One Piece: The Living Devil

"Look at the wounds on me, all of them were made by that damn merfolk slave trader. I still remember the way he looked at me, like I was trash."

Damon sneered coldly. Seeing Otohime's gradually collapsing expression, he added fuel to the fire again, "You think he only sold fish-men? No, he sold even more female merfolks. The merfolks he sold were all orphaned merfolks from the Fish-Man District. As soon as they grew up a bit, he sold them off."

"Oh, right! When it comes to protecting merfolks, you're not even as good as me."

Damon scoffed, "Back then, Big Brother Tiger had just left for his world travels. The moment he left, that beast came to the Fish-Man District to snatch people. It'd be one thing if he went after someone else, but he even wanted to take Shyarly. If I hadn't protected her, she'd have been taken by now."

"But I was unlucky too, I got caught by that man and barely escaped with my life."

After listening to Damon's words, Otohime's eyes remained vacant as she processed the shock she had received from him.

She had known that Fish-Man Island wasn't all sunshine and roses, but she had never imagined it had deteriorated to this extent.

Rosse also glanced at Damon, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He hadn't expected that among the hundreds of thousands of fish-men in the Fish-Man District, Damon would actually know Shyarly and the others.

Since he knew Shyarly, he should also know Arlong and Jinbe.

No wonder Damon referred to Fisher Tiger as "Big Brother Tiger." It seemed he held some respect and influence in the Fish-Man District.

Rosse had only known that Damon had a Fish-Man Gang. He hadn't looked deeper.

Still, Damon's past wasn't a bad thing for Rosse. It would actually have an even stronger impact on Otohime.

At this point, things were finally moving in a good direction.

Rosse lowered his gaze, and the barely detectable Conqueror's Haki suppression suddenly dissipated.

"Alright, my mouth's dry from all this talking. Time to drink some blood to quench my thirst," With a vicious grin on his face, Damon stepped toward Rosse, as if sensing that some kind of danger had disappeared.

"It's time for you to make a decision. Or do you want to use your life to atone for the actions of other merfolks?", Rosse's calm voice, spoken only to Otohime, made her body tremble involuntarily.

Otohime knew clearly, it was time to make a decision.

Damon had made it obvious that he intended to kill Rosse and sell her as a slave.

And from the looks of him, words were no longer effective.

'I'm really useless…'

Otohime sighed lightly, somewhat dejected, "Saint Rosse, please make your move. Injure them all."

"Just injure them? Well, as you wish," Rosse chuckled softly, without criticizing Otohime's kindness.

Today's lesson had nothing to do with kindness.

In fact, Otohime's kindness might even bring her greater pain.

"Hm?", Damon saw Rosse suddenly lift his head and felt a flicker of caution.

But before he could even shout, a vast, mountain-crushing Conqueror's Haki surged from Rosse's body.

In an instant, the entire manor was frozen like someone had pressed pause.

BOOM!

Except for Damon, every fish-man in the manor, including the old man who had come with them, was crushed to the ground by the overwhelming pressure.

Looking closely, blood was trickling from the corners of everyone's mouths.

Clearly, in just a single moment, they had all sustained significant injuries.

In the entire place, only Damon remained standing, but he was also under the greatest pressure.

The only reason he hadn't fallen was that Rosse had allowed him to remain standing.

At this moment, Damon couldn't even speak a word, he couldn't even move a finger.

"Every time I see Saint Rosse take action, it's always so pleasing to the eyes," Otohime looked around the scene, showering praise without hesitation.

Seeing everyone collapsed on the ground, a slight blush even appeared on her delicate face.

She had always tried to use words and understanding to reach consensus with others. This was the first time she had witnessed suppression through sheer force.

'So this is what it's like. In front of power, others are so fragile?'

They couldn't speak, couldn't even move, every one of them radiating fear from the bottom of their hearts, none dared say a word of defiance.

At that moment, Otohime's special ability seemed to work again. Rosse had opened a backdoor for her, allowing her to clearly sense the emotions of those around her at this moment.

Feeling the raw fear, and the desperation to do anything just to survive, Otohime pressed her lips together.

'My previous ideas… perhaps they really were too naive.'

'Maybe brute force isn't an ideal method, but the outcome achieved this way isn't all that bad either.'

'At least everyone is only injured. People will fear power and not dare to act out.'

'Compared to simply trying to understand each other… this might be far better.'

With a hint of melancholy on her face, Otohime subconsciously glanced at Rosse, but quickly looked away when he met her gaze.

She didn't dare meet Rosse's eyes at all.

'The old me… was really laughably naive.'

She didn't understand anything, yet she dared talk about merfolk coexistence.

But now it wasn't even about merfolk coexistence anymore, fish-men and merfolks couldn't even coexist.

This matter… she had to seriously consider how to resolve it perfectly.

But before that, she had to finish dealing with this situation.

Otohime slightly raised her head, her eyes burning as she looked at Damon, "Tell me, who was that merfolk?"

In just an instant, the binding pressure on Damon's face was released. Rosse loosened the Conqueror's Haki that was holding him down.

Having wielded Conqueror's Haki for so long, Rosse had mastered it to an art. Achieving whatever effect he wanted was effortless.

"Ptu! You still want to sell me to him? Keep dreaming," Damon spat, his face full of defiance.

Death was death. He was ready for it.

"Tell me, and I'll avenge you," Otohime's voice was gentle, yet carried an undeniable command.

This was her special Observation Haki ability, she wasn't just some useless, foolish princess.

She admitted that she had failed the Sabaody mission this time.

But since Rosse had removed the suppression on her powers, she would definitely get to the bottom of this.

"It was Holp. The current Minister of the Left of the Ryugu Kingdom. He's much older than Neptune. I'd like to see how you plan to avenge me."

Damon seemed fully confident that Otohime would seek revenge for him. Without hesitation, he spoke the name, not the slightest reluctance, totally different from his earlier self.

Rosse glanced at Otohime, then at Damon.

This was what he appreciated most about Otohime.

Her special Observation Haki ability was just too overpowering. It was practically no different from brainwashing.

Though it couldn't brainwash the strong, every strong person had moments of weakness. If you caught them early, when they were young, and repeated it over and over, then aside from "Fate's Chosen" types like Luffy, there probably wasn't anyone you couldn't win over.

"Holp, huh…"

A flicker of surprise flashed through Otohime's eyes, she hadn't expected it to be someone so familiar.

Holp was the Minister of the Left of the Ryugu Kingdom, a figure second only to her and Neptune in status, a high-ranking official overseeing all of Fish-Man Island.

Moreover, he had held that position for a full 30 years.

In a few more years, Holp would pass away from old age, and his son would take over.

Otohime really couldn't imagine that the respectful Holp who always greeted her politely… would secretly be a merfolk-selling scum.

Whenever he was near her, Holp never gave off any hint of malice.

But Otohime was no longer the same naive girl from a few days ago.

She clearly understood, this didn't mean Holp wasn't suspicious.

Holp was one of the few who knew about her ability. If what Damon said was true, then it only meant Holp had hidden himself extremely well.

'Fish-Man Island… Ryugu Kingdom…'

'Turns out even I… don't truly understand them.'

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