On Dryland, Parker returned to the Unified Resistance Army's main camp (also known as the Kongming Army's base) in Santos, not far from where he had his confrontation with the princes and princesses. He was greeted by his loyal assistant, Angelina Mouseling. "Hello, Parker. Welcome back."

"Hi, Angelina. I'm back."

"So where did you go?" asked Angelina.

"Oh, just for a little walk on the beach, nothing special," replied Parker.

"How long has this war against the Salacians gone for? It's been, what, about eight years?"

"Fourteen. But don't worry. We're getting closer and closer to ending the war once and for all. Do you know how tiring it's been? War has taken up most of my life and I'm sick of it, but at the same time I want to keep fighting because I love it so much. I'd blow up the entire Earth if it meant I could wipe out those dogfucked seafuckers and free myself from these shackles, but then I wouldn't have any worthy opponents to fight anymore."

"Come on, Parker, don't be like that. Life can be stupendous! You could do so much more with yourself after the war is over. Anyway, we're meeting with the Yabusaki clan's generals soon. We should get ready."

And sure enough, Parker and Angelina gathered their generals for the meeting. The Yabusaki Army commander, Fabio, started off the meeting with some updates regarding his army's battles.

"And finally, it is my solemn duty to inform you all that the Campinas Campaign has failed. Thanks to the efforts of Parker Zhou, his generals and the Combo Rangers, the Demon Slayer Corps are still alive, but they have been taken to hospital with significant injuries. Let us take a moment to commemorate the efforts of our Demon Slayers Beatrice Barros, Gabriela Guerra, Flavia Fontanos and Bruno Breno among others. They were very good friends of my daughter, Princess Runai, who, as you may know, is also grieving over the recent loss of her mother. The Yabusaki Army shares in her sadness and hopes that the Demon Slayer Corps will make a successful recovery."

"It's almost like slime breathing isn't effective against those sea monsters," quietly muttered Parker to Angelina.

It was then that Fabio had finished his updates. "I will pass this time to Parker now. Parker, do you have any updates for us?"

Amidst his riffling and mumbling, Parker almost forgot to realise that he had some updates to give as well. "Hmm? Oh, right. The Salacians' occupation of the world has been reduced to 70% thanks to the efforts of our comrades across the world, however we are on the verge of perfecting strategies that will finally allow us to end this war. Once again, the prevalence of vigilante groups and warriors across Dryland continues to increase in response to the continued occupation, and although such vigilantism is frowned upon in peacetime, humanity welcomes this extra help as it moves us away from conscription while also encouraging humanity to contribute to the war effort against the Salacians and their collaborators."

Meanwhile, the kings and queens, along with the commanders and some princes and princesses among others in attendance, were meeting at the War Rooms, a palace inside one of the Salacian Army's main barracks in the Turtle Kingdom. This was where the kings and queens had been meeting frequently over the past few months.

Although there were a majority of kings who supported Salacia's invasion of Dryland, there were a number of those who opposed it, believing that Salacia had lost its way. While these anti-war sentiments existed among the Salacians even before the start of the war, they slowly became more and more prominent as the pro-war supporters wondered when those sentiments would reach breaking point and cause a civil war to break out.

"Ugh, I can't believe it's still not over yet. What's King Shark planning now?" complained the Octopus King.

The Starfish King replied, "Who knows? I'm beginning to hate the idea of him wanting to enslave Dryland. Don't you think so too, Paul?"

"Yeah, you have a point- hey, why did you say that name?"

"What about it?"

"Barely anyone's called me by that name for years. Everyone just calls me the Octopus King or King Octopus."

"I suppose it's because we're all used to formalities. My name's Esteban but everyone keeps calling me the Starfish King or King Starfish."

"King Marcos though, he's a whole different case altogether. By the way, what's King Shark's name again?"

"Trebon. Look, do you want us to go back to calling each other by our titles or are you fine with using our real names?"

"I'm fine with either. It's not like anyone uses our proper names anyway and it's not like they don't know them either."

Trebon, the Shark King, called the meeting to order as he presided over the proceedings. "Welcome, one and all, to this strategic meeting. I suppose you are wondering what purpose these fourteen years of war are serving for us. Though I would have liked to have seen the end of this war sooner, it is unfortunate that the Drylanders' meddling has delayed our plans. But no more! We are perfecting the final touches on our ultimate plan to subjugate Dryland and take back what was once ours."

