Ortolan: As a Noble Mink, Of Course I Won't Be Discriminated Against on Fish-Man Island!
Ortolan, Dragon, and Rayleigh were all people with extremely strong initiative.
Now that the plan has been laid out, we should actively solve any problems that arise. Rayleigh said he has people on Fish-Man Island, so let's start taking action right away.
Rayleigh first took out Den Den Mushi and contacted Hachi to confirm that his boss hadn't gone out recently and was all on Fish-Man Island. Rayleigh then suggested that he pay a visit.
Hachi quickly confirmed his boss's attitude. Somewhat unexpectedly, Fisher Tiger seemed to be very impressed with Rayleigh's impression of him and readily agreed to meet without saying a word.
As a seasoned coating craftsman and veteran in the Sabaody Archipelago, Rayleigh always kept a well-coated small boat for himself and Shakky, so that if anything happened, they could immediately escape from the Sabaody Archipelago by stealth.
Therefore, there was no need to waste any time on the coating process. Ortolan, Dragon, and Rayleigh immediately set off to head to Fish-Man Island together.
As the leader of the Revolutionary Army, Dragon plays hide-and-seek with the world 'World Government all over the world, so Fish-Man Island is definitely out of reach.
Needless to say, Rayleigh had followed Roger Pirates and traveled in and out of the New World countless times. Fish-Man Island was like home to him, and he was even very close friends with Neptune, the king of Fish-Man Island.
On the other hand, this was actually Ortolan's first time visiting Fish-Man Island.
After all, as a high-ranking member of the Marines, he doesn't need to risk going to Fish-Man Island to enter or leave the New World; he can simply cross the Red Line.
Moreover, he had no contact with Fish-Man Island on a regular basis; in fact, he had almost no connection with it whatsoever.
Therefore, he never visited Fish-Man Island.
To say whether Fish-Man Island is far from the Sabaody Archipelago sounds quite intimidating, one is 10,000 meters below the surface, and the other is on the surface.
In reality, it was only a distance of ten kilometers. With the experienced Rayleigh at the helm, it took less than half a day for Ortolan and the others to complete this deep-sea voyage and arrive directly at the Coral Hill Port of Fish-Man Island.
Stepping off the ship, Ortolan gazed at the vibrant and magnificent scenery of the coral reefs and couldn't help but murmur in amazement, "The world beneath the sea is far more colorful than I imagined..."
"It's been a long time since I've been to Fish-Man Island. The last time I came, it was quite chaotic here. The people on the island were very hostile towards us humans..." Dragon said after observing the surroundings.
"Then you haven't been here for a long time." Rayleigh smiled slightly. "After the Great Pirate Era began, Fish-Man Island suffered quite a bit. Then that guy, Whitebeard, stepped in, raised his flag here, and declared it his territory. Since then, although there are still some audacious individuals taking risks here, the overall environment has improved a lot..."
"The Great Pirate Era was created by you pirates, and now you talk about it with such pride?" Ortolan retorted with a look of disgust.
Rayleigh's face twitched. He wanted to refute it, but he found that what Ortolan said made a lot of sense, so he could only give up in the end.
Since this was not an official visit, Ortolan did not appear in his Marines capacity and was dressed very casually. In addition, Fish-Man Island was indeed relatively isolated from the sea, so even though Ortolan did not do anything special to disguise himself, no one recognized him when he appeared on the island.
As well as Rayleigh and Dragon, the three of them walked in the harbor of the Coral Hill without attracting much attention.
But along the way, a strange phenomenon occurred: Ortolan was very popular. No matter where he went, the Fish-Man Race and Merfolk would all greet him warmly.
But Dragon and Rayleigh were different. Once they passed by, people were too lazy to talk to them, and didn't even want to acknowledge them. Their eyes revealed disdain and disgust.
"Hey handsome and imposing young man, would you like to buy me a coffee up ahead?" A beautiful Merfolk girl linked arms with Ortolan, inviting him in a very affectionate manner.
