Pirate: I'm about to do something big!

Alyosha silently walked to Tiger's bedside and picked up the sleeping Kera.

"During the three days and three nights you were unconscious, this child stayed by your side taking care of you. He's exhausted."

Tiger was speechless and could only watch as Alyosha carried the sleeping Kera out of the room and handed her over to Tina, who was waiting outside, before returning and closing the door.

I moved a chair over and sat on the edge of the bed.

Tiger also noticed the blood transfusion tube inserted in his chest, and when he looked up, he saw several blood bags with pictures of the marines who donated blood on them.

Upon seeing the Marine's image on the blood pack, Tiger seemed to be provoked and tried to pull out the blood transfusion tube from his body.

Just as there was movement, Alyosha's gentle voice rang out.

"If this is how you treat your savior, then don't ever say that you founded the Sun Pirates just to rescue slaves."

Are you denying everything I did for those slaves?!

Upon hearing Alyosha deny his original intention in founding the Sun Pirates, Tiger paused, glaring at Alyosha and questioning him.

Alyosha didn't answer, but simply smiled gently at Tiger.

I got up, went to my bookshelf, and took down a book without a cover. I could see that there were many photos and newspapers tucked inside.

He slowly opened the book, looked at the information he had collected and recorded, and then looked up and stared directly at Tiger.

"First of all, I have to apologize to you because my negligence led to the attack on you, and you almost died. I'm sorry."

Are you apologizing to me?

"Yes, you have to admit your mistakes. Isn't that a principle even a child knows?"

"I mean, you, a Rear Admiral of the Marine Headquarters, a human, are apologizing to me, a fish-man?"

"Is there a problem?"

It has to be said that Alyosha's harmless smile and gentle demeanor are incredibly deceptive.

So much so that Tiger, who originally wanted to angrily pull out the IV line, was rendered speechless by Alyosha's attitude and fell into a strange loop of wondering why Alyosha, a human, was apologizing to him.

"Okay, I've finished stating my question. Now, Mr. Fisher Tiger, let's talk about yours."

"What? I have a problem? What problem do I have?"

Tiger was stumped by Alyosha's counter-question.

Is it wrong for someone to lead a group of followers through countless dangers, attacking slave ships, disrupting the slave trade, and freeing slaves?

Alyosha nodded solemnly.

"There are quite a few problems. Wait a minute, let me see where to start. Oh, here, take a look at this, the latest date."

Alyosha took a newspaper clipping from the book and handed it to Tiger.

The newspaper only had a layout and pictures. The large words on the layout caught Tiger's eye, making his hand holding the newspaper tremble.

Breaking News! All the slaves stolen by the Sun Pirates have been recovered!

The photos below the large text on the page are close-ups of the slave traders he had disciplined, holding several slaves.

Tiger was furious at the sight, because he had personally freed these slaves in the photo.

The other party was clearly trying to intimidate him.

"That's your first problem. Do you know where the problem lies?"

Tiger didn't answer, but Alyosha wouldn't let it go.

"My second question is also mine: did you genuinely not know, or didn't you even consider that these guys would continue? Or did you think about it but chose not to intervene?"

Tiger fell silent again, and Alyosha pressed him for answers.

"The third question is, in your eyes, should human slaves, merman slaves, and other slaves be divided into different classes?"

Tiger looked up and stared blankly at Alyosha sitting in front of him.

He didn't understand why Alyosha, a commodore from the Navy Headquarters, would ask him such a question. Tiger wanted to answer that he had never, but when he looked at the blood packs with marine images hanging above his head, he couldn't come up with an answer.

Alyosha sat there, pen in hand, looking just like a reporter waiting for his answers and taking notes.

He couldn't even tell whether Alyosha wanted the answers to those three questions himself or was asking them on behalf of someone else; he couldn't read the answers from Alyosha's face.

Seeing that Tiger was unable to answer the question for a long time, Alyosha was not in a hurry.

He simply closed the notebook and got up.

"Don't rush to give me an answer right now. Thanks to my colleague, my warship will be staying here for a few days. I'll think it over carefully and then decide whether or not to remove the lifeline from my ship."

"My crew."

"They're all out working."

"You're using me to threaten them into becoming your slaves?"

"No, I'm just asking them to cooperate with us in doing something for the residents of this island."

"What is it?"

"Bandit suppression" refers to suppressing mountain bandits.

