"Arlong of the Sun Pirates, isn't it? You also blame humans for Tiger's death. Just like Hody, you're nothing but a racial supremacist." Bege made a casual pressing gesture with his hand, and an immense, invisible force slammed Arlong to the ground, pinning him completely.
At this, Jinbe could no longer remain silent. "Captain Demon Dragon," he said in a low, serious voice, "violence solves nothing. I implore you to release Arlong and Hody so we can discuss this properly. Since you claim Hody is the one who assassinated Queen Otohime, if you can produce evidence, wouldn't all our problems be solved?"
"You must be Jinbe, Fish-Man Island's rising star. Not bad. Not bad at all." Bege looked at Jinbe and nodded in approval. He had a genuine, heartfelt respect for this man of unparalleled honor.
"But does the truth even matter?" Suddenly, the smile vanished from his face, replaced by a cold, expressionless mask.
"Captain Demon Dragon, what do you mean by that?" Jinbe asked, his brow furrowed.
"I was the one who proposed Fish-Man Island's four-step development plan years ago. I agreed with Queen Otohime's ideals of peace, and I thought Tiger was a decent man, so I pointed Fish-Man Island toward a better future. Queen Otohime, King Neptune, and you have all worked and fought tirelessly for that future.
"Queen Otohime made so many sacrifices, and what was the result? She was assassinated by a supremacist like Hody, who then used a simple frame-up to pin the blame elsewhere. These people," Bege gestured to the surrounding commoners, "don't even have the ability to distinguish right from wrong. They were easily incited, letting years of Otohime's hard work wash away to nothing."
The Fish-Men and Merfolk he pointed at looked down, their faces a mixture of guilt and fear, none daring to meet his gaze.
"Look at them," Bege continued. "Their emotions are so easily controlled by Hody's words. They have no capacity for independent thought, readily used as weapons without even realizing it."
"If not for this, Fish-Man Island would be far more prosperous today. Tell me, is this Hody's fault, or the fault of these ignorant commoners?"
"They are innocent!" Neptune declared, his voice heavy. As the king, he had to speak up. "They loved the Queen too much! They were merely used! They are victims, too."
"Oh, are they? If they are innocent, then what about the humans?" A faint smile played on Bege's lips. He knew perfectly well that the commoners were simply misguided, blinded by hatred. His denigration of them was merely a means to an end—a way to introduce the point he truly wanted to make.
"Humans are a vast and diverse people. Pirates are but a tiny fraction of them. I admit, there are many wicked pirates, many who deserve to die ten thousand deaths, many who can't even be called human. That fraction has committed unforgivable crimes, and they certainly deserve to die. But they are only a small part of the enormous human race. The vast majority of humans are just like the commoners of Fish-Man Island: kind and simple. Jinbe, you spent a good amount of time with the Whitebeard Pirates. You should know this better than anyone."
Jinbe gave a slight nod.
"Most humans are not evil. They are ordinary, decent people."
In recent years, Jinbe's reputation on Fish-Man Island had grown immensely. He had many supporters and admirers; his word carried significant weight.
Bege pressed on. "And yet, because of the sins of those human pirates, your people lump all those kind humans in with this damned scum. Tell me, do these people have any ability to tell the difference?"
"They were just misled," Jinbe said, his expression grim.
"Misled? I wish it were that simple. But let me tell you—and all of you—a people so easily misled has no future. A people that doesn't understand tolerance will sooner or later be driven to extinction." Bege's face remained impassive.
"Tolerance?" Arlong spat out a mouthful of blood, his face a mask of fury. "Are we supposed to tolerate the slavers who sell our people, the butchers who slaughter our kin? If that's what you mean by tolerance, we can't do it!"
Bege glanced at him. "Tolerance," he said coolly, "is for those who are friendly. Those human traffickers are not worthy of it. If you encounter people like that, kill them as you please. Even if they fall into my hands, death would be the lightest punishment they receive."
Bege's gaze swept over everyone present. "This world has a great deal of evil, a great many demons," he said, his voice resonating with authority. "But it also has a great deal of good. You have never been to the surface. Your only contact has been with pirates, many of whom are villains. So you assume all of humanity is evil. But I'm telling you, humans are just like Fish-Men and Merfolk. There is good and evil, and most commoners are kind and simple, just like you. If you don't believe me, then go out there. Go and meet ordinary humans. See with your own eyes if every last one of them is evil."
"I have said my piece. I hope you all think about it carefully." Bege concluded the topic and, with a mere thought, Hody's body shrank rapidly and flew into the castle within his body, where he was imprisoned. He still had a use for Hody.
"Give Hody back!" Arlong roared. "You haven't proven he's the one who killed Queen Otohime!"
"It's not hard to find the truth," Bege replied calmly. "Go find Hody's underlings. Interrogate them. They should be able to tell you something. This is your own affair; investigate it yourselves. Go and uncover the truth. It's time for what was hidden to come to the surface. He won't die before you find out." It wasn't that Bege didn't want to produce evidence; it was that he didn't have any. The only reason he knew Hody was the killer was from having read the original story. His claim of an investigation was just a bluff to make his words more convincing.
"Neptune, let's go to Ryugu Palace," Bege said.
"Alright." Neptune nodded. The group continued forward, and the Fish-Men and Merfolk on the path immediately cleared a way for them.
"Jinbe, you should come along as well," Neptune called out, and Jinbe joined them on their way to the palace.
After Bege and the others had left, the pressure on Arlong's body dissipated, and he struggled back to his feet. His men rushed over to support him.
"Brother Arlong, what do we do now?"
"Demon Dragon is an Emperor of the New World. He wouldn't make something like this up," Arlong said, his voice a low growl. "Find all of Hody's men—everyone who was close to him—and bring them to me. I'm going to find out what really happened back then. If Hody really did kill Queen Otohime, I'll skin him alive myself."
Arlong and his crew departed swiftly.
The faces of the watching Fish-Men and Merfolk were a whirlwind of emotions. Finally, one of them shouted, "I want to know if what Captain Demon Dragon said is true, too!"
"Let's go! We'll go with them!"
Stirred to action, a number of Fish-Men and Merfolk followed after Arlong's crew, their emotions running high.
Bege's words had been logical and well-reasoned. His bloody execution of the human traffickers proved he wasn't biased in their favor, a fact that had earned him the basic trust of the onlookers. Now, they needed to unearth the truth of Queen Otohime's death. If it was proven that Hody had indeed assassinated her, Bege's words would spread like wildfire across the island and be accepted by all its inhabitants.
And even if they couldn't uncover the truth, his speech would still shake Fish-Man Island to its core. Bege was confident that with the royal family's guidance, the commoners would eventually come to accept his perspective.
If so, the first half of his objective for coming to Fish-Man Island—seeking a partnership—was already achieved.