his cheek
"He's rather fetching for an older man, i wonder how handsome the princes might be" Nicole wondered.
Hey just cause she had a boyfriend it didn't mean she wasn't allowed to think other men, or mermen, or whatever, weren't attractive.
"The whale's cute!" Nami said.
"Hey Megalo, are you sure that it was these people-jamon?" Neptune asked turning to the shark floating nearby, who nodded.
"Oh? We saw that shark in the water" Nami said.
"Yeah, the one with the clothes" Usopp said.
"He had been captured by Surume" Luffy said.
"You Straw Hat people" Neptune called to them and there was a tense silence as the mighty king started them down.
"W-what do you want?" Usopp asked.
"I'm going to invite you to the Ryugu Palace-jamon" Neptune said cheerfully.
"What?! Ryu-Ryu-Ryu-Ryu-Ryu-Ryugu Palace!" Camie and Pappagu freaked.
"That's right-jamon" Neptune said.
"What?!" the crowd gathered around them exclaimed in shock.
"What's the Ryugu Palace?" Luffy asked.
"Seems to me like it's the royal palace of the Ryugu Kingdom" Nicole said.
"Hmm, so old man, is there a lot of good food at the Ryugu Palace?" Luffy asked.
"Of course, we are prepared to have a banquet-jamon" Neptune replied.
"Oh yeah? I can't wait" Luffy grinned excitedly.
"I'd like to see the Ryugu Palace, my heart is filled with expectations but i don't have a heart to be filler!" Brook laughed at his own joke.
"I wanna go too! Ryugu Palace, i sense treasure" Nami said with beri signs in her eyes.
"I knew that's be what you're interested in" Usopp said.
"A banquet huh? Sounds like the perfect thing to sample some drinks" Nicole said
"Okay, let's go!" Luffy declared.
"Hmm, alright Megalo, give the Straw hat people a ride to the Ryugu Palace-jamon" Neptune told the giant shark that nodded and floated down in front of the Straw Hats.
"Can i get on?" Usopp asked the shark who nodded in return.
"Wow! Cool!" Luffy said going closer to the shark.
"Are we gonna meet the Mermaid Princess?" Brook wondered following the captain.
"I can't wait!" Usopp said also following.
"This ought to be fun" Nicole said a light smile on her face.
Luffy turned back to Camie and Pappagu "What are you doing? Come with us" he told them.
"Huh? Well, we don't deserve to go to the Ryugu Palace, right?" Pappagu asked turning to Camie.
"Stop grumbling and come, let's have a banquet!" Luffy said.
"You can't say goodbye here" Usopp said.
"Is it okay, grandpa?" Nami asked turning to Neptune.
"Your friends can come-jamon" the king agreed to let them join.
"Hear that? Grandpa, you're an understanding person!" Nami said.
"Alright, let's go to the Ryugu Palace!" Luffy said ignoring Pappagu's weak protest.