Alyosha closed the door before stepping down from the cabin.

On the shore where he was anchored, one could see a group of fish-man crew members of the Sun Pirates, led by Jinbe, sailing out to sea in small fishing boats. The boats carried both local residents who made a living by fishing and marines.

The fish-men, born of the sea, search for schools of fish in the sea on these small fishing boats. The fishermen on the boats then cast their nets, while the fish-men in the sea are responsible for catching the fish, and the marines on the boats are responsible for supervising and observing the movements at sea.

Fishmen, civilians, and marines each have their own roles and cooperate with each other.

There were no disputes, no quarrels, only a peaceful and harmonious world.

"Doo-hoo, Alyosha, can you hear me? This is Smoker."

A lieutenant brought a Den Den Mushi (a type of electric scooter) to report to Alyosha, and Smoker's voice came through the Den Den Mushi.

"This is Alyosha. Tell me about the situation on your side. How is that fishman Arlong doing?"

"Although he's a scoundrel, he does respect Captain Tiger, and his style suits these bandits well; he's already become their leader."

"Very good. In that case, you and Tina will be in full charge of the bandit eradication operation on Forsythe Island. That guy Stobelli did help me out after all. I was just worried about not having a chance to accumulate military merits for you and Tina."

"What about headquarters..."

"You don't need to worry about the affairs of headquarters. I will go to Sakazuki and Fleet Admiral Sengoku to demand an explanation myself. Just do the things I've assigned you."

"clear."

After hanging up the phone, Alyosha found a place to sit in the makeshift camp on the shore, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the sunshine.

He also released his aura, which was also his innate, top-tier Observation Haki, to secretly sense the movements of the fish-man Tiger inside the cabin.

A scene also appeared in Alyosha's mind.

Seeing the fishman Tiger get out of bed and become curious about the books on his bookshelf, Alyosha's lips curled into a smile.

As expected of a fish-man, such an injury would leave a normal person bedridden for ten days or half a month, let alone be able to get out of bed.

Are you curious about my bookshelf? Very well, take your time reading, Tiger. Whether you are a great hero in the eyes of slaves depends on how much you can remember from these books.

With a sense of triumph over his successful scheme, Alyosha lay on the beach for an entire day.

As the sun set, the fishermen returned with their abundant catch, lit bonfires on the beach, and began to celebrate. Only then did the fisherman Tiger disembark.

With an IV drip and blood transfusion kit attached, they walked to Alyosha's temporary camp.

"Boss Tiger!"

"Boss!"

The little girl Kera, who was always concerned about Tiger's health, was the first to spot him approaching and called out.

After a busy day, the fishman crew members of the Sun Pirates, who were ready to enjoy a delicious meal, put down their food and ran quickly to Tiger, surrounding him and asking him how he was doing.

Alyosha looked at Tiger's still-attached transfusion tube and the stent with the transfusion bag attached, and a smile appeared on his face.

It seems that this fishman Tiger has finally learned something.

Surrounded by his crew, the fishman Tiger approached Alyosha.

"Jinbe, could you take the others and leave first? I'd like to ask Brigadier General Alyosha a few questions."

Jinbe, the fishman, was taken aback by what he heard, but seeing his captain's serious expression, he didn't say anything more. He began to exercise his authority as the captain's second-in-command, leading the crew to the side and leaving the space to Alyosha and Tiger.

"Brigadier General Alyosha, I..."

"You can call me Ran or Alyosha, or if you feel that's too familiar, you can call me Mr. Ran."

Alyosha gestured for Tiger to sit down in front of him.

"Mr. Ran, I'd like to know about the books in your room."

"Those are all things I saw and heard when I went to sea with the warship to fight pirates after I was promoted to lieutenant. Seven years have passed without me realizing it, and I never thought I would write so much."

Perhaps thinking back to the time when he first became a lieutenant and started going out to sea to fight pirates and level up, a smile appeared on Alyosha's face.

Why are you recording these things?

"I need to know what I'm doing."

It was a simple, understated answer, yet it made Tiger realize the weight behind Alyosha's brief reply.

"Now it's my turn to ask you, do you have answers to the three questions I asked you during the day?"

Tiger opened his mouth, nodded, and then shook his head.

This action amused Alyosha; he hadn't expected the fishman to have such expressive features.

"Do you feel that no matter how you answer, it's wrong, or do you feel that your answer doesn't meet your own standards? Or perhaps it's both?"

