chsdbacks Page 162
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"Next, you will form your own pirate crew, then venture into the New World, make your crew famous, and let your name resound throughout the entire sea."
"This..." Jinbe gave a self-deprecating laugh. "First mate, you know my strength, I'm afraid..."
He paused, then continued, "And weren't we here to join the Beasts Pirates? Why are we forming a pirate crew?"
Lei Luo said jokingly, "Because you are too weak now, even if you join the Beast Pirates, you won't be of any use."
Jinbe: "..."
Does it have to be so hurtful? If they were as strong as the Beasts Pirates, they wouldn't need to borrow a pirate flag.
Jinbe felt a little embarrassed and didn't know how to respond to this blunt truth.
Seeing Doraemon's constipated expression, Lei Luo couldn't help but laugh. Of course, he hadn't received any professional training, so he just burst out laughing.
Doraemon looked even more embarrassed.
Lei Luo wasn't there to mock Jinbe, so he quickly suppressed his smile and continued:
"Therefore, you need to train hard in the new world. This sea is very challenging."
Jinbe nodded and said in a deep voice:
"I understand, First mate. I will become stronger for the Beasts Pirates."
Lei Luo smiled and shook his head: "No, not for the Beasts Pirates, but for yourself and Fishman Island."
"For Fishman Island?" Jinbe looked at Rairou with a puzzled expression.
Lei Luo took another sip of his drink and chuckled softly:
"Yes, Jinbe, have you ever thought about why humans capture you mermaids so recklessly? Why have you waited for hundreds of years without being able to live on land, even though you just want to?"
Seemingly recalling his experience on Fishman Island, Jinbe's eyes flashed with anger:
"It is because of human greed that our female mermaids have been captured one after another."
"As for why I haven't been able to settle down and live a normal life yet."
"It's because humans have shown discrimination and persecution towards our Fishman Island. The two races have an irreconcilable hatred, so naturally they can't coexist peacefully."
Lei Luo nodded, then shook his head.
Jinbe looked at Rairou, puzzled. "First mate, what do you mean? Am I wrong?"
Lei Luo smiled mysteriously, "Yes, and no."
Jinbe's doubts deepened: "What does this mean?"
Lei Luo wasn't in a hurry. He sipped his wine and said after a moment:
"What you just said is all correct, but there's only one reason why your Fishman Island has fallen to this state, and that is..."
"You guys are too weak!!!"
Jinbe frowned and said the word "weak" again. Even if they really are weak, there's no need to keep saying it.
Jinbe, his face grim, asked, "First mate, our Fishman Island's current predicament has nothing to do with strength, right? This is clearly a human..."
Lei Luo interrupted Jinbe: "Why do you think it has nothing to do with the strength of the opponent?"
"If there's no connection, why would you travel all the way to the New World to borrow a skull and crossbones flag from the Beasts Pirates?"
"Your situation is much better now that you've hung up our skull and crossbones flag, isn't it?"
Jinbe nodded, unable to deny it: "Indeed."
That's not just much better, it's way better!
He never imagined that a pirate flag could have such a terrifying deterrent effect.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have joined the Beasts Pirates so willingly.
"That's right. Have you ever thought about what it would be like if your Fishman Island could have the same strength as the Beast Pirates?"
"No, all you need is the strength of those few Sea Emperors, then..."
"Have you really fallen so low as to be captured so wantonly?"
Chapter 241 A great man in my hometown once said
Jinbe was speechless.
If Fishman Island truly possessed the strength of the "Four Emperors" as Lei Luo claimed, it would never have fallen to this state.
Lei Luo smiled faintly and continued his pursuit.
"Furthermore, regarding living on land, even after hundreds of years, you still live 10,000 meters underwater."
"Now... what efforts have you made?"
Jinbe, who had been rendered speechless by Lei Luo's words, finally found a point to refute:
"Queen Otohime will hand out leaflets on the streets of Fishman Island day after day, advocating that the fishmen put aside their hatred for humans and that the two races live in peace."
"King Neptune would also raise this issue at the annual World Conference, so that the world could hear the voice of Fishman Island."
After finishing his story, Jinbe looked at Lei Luo as if he had won a round, but Lei Luo simply shrugged and asked, "That's all?"
Jinbe was taken aback, then replied, "That's all."
Lei Luo shook his head with a chuckle.
When Lei Luo first saw it in the anime, he thought Fishman Island was incredibly naive. Now, hearing Jinbe say this, he was speechless.
Jinbe couldn't help but ask, "First mate, is there a problem?"
Lei Luo scoffed:
"Of course there are problems. Let's not even talk about whether Fishman Island can put aside its hatred, or whether the World Government can agree to it."
Even if both of these things actually happen, and your fellow fish-men from Fishman Island came to live on land, do you think you could coexist peacefully with humans?
Jinbe asked in surprise, "Why not?"
A mocking smile curled at the corner of Lei Luo's lips. "Have you ever seen a wild beast and its prey coexist peacefully?"
"Are we prey for humans?" A hint of anger flashed across Jinbe's face, but he dared not express it.
Although the two sides were sitting together drinking and talking, their statuses were completely unequal.
However, given Lei Luo's experience and domineering presence, he could clearly sense it.
