One Piece Chapter 649: Dance of Sea Breams and Flounders

The human pirates who had been trapped on Fishman Island celebrate as soon as Hody is beaten. They shout, "Woohoooooooo!!!" "All right!!! We're free!!!" and "That damn Hody got what he deserved!!!" One cries, "Ahhhh...!! I thought I was doomed to a life of slavery...!!" Some already talk like new pirates again: "Now to become the Pirate King!!" and "Finally, we can sail on to the New World!!!" Neptune does not share their mood. Asked whether he fears resentment for Hody, he answers that this is not what they should be thinking about now. Fishman Island has long been a tourist attraction and resting place for the pirates of the world, and there is no reason to keep the visitors any longer.

Neptune addresses the remaining followers of the New Fishman Pirates. Some beg, "Aahhhh!! Please don't behead us!! Anything but that!!" and insist, "We didn't know anything about Hody killing the queen!! Those guys were crazy, I tell you!!!" Neptune says, "Now, then... From now on, you will live here, on Fishman Island proper." The crowd erupts: "What?!" One man protests, "You mean we have to live by the laws of the kingdom?!" Another replies, "Sounds good to me. Better than being ruled by Hody..." but a minister objects that they cannot have brutes freely walking their streets and that children would be too scared to leave the house.

Neptune makes the sentence clear. The criminals will be placed under direct supervision of the Neptune Army and made to do honest work, their considerable physical strength put to good use. As for the lawless Fishman District, "where this trouble began," Neptune declares that from this day forth it will be "sealed off entirely!!!" The narration names Hody Jones as "the pirate Hody Jones, true assassin of Queen Otohime," and as "embodiment of the darkness that haunts the whole fishman race." Hody failed in his attempt to conquer Fishman Island, his ambitions crushed by human pirates visiting the island. The only loose thread is practical: where is Straw Hat Luffy?

The Straw Hats have already left the plaza, riding away in a bubble lift. Sanji asks why they all left as if running from something, after making "a giant spectacle fighting like that in front of the whole damn country." Zoro says if they had hung around, the people might have made them out to be heroes, and just the thought makes him shudder. Nami asks, "Do you not like the idea of being heroes?" Zoro answers with his logic: a hero shares his drink with everyone else, while he wants to drink his own booze. Nami snaps, "Seriously, what's up with this logic you people have?!!!" and shouts, "Why would you say no, Jinbe?!! C'mon, let's go adventuring together!!!"

The crew presses Jinbe to accept Luffy's invitation. Someone says, "Yeah, you should join the crew, boss-man!!" and Chopper adds, "It would be awesome to have a former Shichibukai on the crew!" but Jinbe stops them: "I'm saying it's just not possible right now, that's all!" He is grateful for the invitation and says it would be a great pleasure to travel with them, but there are things remaining that he must do. His current position and this incident were only a necessary detour. Once he fulfills his duty and is free of such constraints, he promises to find Luffy again wherever he may be. If Luffy still feels the same way, Jinbe hopes for another invitation to join the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy tells him, "You'd better keep that promise!!"

The Straw Hats accept Jinbe's answer. Franky says, "A friend of Luffy's is a friend of ours. We're all waiting for you, Jinbe!" Nami smiles, while Zoro, Brook, Robin, and Sanji agree in their own ways. Robin says Luffy certainly likes Jinbe a lot, and Sanji warns them not to pressure the man while he is speaking about duty and honour. Before the crew can leave, Ryugu Palace catches up with their ship. A messenger calls, "Please wait, pirates of the Straw Hat crew!! Your Majesty, we have caught up with their ship!" Neptune says, "I see," and invites them properly: "Luffy-kun!!! We still owe you a proper banquet - will you not join us?!" Luffy immediately brightens: "A banquet?! All right! Let's go get Hachi and Camie!"

The aftermath spreads across Fishman Island. The Fishman District is shown sealed off, while the leading members of the New Fishman Pirates and Van der Decken are locked securely away in the Prison Tower at Ryugu Palace. Their rebellion has ended not with a glorious execution but with containment and judgment. The island begins physically and politically closing the places where hatred had gathered.

At the Fishman Island main entrance, the captured Kraken carries Wadatsumi away. The guards shout, "We're counting on you, Kraken!! Take him as far away as you can!!" and warn Wadatsumi, "We don't have a prison big enough for you, Wadatsumi... but you're forbidden from entering this country ever again!!" Elsewhere on Coral Hill, preparations for the Straw Hats' banquet begin. Workers ask, "How's the haul?!" and answer, "Fantastic!!!" They prepare cakes, sweet snacks, drink supplies, and huge servings of sea-monster meat. Someone says, "I hear they're holding a massive banquet with the Straw Hats as honoured guests!!" and another replies, "Leave it to me!!"

