The pinnacle of pirates begins with deceiving fate!

But the Celestial Dragons are the pinnacle of humanity, possessing all decision-making power, just like Neptune on Fish-Man Island.

If Fishman Island befriends the Celestial Dragons, it's equivalent to befriending all of humanity.

If the banquet is photographed and published in the newspaper, and the Celestial Dragons' friendliness towards Fish-Man Island is expressed, then all the nobles of the member states of the World Government Alliance will be influenced to improve their prejudice against Fish-Man Island.

After all, the nobles of the member states have always followed the example of the Celestial Dragons.

"Alright, I was just thinking of trying the food from Fishman Island. Thanks for the hospitality."

John nodded, released Otohime's hand, and his expression suddenly turned cold.

"But no one likes having their mind read by Observation Haki, so please be careful, Queen Otohime."

"Feel sorry."

Princess Otohime's pupils contracted, and she quickly bowed in greeting.

She hadn't expected that this man could detect her Observation Haki.

But she meant no harm; she was just... taking precautions.

Dragon Palace

As the royal base of Fishman Island, it is located on the top floor of Fishman Island where it can see the sun. It is a large and luxurious palace built with large coral reefs, shells and many rare building materials.

John and his two companions, along with Selena, rode in a giant flounder filled with enormous bubbles, escorted by the prince and queen of Fishman Island, and arrived unimpeded at the banquet hall of the Dragon Palace.

At this moment, in the extremely spacious and grand banquet hall, the central shell-shaped stage was illuminated with flashing lights and filled with music.

This is accompanied by bass-heavy cello and drumming-like music from the Spotted Toadfish and Yellow Croaker, followed by a beautiful and melodious song sung by the Saiyin Fish, who is known as the "Ocean Singer".

They didn't rely on musical instruments, but entirely on their respective racial talents.

The giant flounder carried John and the others to a stop in front of the stage, where they landed safely and took their seats as guests at the banquet.

Immediately afterwards, a dozen or so young and beautiful butterfly fish-like fishmen lined up carrying trays, offering the special delicacies of Fishman Island.

Since mermaids don't eat meat or fish, these special delicacies mainly consist of sea fruits, large scallop dishes, and seaweed soup.

"I'm sorry, Saint John, there is no other meat stored in the Dragon Palace. I have already ordered people to search for it. Please wait patiently."

Otohime adopted an extremely humble posture, standing by the dining table as an introducer, explaining the characteristics of each dish to John and the others.

John nodded in understanding regarding the local ethnic dietary restrictions, and after tasting a sweet and sour sea fruit, he asked curiously.

"Queen Otohime, are there any cases of people on your Fishman Island going hungry or even starving to death?"

"what?"

Otohime didn't understand why John Saint would ask this, but after thinking about it carefully, she explained.

"There shouldn't be any."

“We mermaids mainly eat shellfish and seaweed dishes, while fish-people eat marine mammal meat and fish, and these foods are not lacking in the ocean.”

"You are so lucky, you have no worries about food and clothing."

John picked up a piece of fresh clam meat with his fork and looked at Otohime meaningfully.

"Unlike on land, there are many countries where people are starving and tens of thousands die of hunger every year."

"This...how is this possible?"

Princess Otohime turned pale, unable to believe such outrageous and horrifying rumors.

Fishman Island doesn't receive as many of its fellow fish-men captured and enslaved by humans each year, while humans alone starve to death tens of thousands every year.

She doesn't believe it!

"That's a bit like 'Why don't they eat cake?'"

John shook his head and put the clam meat in his mouth to taste.

Beside her, Phoenix, with her rather hearty eating manners, swallowed her food and explained to Princess Otohime:

"Many countries on land exist as islands, and seawater erosion makes it impossible for crops to grow on the surrounding land."

"The island's interior is occupied by royalty and nobles, and ordinary people have no way of getting their hands on it."

"In addition, ordinary humans do not have the strong predatory abilities of fish-men and mermaids in the sea, and can only rely on fishing and net fishing, which are extremely luck-dependent methods."

"If the island has a good geographical location and a large number of shallow-sea fish breed nearby, it can yield a lot of fish food."

