GR translation: feel less than a stranger

[Mike Jing]

P33.39-P34.3   Pirate wants Their trust, the
good-whisky-and-cured-Latakia scent of Their rough love. He wants
understanding from his own lot, not these bookish sods and
rationalized freaks here at Snoxall’s so dedicated to Science, so
awfully tolerant that this (he regrets it with all his heart) may be
the only place in the reach of war’s empire that he does feel less
than a stranger. . . .

What does it mean that "he does feel less than a stranger"?  And why
does he regret it?