Chapter 14: Heading to Fish-Man Island
Hearing Luo Lin's words, Fisher Tiger froze again. They hadn't known each other long, but in every conversation, every glance, every tiny gesture, Tiger had never sensed the slightest hint of disgust or prejudice from the kid.
It felt like… Luo Lin genuinely didn't care that he was a Fish-Man. Didn't care about his past as a slave. Really saw him as a friend.
"Luo Lin, I've got a question."
Luo Lin: "(๑•̌.•̑๑)ˀ̣ˀ̣ Shoot!"
"What do you think about races? Humans, Fish-Men, other species… and slaves?"
Tiger was visibly nervous asking this.
Even Rayleigh, Xia Qi, and the Hancock sisters all turned to look at Luo Lin, waiting for his answer.
"How else? Hot ones I stare at, ugly ones I ignore."
Rayleigh: …
Xia Qi: …
Tiger: …
Hancock trio: …
"Pfft—hahahaha! You really are something, Luo Lin!"
Xia Qi was the first to crack, bursting into laughter.
"Kidding, kidding. Seriously—no discrimination. Not against Fish-Men, Giants, Fur Tribe, anyone. To me, everyone's just people. Who's born more noble than anyone else? The ones who claim they are? Just idiots.
Same with slaves. Nobody chooses to be one.
There's that quote… 'It's not us who are wrong—it's the world.'"
"It's not us who are wrong… it's the world!"
Tiger stared, stunned. He looked deep into Luo Lin's eyes.
Rayleigh and the others were equally shocked.
How does a seventeen-year-old see the world so clearly?
"Of course, the key is they gotta be good-looking. Ugly ones from any race get the side-eye."
The room collectively facepalmed. Rayleigh swallowed the praise he was about to give.
The Hancock sisters gnashed their teeth—this guy was definitely not a good person!
"Hahaha! I don't like ugly either! Luo Lin, you have to visit Fish-Man Island. King Neptune and Princess Otohime will love you!"
Tiger was beaming.
"Definitely! I've heard Fish-Man Island is full of gorgeous mermaid ladies! I'm planning to swing by before heading home and grab some souvenirs for my wife!"
Hancock: Confirmed. Total scumbag.
"Speaking of which—you keep mentioning your wife, and your bounty says 'Devil's Guardian'… are you talking about…?"
"Yep! My future wife is Nico Robin, the Devil Child! We're not married yet, but she's definitely marrying me someday!"
Talking about Robin made Luo Lin's face go all soft. His wife of over ten years (in the making)!
(Hancock: Ptooey! Scum!)
"Lucky girl~"
Xia Qi didn't pry further.
"Then I'll be off!"
Tiger reached the door and waved goodbye.
"Tiger-san, you're just swimming? No coating?"
"No need! Fish-Man Island is 10,000 meters straight down. Normal people need coated ships, but for us Fish-Men—second only to merfolk in swimming speed—10,000 meters is just a few minutes!"
He walked to the edge of GR 13, dove in, and waved up at Luo Lin.
"I'll be waiting in Fish-Man Island, Luo Lin!"
"See you in a few days!"
Luo Lin waved back, then turned and went back inside to keep eating. Still hungry.
Half an hour later, stuffed and picking his teeth at the bar:
"Luo Lin, what's in that bundle? Loot from the Holy Land?"
Xia Qi eyed the curtain-wrapped package curiously. He'd left with just a sword and come back with a huge sack.
The others were curious too—he'd guarded it like gold the whole way.
With his strength, money shouldn't be an issue. And most Celestial Dragon stuff was marked and hard to fence anyway.
"Oh! Totally forgot! These are the good stuff!"
He stood, took the bundle from Xia Qi, and dramatically unwrapped it.
"Tada~!"
Four Devil Fruits—two big, two small.
"Devil Fruits?!"
Everyone shouted at once.
"Yep! Four of them. Found them just sitting on a Celestial Dragon's table. Free real estate!"
"These are definitely good stuff. You gonna eat one?"
Xia Qi asked.
"No clue what they do. I'm not eating random fruits!"
He grimaced—his dream fruit probably hadn't even grown yet, and he wasn't ready to become a landlubber.
"I don't recommend eating one either, kid."
Rayleigh said seriously.
"Why not?"
He'd been annoyed fighting Aokiji's Logia—able to hit, but the guy just phased. He'd been seriously considering grabbing a Logia himself.
"Biggest reason: the sea curses you. Touch water and you're helpless. Fatal weakness.
Second: plenty of the world's top monsters aren't fruit users—Roger, Garp, etc.
