Night.
Late night.
A moonless, pitch-black night.
The Snapper Head ship of the Sun Pirates slowly sailed across the sea of the Paradise.
Inside the ship's cabin, all mbers of the Sun Pirates were gathered together.
Everyone was silent. Tiger sat at the head of the dining table, silently smoking, with an ashtray in front of him filled with cigarette butts.
The ship's doctor, Aladine, slowly made his way up the stairs to the lower deck. He was a rman and relied on the bubble strapped around his waist to move on land.
"Has the kid already fallen asleep?"
Tiger pressed the half-smoked cigarette into the ashtray.
"Yeah."
Aladine nodded slowly with a strange expression, "Before going to bed, she was still looking forward to what would happen when we got back."
The already quiet cabin's atmosphere beca even more somber.
Finally, a rman could no longer hold back, clenched his fists, and shouted angrily, "Why are we sending her back!? Humans are still as despicable as always! We send their child back, but they betray us!"
"Keep your voice down!"
Tiger scolded, "Don't wake up the kid!"
"But, Brother Tiger!"
The rman's face flushed red, and with gritted teeth, he said unwillingly, "Her parents betrayed us! The Navy is waiting for us ahead!"
"That has nothing to do with the kid."
Jinbe, leaning against the wall, was also smoking his pipe.
"How could you, Jinbe, be like this too?"
The rn found it hard to accept.
"The kid is the kid, and her parents are her parents. That's two separate matters."
Tiger said, "I just want to discuss whether we should follow Ian's suggestion or not."
"Of course not! Brother Tiger!"
Jinbei imdiately put away his pipe and stepped forward to the table. "You will always be our captain!!"
"Yeah, Brother Tiger, after all, Ian is just a human!"
The fishn echoed in agreent, almost angrily saying, "He definitely has ill intentions!!"
"Don't say stupid things!"
Jinbei shot them a glare. "Although I don't agree with Ian's ideas, Ian is also our friend. The people he sent to help us are on their way."
However, Tiger's gaze seed sowhat distant. "But I feel like what he said is right. If I disappear, would you all be safe?"
The expressions of all the fishn turned grim.
Foolshout Island.
It was a small, ordinary island located sowhere in the Paradise.
The island wasn't big, only having a small town.
Today, however, sothing special happened in this normally quiet town.
At the entrance of the town, a group of villagers stood nervously in front of a Navy officer.
This Navy officer wore a justice cloak and had a Vice Admiral insignia on his shoulder. He was clearly a Vice Admiral from the Navy Headquarters!
"As long as, as long as you capture those pirates, you'll spare Koala, right?"
A middle-aged man with a pale face spoke. Behind him stood a middle-aged woman, also with a pale face.
It was clear that both were filled with fear toward the Navy officer before them.
Despite their fear, they still gathered the courage to softly ask the Navy officer.
The Navy Vice Admiral rely looked down at them in silence, then sighed softly. He lowered his voice, trying to make it sound gentler.
"Didn't we already agree? You inform us, and we will spare the possessions of that Celestial Dragon, your daughter."
"That's wonderful, truly wonderful!"
The couple held each other tightly, crying uncontrollably.
The Marine Vice Admiral let out a sigh.
How shaful this all was.
The daughter of ordinary, law-abiding civilians had been reduced to a slave of the Celestial Dragons, and now it was pirates who were returning her ho.
And these parents even had to betray their benefactor just to ensure their daughter wouldn't be taken back to the Celestial Dragons.
Maybe it really was ti to retire early.
He turned and walked away. "Don't leave the town. Leave everything else to us."
Not long after—
A pirate ship slowly approached the island, its sail bearing the symbol of the sun.
The ship gradually ca to a stop along the island's shoreline.
"..."
At the edge of the deck, Koala stared blankly at the tiny island in the distance.
The corners of her mouth slowly lifted, and a brilliant smile blood on her face.
But tears continued to stream from the corners of her eyes.
"We're finally here!!"
She cheered joyfully, "I'm finally back!"
She still rembered so clearly—those enormous cactus-like mountains by the shore!
This was her hotown!
What she didn't see was the way the fish-man behind her was looking at her with a rather unfriendly gaze.