One of the Shark King's closest generals, Lorah, took over and gave an update on the Salacians' progress. "Currently we are recalling all non-essential units to Santos and São Paulo in order to prepare for a grand strike. We will still have troops stationed at major strategic bases, so even if the Drylanders manage to reclaim their territories, it won't matter once our plan gets underway."

The Shark King's advisor, Seretao, continued, "Our main priority is ensuring that we have enough supplies for all our troops. Our main supply and fuel stores are in Cubatão, Praia Grande and Guarujá. These will be used in an emergency should our returning troops be running low upon their return."

The Shark King gave marching orders to his generals. "King Marcos, your division will be defending the Cubatão store. General Lorah, your division will be defending the Praia Grande store, and King Jellyfish, your division will be defending the Guarujá store. If there are no further questions, then we will move on to kingdom statuses."

The Turtle King Taigo put his hand up. "Yes, I have a question. What is the point of continuing our conquest to subjugate Dryland? Surely the Drylanders have learnt whatever lesson we've been trying to teach them. We even have Drylanders who are willing to make peace with us and help us protect Salacia."

The Shark King replied, "That isn't enough. Whatever help the Drylanders may be offering you, that isn't enough compared to the number of Drylanders committing atrocities to our world, not to mention the other Drylanders who are complicit in it. If we let the Drylanders have their way, who knows what they would do to our kingdoms? The plan was voted on by all the kings and passed with a majority. It will stand as it is."

The meeting continued with no further fanfare, though the kings and queens began musing on the Turtle and Shark Kings' words, some of them beginning to have doubts about going through with the ultimate plan.

The princes and princesses who were just on Dryland had decided to go back home, having had enough excitement for the day. As they approached the Shark Palace, Tubarina said to Marcello and Veto, "You guys go back first. I need to go and see Father."

Marcello asked, "Why? He'll be coming back to the palace soon. Why can't you wait until then?"

"I want to tell him about what happened today before I forget. Besides, I don't want you and those girls to get in trouble because of me. Just look after Veto and I'll be back as soon as I can." Tubarina swam off, but her destination wasn't the War Rooms; it was the Shark Kingdom prison, home to notorious criminals Carlos Chain and Weasel.

Mr Chain and Weasel had committed various crimes around Salacia, with one of their more serious crimes being the kidnapping of Polvina, Ester, Tubarina and Tata for ransom using the letters of a Drylander named Windy as bait. They were originally sentenced to fifty years in prison, but after nearly luring Tubarina to death at the hands of a giant turtle, they were condemned to life imprisonment.

When Tubarina arrived, she was met by the door guard, coincidentally the same one who was there years ago when she came to visit Mr Chain and Weasel. "Good afternoon, Your Highness. I presume you have a reason for being here?"

"Humpf. I almost forgot you guys were told to be on your guard after that time. I'll be blunt. I'm here to see Mr Chain and Weasel about something related to our war with Dryland, and if you don't let me in, I'll report you to Father for treason!"

All the guards laughed at that. The door guard replied, "You're very funny, Your Highness. We'll let you in, but you only have 20 minutes and another guard will have to accompany you. I'm sure you understand why."

The door guard let Tubarina in. Accompanied by another guard, she made her way down the corridors full of jeering prisoners.

Meanwhile, upon returning to their palaces, Polvina and Ester received letters from their old teacher, Miss Marla, asking to meet them at her cottage urgently. On the way there, the two of them met with each other.

"What could Miss Marla want with us now?" asked Ester.

"I mean, it's not like she can punish us for going on Dryland. For one thing, she isn't our teacher anymore," replied Polvina.

The girls arrived at Miss Marla's cottage and knocked on the door. Sure enough, she responded and greeted the girls with hugs. "Oh, Polvina and Ester! It's so good to see you. Where's Tubarina? I'm sure I had a message sent to her as well."

Ester replied, "Yeah, that's strange. It's too bad I forgot to call her because we had to rush over."

"No matter," Miss Marla replied. "Please come in and take a seat. You can tell Tubarina about this later." Polvina and Ester went inside and did as Miss Marla said.

"How have things been going for you, Miss Marla?" Polvina asked.

"It's been good. With the war going on and school being suspended, it's been quite hard to keep my royal students up to date with their studies. I've even had to take up jobs as a casual relief teacher and tutor for civilian students to make ends meet."

