"Let's get back to the main story. The protagonist of this tale about finding his family is a Negro. His family earns their living by planting cotton for others."

Cotton... Faust thought for a moment and decisively shut his mouth.

"This Negro lost his mother when he was young."

"His mother passed away?" Faust asked subconsciously.

"No, she was kidnapped."

"What happened? Who kidnapped her?" Faust inquired further.

"Well, actually, his parents are a pair of gay men."

"That's just so correct," Faust commented instinctively, but then, feeling his remark might be inappropriate, he decisively shut his mouth again.

He actually wanted to ask, since the Negro's parents were a pair of male homosexuals, where did the Negro come from? But that question was even more incorrect, impossible to ask.

However, Li Ang seemed to have seen through his thoughts and smiled, "The Negro wasn't a freebie with a soda purchase or found in a garbage pile. One day, his dad was swimming in the river when he spotted a large watermelon floating downstream. After fishing it out and cutting it open, he found a 1.8-meter-tall baby lying inside."

Faust, a commoner from Hamelin Town, had never heard the story of Momotaro, but that didn't stop him from commenting, "A baby 1.8 meters tall? Does this protagonist have Giant blood in him?"

Li Ang sneered and glanced at him askance, "What? Do you discriminate against Giants?"

"Not at all, I wouldn't dare," Faust said, shaking his head like a rattle-drum. Under the reign of Her Majesty the Snow Queen, what used to be considered 'monsters' or 'Magical Beasts' now also had human rights.

In the Rune Kingdom Capital, countless 'Minority Intelligent Species Rights Protection Committees' had been set up. These committees fought for the rights of Goblins, Ogres, Giant Creatures, Dog-headed Men, Man-eating Gryphons, and similar species.

Discriminating against Dog-headed Men was considered a serious crime in the Rune Kingdom, just like discriminating against people of African descent.

"As long as there's no discrimination, that's good."

Li Ang nodded and continued, "This young Negro's father was the son of the local chieftain, and his mother was a commoner from the tribe. The couple was deeply in love. However, the chieftain, who was narrow-minded and extreme, kidnapped his own son, preventing the couple from being together.

So, actually, it was his father who was kidnapped; his father *is* his mother."

"What is all this mess?!" Faust's eyes twitched, unsure what expression to make.

"Anyway, that's the gist of it," Li Ang spread his hands. "His mother had told him since childhood that no matter what, he had to find his father.

So, he practiced all sorts of martial arts from a young age and quickly became an excellent cotton planter in the village."

So what's the connection between martial arts and planting cotton! Faust was already subconsciously providing his automatic commentary.

"This year, he finally turned eighteen and felt he had the ability to go on a great adventure to find his father from his grandfather—who was also his grandmother."

"That's not easy at all."

"Of course not," Li Ang said. "Before he left, he received several magical items from his mother: a watermelon, another watermelon, and yet another watermelon."

"Aren't those all watermelons?"

"Not the same," Li Ang stated confidently. "These three watermelons have different functions. One watermelon was large and round, hollow inside; it could be crawled into at night to serve as a sleeping bag.

Another watermelon, round and flat, was sturdy and reliable; if necessary, it could be thrown like a discus, serving as a weapon.

The third watermelon, square and flat, possessed great toughness; it could be hung at his waist as an African drum, allowing him to walk while drumming and singing. The repertoire of songs was also very rich, with titles like 'I Really Want to Plant for Another 500 Years' and 'Fetching Cotton from the West.'"

Following the traditional comic dialogue routine, Faust, as the straight man, should now have chimed in with, In that case, why don't you give us a taste of that tune?

However, since Faust was neither a professional straight man nor dared to ask further, he could only look up at the sky speechlessly, pretending nothing had happened.

Still, the straight man's lack of cooperation didn't stop Li Ang from performing solo.

Li Ang slammed the table and started singing ballads to the various theme songs from Journey to the West: "Negro, Negro, you are truly formidable, cotton fields can't hold you down, grape soda really quenches the thirst.

Slave ship, sailing west, carrying Hey Negro and three Mestizos, working in the plantation fields, toiling from dawn till the sun set in the west."

Faust swore that if he weren't likely no match for the other man, he would have fought this Eastern Monk to the death (to prove he had nothing to do with racial discrimination).

Having finished the song, Li Ang continued, "So, the young Negro, singing this ballad to bolster his courage, boarded the slave ship bound for the Rune Kingdom."

"Wait, wait, wait," Faust couldn't help but ask, "How did he end up on a slave ship? Wasn't he going to find his father?"

Li Ang spread his hands. "Right, his father had taken a slave ship to this land a long time ago, in response to the talent acquisition programs of various regions, to live a good life."

"..."

The expression on Faust's face was constipated; he simply had no idea what to say next.

"The young Negro had heard that his father found a good job in an institution somewhere in the north of the Rune Kingdom," Li Ang said with a smile.

"The person in charge of that institution is especially kind-hearted. He believes that current residents of African descent shouldn't just rely on subsidies to get by. Instead, they need to learn something, acquire a skill, be able to earn a living, support their families, and provide a better educational environment for their children."

"Hm..."

Faust hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, "...That actually sounds quite reasonable."

At this point in the story, an intersection with the world of the script mission had already occurred, and Faust was uncertain about how to respond.

"You think so, right?" Li Ang waved his hand towards all the onlookers. "That institution, which you all might not have heard of, works just like the original plantation model. It also relies on residents of African descent to labor night and day for their white masters, earning money. Furthermore, the high-performing residents of African descent could even be freely bought and sold, and transported to other institutions."

"That's impossible!" Faust asserted decisively. "Under Her Majesty the Snow Queen's call, no one can oppress our African brothers and sisters, let alone buy and sell them! Even if such a thing really existed, it would surely face opposition and be struck down by everyone. It simply couldn't exist!"

"You don't get it, do you?"

Li Ang said with a laugh, "The name of that institution—which, like plantations, relies on African workers selling their labor to make money—is called the NBA. That stands for National Basketball Association, a commercial organization that hires people to play basketball."

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