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The Fish-Men and mermaids, initially in the wrong place at the wrong time, listened to the reasoning from their own kind. Their eyes lit up instantly.
In the next moment, they seemed to stand on moral high ground, glaring at Akira with a look that demanded the Marines provide them with an explanation.
Seeing this, Akira couldn't help but laugh.
"Discriminate against you!?"
He repeated softly, pulling out a cigar from beside the table. Slowly, under everyone's watchful gaze, he lit it.
Taking a long drag, Akira then spoke with a hint of emotion: "The natural strength of Fish-Men is ten times that of humans."
This sounded like a compliment.
When all the Fish-Men and mermaids heard this, proud expressions appeared on their faces. This is a fact—something their race has always taken pride in. Hearing the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, a high-ranking human, admit this in person made them feel even more proud.
"But if that's your only claim, then yes, humans can indeed discriminate against you."
Akira's next words hit them like a bucket of ice-cold water, leaving everyone stunned.
Why?
Our natural strength is ten times that of yours, yet you can discriminate against us?
No one understood.
Someone like Arlong was especially furious, ready to retort, but Akira's tapping on the table brought everyone back to their senses, silencing Arlong before he could speak.
"You think I was praising you just now? Hahaha, isn't that ridiculous?"
"Despite being born with such strength, you're forced to hide in this corner, unable to even secure a place in the sea for yourselves."
"Is this the strength of your race?"
Arlong's face turned blue with anger, and he stepped forward, shouting loudly, "That's because of the sheer number of you humans!"
Behind him, many Fish-Men thugs quickly nodded in agreement. As racists, they take pride in their Fish-Man identity, and they constantly ponder the predicament Akira mentioned. But they always reach the same conclusion—that the number of humans is hundreds or thousands of times that of Fish-Men.
It's because of this that, despite their strength, they are confined to Fish-Man Island and unable to freely roam the sea. This belief is deeply ingrained in every Fish-Man racist.
"Hahahahaha...."
Akira seemed to have heard a particularly amusing joke. He couldn't help but cover his forehead with his right hand, shaking with laughter at the table.
This blatant display of disdain instantly fueled everyone's anger. But given that Akira is the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, they could only stand there, eyes wide with extreme fury.
"Haha, numbers...hahahaha."
Akira struggled to suppress his laughter, wiping the moisture from the corners of his eyes as he straightened up.
"Tokikake," he said "If, and I mean if, you were free and fully healed..."
Akira suppressed his smile, and through the smoke, asked coldly with icy eyes, "Without considering justice or consequences…"
"Given a weapon, could you slaughter the entire Fish-Man Island?"
Vice Admiral Tokikake was momentarily taken aback, but seeing Akira's serious expression, he quickly regained his composure.
"If the Fish-Men don't plan to capture me at the cost of destroying Fish-Man Island…"
He glanced up at the multi-layered coating covering Fish-Man Island, then scanned the many Fish-Men below with his only remaining eye, and said confidently:
"And there's no time limit, I'm sure I could kill most of the Fish-Men residents."
Tokikake acknowledged to himself that there were strong individuals on Fish-Man Island.
But unfortunately, those strong ones weren't on the level of someone like Whitebeard or an Admiral—no one strong enough to strike fear into people's hearts.
If the goal were to cause the maximum slaughter on Fish-Man Island, he was confident he could eliminate ten percent of the Fish-Men and mermaids with his strength and various means.
Then he would finally be surrounded and killed by the stronger Fish-Men.
This was based on Akira's hypothetical scenario where he was acting alone.
If he were commanding 800 soldiers from his warship, the number would certainly be different.
"So fish-Men, you believe humans have become the world's rulers solely due to their numbers."
"Now, here's a chance to prove yourselves."
Akira crushed the cigar into the ashtray and said in a deep voice, "Release Vice Admiral Tokikake, let him recover from his injuries and regain his strength."
"And then…"
"Kill him!"
The final words, like a bell tolling at dawn and dusk, made hearts tremble violently.
