With Jinbei adopting such a conciliatory stance, Jake naturally couldn't continue being aggressive.
After all, he was a Marine, not some lawless pirate.
In truth, even before Jinbei arrived, Jake had already used his abilities as a holy warrior to eliminate every fishman in the area whose evil exceeded a certain threshold.
The remaining fishmen were mostly just ordinary residents of Fishman Street.
Fishman Island wasn't large, and many residents had limited options for housing.
Before Whitebeard's arrival, Fishman Island had to pay exorbitant Celestial Tribute.
To save money, many chose to live in Fishman Street, where housing taxes were lower.
Though the fishmen there were generally rough, if you were one of them, you'd find that the extremists could sometimes be decent to their own kind—at least they wouldn't secretly sell you to humans.
Thus, at least seventy percent of Fishman Street's inhabitants were ordinary residents, while the rest were extremist fishmen loyal to Hody Jones.
No matter how much Jake needed to assert dominance over the fishmen, he couldn't resort to such inhumane methods.
So, when Jinbei offered him a way out, Jake took it gracefully.
"I don't have much time to spare. The Whitebeard Pirates recently clashed with the Red Hair Pirates, leaving them unable to maintain control over this island. However, the Marines have considered that removing Whitebeard's flag would force you to resume paying the exorbitant Celestial Tribute.
So, we will keep Whitebeard's flag flying here, and you won't have to pay such heavy taxes. But there's one condition: from now on, Fishman Island's governance will be handed over to the Marines.
But this does not mean the Marines require you to surrender the throne.
Our goal is simple—to transform this place from a blood vessel supplying the New World with pirates into a massive fortress that chokes off the New World and Paradise.
The ones in the New World won't be able to return to Paradise through here, and those in Paradise won't be able to venture into the New World.
Dividing these pirates into two separate, non-interfering territories will make it easier for us to eliminate them one by one in the future.
In this process, Fish-Man Island is a crucial island that the Marines must control. In this fortress, we cannot allow fish-men who seek to kill human soldiers to exist. Do you understand what I'm saying, Jinbe?"
Listening to Jake's words, Jinbe's face showed a trace of stunned disbelief.
At first, he had thought Jake had come merely to issue a warning to Fish-Man Island and would leave soon.
After all, no matter what, this was still the territory of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Even if Jake was the future of the Marines, he should still harbor a considerable degree of fear toward a veteran Emperor like Whitebeard.
But now, it seemed…
Perhaps Whitebeard was aware of Fish-Man Island's current predicament—and had tacitly allowed it?
If that were the case, the situation was far more complicated and terrifying than he had imagined!
This meant even Whitebeard had grown displeased with the actions of those extremist fish-men!
Had that man, whose heart was as vast as the sea, finally abandoned Fish-Man Island?
At this thought, Jinbe felt an indescribable wave of regret surge within him!
If only—if only he had acted faster, if he had crushed those extremists on Fish-Man Island sooner, perhaps things wouldn't have come to this!
Whitebeard must have been driven to abandon Fish-Man Island completely because of the recent village massacre committed by those radicals, handing the island over to the Marines for management.
But perhaps the old man still couldn't bear to fully let go—he hadn't allowed the Marines to remove his flag just yet.
Such kindness… such a heart as boundless as the sea and sky…
Jinbe felt tears welling up in his eyes.
They had received so much from Whitebeard, yet they had done so many things to disappoint him.
Meanwhile, Jake watched Jinbe with confusion.
The sudden redness in Jinbe's eyes, his trembling body, and the overwhelming sorrow radiating from him—all of it puzzled Jake.
Had what he said just now been too harsh?
Weren't these just basic demands?
If Fish-Man Island wasn't willing to pay this price, then a far greater one would come for them in time.
Jinbe seemed to realize his own emotional lapse.
Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself before speaking to Jake:
"Thank you for your leniency. I swear to you, from this day forward, Fish-Man Island will never again harbor such extreme hatred toward humans! And never again will there be deliberate harm inflicted on innocent humans!"
Hearing this, Jake's face broke into a satisfied smile.
But just then—
A sharp, piercing scream cut through the air.
"Hody Jones! What are you doing?! Release Queen Otohime at once!"
Following the direction of the voice, Jinbe froze momentarily.
The next instant, veins bulged on his forehead as an indescribable aura of pressure radiated from his entire being:
"Hody Jones! Do you have any idea what you're doing right now?! If you release Queen Otohime and surrender now, I can still believe you acted out of momentary emotional turmoil and consider sparing your life.
But if you refuse to let go, you will die here today! You're the leader of Fishman District and the mastermind behind the recent massacre of that human village—did you really think I wouldn't know?
I've just been waiting for the right moment—the moment to arrest you once and for all! I thought you were simply unable to accept Fisher Tiger's death, that your emotions had temporarily overwhelmed you. But now I see that wasn't the case at all!
From the very beginning, what you've worshipped has been nothing but extreme hatred!"
Hody Jones responded with a twisted grin, his eyes bloodshot as he roared at Jinbe.
"Hahahaha! I'm not the one who changed! Don't you see it, Jinbe? Ever since Fisher Tiger died, you've become weak and pathetic! You want peace with humans, but have you seen how many of our brethren are being sold right above our heads, on Sabaody Archipelago?!
Have you seen how much of their blood has been spilled?!"