"Let's go back."
Otohime took a deep breath, her gaze looking far ahead toward the Fish-Man District, and suddenly said this.
They were currently still at the entrance of the Fish-Man District. Ahead, many fish-men had already gathered.
"You're not going to keep moving forward?", Rosse stood side by side with Otohime, looking toward the Fish-Man District not far away.
This time Otohime came, not just to hear the cries of the fish-men.
He understood from the beginning that Otohime came to investigate the incident of her capture.
As for this, he truly didn't care.
This matter, no matter how one investigated, would never reach him.
At the time Otohime was sent by Moria, he was more surprised than anyone.
According to his original plan, it was only after arriving at Fish-Man Island that he would slowly make contact with Otohime.
Who would have thought, plans can't keep up with changes.
Before he even reached Fish-Man Island, Otohime had already delivered herself to his doorstep.
"It's no longer important," Otohime smiled, gently shook her head, and resolutely turned around.
It really was no longer important.
In investigating her own capture, she had two questions she wanted answers to.
One was, she wanted to trust Rosse with all her heart, with no reservations, without any inner knots.
The other was, she wanted to know why that Fish-Man did such a thing.
And along this journey, both of those answers had already reached their conclusions.
Rosse clearly knew her goal, yet did not interfere at all, this was already enough.
Her test of trust had never been to investigate this matter.
Rather, as long as Rosse displayed a heart that didn't mind, to her, that was already sufficient.
Even without relying on the special ability of Observation Haki, Otohime could see clearly Rosse's attitude.
If she couldn't even perceive that, then he would be too incompetent.
As for the other matter, she had already gotten the answer she wanted from Tiger's response and from the gazes of other fish-men in the Fish-Man District.
From the beginning, there was no such thing as friendliness between fish-men and mermaids.
Moreover, the current state of the fish-men was caused by the mermaids.
Then, what right did she have to harshly blame the fish-men of the Fish-Man District?
From beginning to end, they were only trying to survive.
It's just that, they grew into what no one wanted to see.
But in the end, Otohime and Rosse still didn't manage to leave as they had hoped.
A mermaid who looked so wealthy coming to the Fish-Man District, if they didn't clean her out, that would be looking down on them too much.
While Rosse and Otohime were lingering, hundreds of fish-men had already gathered.
"How do we deal with this?", Rosse looked at Otohime with a smile, waiting for her final decision.
According to his temperament, of course, it would be to kill them all.
And with Otohime's previous personality, perhaps she'd show some compassion.
But Rosse had a feeling that the current Otohime might just surprise him.
"Stop all actions!"
Otohime swept her gaze across the fish-men, and issued a rare voice of authority.
Clearly not a loud voice, but it held great intimidation.
In an instant, the fish-men subconsciously lowered their weapons, their expressions showing confusion.
'Amazing, she used Observation Haki with the effect of Conqueror's Haki.'
Rosse raised his brows and let out a sigh of admiration.
Otohime's special ability was to sense others' emotions, and with her own emotions, influence others.
To put it simply: mind reading + brainwashing.
If Otohime also had Conqueror's Haki, then even without a Devil Fruit, she would absolutely be a mass-killing weapon.
"Judge your hearts!"
Otohime continued to softly whisper, yet her voice was like a divine proclamation.
"Thieves, guilty!"
"Murderers, guilty!"
"Ra*ists, guilty!"
"Bullies, guilty!"
"..."
With Otohime's words, the fish-men all lowered their heads, their faces filled with regret.
As if… they were truly guilty.
Otohime glanced around, saw all the fish-men had lowered their heads, and silently sighed in her heart.
As expected, those who could come to the entrance to block them, should not be hoped for in any way.
"The guilty! Judge yourselves!"
Otohime's voice was like a god delivering judgment.
As her voice fell, Rosse saw all the fish-men one by one take their weapons and stab them into their own necks.
In an instant, blood covered the entire Fish-Man District.
And after doing all this, Otohime's body went limp and fell into Rosse's arms.
"Mm…"
Otohime shyly lowered her head.
She had looked so cool just now, and now she looked just as miserable.
"I mean, couldn't you have let me do it? Why be so headstrong?", Rosse shook his head. With Otohime's body, doing this much was already her limit.
If a few more people had come, not only would she not have been able to make them commit suicide, she herself would have collapsed first.
"This is something I need to do, a hurdle I must cross on my own," Otohime leaned into Rosse's chest and let out a faint sigh.
"Alright then, this is the transformation of your spirit. From today onward, should I congratulate myself on gaining a brand-new mermaid queen?", Rosse joked.
"Saying it like that… doesn't seem wrong either," Otohime tilted her head, smiling as she played along with Rosse.
She didn't know if this change of hers was good or bad.
But since pure kindness couldn't achieve her dream, then she would shape herself into what was needed.
For this, she had already been prepared long ago.
"So what now? Wait for the concubine selection in two days, or go directly to Ryugu Kingdom to find Neptune?", Rosse asked with a smile.
Toward Otohime's change, Rosse was of course especially happy.
Otohime was now becoming the person he wanted her to be.
As for whether she still wanted to persist in her ideals, that wasn't something he cared about.
Rosse never stopped dream-chasers.
If they could travel together, they would both win.
If they couldn't, then he'd send them off on their final journey.
And Otohime's dream of racial coexistence did not conflict with his pursuit.
It wasn't like he was some kind of racial supremacist.
Rosse had always followed just one belief:
Beneath the self, all beings are equal.
He looked down equally upon all races. He was a pure classist.
"I have a feeling, the concubine selection two days from now won't be so simple. I know Neptune, and I understand how the Ryugu Kingdom operates. There shouldn't be such a selection," Otohime shook her head.
Her gaze turned to Rosse, as if to confirm something.
With her understanding of Rosse, before coming to Fish-Man Island, he must have made full preparations.
"If I said that this concubine selection is a conspiracy against mermaids, what would you do?", Rosse smiled.
"A conspiracy? A conspiracy I can know about?", Otohime lightly furrowed her brows, her gaze locking onto Rosse.
She knew Rosse must know something, but she was also hesitating.
Some things, since Rosse hadn't told her from the start, meant that this matter involved something very far-reaching.
A small mistake, and it could lead to major problems.
"Saint Rosward, do you still remember him?", Rosse said with a smile.
"I remember, the Celestial Dragon who came to Fish-Man Island with us on the same ship."
Otohime suddenly thought of something, and quickly lifted her head, looking at Rosse in surprise:
"Don't tell me?"
"As you guessed, this concubine selection isn't for Neptune to pick a concubine, but for Saint Rosward to pick one."
Rosse smiled, his gaze falling on Otohime's face, "Now that you know this news, what will you choose to do?"
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