The expressions on the Fish-Men's faces were a mix of emotions—both furious and terrified!
They were outraged because the mighty Marine and this Vice Admiral belittled them so openly. And he even publicly threatened that he could kill so many of their kind.
But they were also frightened because, deep down, they believed it might actually be possible.
During Tokikake's time stationed on Fish-Man Island, not to mention his previous fights with other pirates, just recently, they had seen how powerful and destructive he was against a formidable pirate from the New World. Everyone had witnessed this Vice Admiral's terrifying strength.
"I assure you, on the reputation of the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, that neither the Marines nor the World Government will hold you responsible for killing Tokikake under these circumstances."
"So now, please, begin your performance."
"Let's see if humans, who have lost their advantage in numbers, are truly your opponents, Fish-Men."
Akira raised his chin.
The square fell silent.
Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to speak.
Even Arlong, in his rage, could only fume quietly, unable to muster the courage to accept the challenge.
As for Neptune and the others, they certainly couldn't agree to having anyone kill a Vice Admiral. And indeed, they weren't confident they could do so quickly.
If they failed to quickly kill or capture Tokikake and he managed to escape, the ordinary Fish-Men would surely suffer terribly.
Vice Admiral Tokikake snorted coldly, lifting his chin with pride.
Akira understood the answer from their silence. Shaking his head slightly, he decided not to press the issue further—he had no intention of pushing the Fish-Men to become outright enemies.
With a soft sigh, Akira began to speak slowly:
"Tokikake is just a Vice Admiral, and there are countless humans stronger than him out on the sea."
"Let me teach you all a lesson today."
"The human race, which you have always looked down upon, has a very high potential for strength."
His eyes dimmed as he recalled the ten-year-old boy who had trained alongside him six years ago, back when he first arrived in this world of pirates. The boy worked hard, not as playful as the others, always focused on getting stronger.
In this world, humans do have many weak individuals, but there are also many who surpass those limits. And once these exceptional humans mature, they can dominate over any race.
Your Fish-Men might have a head start at birth, but as strong humans grow, the gap between you will only narrow.
Even without considering the tricky abilities of Devil Fruits, it's not uncommon for someone to reach the level of an Emperor purely through physical prowess.
I don't even need to mention myself—just look at Garp, Kong, Shanks, or Patrick Redfield… strong humans like these are everywhere.
As for the Fish-Men, their reliance on physical strength alone limits them—the most powerful known Fish-Man, a Warlord, barely ranks at a tenth of what humans can achieve.
"And let's not forget, for us humans, the Four Seas are the weakest regions. Even ordinary pirates with bounties of 10 million berries from there can easily defeat your average Fish-Man."
"Not to mention there are humans on the Grand Line who can swim across the Calm Belt using nothing but physical strength."
"Against such individuals, your Fish-Men wouldn't stand a chance, even in the water."
"When humans reach a certain level, your strength as Fish-Men becomes insignificant."
The Fish-Men gasped, some lowering their heads in realization.
Others, still in disbelief, looked towards their king for reassurance. But Neptune, with his greater understanding of the world, knew that what Akira said was true. The strength and talent of the Fish-Men might give them some sense of superiority over ordinary humans, but when faced with truly powerful humans—no, even those with a certain bounty—they stood no chance.
Despite knowing that many of his people were hoping for him to refute Akira's words, to restore their racial pride, Neptune couldn't bring himself to deny the truth in front of the Fleet Admiral.
"Why… how can this be??"
A Fish-Man, who had never left Fish-Man Island, was devastated, his face filled with disbelief.
Some truths are hard to grasp until they're laid bare. Even though Fish-Man Island is a crucial midpoint between the first and second halves of the Grand Line, and they often suffer at the hands of human pirates, many Fish-Men had always believed it was just their individual weakness, not that their entire race was…
Vulnerable.
But there's an end to self-deception, and that time had come.
Many were pale.
"Does being weak mean we should be discriminated against?"
At that moment, Shyarly, who had just been rescued after being kidnapped by Tokikake, asked with tears in her eyes.