Tubarina was brought to the medical wing of the prison, arriving in front of the room where Weasel was residing, being looked after by Mr Chain.

The years hadn't been kind to the two former bandits. Although Mr Chain looked about the same as he did all those years ago, albeit older, the same couldn't be said for Weasel, who had become absent-minded and expressionless thanks to his dementia. Mr Chain was helping feed Weasel when the guard opened the door and notified him to Tubarina's presence. "Chain! You have a visitor."

Mr Chain turned around and faced Tubarina as the guard closed the door behind them. "Princess Tubarina. I see the years haven't been that kind to you," Chain greeted.

"I could say the same for you as well," Tubarina replied.

"So, what brings you here after all these years? Come to laugh at us after we couldn't kill you?"

"What would be the point? You're already spending the rest of your lives in here, that's spiteful enough."

"Haha, I guess you're right. Weasel here's not as lively as he used to be. The doctors don't know how long he's got left and he isn't in the right state of mind to choose a dignified exit. Looking after him is the very least I can do to repent for what we've done. I'm taking him out for a walk later so he can get some exercise and his muscles won't atrophy. So go on then, I'm sure you have something to ask if you're not going to laugh at us."

Tubarina got right into it. "I'm here to ask you about the commander of the Dryland resistance called Parker Zhou. He calls himself the second coming of Zhuge Liang."

Mr Chain was intrigued at Tubarina knowing the name. "What makes you think I would know about him?" he asked.

"Because you know a lot about Dryland. If it wasn't for you and Weasel, we wouldn't have known about Windy's life and her happy ending," Tubarina replied, having long overcome the trauma of those dramatic days.

"Haha, you got me there. We kept studying the texts and cultures of Dryland over the years and just a few years ago, the kings got us translating Drylander documents and messages for them as a reward for our good behaviour. It's the only thing you can do when you're in here for the rest of your life, but between you and me, I think their translators haven't been able to do much, that's why they came to good old us for help."

"At least you're getting to do some honest work, that's a plus. Alright, enough flabbering around. What do you know about Parker Zhou?"

"From what we read, Parker is the mightiest warrior, general and strategist in his homeland. He's led his armies to victory in many battles and conquered many lands to the point that people literally call him the Conqueror. He treats his friends well, yet shows no mercy to his enemies. He's skilled in many weapons and martial arts techniques. Not even Salacia's best warriors could ever hope to touch him."

"Why does he call himself 'the second coming of Zhuge Liang'?" Polvina asked Miss Marla.

Miss Marla explained, "Zhuge Liang was a famous strategist in the history of ancient Dryland. He helped build his lord's kingdom and helped succeed his lord's legacy after his passing. The fact that Parker can be so dangerous yet name himself after a great man is so… interesting."

"So, how dangerous is Parker?" asked Ester.

"Very dangerous. I heard that very few people who cross him live to tell the tale, so you should consider yourselves lucky. I can't do anything to stop this war or your curiosities, but if you take anything away from our conversation today, I would advise you to be wary of him."

"Okay, thanks for the advice, Miss Marla, but we should be going now, to tell Tubarina about what you told us," Ester said as she and Polvina prepared to leave.

Right then, Miss Marla added to them, "Girls, I hope you remember what I told you on your first day of school, that Salacia and Dryland are part of something bigger. The Shark King may have started this conflict with Dryland, but I believe that this is the will of goddess Salacia, because the time has come for the two peoples to return to harmony. Everyone else may not realise it yet, but if anyone can help them understand and turn this war around, I believe that it will be you three girls, Polvina, Ester and Tubarina."

"Okay, we'll keep that in mind, Miss Marla," Polvina replied. In actuality, she and Ester were confused at what Miss Marla was asking of them. Nonetheless, the girls left Miss Marla's cottage and headed for the Shark Palace.

"I'll be sure to note that," Tubarina said to Mr Chain, having heard his warning about Parker.

It was then that the guard spoke up. "Your Highness, I'm afraid your visiting time is up."

"Take care of yourself, Princess Tubarina," said Mr Chain.

"You too, Carlos Chain," Tubarina replied, feeling compassion for him and Weasel for the first time ever. After leaving the prison, Tubarina went straight home, entering through the window in her room so as to not arouse suspicion.