Ortolan laughed heartily, then politely declined the invitation. This wasn't the first time he'd been approached by beautiful mermaid ladies.
After passing through the bustling city center, the further they went towards the Fish-Man District, the poorer it became. The number of vendors around them decreased, and most of the people who appeared were burly Fish-Man Race with fierce-looking faces. They were smoking and drinking, standing at the entrance of dark alleys, watching them intently.
However, there was still a peculiar phenomenon: when these people looked at Ortolan, their gazes would first scrutinize him, and then become more friendly. But when they looked at Rayleigh and Dragon, there was always a sense of contempt and hostility.
This Dragon completely baffled. Was Ortolan really that charming? Was he so universally adored?
Filled with this question, they soon found Rayleigh waiting to pick up Hachi after entering the Fish-Man District area!
Hachi happily walked up and greeted him, "Rayleigh ~ It's been a long time since you've visited Fish-Man Island!"
"Hachi, I'm relieved to see you're still so energetic." Rayleigh greeted Hachi happily.
Next, he introduced Ortolan and Dragon to Hachi. Hachi was quite nice; he didn't treat them any differently and chatted with Ortolan and the others in a friendly manner.
Only then did Dragon unable to hold back his question, "Hachi, I really don't understand why you Fish-Man Island people behave completely differently when you see me compared to when you see Ortolan?"
"Huh?" Hachi was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Because he's not human! We Fish-Man Island are quite prejudiced against you humans... Isn't that normal?"
Dragon?
He turned to look at Ortolan, sizing him up before seemingly realizing something and saying, "Damn, I almost forgot, you're not human, you're Mink Tribe hybrid!"
Ortolan crossed his arms, looking nonchalant, and said matter-of-factly, "What are you doing? Are you being racist? Do you look down on us noble Mink Tribe?!"
After glaring at Ortolan through gritted teeth, Dragon asked again, "But on the surface, this guy looks no different from a human, right? The only difference is that he has a pair of horns on his head. How can you tell the difference?"
"It's precisely because we harbor great hostility towards humans that we are more acutely aware of distinguishing humans from other intelligent races than you are. We might not be able to recognize him as Mink Tribe at a glance, but at most we would consider him as Oni Tribe. We certainly wouldn't mistake him for a human..." Hachi Ba said matter-of-factly.
Dragon paused for a moment, then said, "That makes sense, you fucking make a lot of sense!"
But after a moment, Dragon added, "But this guy is also a hybrid; he has half human blood. Don't you mind that?"
"We only reject pure-blooded humans. As for mixed-race people, to be honest, there are quite a few of our fellow mixed-race people on Fish-Man Island, but we don't really have the concept of 'mixed-race' in the true sense. Only you humans would distinguish between half- Fish-Man, half-mermaid, and so on... Among all intelligent races, only you humans would so clearly divide your race into three classes and nine ranks..." Hachi said disdainfully.
Dragon listened to these words and fell silent.
Hachi is right. On this ocean, only humans would so meticulously distinguish and discriminate against their own kind. Purebred humans would discriminate against mixed-race individuals, and even against people of different races, such as those with the Longarm Tribe and Longleg Tribe.
In contrast, most other intelligent races do not have this problem. Fish-Man Race do not discriminate against their mixed-race brethren, and Mink Tribe do not look at Mink who are of a different species with special eyes. Bull Species can still be brothers with the Mink Tribe, and Mink Tribe can even regard humans as hairless monkeys... There is no discrimination involved; it is only personal perception that influences attitudes.
Seeing that Dragon was silent and deep in thought, Ortolan, with his smugness, reached out and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "So, you humans, tsk tsk, it's no wonder that no pretty Merfolk ladies like you. You're not worthy!"
"You're not worthy, you're not worthy!" Dragon glared at Ortolan, somewhat annoyed, and slapped away Oltoren's hand that was on his shoulder.
With Hachi leading the way, they didn't encounter any thugs from Fish-Man District causing trouble for them. Soon, the group entered the depths of Fish-Man District and arrived at Fisher Tiger's house.