"Co on, kid."
Tiger wore a thick coat, which was a bit unusual for his usual style. In his hand, he held a small bundle.
"I'm taking you ho," he said.
The little girl turned around, tears and joy mingling on her face as she nodded hard.
"Mm!!"
Tiger looked back at his fellow fishn.
"Wait for here," he said.
The fishn looked like they wanted to speak, but under Tiger's gaze, they held their tongues.
"Jinbei, co with ," Tiger added.
Jinbei nodded quietly. He had already made up his mind.
"Be ready," he said as he turned back to the others.
The fishn all nodded.
Since Brother Tiger had made his decision, then they would be ready to fight if it ca to that.
Tiger and Jinbei brought the little girl ashore.
As soon as her feet touched the land, Koala grew noticeably more energetic.
She began to skip ahead in small, excited steps.
Every now and then, she looked back and shouted, "It's just up ahead! We're almost there!"
It didn't take long at all before they reached the outskirts of the town.
The island wasn't that large to begin with. From the coast, they had only needed to cross a stretch of open land before arriving.
Tiger saw that people were already waiting outside the town, clearly emotional.
"Koala! It's Koala!"
A man and a woman were nearly in tears from excitent.
When Koala saw them, she began trembling with emotion.
"It's Papa and Mama!"
"Go on," Tiger said, coming to a stop. He had no intention of going any closer.
He handed the bundle to Koala.
She hugged it tightly. For her, it was almost too big to carry.
The girl looked up at Tiger and Jinbe.
She spoke earnestly, "Mr. Tiger! Mr. Jinbe! I'll tell the people in the village—there are many, many good fish-n in the world!"
"It's just that we didn't understand you before."
Tiger didn't respond much. He simply waved his hand. "Go on, go back to your parents."
"Okay!"
Koala turned around and happily ran toward her parents.
Her parents, unable to hold back any longer, rushed toward her as well. Soon, the three of them were crying in each other's arms.
"Brother Tiger," Jinbe suddenly spoke as he looked toward the townspeople in the distance.
Those townspeople were holding hoes and pitchforks like weapons, staring at them with fear and anxiety.
"Let's go back, Jinbe."
Tiger put his hands in his pockets and turned to leave. "The only ones we can truly rely on are innocent children like Koala."
Jinbe stayed silent.
"Prejudice in the human heart is like a great mountain. Humans are like this—and so are we."
Tiger continued calmly, "All we can do is try not to let baseless hatred keep spreading. It's shaful, but I think we can only leave everything to the children of the future."
"Or maybe…"
He smiled suddenly. "We wait for the day Ian conquers the entire world."
That man not only had no hostility toward fish-n and rfolk—he actually valued their strength.
In Wano Country, fish-n and rfolk weren't discriminated against at all. In fact, they were treated even better than the native citizens of Wano.
After all, they could work under the sea, helping the Beasts Pirates gather resources from the deep ocean.
These days, on Fish-Man Island, emigrating to Wano was no longer sothing surprising.
In fact, many fish-n who felt unhappy with life on the island were considering immigration to Wano.
Jinbe's eyes lit up. "That doesn't sound bad at all."
If Ian really ruled the world, then Fish-Man Island might finally rise to the surface.
He might actually be able to create a world where fish-n and rfolk would no longer face discrimination.
"But before that, let's take care of today's problem first."
Tiger ca to a stop.
On the open field ahead, the navy troops had already ford ranks, raising their rifles with the dark barrels aid directly at them.
Standing at the front was a man draped in a Justice coat, with the rank of Vice Admiral displayed on his shoulders.
"We've been waiting for this mont!"
The man, nad Doberman, declared loudly, "Fisher Tiger—today marks the end of the Sun Pirates!"
It wasn't just from the front. From behind the hills at their rear, another squad of marines erged, blocking Jinbei and Tiger's escape route. Leading them was a Rear Admiral with an unusually long head.
Tiger took a deep breath, then roared in fury, "Damn humans!! You betrayed us?!"
Jinbei couldn't help but glance over at the big brother he respected the most.
To be honest, Big Brother Tiger's acting skills… kind of suck.
But at this distance, they probably won't notice, right?
**********
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