"However, many islands are located in very unfavorable geographical locations, especially in the latter half of the Grand Line, where the climate and environment are unsuitable for shallow-sea fish to breed, resulting in many people not even being able to see fish."

"Ordinary people don't have the ability to catch large fish and sea monsters."

"The vicious cycle of various unfavorable factors has led to many people being in a state of hunger for many years, and starvation to death has become the norm."

"So that's how it is..."

Princess Otohime looked on with sympathy, and then she realized how difficult life on land really was.

Taking advantage of the conversation that had already begun, she asked about the ultimate desire of Fishman Island.

"John Saint, why do humans discriminate against fish-people and mermaids? Why can't we all live together peacefully and amicably?"

"We just want to walk on land, live in the sunshine, and not plunder like pirates."

Why can't humans be tolerant of us?

"Uh……"

John was stumped.

It wasn't that he couldn't answer; he was just puzzled as to why the Queen of Fishman Island would ask such a naive question.

John took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and instead of answering, asked a question.

Do you believe that all humans are equal?

Without waiting for Otohime's reply, John gave the answer directly.

"If there is equality, then why are so many people starving to death?"

"Since there is inequality among people and mutual discrimination exists, why should you mermaids and fish-people be special?"

"This……"

Otohime was truly stumped by this question.

Neither she, nor Neptune, nor any of the other inhabitants of Fishman Island had considered these questions.

All she and the others knew was that in the place where the Sun Tree Eve could not transmit light, the deep sea was an endless darkness, which was unbearable for them.

Everyone longed for the land, for every inch of that land bathed in sunlight.

As for the rest...

I don't know, I'm not clear, and I've never considered it.

Why Chapter 132?

"Queen Otohime, your Fishman Island is actually very happy now. You should know how to be content and not be too greedy."

John wasn't using PUA tactics; he was just telling the truth.

But Princess Otohime didn't think that way, and she wouldn't listen. Her tone of voice became uncontrollably harsher.

“John Saint, you should know that the price of merfolk in the slave market far exceeds that of any other race!”

"And this exorbitant price makes us mermaids targets for many slave traders and pirates. Let alone leaving Fishman Island, we are not safe even on the island!"

"How can one talk about happiness in such a situation?!"

"Well, that makes sense."

Upon hearing this, John nodded, then changed the subject.

"Do you know which race has the largest number of slaves?"

"It's a human!"

"The reason why you mermaids are so precious is because you are protected by the ocean. As the fastest swimming species in the sea, you are extremely difficult to catch."

"Things are valued because they are rare!"

"So don't be arrogant and think that humans are targeting you by setting such high prices for mermaids. It's just that there are very few mermaids that have been captured."

These were the first times Otohime had ever heard such statements, and they were so cruel that she couldn't refute them.

She knew that on land, even outside of the Sabaody Archipelago where racial discrimination was most severe, humans generally loathed mermaids and fish-men.

It was this aversion that led her and the residents of Fishman Island to believe that the exorbitant prices in the slave market were a result of human deliberate targeting.

Hearing that there was no deliberate targeting, but simply disgust, was something Otohime found hard to accept.

It seems... humans don't value Fishman Island that much.

This makes it seem like the hatred that Fishman Island has always harbored was just wishful thinking on the part of fools.

"and……"

John exhaled a puff of smoke and said meaningfully.

"Human discrimination against fish-men and mermaids is, in a sense, a good thing for Fish-Man Island."

"Can discrimination really be a good thing?"

Such outrageous words made Otohime laugh in anger.

How arrogant!

She had thought that John Saint was different from the other Celestial Dragons, but now it seems they're all birds of a feather!

John "heard" the suppressed dissatisfaction in Otohime's heart, and, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, tapped his temple with his index finger:

"You fish-men and mermaids are able to hunt in the sea, so you don't need to worry about going hungry while living on land."

"But what about others? Have you thought about them?"

"John Saint, is there any other question?" Otohime forced a smile, wanting to see how this man would try to argue his way out of this situation.

Seeing that Princess Otohime had set aside her status to serve him at the table, John decided to kindly offer some advice:

Why has the king of Fishman Island always been a mermaid, and not a fishman?