Chapter 621

Chapter 621 is titled "Otohime and Tiger".

Cover
From the Decks of the World Vol. 8

"Syrup Village"

Quick Summary
A flashback to sixteen years ago, showing Otohime's compassion for the citizens and trying to get a petition signed to show, during Reverie, that fishmen want to live above the surface of the sea. The creation of the Sun Pirates and Jinbe's and Arlong's involvement are explained.

Long Summary
The chapter starts with a flashback that is introduced by Jinbe narrating. It takes place sixteen years ago. Someone is shouting out to a thief. The thief in question is now running away, holding a gun, and grabbing a mermaid out of the crowd to serve as a hostage. A ways away, Queen Otohime sees the commotion. The guards escorting her urge her to think about what she is doing, and it is not her job to get involved in peoples' problems, but rather theirs. The robber sees the queen approaching, but does not recognize her. He shoots at her, but the queen dodges the shots swiftly and easily, surprising the robber. The queen then slaps the thief at very high speed. Unfortunately, Otohime hurt her hand when she slapped him, and cried out in pain. The queen is then formally introduced as a goldfish mermaid as a doctor is called for. The doctor examines her hand and sees that it is a complex fracture. Queen Otohime tells the doctor to keep his opinions to himself as she runs toward the thief, who is surprised to realize that it was actually the queen who slapped him. She angrily asks him why he would resort to something as low as stealing. The thief angrily tells her to back off, saying that royalty like her would have no idea why. The man explains that he has ten children at home who are going hungry. Otohime slaps him again, saying that is all the more reason for him to be punished. The Minister of the Right begs Otohime to stop hitting him, as her body is weaker than the average person's. Otohime replies that she doesn't care, as she would break her hand in order to teach the man a lesson. She angrily yells at the man, asking him if his children would be truly happy being raised on stolen money and goods and he must show his children that they have to live by their own actions. She then becomes less aggressive, saying she would like to apologize. She begins crying, saying there is no way for her to empathize with the man. The pain of the man's heart's "voice is piercing her chest," as he had gone through so much out of desperation.

At this point, the man starts crying, saying he never wanted it to be like this. The man then explains that there was nothing he could do. Someone burned his shop to the ground and made off with all of his money. He is out of work as a result, up to his neck in debt, and unable to provide for his starving children. Otohime slaps him again, saying that is no excuse to resort to a life of crime. Stealing from others after he himself was robbed would only propel the cycle of suffering onto someone else. She then says she is sorry in spite of that, as she is part of the royal family that the people trust, so they must take responsibility as well. The man then exclaims that he is not worthy of her kind words. He then brightens up, promising to change and be a better man, even though he is not worthy of her pity. She tells the man she believes in him. This is met with tears and applause from all the people who witnessed the encounter. A fishman comments that they are lucky to have a royal family who would leave the palace just to take a walk around the town while two others comment how a single citizen would make her shed a tear, and how her practices are rather unconventional. Another man comments on how loved she is among the people, pointing out how popular she is with kids. Several kids are then seen running happily toward Otohime. The one in the lead has a rather large snot dangling from his nose. As soon as he gets close enough to Otohime, she slaps him for it, completely blindsiding him, saying she is doing it for his own good. She then tells him that he looks silly with snot hanging from only one nostril, and that he should have snot hang from both nostrils in the future in order to not look foolish. She holds the child who begins crying in her arms. An onlooker remarks how touching it is, and the guy next to him asks if he was serious.

Jinbe then narrates, saying that Otohime would often come down from the palace to address the people. Otohime then declares that Ryugu Kingdom is going to the surface. She says that humans look different, but they must not wait for them to understand fishmen and merfolk. The Ryugu Kingdom must make the first move toward equality. As she goes on, Jinbe is seen off to one side with two other guards. Otohime goes on to say that even though pirates are the only kind of humans that come to the island, they make up only a fraction of all humans. Humankind is still largely unknown to the people under the sea, even though the same sun shines on humas as it shines on them. She holds up a document, saying that Reverie has opened to them, and their intent to migrate can be told to the world. She then asks everyone to sign the petition for Ryugu Kingdom to enter Reverie. People politey refuse, even though she seems to ask constantly. Jinbe mutters that her campaigning is going nowhere, as history has spoken for the people already.