This time, Tiger nodded quite seriously.

Alyosha was satisfied with Tiger's answer and asked a different question.

"Then don't think about answering the three questions I asked you during the day, just think about the questions you can answer right now."

"Questions I can answer?"

"Yes, do you know every single crew member on your ship?"

Tiger nodded.

"So if you refused a human blood transfusion that day and died, who among your crew would be most likely to succeed you as captain?"

"Jinbe is my right-hand man, my best friend, and my brother."

"So, do you think that after Jinbe becomes captain, every member of the Sun Pirates will follow him and continue your mission?"

Alyosha's question was sharp, directly addressing the core of the Sun Pirates.

Tiger received an answer immediately.

He was able to form the Sun Pirates to fight the slave trade on the high seas thanks to the support of his fishman brothers from Fishman Island and Fishman Town.

Not all of these fishman crew members agree with his ideals; many are drawn to him because of his charisma as the great hero of Fishman Island.

As long as it's my order, I will carry it out even if they have objections.

But Jinbe couldn't do that.

Therefore, as soon as he dies, the Sun Pirates will immediately fall apart.

His ideals collapsed as a result, and thinking of this, Tiger Khan came out.

This time, Alyosha was finally able to see the change in expression on the face of the bream-man Tiger; his entire face had turned white.

"Its rise was swift, and its fall was sudden."

"What?"

Tiger couldn't understand what Alyosha was saying, but he could vaguely sense that Alyosha was talking about the Sun Pirates' situation after his death.

"Now you have the answers to the three questions I asked you during the day, right?"

"Mr. Ran, I think I understand a little bit."

"Hmm, once you've figured it out, just do it. They're all on guard duty in the camp. You know what to do, right?"

Alyosha pointed to the stent that Tiger was holding, and Tiger saw the Marine's head on the blood transfusion pack hanging on the stent.

Tiger stood up, bowed deeply to Alyosha, and turned to leave.

Alyosha didn't mind and called over a lieutenant to lead the way for Tiger.

Jinbe, the fishman, and his crew, who were watching Alyosha and Tiger chatting by the campfire, also saw their captain, led by several marines, arrive at the temporary camp to stand guard.

"I, Fisher Tiger, captain of the Sun Pirates, am extremely grateful to you all for saving my life!"

Tiger's voice was loud and echoed throughout the entire camp.

Fishmen and marines alike looked toward where Tiger was.

Tiger knelt on the ground, solemnly expressing his gratitude to the marines who had donated blood to save his life.

These marines were completely baffled by Tiger's actions. They were simply following Alyosha's orders to donate blood, so why should they receive gratitude from the fish-men? Especially from a great pirate like him.

Jinbe and his group of fish-man crew members were completely stunned; their eyes practically bulged out.

Their captain, who had always been arrogant and even disliked being thanked by human slaves, was actually thanking several human marines?!

Alyosha nodded slightly as he watched this scene.

Tiger's performance certainly fits the persona of a great hero, but being just a hero isn't enough.

After an awkward exchange between Tiger and the marines who donated blood, Tiger took the little girl Kera's hand and sat down in front of Alyosha.

"How does it feel?"

"It doesn't feel so heavy anymore. At least I've realized that I don't hate humanity as a whole. Mr. Ran, could you tell me a story? My story."

"Why is he a great hero, and why is he a great pirate?"

Tiger nodded, and Alyosha smiled.

"In that case, I can't be the only one to hear this story, Captain Roy."

"Present, Brigadier General Alyosha."

"Connect Lieutenant Colonel Smoker and Lieutenant Colonel Tina's Den Den Mushi, as well as Arlong the Fishman. Summon all officers and soldiers, come and sit down, and listen to the story of a great hero of Fishman Island, and also the great pirate we are after, the Fishman Fisher Tiger."

"Yes, everyone! Assemble! Sit!"

Captain Roy blew his whistle, and the marines stationed at the temporary camp quickly gathered around. Under Captain Roy's command, they formed a circle and sat around the campfire.

He also dialed Smoker and Tina's Den Den Mushi, who were still hiding in the mountains, and signaled for them to answer.

Fisher Tiger, a fish-man, also recounted his past to both humans and his fellow fish-men.

That past of his, as an adventurer, before he became a great hero who rescued slaves, a great pirate.

"I was once a slave, a slave of the Celestial Dragons..."