At this point in the conversation, Rosse quit while he was ahead and didn't continue further.
Wanting to break down a person's ideology in a single day, no matter who it is, is very difficult to achieve.
Being able to make Otohime question her own goals and plant the seed of hidden conflict between merfolk and fish-men was already enough.
Three scenarios were enough for him to break Otohime and rebuild her.
Once Otohime, full of confusion, boarded his ship, she would naturally take his shape.
Actually, from the very beginning, whether the problem was between merfolk, fish-men, or humans, it was never a racial issue in essence.
Racial equality has never really been about race.
Whether it's racial discrimination or racial bullying, at its core, it is an extension of class inequality.
In the eyes of the World Government, fish-men, merfolk, and even ordinary humans are no different, all of them are targets to be bullied at will.
It's only because humans are the majority and there are no strong individuals among fish-men and merfolk that has led ordinary humans to look down on them.
As long as one is strong enough, no matter who they are, they can have a place anywhere.
If they are not strong enough, then they should go to peaceful places in the Four Seas, where both fish-men and merfolk can live equally and normally.
In fact, in the Four Seas, merfolk and fish-men not bullying humans would already be considered good.
Currently, Fish-Man Island is located between the front and back halves of the Grand Line. The humans who pass by have all been tempered by the first half of the Grand Line, so who would look up to Fish-Man Island?
———
Ten days later, the ship gradually approached the Sabaody Archipelago.
In these few days, Otohime quickly blended into Rosse's circle.
Sometimes watching Gion practice swordsmanship, sometimes discussing things with Sora, sometimes learning medicine from Stella, every day was very fulfilling.
She even seemed to have forgotten that she could check in with Neptune to let him know she was safe.
Rosse, of course, was quite happy about this.
To help Otohime feel more at ease, he even had Spandine spread news to Fish-Man Island, saying that Otohime had boarded his ship and was having a great time.
From start to finish, everything he said was the truth, without a trace of exaggeration.
As for how people on Fish-Man Island would interpret it, that he did not know.
Perhaps some merfolk would support Otohime even more; perhaps some fish-men would resent her, who knows?
At the bow of the ship, Sora was not reading or doing experiments today. Instead, she sat in a lounge chair, leaning against Rosse's chest, watching Reiju and Otohime play and laugh on the deck.
Watching Otohime, flicking her fish tail and chasing Reiju around on the deck, Sora gently stroked her growing belly and softly asked Rosse behind her, "Out of the three scenarios, she only needs to win one. Is Otohime really that stubborn? Do you need to break her three times in a row?"
She knew about Rosse's bet with Otohime.
From the moment the bet was proposed, Otohime had no chance of winning.
With the purity Otohime displayed, she simply wasn't a match for Rosse.
Even if Rosse didn't deliberately set her up, Otohime would still be easily toyed with.
"Isn't it normal that it takes three blows to break a person?", Rosse smiled, "Just look at our Dragon, he's experienced failure more than three times already."
"That's different. The fact that you're comparing Otohime to Dragon already shows how much you value her," Sora rolled her eyes at Rosse and lazily leaned against his chest.
As they got closer and closer to the Holy Land, she became more attached to staying by Rosse's side.
She knew very well that in the upcoming trip to Wano, she wouldn't be among the people accompanying him.
It was too dangerous. She would become Rosse's weakness.
Rosse wouldn't let her take the risk, and she didn't want to make Rosse worry either.
"If Otohime can adjust her mindset, she'd be more suitable than Zannie to be the family's external spokesperson," Rosse said softly.
"Because of her race?", Sora pondered.
She knew Rosse wanted to unite more forces. If a merfolk like Otohime could be the spokesperson, it would indeed be much more convenient.
"It's not just her racial identity, but also her ability."
After interacting these past few days, Rosse found that Otohime was a very smart woman, not as clear and pure as she appeared on the surface.
The reason Otohime came across as naive and hazy was only because she lacked experience.
No matter how good the quality of a blank piece of paper, if it hasn't been painted on, it still can't compare to a finished masterpiece.
Otohime's current state was exactly like that blank sheet with nothing painted on it.
At present, she firmly believed that with her special ability and persuasive words, she could achieve mutual understanding among all people.
Rosse, on the other hand, wanted to tell her that just those weren't enough. She also needed to understand the root of conflict between people at the core.
Only such an Otohime would accept his ideology, transforming from a propaganda ambassador to a judge who stood at the peak and punished evil.
As for what "evil" is, that would have to be defined by his law.
"In the Holy Land, your laboratory is already ready. All my forces in the Holy Land will obey your orders. Whatever you want to do, I grant you full authority, even over those few people," Rosse gently embraced Sora, giving her the greatest possible permission.
The people he left behind in the Holy Land weren't many, just Rogue, Robin, and Olvia.
On this trip back, only Sora would be staying in the Holy Land.
Given Sora's abilities and her potential as a center of gravity, she was indeed very suitable to stay in the Holy Land as his anchor.
For that, he would gradually give Sora more and more authority.
"Don't worry, I'll fatten them up for you, nice and round," Sora teased.
"You know that's not what I meant," Rosse chuckled helplessly.
In reality, he didn't trust Olvia and Robin.
Recently, there had been reports that Olvia was becoming restless and wanted to go around the world collecting Poneglyphs.
Sora going back would also help keep an eye on Olvia.
Right now was not the time to let people out.
"I know. The story has already been compiled, based on real history and woven with the parts you want to modify. Now it just needs to be distributed to the world," Sora said softly.
"There's no rush with the story plot. This time back to the Holy Land, I'll finish carving all the Poneglyphs. The Holy Land has collected quite a few Poneglyph stones, just right for releasing all at once," Rosse said.
"Be careful. Olvia has seen the stones. If she sees them again, she might notice subtle differences," Sora reminded.
"Don't worry. These are stones collected over a hundred years ago. I won't make such a low-level mistake," Rosse laughed lightly.
For now, everything was within plan.
None of these plans would be implemented immediately. They would start to be gradually pushed forward after the next Levely.
Within the World Government, there were still many sources of resistance, which he needed to eliminate one by one.
At the very least, he had to rope in two more of the Five Elders to support that proposal.
Otherwise, with the highest elder's fear of Nika, he probably wouldn't allow this plan to move forward.
If this world doesn't descend into chaos, how can he test that one's strength?
He couldn't possibly go test it himself.
If he lost... wouldn't that be a joke?
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