"Of course not!"
Akira's eyelids drooped slightly, his expression neutral. "Weakness alone cannot justify discrimination."
"But!"
"This world is harsh and unforgiving, where the law of the jungle prevails…"
Akira paused, recognizing that most Fish-Men might not grasp the concept of the law of the jungle, so he put it in simpler terms.
"In the law of the jungle, it's survival of the fittest."
"The big fish eat the small fish, and the small fish eat the shrimp. It's normal for the strong to step on the weak to survive."
"Of course, you can always be naive, but don't expect other groups to be like you. That's just self-deception.
"Being behind isn't necessarily wrong, but you must understand that it leads to being beaten!"
Akira's eyes were intense as he leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands. His deliberately low tone was filled with admonition.
"Wake up to reality. Do you really think you can avoid discrimination by being weak? Is it because you're weak that you expect kindness from the strong? Expecting them to be kind is like expecting them to hand you their dignity, as if you were beggars."
Akira's gaze burned with intensity.
"And have you ever thought about it? You're not too weak. You even have the ability to make up for a shortcoming many humans have—they can't enter the water…"
"So why have you always been discriminated against? Why have you been oppressed? Why have you been shut out from the doors of friendship by humans?"
"Let's not even talk about kings, nobles, and the Celestial Dragons—they discriminate against their own kind, too, even among humans."
"But what about ordinary people? Shouldn't you wonder why even so many pirates and the general public discriminate against you?"
As Akira's words sank in, the Fish-Men and mermaids looked at each other in bewilderment, asking themselves:
"Right? Why? It's understandable that powerful humans might discriminate against us, but ordinary humans—who aren't stronger than us—why don't they like us?"
"We've been living on Fish-Man Island for ages, so why are we discriminated against?"
"Sure, some bad Fish-Men go to sea and oppress humans, but we're also oppressed by bad humans."
They couldn't figure out why.
Finally, a petite and slender mermaid with long blonde hair stood beside King Neptune.
"Fleet Admiral, can you tell us why?" She bent forward, asking urgently.
Everyone turned their attention to the screen.
Queen Otohime!
Akira recognized the mermaid and frowned slightly, but he wasn't stingy with his answer. These weren't secrets, and he had his own reasons for sharing.
"It's because of value!"
"At the end of the day, you and humans are two entirely different races."
"It's normal for there to be fear and discrimination when there's a lack of understanding between you."
"In fact, most people in the world may never see a Fish-Man or a mermaid in their entire lives. The discrimination you perceive is actually imposed on you and them by a few individuals."
"As the disadvantaged group, if you truly want to end discrimination, you must actively enter human society to express and show who you are."
"When everyone becomes familiar with you and recognizes the kindness within your people, this so-called discrimination will cease to exist."
"A lack of understanding is the root of discrimination!"
The biggest reaction to Akira's words came from Queen Otohime. She stood up, visibly excited, her breathing quickening.
"But how do we enter human society, Fleet Admiral? Please tell us."
"It's simple. Release your kindness," Akira responded.
"We have great, strong goodwill, but how do we release it?"
"Isn't this era of great pirates the perfect opportunity?"
Queen Otohime wanted to ask more, but Akira raised his hand, stopping her.
Continuing this discussion would lead to political topics, and such topics weren't suitable for public conversation.
"The Marines, who represent justice worldwide, currently face an underwater problem that's difficult to solve."
"If any race is willing to help, I believe humans will recognize their goodwill."
"That's all for now. The rest is for you to consider."
Akira leaned back in his chair, looking at everyone with disdain as he spoke slowly:
"And finally…"
"I expect to see my Vice Admiral back at Marine headquarters, unharmed, by tomorrow."
"And the Fish-Men had better provide the Marines with an explanation for the harm he suffered."
"Otherwise…"
Click.
The Den Den Mushi was hung up abruptly.
The Gyoncorde Plaza fell into an eerie silence.
The only one who might feel some relief was Tokikake. At that moment, his tension faded, and he passed out with a faint smile on his lips.