Chapter 610

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 did not 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 Hyouzou, a poison blue-ringed octopus merman, and an assassin for the New Fish-Man Pirates. Hyouzou 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 a prisoner. It is now broken open with no sign of Caribou. The scene changes to the back of the Mermaid Cafe.

Camie is talking to her boss, Madam Shyarly, who was asking about Sanji’s well being. Camie thanks her for letting them borrow a room, and then asks Madam Shyarly 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. Camie tells her that Chopper told her they would be in big trouble if Sanji found out where he was. Madam Shyarly comments on the irregularity of Chopper and Camie’s requests.

Luffy and Usopp find Shyarly’s crystal ball, which she tells them not to touch. Camie explains to them that Shyarly is a fortune teller, and is rather well known. Shyarly however, states that she is retired, as the future is better left unknown. Luffy then asks her “So, do mermaids poop?”, and Usopp asks why he used “so” in his question. This angers Shyarly who calls Luffy a vulgar child.

Camie quickly tell him to apologize, which he did. Shyarly then tells Camie to take the rest of the day off and show her friends the island. She says not to worry about the influx of human pirate customers, as she has enough hired help to start handling the crowd. The “star” part of the word “start” make Camie remember Pappag, and how she had to deliver a clam to him. Shyarly tells her that Pappag is in the cafe, making a ruckus about some old friend of his.

After leaving the room, Camie tells the Straw Hats about some of Madam Shyarly’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, Camie 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 Pappag is inside. That friend that Pappag was talking about turned out to be Brook. Pappag 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. Pappag interrupts, saying he was about to show Brook his estate. Pappag entices Luffy with sea monster meat, saying it is a staple of his diet and he always has a lot in his house. Camie gives him the Orient clam, which delights the starfish.

Usopp was confused since it was a shellfish. Camie explained that fish-men 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. Pappag 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. Pappag explained that it started with Vander Decken IX 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. Camie 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. Pappag tries to interrupt her, saying he had just been explaining that. Camie 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. Pappag 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 Fish-Man Island and died. The ship they saw was the real Flying Dutchman, but the captain was his grandson (Camie interrupts here again to finish the story, leaving Pappag 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 Camie if that is how her fins will looks when she reaches age 30, to which she replies yes.

Luffy then sees a fish-man dad with an older fish-man child and a merman baby. Luffy remarked how fun the variety in sizes and colors of each species. Pappag explains that when a Fish-Man and Mermaid marry, they could either have a baby that is Merman/maid or Fish-Man/woman, so there are four types of patterns. As they are about to get on a highway, Luffy asks about something in the distance. Pappag replies that it is the Candy Factory.

Luffy asks why there is a pirate flag on it. Pappag 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 Mom, the Emperor. Pappag explains that after the war, Big Mom started protecting the island since Whitebeard had died. In return for her protection, she demands a large amount of candy every month. Camie explains that the island is so dangerous that they need something big protecting it, otherwise, the government could not function.

Luffy thinks Big Mom must be nice if she decided to protect Fish-Man Island. Pappag said that Whitebeard did not require collateral, and that Big Mom might be looking at it from a business perspective. Luffy says she is one of the Four Emperors, 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 Pappag’s house. Back in Coral Hill, Madame Shyarly 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. Shyarly 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 Fish-Man Island would be destroyed by Luffy’s hand.