One Piece: Mandala Swordsman

Chapter 164 You should all go and be moral exemplars.

Sometimes, you can't push people too far.

She wanted to win people over, not coerce them.

So after asking that question, Roman just smiled and said he wasn't in a hurry and would take his time to think about it.

For some unknown reason, Jinbe also gave up fighting Roman.

Roman believed that he must have had more to consider.

They're probably still hoping Tiger will appear at this point.

Unfortunately……

Sly, who was always the most thoughtful, asked his superior, "We were so close, and this duel was proposed by Jinbe himself. Why didn't you force him to start?"

“Slay, we need to think long-term. What I want are long-term partners, not short-term ones. Naturally, the more suitable the better. But achieving this won’t be easy. The barriers won’t be easy to overcome. I dare say, Fishman Street is very dissatisfied with this situation right now,” Roman said slowly.

"So we're just going to wait like this? What if they change their minds? Won't your plan fall apart?" Grant asked, puzzled.

"Planning goes wrong all the time. It would be too petty of me to make a big fuss about it."

“If you were really that magnanimous, you wouldn’t have beaten Ah Long like that, would you? He didn’t do it because he looked down on you…” Before he could finish saying the words “beaten so badly,” Raven saw the sharp gaze directed at him by Roman.

"I meant you played well," LaVine immediately corrected himself.

Roman then turned his gaze away.

"But doing nothing and just waiting is not my style. In any case, I can't put my hopes on them."

"Are you worried they won't agree?" Sly asked again.

"No, I think they will eventually agree. After all, the king and queen have already shown their inclinations. Jinbe is, after all, a soldier of the kingdom, and when necessary, he needs to obey the king's orders. But we can't think too simply, since what we want to remove are the people of Fishman City."

"Now, everyone, please listen carefully, especially Patch, the task I'm about to give you will be particularly difficult."

"What do you mean? You mean it's related to brains?" Patch was still the most restless of the four, but perhaps because of his youth, his arrogance rarely wavered, even when facing Roman. However, when it came to using his brain, this fearless young man had to bow his head.

This understanding comes from bloody lessons learned at the mahjong table.

As soon as he sits at the card table, he becomes the biggest easy target for the other three players.

This is also the main reason why LaVine likes Patch the most; after all, it's hard not to like having a "spendthrift" by your side every day.

"No, to be honest, I'm not just worried about Patch, I'm worried about all of you."

"What kind of mission is it? It's not like we have to team up and beat up all the fishmen in Fishman Street, is it?" Gran started to get excited. Although she was pretty and charming, she was quite violent. She could get excited for a long time whenever it involved fighting.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but your next task is to be moral exemplars," Roman began, pouring cold water on the idea.

"What???"

……

"Ah, have you heard? Those humans volunteered to help track down the pirates hiding here."

"Are you really that kind?"

"They seem to be doing alright. The factory streets and intersections are always dirty, but humans come to clean them up."

“I saw some of them taking care of children yesterday.”

"Yes, I also saw those fishmen in Fishman Street threatening people again, and those humans took the initiative to stop them."

"Maybe people aren't really that bad."

"But they all say people are bad?"

Have you ever met a bad person?

"No, I only heard about it."

……

We've already shown the ordinary murlocs what force can do, so now it's time for a policy of appeasement.

It doesn't need to be too much; just let the fish-man know that humans have multiple facets.

Bad people exist in every group and every race. Roman couldn't possibly guarantee to the fish-men that there are no bad people among humans and that we can live in harmony without any problems. That would be too fake.

Her first task was to let the fish-men know that there are good people among humans.

All that's needed is to keep this concept.

There are many reasons why the fish-men have traditionally held such stereotypes about humans.

To reach the new world, you must either travel across the Red Line or dive to a depth of 10,000 meters below the ocean floor.

However, the Mary Geoise route is definitely not something pirates can apply for, so passing through Fishman Island and entering the New World becomes the only option for pirates.

This brought great misfortune to the fishmen and mermaids of Fishman Island.

Fortunately, Whitebeard protected Fishman Island, which improved the situation there.

This also made some fish-men aware of the power of humans.

If there are truly benevolent beings among humanity, powerful enough to protect the fish-men, then the fish-men wouldn't mind contributing to this organization. Compared to humans, fish-men have lived in a relatively isolated environment for a long time, making them not only more kind-hearted but also more curious about the outside world.

This is Roman's idea.

She needs to find a way to become a familiar face among more merfolk.

Perhaps I can even be in charge of the merfolk's recruitment efforts.

However, this is only possible if everything goes smoothly.

Thinking about this, she suddenly felt a little sorry for her four subordinates.

Sly, who used to spend his days outwitting and outmaneuvering people and was good at turning the tables, now had to pretend to be warm and refined and make contact with the fish-man soldiers.

Grant, whose personality is extremely violent, is now pretending to be gentle and playing with the children.

Raven is the laziest of the lazy, and now he's busy every day cleaning the Murloc Street, the kind of person who has to go before dawn.

Patch's behavior was the most outrageous, and Roman made him do volunteer work.

Roman would never forget the gloomy faces of the four men when he assigned them the task, their faces like corpses that had been dead for several days in a morgue.

"This is all for your own good, to train you. Why can't you understand my good intentions?"

"Then what are you doing?"

"Of course, we're going to strike down any pirates who might appear on Fishman Island."

"It's not fair, I want this mission." *4

"That's really not fair. How about this, I'm a big believer in democracy, let's have a big free-for-all, and whoever wins gets to fight the pirates. Is that fair enough?"

……

"Since you're not saying anything, I'll take that as your agreement. Finally, I want to remind you that this mission is very important. If I hear that anyone has messed it up, I'll let you know the power of love. Lieutenant General Garp has let me experience the iron fist of love many times. Please believe me, I will also let you experience this deep love of mine."

"I don't want that kind of thing!!!" *4