At Ryugu Palace, Neptune formally welcomes the Straw Hats: "I must thank you all for coming, Luffy and friends!!" He says there is much to discuss, but that can wait until after the banquet, and invites them to ride special flounders to the banquet hall. Luffy wakes on a fish-shaped platform in a pitch-black room full of water and asks, "Where's the meat?" and "What is this place?" Someone explains, "It's a pitch-black room full of water!" The others are uneasy, but the stage is right ahead, packed full of soldiers. When the lights rise, the room becomes a performance hall and the heroes arrive to applause. Luffy still insists, "The meat is all mine!!"

The banquet begins with music and spectacle. The announcer presents "Fishman Island's greatest diva... Maria Napole!!" Her voice makes the audience melt away, and Brook cries that it echoes through his very soul. The swing jazz orchestra plays, and the Mermaid Cafe dancers arrive as special guests. The men lose control at their beauty. Someone says, "They say men who gaze upon their beauty might even forget to breathe!!" while another yells, "Calm down!!!" The stage turns into a full celebration, mixing music, dancers, and the island's gratitude toward the Straw Hats.

Ryugu Palace erupts into a full banquet. Neptune commands, "Bring on the food!!" and "Eat, drink, sing, dance and be merry!!!" Mermaids and fishmen swim and dance through the water-filled hall, trays of food sweep past, and the Straw Hats join the chaos. Luffy eats, the crew drinks, dancers whirl through the hall, and the soldiers and citizens celebrate together. It is the first moment after the battle where the island breathes as one, with no trial, prison, or falling ship in the foreground.

The entertainment continues with song and dancing. Maria Napole sings "Dancing of Breams" and "Plaices!" while Luffy cries, "Oh!" and watches the performance with delight. Mermaids swirl around the tables, Brook and Chopper are carried along by the mood, and even the usually serious guests relax into the music. The page is a series of small banquet moments: food, instruments, dancers, laughter, and the Straw Hats being accepted as guests rather than feared as human pirates.

The banquet fills the palace with music and motion. Shirahoshi smiles over the room, Luffy celebrates with mugs and food, Jinbe sits among the guests, and Neptune watches the hall restored to joy. Brook keeps performing, Sanji reacts to the mermaids, and the plates keep coming. The wordless panels let the party carry the feeling: the Straw Hats are no longer merely saviors in battle, but people being welcomed, fed, and celebrated inside Ryugu Palace.

Robin leaves the noise of the banquet and approaches Neptune privately. Neptune notices her and says, "Uwiihhh... so what did you want to speak about... young pirate lady?" Robin apologizes, saying this seemed like the best opportunity to speak alone. She asks, "Who exactly is 'Joyboy'?" She explains that she read the Poneglyph in the Ocean Forest and asks who Joyboy is apologising to, and for what. Neptune is startled that she can read it. Robin says, "I am a survivor of Ohara. If you don't want to tell me, then I will ask no more." Neptune answers that her crew has earned his trust and will tell her what he knows.

Neptune explains Joyboy. The man known as Joyboy lived in the surface world during the Blank Century, eight hundred years ago at least, and the passage was addressed to a mermaid princess who lived on Fishman Island at that time. It is said to be an apology for breaking a promise Joyboy made with Fishman Island, though the details are not clear. A legend passed down along the royal line says that one day an individual will appear to fulfill the promise in Joyboy's place. Trusting that legend, Neptune and his predecessors protected Noah for generations. That is their side of the promise: once the promised day arrives, the great ship Noah will finally fulfill its purpose.

Robin connects the legend to what happened above the island. She says she heard that, once the incident was over, the heavily damaged Noah was carried away to the Ocean Forest by Sea Kings. She asks whether Joyboy had some kind of ability to control the Sea Kings. Neptune says no: it was not Joyboy who possessed that power, but the mermaid princess to whom he apologised. As he suspected, Princess Shirahoshi has the same power and appears to have fully awakened it for the first time today. Robin then reveals that two years earlier, on an island in the sky, she read a Poneglyph that told of the location of an Ancient Weapon and indicated that the weapon was here, on Fishman Island. She asks whether the mermaid princess who lived in Joyboy's era could have been known by that name.

Neptune finishes the revelation. "In which case... Princess Shirahoshi, who has inherited the same power, should also by rights inherit this same name." In the banquet hall, Shirahoshi smiles innocently, unaware of the historical weight gathering around her. Neptune names it: Princess Shirahoshi is also known as "the Ancient Weapon... Poseidon." Robin stands in the foreground as the truth lands, and the chapter turns the joyful banquet into a dangerous secret about the power sleeping inside the princess.

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