Lei Luo didn't seem to mind, raising an eyebrow and saying jokingly:
"Otherwise what? Especially those female mermaids, you can just catch one and exchange it for more than you can spend in a lifetime. What else are they if not prey to humans?"
Jinbe gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
Lei Luo's words may be harsh, but they are the bloody truth: humans capturing mermaids is no different from them hunting.
Taking a deep breath, Jinbe calmed himself down before continuing, "Does the first mate mean that everything King Neptune and Queen Otohime did was wrong?"
Lei Luo nodded:
"Your initial intention was good, but if you're putting your efforts in the wrong direction, no matter how hard you try, it's useless. If you don't succeed, that's fine, but if you do succeed, have you thought about the consequences?"
"On Fishman Island, you at least have the 10,000-meter-deep seawater as a natural barrier. Going ashore is no different from walking into a trap."
Jinbe closed his eyes in pain.
After a moment, he opened his eyes again, picked up the wine bowl in front of him, and drank it all in one gulp.
"Are we fish-men really destined to live forever at the depths of the ocean?"
Lei Luo also finished his bowl, but didn't mention the matter of Fishman Island floating into the sky. Instead, he smiled faintly and said:
"This world is a dog-eat-dog world, just like big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimp, tigers and lions eat cattle and sheep, and cattle and sheep eat grass."
"Of course, cattle and sheep want to coexist peacefully with tigers and lions, but why should tigers and lions coexist peacefully with cattle and sheep?"
Jinbe chuckled self-deprecatingly, "That seems to make sense. We really do seem a bit... too naive."
As he spoke, Jinbe grabbed the sake jar, filled Lei Luo's sake bowl to the brim, and then poured himself a cup.
At this point, he had actually begun to understand what Lei Luo meant when he said he was getting stronger for the sake of Fishman Island.
Jinbe raised his wine bowl to Lei Luo and said in a deep voice, "What the first mate means is that I'm going to explore the New World and become stronger. As long as I become strong enough, no one will dare to provoke Fishman Island."
"Cattle and sheep are just food for tigers and lions, but if it is an elephant or a rhinoceros, even tigers and lions dare not provoke it."
After a pause, Jinbe asked uncertainly, "Right?"
Lei Luo raised his glass and lightly clinked it with Jinbe's, then smiled and said, "In my hometown, there was a great man who once said this."
"Peace will survive if we seek it through struggle; it will perish if we seek it through compromise."
Jinbe pondered Lei Luo's words carefully, repeating them to himself, his eyes growing increasingly resolute.
Seeing Jinbe's appearance, Lei Luo was very satisfied.
The timing is about right. If we keep talking, Jinbe might just awaken his Conqueror's Haki on the spot.
After drinking the wine in the bowl in one gulp, Lero stood up, took two steps forward, patted Jinbe on the shoulder, and said:
"I'm only telling you all this because you're now a member of the Beasts Pirates. Keep getting stronger."
"Dignity and peace are not something to begged for, but something to be fought for."
"If the people of Fishman Island want to live with dignity, they must have the strength that everyone respects."
Jinbe nodded: "I understand, First mate. I will definitely make a name for myself in the New World."
"For Fishman Island! For the Beasts Pirates!"
Lei Luo smiled and shook his head. This guy has pretty high emotional intelligence; he knows how to show loyalty even at a time like this.
Lei Luo withdrew his hand, took two steps, and wings sprouted from his back as he prepared to leave.
Jinbe quickly got up to see him off.
As they flew into the air, Lei Luo suddenly turned around and laughed:
"Jinbe, there's still one vacancy among the Four Emperors. Do you understand what I mean?"
Jinbe's eyes gleamed with confidence as he replied, "I know, I will definitely challenge for that position when the time comes!"
Lei Luo smiled, said nothing, flapped his wings, and quickly disappeared from Jinbe's sight.
Can Jinbe become one of the "Four Emperors"?
I don't know. He just said it offhand, like when he told Loki that he would defeat him and Kaido in the future.
It's just giving Jinbe a pep talk; that's something I'm best at.
Lei Luo didn't like to assign strength ratings to these characters based on the original storyline.
He came, and he changed.
If it were the original version, Jinbe's ultimate achievement would have been just becoming a Shichibukai.
Now, Jinbe might just be able to give it a try.
In the original work, Shanks only took the position of "Four Emperors" four years before the Marineford War.
But now, that's not necessarily true.
Even though Jinbe failed in his challenge, Reroko still awakened Conqueror's Haki in many people.
Although he came from a heretical sect, he has finally awakened, and his ambition and desires will also awaken along with it.
Human ambition and desire are like a boulder rolling down a mountain; once started, they can never be stopped.
Chapter 242 Fishman Pirates
After Lero left, Jinbe stood in front of the railing, gazing at the sea for a long time, his heart filled with turbulent emotions.
A male mermaid slowly walked to Jinbe's side and whispered, "Jinbe, what are you thinking about?"
Jinbe snapped out of his daze, turned his head slightly to look at his companion beside him, and smiled. "Aladdin, no, I wasn't thinking about anything."
Aladdin looked at the sky in confusion and asked, "Jinbe, why did the vice-captain of the Beasts Pirates leave? Weren't we supposed to join their pirate crew?"
Jinbe laughed and said, "The plan has changed. I won't join their pirate crew for now."