One Piece: Under the Throne

Leo thought seriously for a while: "Otohime, have you ever thought about whether the merfolk are suitable for living on the sea? And whether your idea will be recognized by all the merfolk."

"My compatriots will agree with my idea. I believe everyone is also longing for the outside world."

Leo turned to look at Tiger without saying anything. Tiger's brows were furrowed and his lips trembled a few times. He seemed to find it difficult to speak. Finally, he sighed and said to Otohime: "Otohime, in fact, most of our compatriots are hostile to humans. Every year, our compatriots disappear. Over the years, the hatred between humans and fishmen has reached an irreconcilable point."

The more Otohime listened, the wider her eyes opened, and big crystal tears fell from her eyes: "Can't everyone let go of their hatred? When will this hatred end? Don't we have the right to live in the sun and breathe the same air as other races?"

Leo suddenly looked at the Yangshu Eve outside the window: "Otohime, you know, the sun is just a combination of light and heat. Anyone who wants to get close to it will only burn themselves. If a fishman gets close to the sun, he will only turn himself into a dried fish."

Tiger wanted to continue comforting Otohime, but he didn't know how to start, so he just sat there in silence. It was his silence that made Otohime feel even worse.

Seeing that the two were silent, Leo asked Otohime again, "I asked Will, and he said that the dream of many murloc children is to visit Shampoo Park. Do you think so too, Otohime?"

"Yeah, even though I can't sneak out and see Shampoo Park from a distance, I've heard Brother Tiger tell me about it, so I want to go too."

"So that's why you want humans to accept the fishmen, right?"

"Yes, I want my people to enjoy the same treatment as humans."

Leo understood that Otohime was indeed more thoughtful than other murlocs. She was able to raise her thoughts to the level of freedom and equality through the dreams of murloc children, which was already better than most murlocs. It was just that her thoughts were still at the ideal stage, without any specific plans.

"It's not hard to realize your dream of visiting Shampoodi. Look, Will has already experienced it. Visiting Shampoodi Park is like a spiritual luxury to you, and luxuries often become boring after you enjoy them."

"But your wish is to give the fishmen equal rights. That is not an easy thing to do. At least in my opinion, you are not ready yet."

"No, I'm ready. No matter how difficult this is or how hard the process is, I will make sure my people are treated equally with humans."

"But have you thought about how to do it specifically?"

"I..." Otohime was speechless for a moment. She really hadn't thought about how to implement it specifically.

"Brother Leo, if you have any ideas, just tell us directly. We really want to hear your thoughts."

Leo thought for a while, sorted out his words, and said to everyone: "Otohime, first you have to become the leader of the fish-men, and make the majority of people on Fish-Man Island agree with your ideas."

Tiger thought Leo didn't know, so he interrupted and added: "Lio, Otohime is actually King Neptune's fiancée. After they get married, Otohime will naturally become the leader of Fishman Island."

Leo shook his head. "I'm not talking about status alone. Status can only make people fear her, but it won't make them recognize her from the bottom of their hearts. Otohime, what you need to do is to become the spiritual leader of the merfolk, the faith of the merfolk, and the leader who guides everyone forward. To achieve this, it's not enough to have only the status of a royal family."

Otohime seemed to have found a life-saving straw and waited expectantly for Leo's next words.

"There are two things you need to solve right now. The first is to eliminate the gap between the residents of Fishman Street and Fishman Island. Let the two classes of people reach mutual understanding. If you can't even do this, let alone cross-race reconciliation. The second is to strengthen national defense and prevent the disappearance of people. If you do this well, you will gain great prestige."

Otohime kept nodding her head: "Yes, I will ask Neptune to strengthen the kingdom's security in a moment."

Leo smiled bitterly: "You don't think that Fishman Island has the strength to resist the invasion of human traffickers now?"

Xia Li, who had been listening quietly for a long time, suddenly spoke up: "How dare you look down on us? Don't forget that the strength of fishmen is ten times that of humans, and my brother and Jinbei have also repelled pirates. In my opinion, you humans are the weakest. And don't forget that this is the seabed. How can humans be a match for the fishmen in the ocean?"

Leo clapped his hands first, then looked at Xia Li with disdain: "You are such a naive little country girl. Can Jinbei and Aryuu be considered strong? Don't joke. Not to mention compared with the real strong men in the sea, even I can easily defeat them."

I don't know why Leo always wants to bully Charlie when he sees her. As expected, Charlie was furious when he heard her say that. She rolled up her sleeves and was ready to teach Leo a lesson. Leo rarely bullied opponents smaller than himself. He held Charlie's forehead with one hand and let her two little arms wave around.

"Fishman Island can't do it on its own, so the best thing to do is to find a backer to help you through this difficult time."

Tiger frowned and asked, "Leo, you don't mean to let Fishman Island submit to the Sea Emperor? If so, I don't agree."