Third, and most important for you: once you eat one, you have to develop it. That's time and effort taken away from Haki and swordsmanship.
Right now you've got all three Haki and insane sword skills. Eating a fruit would give a short-term power spike, but if you focus on developing the fruit, your Haki and swordplay stagnate. If you don't develop it, you just gave yourself a deadly weakness for nothing.
Understand?"
Luo Lin thought it over. Damn, that actually makes sense. So… no Logia hunting?
"Of course, once you reach Great Swordsman or top-tier Haki, eating one isn't a bad idea!"
Rayleigh added. Luo Lin exhaled—good, still allowed.
"Next time say everything at once! I thought you were telling me never to eat one!"
"Hahaha! No way. Most strong people on the seas are fruit users—developing a fruit is way easier than training Haki.
So… you eating any of these?"
"Nope! Not these. Blind eating is just asking for trouble."
"What'll you do with them?"
"Sell them, or give them to someone else! Hehe!"
"Smart. Each one goes for at least 100 million at auction!"
Luo Lin: ԅ(﹃﹃﹃ԅ)
"SOLD! Where?!"
"GR 1 has an auction house, but we'll wait a few days. Heat's still on."
"Fine. I'll stash them here till I get back from Fish-Man Island!"
…
Two days of laying low.
On the fourth morning, Luo Lin returned to the bar.
"What?! You want ME to escort them home?!"
He pointed at the Hancock sisters, then at himself in disbelief.
"Yep! Not right now—things are still hot. But you're heading back through the Calm Belt anyway, and Amazon Lily is in the Calm Belt. Just drop them off on the way. With your strength, we'll all feel better."
"…You're stronger than me, Rayleigh! Why not you?!"
"Ara~ These old bones are still sore from the other night. Need rest!"
Luo Lin's eye twitched. Bullshit you're sore.
But it was on the way…
"We'll talk when I get back. I'm off to Fish-Man Island!"
He chugged several juices in a row, slammed the glasses down like a grumpy cat, and stormed out to find a ship.
The Hancock sisters whispered nervously to Xia Qi:
"Do we really have to go with him…?"
"Don't worry. He talks rough, but he's a good guy. And Admiral-level. Safest escort you could ask for.
Rayleigh's too high-profile—too many eyes on him. People would suspect something if he escorted you."
The girls were baffled. The rude, perverted jerk who saved them was Admiral-level?
(Luo Lin: Excuse me?! What's wrong with wanting to see pretty mermaids?! My wife doesn't even mind!)
Because of the Mary Geoise incident, Sabaody was on lockdown. Civilians stayed indoors; Marines and agents patrolled everywhere, rounding up suspicious characters—especially the pirates trying to enter the New World. Perfect scapegoats to calm the Celestial Dragons.
So every pirate crew was desperate to leave ASAP.
Luo Lin wandered a bit and found a fully coated ship—the Gale Pirates.
He walked straight up.
"Hey! Can I hitch a ride to Fish-Man Island?"
The pirates froze, then roared with laughter.
"HAHAHA! Where'd this brat come from?! Think the Gale Pirates run a ferry?!"
Their captain strode over, licked his sword.
"Kid, you wanna die?"
"I can pay. And if we run into strong sea monsters, I'll handle them."
More laughter.
"We're vicious pirates, not a cruise ship!"
The captain swung.
—whoosh—
Missed.
"Huh? Where'd he—?!"
"Behind you!"
A devastating kick folded the captain 90 degrees backward and sent him crashing through the docks.
"Dorey!! You little bastard! Kill him!"
A swarm charged.
"Annoying."
Luo Lin drew Shinrai and slashed.
One clean cut split the oncoming pirates and kept going—cleaving the fully coated ship in half and carving a massive trench through the sea before water rushed back in.
The survivors stood petrified, legs shaking, some dropping weapons and fleeing.
Luo Lin sighed and walked to another dock.
"Mind if I hitch a ride to Fish-Man Island?"
"Y-YES SIR! The Tidal Wave Pirates welcome you aboard!"
The terrified captain saluted.
Luo Lin: …
Whatever.
"We still need about an hour for coating—"
"Half an hour works."
"N-NO PROBLEM! Half an hour! Please don't be mad!"
The captain nearly wet himself.
Luo Lin just waved him off and waited.
Thanks to sheer panic, the crew and coaters finished in exactly 29 minutes.
Luo Lin boarded the ship bound for Fish-Man Island.
The underwater journey was almost exactly like in the manga—no giant Kraken, no deadly sea monsters. Just avoid ramming into big deep-sea fish and you're fine.
The "over 50% death rate" probably only started after Hody Jones rose to power.
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