Chapter 610

Chapter 610 is titled "Fortune-Teller Madame Shirley".

Cover
The cover title is called "Under the Direction of Siamese Cats, Vivi Sweats While Cleaning the Royal Bath", requested by Hattori Jean-Baptiste Akira, WSJ editor.

Quick Summary
After suffering massive blood loss, Sanji awakens in one of Madame Shirley's rooms after receiving a blood transfusion from two okama. Chopper notices Luffy was poisoned by Hyozo, but thanks to his fight with Magellan, Luffy's body has built up a natural immunity to the poison. The crew reunites with Brook and meets Pappug. They learn more about Vander Decken. Big Mam is now protecting Fishman Island. Shirley foresees that a man in a torn straw hat will destroy the entire island.

Long Summary
The chapter starts in the port town of Coral Hill. Sanji is waking up after having received donor blood. He asks where he is and Keimi tells him he is at her friend's house. Chopper collapses face first on the bed, saying how happy he is to have found donor blood. Sanji, confused by Chopper's talk about blood, sits up while asking what happened. Keimi quickly tells him to lie back down. Luffy, sprawled out in a chair, asks why no Fishman would help them, saying they had been all over the island, going on to say he thought Sanji was a goner. Sanji, touched by his friends' selflessness, thanks them. He then tries to remember what happened to put him in such a state, but has difficulty with it. Luffy and Usopp implore him to stop remembering, as he will lose blood again and there would be nothing they could do to help him again. Usopp points to a curtain where only a hand is visible, saying they found the donor at a pub. From behind the curtain, Sanji hears a feminine voice. He then asks if they took the blood from a fragile young lady. Usopp pulls back the curtain to reveal two okama, the pirate twins Splash and Splatter. One of them even offers him more blood if it was necessary. Sanji screams and foams at the mouth in shock. While Usopp is telling Sanji to thank them, Chopper realizes that Luffy had been poisoned, noticing the entry point on his arm. Chopper is amazed at how Luffy didn't react at all to such a deadly poison and that he already had antibodies to counter it. Luffy remembers Magellan's poisons almost killing him in Impel Down and gives that as the reason for his immunity. Luffy remembers the merman with the sword and the octopus legs, and attributes the poison to him, saying he seems strong.

The scene then changes to the merman in question. He is carrying the unconscious bodies of Hammond and the unnamed ally. The man Luffy was referring to is named Hyozo, a poison blue-ringed octopus merman, and an assassin for the New Fishman Pirates. Hyozo hears a scream coming from the cove. He just thinks it is noisy Mermaids having fun. A mermaid says that the scream came from Ishilly's group. Another Mermaid said she had heard it from where she was, and that Ishilly had mentioned something about opening a barrel. The barrel in question was the barrel that was keeping Caribou prisoner. It is now broken open with no sign of Caribou.

The scene changes to the back of the Mermaid Cafe. Keimi is talking to her boss, Madame Shirley, who was asking about Sanji's well being. Keimi thanks her for letting them borrow a room, and then asks Madame Shirley not to go in to see Sanji as she is beautiful, therefore dangerous to Sanji. She also asks her to keep it a secret from Sanji that he is in the back of the Mermaid Cafe. Keimi tells her that Chopper told her they would be in big trouble if Sanji found out where he was. Madame Shirley comments on the irregularity of Chopper and Keimi's requests. Luffy and Usopp find Shirley's crystal ball, which she tells them not to touch. Keimi explains to them that Shirley is a fortune teller, and was rather well known. Shirley however, said that she was retired, as the future was better left unknown. Luffy then asks her "So, do mermaids poop?", and Usopp asks why he used "so" in his question. This angered Shirley who called Luffy a vulgar child. Keimi quickly told him to apologize, which he did. Shirley then tells Keimi to take the rest of the day off and show her friends the island. She said not to worry about the influx of human pirate customers, as she had enough hired help to start handling the crowd. The "star" part of the word "start" made Keimi remember Pappug, and how she had to deliver a clam to him. Shirley tells her that Pappug is in the cafe, making a ruckus about some old friend of his. After leaving the room, Keimi tells the Straw Hats about some of Madame Shirley's famous predictions, such as predicting the Great Age of Pirates one year ahead of time. She also accurately predicted the war at Marineford and Whitebeard's death. Because of her accuracy at predicting disasters, she has come to hate her ability to see the future. She takes them to the main street of Coral Hill and the front entrance of the Mermaid Cafe. When Luffy stated how hungry he was, Keimi said they have cakes, sea fruits, and shellfish, but no meat in the sense Luffy was thinking. Usopp tries to distract Luffy from his bitterness about the lack of meat by reminding him Pappug is inside.

