One Piece: The Living Devil

"We're here," Damon rode the bubble car all the way, bringing Rosse and Otohime into a manor.

Island No. 1 was not small. Manors like this were everywhere on the island, mostly used as hideouts by various gray forces, or simply as slave warehouses for slave shops.

And the manor before them was the main base of the Fish-Man Gang.

"Where are the merfolk compatriots you mentioned?", Otohime asked eagerly.

"Where?", Damon burst into loud laughter and suddenly shouted toward the sky, "Boys, it's time to work!"

With his order, the gates of the manor slammed shut.

From various buildings, nearly a hundred fish-men of different sizes rushed out and surrounded the area.

"You all?"

Seeing this scene, how could Otohime still not understand?

She was both shocked and angry. If looks could kill, she'd want to slice Damon into a thousand pieces.

Before, she had been tricked by a fish-man and kidnapped.

Now, she had fallen into the same pit twice. The worst part was, both times Rosse had seen it all.

And this was even a mission Rosse had assigned her.

Not only had she not saved anyone, she even got herself caught.

'Wuwuwu, this is just too embarrassing.'

Otohime didn't even dare look at Rosse. She felt certain he was secretly laughing at her.

'I really have done so poorly…'

"Waa…", Otohime lowered her head in frustration, tears falling uncontrollably.

In truth, she wasn't actually that heartbroken, she could still remain calm.

But her body constitution was like that, whenever she got emotional, she'd start to shed water droplets, like she was made of water.

"HAHAHAHAHA, you do look nice, but you're just too naive," Damon looked at Otohime playfully. At this point, he wasn't in a hurry.

Now that they were inside the manor, how could they possibly escape?

They had over a hundred fish-men here. With the physical gap between fish-men and humans, even a pirate with a bounty over 100 million could be taken down.

"Blame yourselves for being stupid. Coming to the Sabaody Archipelago with just two people."

"That 30 million pirate last time? We killed him."

"The treasure on their ship was all looted by us. His crew was sold as slaves, and we made a lot of money off them too."

"Too bad that 30 million pirate captain got killed by accident, but his meat was pretty good, really tasty."

As he finished speaking, Damon even swallowed his saliva, his gaze landing on Rosse.

He had already decided, he'd roast Rosse for a snack.

After all, Otohime was worth a lot. She even said she had one billion Berries. One or two extra human slaves wouldn't matter.

"How could you do this? Then those merfolks you mentioned just now, was that a lie too?", Tears streamed down Otohime's face as she lifted her head, glaring at Damon in anger.

But actually, her eyes remained clear and sharp.

If this were before, she would have panicked long ago, completely losing her composure. But now, she was completely calm.

Because she could feel Rosse's arm wrapped around her waist the whole time. That warm feeling, like it was supporting her, giving her the courage to lift her head.

This was something she had never experienced before. It was also the first time she realized she could be so brave, even without her special ability.

"Those three merfolks? I didn't lie about that. You'll be joining them soon. They're new arrivals from Fish-Man Island too," Damon grinned.

"Didn't you say you looked down on those scumbags from the Fish-Man District?", Otohime stared at Damon.

'You were talking so righteously earlier, yet now you're just the same kind of scum.'

"Pfft!"

Damon sneered, "Stupid merfolk, did you get something wrong?"

Damon pointed at himself, "Me! Fish-man!"

Then he pointed at Otohime, "You! merfolk!"

"In my eyes, you're no different from those humans. If you weren't worth money, I'd love to try and see what merfolk tastes like."

After speaking, he looked at the fish-men surrounding them, "Brothers, am I right?"

"YES!"

"MERFOLKS ARE ALL TRASH!"

"Fish-Man Island belongs to the fish-men, merfolks are just robbers!"

"..."

The surrounding fish-men were filled with righteous indignation, their words full of anger toward merfolks.

And those words, like blades, continuously pierced Otohime's heart.

She had always believed that Fish-Man Island was a shared home of fish-men and merfolks.

But for the first time, she realized, it had only ever been her wishful thinking.

"What did the merfolks do to make you hate us so much?", Otohime couldn't help but retort.

She believed that as the princess, she had never done anything to wrong them.

"What did you do?", Damon spat, his face twisted in anger, "Damn it, what I can't stand most about you merfolks is that pretentious look. You took the best part of Fish-Man Island, and then banned us fish-men from entering the merfolk residential area, pushed us into the Fish-Man District and some remote zones, and now you're asking what you did?"

"In the Ryugu Kingdom, have you ever seen any fish-men? You enjoyed all the benefits of being a member nation, while we did the hard labor and took all the blame. Why the hell should we accept that?", Damon mocked.

The conflict between fish-men and merfolks had existed for a long time.

He had wanted to say these words long ago.

If it weren't for Big Brother Tiger from the Fish-Man District constantly preaching about equality, and the fact that he still respected him, he would have taken action against the merfolks long ago.

"This…", Otohime opened her mouth, trying to argue, but found she had nothing to say.

Because in terms of the facts, this really was how things were.

She wasn't at a level yet where she could ignore reality.

'Fish-men and merfolks… so the conflict between them is this deep…'

At that moment, Otohime fell into confusion.

Damon looked at Otohime, who appeared pure yet lost in her thoughts, and the anger in his heart refused to subside.

But there was a strange sense of danger that made him instinctively afraid to step forward and slap Otohime.

Still, not daring to hit her didn't mean he wouldn't speak.

"Don't give me that innocent look," Damon's eyes were filled with hostility, "You think merfolks don't sell fish-men into slavery?"

He yanked his floral shirt open, revealing a torso covered in scars.

The nearby fish-men, upon seeing Damon's scars, each showed varying degrees of anger and emotional resonance.

They, too, had more or fewer scars on their bodies.

Some came from humans, others from fellow fish-men. The ones from merfolks were fewer.

After all, merfolks lived relatively comfortable lives. Even among slave traders, they mostly sold female merfolks. Fish-men were sold less frequently.

But all these emotions eventually converged, impacting Otohime's heart.

Even with her special ability suppressed by Rosse, just by looking at the eyes of those around her, she could clearly feel their rage.

It was the anger of those sold into slavery.

The anger toward merfolks.

And even anger redirected at her.

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