"Since you're looking for a thigh, it must be the thickest one. Compared to the emperor of the sea, I prefer the navy."

"Navy x4?" Several fishmen present said in unison. Everyone felt that Leo's suggestion was incredible.

"What's so surprising about this? If the navy can recruit giants, why can't it recruit murlocs? Compared to them, the murlocs have an even more obvious advantage. In terms of numbers and functions, the murlocs are no worse than the giants."

Tiger was obviously very resistant to this proposal: "Leo, I don't think it's a good idea to join the navy. To be honest, there is no basis of trust between us and the navy."

Leo's lips curved slightly: "Everyone, I think you have misunderstood. If you want to cooperate with the navy, you don't have to be a navy. Have you heard of the name of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"

Before everyone could be surprised, Leo turned his gaze to Tiger: "Brother Tiger, are you confident in your own abilities?"

Being suddenly called by Leo made him a little confused: "Please explain clearly, what do I need to do?"

"This year, Crocodile and Douglas Barrett had a battle that shocked the world. It was also because of this battle that Crocodile was qualified to be invited by the World Government to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. The World Government saw the possibility of using pirates to fight pirates from this battle, so the Seven Warlords of the Sea were created, and Brother Tiger, your goal is to take one of the positions."

Although Tiger was very interested, he really had no idea how to become a Shichibukai: "I'm not a pirate, how can I become a Shichibukai?"

"Why can't you be a pirate? You have the strength and subordinates, it shouldn't be difficult to form a pirate group consisting of only fishmen."

"But I don't want to rob people. I don't want to oppress others with force."

"Who says that pirates have to rob civilians? Don't you hate pirates and human traffickers? Just target them. There are many benefits to doing this. Not only can you show humans how powerful the fishmen are, but you can also train soldiers. Of course, the ultimate goal is to become a Shichibukai. You can kill three birds with one stone. What are you hesitating about?"

Tiger seemed to be thinking about what he said, and Otohime couldn't help but ask, "Will becoming a Shichibukai help us realize our dream?"

"Of course, being a Shichibukai does give you a lot of power. Not to mention the legal right to plunder, the Shichibukai can choose an island to be stationed on for a long time. I think being stationed on Fishman Island is a good choice."

Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this. This idea sounded really good, and everyone began to imagine the scene that Leo described.

"Hey, hey, hey, come back to your senses, it's too early to dream now. Brother Tiger, you should first ask the brothers in Fishman Street how many are willing to go out to sea with you, and explain to them clearly the purpose of your going out to sea. Don't end up training a group of villains who only know how to rely on force."

"Otohime, you too, I find that you don't know enough about the life of the lower class people in Fishman Island. If you want to thoroughly understand Fishman Island, you should go deeper into the masses and see more. It's good to yearn for sunshine, but everything has its shadow. You can't just see the sunny side of Fishman Island and ignore those dark corners."

Otohime nodded firmly, then returned to her smile, "It's great to meet you, Leo. Thank you for your advice."

Leo waved his hand indifferently: "Don't be polite, we are friends. You better move faster, don't let Will and I fall too far behind."

"Hehe, what are your plans for the future? Will you continue to be a bounty hunter?"

Leo shook his head. He had a preliminary plan for his team: "I plan to set up a maritime rescue team. Whether it makes money or not is secondary. The main thing is to gain a reputation."

"Rescue team? What's that for?"

"It's just a job to save people in distress at sea. I just made up a name to make it easier for me to sail on the sea. Maybe one day Will and I can become famous because of this."

At this point, Leo suddenly paused. A new idea came to his mind. Leo had been giving advice to the Fishmen, and he almost forgot the purpose of going out to sea. His enemy was the World Government. If he could establish a relationship with the Fishmen Island through this exchange, he might have a chance to tie the Fishmen Island to his chariot in the future. Alas! He almost missed such a good opportunity.

So Leo put on a smiling face again: "Otohime, do you want to invest in me?"

"Investment? Leo, are you short of money?"

"No, no, no, what I need is for you, Otohime, to issue me a certificate of special citizenship as a royal family member."

"Chartered citizen certificate? What is that? Are you coming to live in Fishman Island permanently?"

"This is not to live in Fishman Island. I want Fishman Island to officially announce my achievements and what great things I have done for the fishmen. Finally, I will be awarded a special citizen certificate as a reward for this achievement. The purpose of doing this is to convey the willingness of Fishman Island to communicate with the outside world. If one day Will and I become famous in the sea, we will become a model of friendship between humans and fishmen."

Hearing that Leo was going to help promote Fishman Island, Otohime agreed without a second thought and took the initiative to extend her hand to Leo: "May our friendship last forever, and the day when humans and fishmen understand each other will come soon."

At this moment, Leo's heart silently heard a voice, Ding! Congratulations, Master, Sea King Fragment x1.