Chapter 251: Tiger
On Fish-Man Island.
Jiang Qize was strolling alone through the streets.
Fish-Man Island was enormous. As far as the eye could see, the buildings were formed from gigantic corals or rocky shells. These houses were very large, each with numerous windows, making it clear that more than one family lived inside.
Mermaids rarely came ashore. Most of them swam through the rivers that ran along both sides of the streets.
As Jiang Qize walked along the road, those ugly fish-men all looked at him with eyes full of disgust.
These fish-men didn't like humans, but it hadn't reached the level of hatred.
That was because Tiger had not yet become the spiritual leader of the fish-men—he was still off adventuring somewhere, no one knew where.
"Another ugly human again. I really don't understand why the king lets humans in. Just a bunch of weak cowards, not even as strong as us."
"Exactly. Just looking at them makes me want to beat them up."
"Hmph, so short and ugly, yet the queen wants us to live in peace with these humans."
Several fish-men openly examined Jiang Qize with looks of disgust and discussed him without any restraint.
The corner of Jiang Qize's mouth lifted.
Once he proclaimed himself emperor, this place would belong to him.
When that time came, he would let them see what true cruelty was.
At present, Fish-Man Island had not yet become an affiliated nation of the World Government, so there were no Marines stationed here.
Of course, Whitebeard had not yet planted his flag here either.
Before he knew it, he arrived at a somewhat rundown street.
There were no mermaids here at all—only fish-men, of all shapes and kinds.
They were holding various weapons in their hands.
When Jiang Qize stepped into this area, the fish-men all stood up one after another, their eyes filled with ferocity as they looked down at him from above.
"Human, this isn't a place you should be coming to!"
A shark fish-man glared at him and said viciously.
"Get lost and go back!"
The other fish-men also shouted at him with fierce expressions.
"Arlong, what are you doing?"
Suddenly, a deep, powerful voice rang out.
At that moment, a fish-man stepped forward. He wore a headscarf, had thick, curly hair, a wide mouth, and a full beard. His skin was a blazing red, his body extremely tall and imposing, and right in the center of his chest was a sun-shaped mark.
"Boss Tiger!"
"Boss Tiger!"
The other fish-men all turned around and called out respectfully.
"Boss, this human…" Arlong shot Jiang Qize a glare.
"Arlong, I've said it before… humans are friendly. We can't treat our friends like this."
Tiger scolded him.
Arlong curled his lips, clearly unconvinced.
"Human friend, sorry about that."
Tiger shifted his gaze to Jiang Qize and spoke.
Jiang Qize looked at him, a gleam flashing in his eyes.
So this was the hero of Fish-Man Island… he really did look… quite unique.
"You're the fish-man adventurer, Fisher Tiger?" Jiang Qize asked with a smile, even though he already knew the answer.
"You know me?"
Tiger's eyes lit up.
He had been to many places and knew that humans in many lands were filled with fear and disgust toward fish-men. But he also knew that most humans were kind at heart, so he did not hate humans.
"Of course I do."
"Hahaha! Friend, how about coming to my place for a drink?"
Hearing that a human knew him and didn't dislike him made Tiger very happy.
"Sure."
Jiang Qize agreed.
He wanted to see whether Tiger was worth investing in.
In the future, he would definitely control Fish-Man Island just as he had controlled Skypiea. If Tiger turned out to be a decent person, he might save him later on.
As for giving him a dinosaur Devil Fruit in advance?
Don't joke—if that happened, the future Pirate Empress would probably never even be born, lost in some unknown corner of the world.