The scene changes to Ryugu Palace, where crying can be heard. Otohime locks pinky fingers with her four children. Otohime rests her head on the large and crying Shirahoshi, saying she overworked herself and came back late as a result, apologizing for it. She then comments that even though Shirahoshi has snot dripping from her nose, she still looks so adorable. A young Fukaboshi excitedly tells his mother that he and his brothers were with Shirahoshi, so she was okay. Ryuboshi and Manboshi respond in unison that she was just fine. Otohime thanks her sons. Manboshi then asks if her hand is alright. Otohime then declares that she will try to change the future to make the world a better place for her children to live in. Elsewhere, Neptune and the Minister of the Left are talking about the queen. The Minister asks why Otohime simply could not record a speech. Neptune responds that the Kenbunshoku Haki she has had since birth won't let her do that, since she believes "Distance makes the heart grow cold" and even he cannot change her mind about it. The Minister of the Left then reminds him there are a lot of human pirates on the island. He then reminds Neptune of the worst case scenario for Ryugu Kingdom's future, Whitebeard ending his protection. Neptune assures him that Otohime is well aware of what would happen. Neptune then adds that the world his wife dreams of goes back hundreds of years. Their distant ancestors tried to acheive the same thing but that it was nothing but a wasted dream that ended in regret, and that is all there is to it. The Minister of the Left is confused by his comment. Before he can enquire further, Neptune says that he cannot stop his wife from what she is doing, and asks the Minister of the Left to do his best to protect her. As he says this, Noah is seen behind him.

Sometime afterward, Otohime is out in public again, only someone is holding her petition. She begs him to give it back, saying that a lot of people had signed it. The man says he doesn't care about the number of signatures. A guard yells at the man to give it back, identifying him as none other than Arlong. Arlog grabs the guard by the neck, saying he wasn't exactly right. Arlong then introduces himself as Captain Arlong of the Arlong Pirates. He starts talking about how the people are living alongside human pirates but at the same time the Neptune Army is hunting pirates. He adds if the guard has anything to say he would have to pay Arlong first. Jinbe is seen a little ways away, remaining thoughtfully silent. The guard calls for Jinbe to help him. Arlong seems surprised to hear Jinbe's name. Jinbe then bluntly tells Arlong to let go of his new recruit, and that he doesn't care what is on the petition, but it is important to Otohime, and orders him to give it back. The citizens are relieved to see Jinbe. Arlong laughs at Jinbe's title of "Boss", asking where else he could find a mafia-like soldier. Jinbe orders Arlong to give the queen back the petition. He then throws the soldier to the floor. Arlong tells Jinbe not to get so worked up, since they are old friends from the orphan village, the Fishman District. Jinbe tells Arlong not to lump him in with that group, asking if he is still playing pirate, calling him scum. Arlong jokingly replies that Jinbe knows he is not scum, to which Jinbe asks if he is garbage. Someone then announces that Fisher Tiger has returned. Arlong and Jinbe forget their argument out of excitement to see their friend. Tiger comes up to them as people behind him cheer. He remarks that both Jinbe and Arlong are looking well. Jinbe comments that Tiger was gone for a long time. Tiger replies that a lot happened and that he has business at Ryugu Palace. Arlong invites him to check out his ship.

The narration starts again, explaining that the Fishman District back then was a giant orphanage. But corruption soon arrived. The area became a lawless place, drawing Fishman Island's outcasts toward it. At that time, Fisher Tiger, the oldest of the group, left to become an adventurer, Jinbe joined the army, Arlong became a pirate on the ocean floor, and Macro, who was considered the cruelest of the group, became a slave trader and kidnapped fishmen. Everyone went their own way. Then everyone heard that Fisher Tiger attacked Mariejois and freed the slaves there. Fisher Tiger gathered his old friends from the Fishman District and formed the Sun Pirates, branding the mark of the sun over the symbol of slavery. The Sun Pirates were very persistent. They sank countless Marine ships. Arlong is then seen yelling to Jinbe to leave a Marine alone, since he is already unconscious. Jinbe mutters to the Marine that they overlook slavery, but consider freeing slaves a crime. He then thinks about Otohime and comments how this is the "love" of humans. The chapter ends with the Sun Pirates standing over the defeated Marines.

Chapter Notes

 * The former Usopp Pirates make their first appearance after the timeskip.
 * Otohime makes her first appearance.
 * Jinbe used to be a member of the Neptune Army.
 * Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi are seen as children and Shirahoshi is seen as a baby for the first time. Even as a baby, Shirahoshi is larger than her mother and brothers.
 * Otohime, like Aisa, was a Kenbunshoku Haki user since birth.
 * It is revealed that the large ship seen in the Fishman District is hundreds of years old and it was part of an attempt to move into the human world.
 * The Fishman District used to be an orphanage.
 * It is revealed that Arlong already formed his crew before he joined Fisher Tiger.
 * It is revealed that Jinbe was 30 years old when he joined the Sun Pirates and Arlong was 25, Fisher Tiger was older than both.
 * Shirahoshi was shown as an infant in this chapter, which took place sixteen years ago, making her at least 16 years old in the present.

Characters
1: first introduction 2: first appearance

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Otohime to Tiger