Whether it was Ortoren, Dragon, or Rayleigh, all three were people who acted quickly once a plan was set.
Now that the operation had been laid out, every new issue that surfaced needed to be solved immediately. Since Rayleigh had mentioned he had connections on Fish-Man Island, they would act on that at once.
Rayleigh first pulled out his Den Den Mushi and contacted Hachi to confirm whether his boss had been away recently. After learning that he was still on Fish-Man Island, Rayleigh proposed a visit.
Hachi quickly checked his boss's attitude. Unexpectedly, Fisher Tiger seemed to have a favorable impression of Rayleigh and agreed to the meeting without hesitation.
As the coating specialist and long-time veteran of the Sabaody Archipelago, Rayleigh always kept a fully coated small boat ready for himself and Shakky—just in case they ever needed to flee underwater at a moment's notice.
So there was no need to waste time on coating. Ortoren, Dragon, and Rayleigh immediately set out together for Fish-Man Island.
Dragon, as the leader of the Revolutionary Army, had spent years playing cat-and-mouse with the World Government across the globe—Fish-Man Island was certainly a place he'd visited before.
As for Rayleigh, that went without saying. During his years sailing with the Roger Pirates, he had entered and exited the New World countless times. Fish-Man Island was practically a second home to him. He was even very close friends with Neptune, the king of Fish-Man Island.
Ortoren, on the other hand, was visiting for the first time.
As a high-ranking Marine officer, he never needed to risk traveling to Fish-Man Island to enter the New World. Simply crossing the Red Line was more convenient. And in his day-to-day duties, he had virtually no interaction with Fish-Man Island at all.
So naturally, he had never been there.
The distance between Fish-Man Island and the Sabaody Archipelago sounded intimidating—one was on the sea surface, the other 10,000 meters below—but in reality, they were only about ten kilometers apart. With Rayleigh's expert navigation, the deep-sea journey took less than half a day. Before long, Ortoren and the others had arrived at Coral Hill Port.
Once ashore, Ortoren took in the vibrant and breathtaking scenery of Coral Hill and couldn't help but murmur, "The world beneath the sea is far more colorful than I imagined…"
"It's been a long time since I came to Fish-Man Island too," Dragon said after observing the surroundings. "The last time I was here, everything was chaotic. The residents were extremely hostile toward humans like us…"
"Then it really has been a while," Rayleigh laughed. "After the Great Pirate Era began, Fish-Man Island suffered a lot. Thankfully, Whitebeard stepped in, raised his flag, and declared this place his territory. Since then, although some reckless fools still come to cause trouble, the overall situation has improved greatly."
"The Great Pirate Era? Aren't you pirates the ones who caused that? And now you're talking about it like you're proud of it?" Ortoren said with a look of pure disdain.
Rayleigh's face twitched. He wanted to refute him, but couldn't—because Ortoren was absolutely right. In the end, he swallowed his words.
Since this wasn't an official visit, Ortoren wasn't dressed as a Marine. His outfit was casual, and given Fish-Man Island's distance from the world above, even without a proper disguise, no one recognized him.
The same was true for Rayleigh and Dragon. The three walked through the harbor at Coral Hill without attracting particular attention.
But along the way, something odd occurred: Ortoren was extremely popular. No matter which street stall they approached—whether fishmen or merfolk were running it—everyone greeted Ortoren warmly.
Dragon and Rayleigh, however? Different story entirely. People barely acknowledged them. Many didn't want to speak to them at all. Their expressions were filled with irritation and disgust.
"Hey there, handsome and strong~ Want to treat me to a cup of coffee up ahead?" a beautiful mermaid girl said as she hooked her arm around Ortoren's, making an affectionate invitation.
Ortoren laughed and politely turned her down. It wasn't the first time an attractive mermaid had approached him that day.
After passing through the busy marketplace, the closer they moved toward Fish-Man Street, the more rundown the surroundings became. Vendors thinned out, replaced by burly fishmen with fierce expressions. They lounged at the mouths of dark alleys, smoking, drinking, and eyeing the group with open hostility.
Yet there was something strange: whenever these fishmen looked at Ortoren, their sharp, suspicious gazes softened into something almost friendly. But when their eyes shifted to Rayleigh and Dragon, the hostility remained unchanged—cold, resentful, and dismissive.
This baffled Dragon. Was Ortoren really that charming? That universally likable?
Carrying this confusion, they soon entered the Fish-Man Street area and finally spotted Rayleigh's young friend—Hachi—waiting for them.
Hachi happily waddled over with a wave. "Rayleigh~ You haven't visited Fish-Man Island in forever!"
"Hahaha, Hachi! Seeing you still so lively puts my mind at ease," Rayleigh replied cheerfully, greeting him with warmth.
He then introduced Ortoren and Dragon. Hachi, to his credit, didn't treat them any differently and chatted with the group in a friendly manner.
Only then did Dragon finally ask the question that had been bothering him. "Hachi, I really can't figure this out. Why does everyone on Fish-Man Island react completely differently to me than to Ortoren?"
"Huh?" Hachi blinked. Then he answered naturally, "Because he's not human! We fishmen don't like humans very much… Isn't that normal?"
Dragon: ???
He turned to stare at Ortoren, scanning him up and down. Then, as if something finally clicked, he exclaimed, "Damn—I'd almost forgotten. You're not human at all. You're a Mink Tribe half-breed!"
Ortoren folded his arms across his chest with exaggerated indignation. "What? That sounded like discrimination. You looking down on the noble Mink Tribe or something?"
Dragon gritted his teeth and glared at him before continuing, "But on the surface, he looks exactly like a human, doesn't he? Just a pair of horns. You can still tell?"
"That's exactly because we hold deep resentment toward humans," Hachi explained matter-of-factly. "So we're much better at telling humans apart from other intelligent races. We might not immediately recognize him as Mink Tribe, but at worst we'd think he's an Oni. There's no way we'd mistake him for human."
Dragon froze. …That actually made a lot of sense. Way too much sense.
But after a moment, he asked again, "But he's still a half-breed. He's got human blood in him. Doesn't that bother you?"
"We only dislike pure humans," Hachi said bluntly. "As for half-breeds—Fish-Man Island has plenty of residents mixed with humans. We don't have a real concept of 'half-breed.' Only you humans do. Only humans divide your own kind into categories like half-fishman, half-mermaid… Out of all intelligent races, only humans rank and separate themselves so strictly."
Dragon listened, and the words struck him silent.
Because Hachi was right. Across the seas, only humans discriminated with such precision and cruelty against their own species—pure-blood humans looking down on mixed humans, and even looking down on long-arm, long-leg tribes, despite all being human variants.
Other intelligent races rarely had this problem. Fishmen didn't treat their mixed-blood kin any differently. The Mink Tribe didn't judge other furries by species—bullfolk and lionfolk could call each other brothers without issue. They even called humans "hairless monkeys" without a hint of hatred—just observation.
Watching Dragon sink into thoughtful silence, Ortoren smacked his shoulder smugly. "See? You humans. Tsk tsk. No wonder beautiful mermaid ladies don't like you—you don't deserve them."
"You deserve them! You deserve them!" Dragon snapped irritably, swatting away Ortoren's hand.
With Hachi leading the way, they avoided any trouble from the Fish-Man Street thugs. Before long, they reached the deepest part of the district and arrived at the home of Fisher Tiger.