That friend that Pappug was talking about turned out to be Brook. Pappug was glad to see Luffy and Usopp. Brook has a mermaid on either side of him. One of them kisses him on the cheek, telling him to come back soon, saying the whole time he was there was like a dream come true. After telling them he will be back, brook launches into a slew of his bone jokes, bodily jokes, and already dead jokes. Usopp was surprised by Brook's excitement. Pappug interrupts, saying he was about to show Brook his estate. Pappug entices Luffy with sea monster meat, saying it is a staple of his diet and he always has a lot in his house. Keimi gives him the Orient clam, which delights the starfish. Usopp was confused since it was a shellfish. Keimi explained that fishmen can eat meat and fish while mermaids cannot. Luffy is relieved to hear there is meat on the island after all. As they call a taxi, Brook notices a wanted poster of Vander Decken. Pappug was surprised that the crew had met him, telling them he is like a bandit of the sea floor and the whole country has been searching for him for years. He then tells them to get on the taxi.

Pappug explained that it started with Vander Decken sending a letter once a week to the Mermaid Princess. The letters eventually became packages which eventually became threatening marriage proposals. The princess became too scared to ignore him any longer. Keimi chimes in, adding that her father, King Neptune, became angry and had his three sons form an army. They have been searching for him without any success. Pappug tries to interrupt her, saying he had just been explaining that. Keimi summarizes it by saying that the Mermaid Princess is the younger sister to the three princes, and King Neptune is the father of all four of them. Brook then says he wants to hear about how Vander Decken, a pirate who was cursed hundreds of years ago, plays into it. Pappug explained that legends tend to get exaggerated, but that the "mad captain" known as Vander Decken really did exist. The legend had it that he came to Fishman Island and died. The ship they saw was the real Flying Dutchman, but the captain was his grandson (Keimi interrupts here again to finish the story, leaving Pappug in despair), Vander Decken IX. Brook makes another joke about how seeing Vander Decken nearly scared the life right out of him.

Luffy then redirects the conversation by pointing out how a mermaid has split fins similar to Kokoro's. He asks Keimi if that is how her fins will looks when she reaches age 30, to which she replies yes. Luffy then sees a fisman dad with an older fishman child and a merman baby. Luffy remarked how fun the variety in sizes and colors of each species. Pappug explains that when a Fishman and Mermaid marry, they could either have a baby that is Merman/maid or Fishman/woman, so there are four types of patterns. As they are about to get on a highway, Luffy asks about something in the distance. Pappug replies that it is the Candy Factory. Luffy asks why there is a pirate flag on it. Pappug tells him there is a similar one at the entrance to port, as the island is now under the protection of Charlotte Linlin, also known as Big Mam, the Yonkou. Pappug explains that after the war, Big Mam started protecting the island since Whitebeard had died. In return for her protection, she demands a large amount of candy every month. Keimi explains that the island is so dangerous that they need something big protecting it, otherwise, the government could not function. Luffy thinks Big Mam must be nice if she decided to protect Fishman Island. Pappug said that Whitebeard did not require collateral, and that Big Mam might be looking at it from a business perspective. Luffy says she is one of the Yonkou, like Shanks, and wonders if he will ever meet her some day. Their taxi then arrives in Gyoverly Hills, where everyone is amazed by the size of Pappug's house. Back in Coral Hill, Madame Shirley is making a scene outside, saying something is going to be catastrophic. Everyone is asking her what is wrong. She tells them to go and find the pirate wearing a straw hat (Luffy) and send him out of the country at once. A man asks what is going on and if she saw something in her crystal ball. Shirley explains that she did not mean to see it, but she felt something from Luffy which prompted her to look into the future. Hiding her head in her hands, she says she hopes she is wrong. The fortune foretold that Fishman Island would be destroyed by Luffy's hand.

Chapter Notes

 * Vivi is shown for the first time after the timeskip, even though she is on a cover.
 * Madame Shirley, the owner of the Mermaid Cafe, is introduced.
 * Sanji survives thanks to a pair of okama, Splash and Splatter, much to his horror.
 * It is revealed that Luffy has an immunity to poisons after what happened in Impel Down.
 * Hyozo, the blue-ringed octopus merman who has been seen accompanying Hammond, is named.
 * Caribou escapes from the barrel and kidnaps a mermaid named Ishilly.
 * Luffy and Usopp reunite with Brook and Pappug.
 * The Vander Decken that the Straw Hat Pirates met is Vander Decken IX, a wanted criminal of Fishman Island and the descendant of the Vander Decken from the legend, who died on Fishman Island.
 * Vander Decken IX is revealed to routinely sends the Mermaid Princess threatening marriage proposals.
 * King Neptune, the father of the Shirahoshi, Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi, is mentioned for the first time.
 * The Mermaid Princess is revealed to be the youngest sibling of the Neptune Family.
 * Big Mam is revealed to be the new protector of Fishman Island, demanding candy as payment.
 * Big Mam's real name is revealed to be Charlotte Linlin.
 * Madame Shirley foresees an individual with a straw hat destroying Fishman Island, claiming it to be Luffy.

Characters
1: first introduction

2: first appearance

Arc Navigation
Uranaishi Madam Shyari