One Piece Chapter 653: The Hero's Hat

At Mermaid Cafe on Coral Hill, the mermaids tell Madame Shyarly that Luffy and his friends are leaving Fishman Island soon. Shyarly answers, "I see. You should go and see them off." The mermaids ask if she will go too, and she says, "Will do!" but the cafe still needs cleaning. Shyarly says that with Hody out of the way, customers should return soon enough, and she needs everyone's help making the cafe enjoyable again. Camie notices Shyarly stepping away and calls, "Madame!" while the others tell her, "Leave it to us, Madame!!"

Shyarly stands before the shattered crystal ball and says she is done with fortune-telling. The prophecy she once saw was "Straw Hat Luffy causing the destruction of Fishman Island," a future she would rather never have seen. She admits, "If my foretelling was wrong, just this once... then nothing would make me happier." Camie defends Luffy, saying he would never do such a thing. One of the mermaids explains that Shyarly's prophecies have never failed before, but that they are imprecise about timing: a vision might happen the next day, a year later, or even longer. Shyarly apologizes for doubting Camie's friend and says they can now trust "the Straw Hat boy." Camie brightens and answers, "That's right...!!"

At the harbor, Shirahoshi cannot hold back her tears. She cries, "Uwaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!! Are you really all going to leave the island already, Luffy-sama?!" She begs them to stay another day, another week, even another year, because they have only just properly become friends. Chopper points out that she really does end up crying every time they see her, and Shirahoshi apologizes, promising to stop being such a crybaby. Sanji is moved to tears by the sight of the mermaid princess crying at their departure and says they should stay another year after all. Brook sings that she could wake up bright and early and say "Good mor-ningyo!" but Sanji snaps at him for calling her "nosebleed-kun" and "marimo-head" gets thrown into the argument with Zoro.

The crew's chaotic farewell continues. Sanji tells the ship's cook he will teach him what happens if he makes an enemy of the cook, while another voice challenges him to bring on anything "from poison to razor blades." Meanwhile, Neptune and the ministers still worry about the Tamatebako. The Minister of the Right thinks they ought to tell the Straw Hats there was a bomb concealed in the box Luffy sent as a gift to Big Mom, but Neptune says they cannot possibly break the news now that the box has already gone. Someone hopes Big Mom will forgive them if they promise to give her all the treasure they ever find, while Robin asks whether the bomb might fail to go off. The royal palace chooses cautious optimism: maybe, in such a humid palace, the bomb could already be useless, and there is no guarantee Big Mom will open it herself.

Nami receives a strange new Log Pose. It has three separate needles, and the minister explains that it is for use in the New World. He warns, "Trust me, you don't want to try voyaging with only a single needle to guide you...!" Nami is told to compare it with the Log Pose she used along the first half of the Grand Line. Her old log seems settled, but one needle on the new pose is still moving. The minister explains that from here on, all logs will settle within half a day. The new device is not decorative; it is necessary because the seas ahead are far more dangerous and unstable than anything they have navigated so far.

The minister explains the New World navigation rules. In the Grand Line, the crew could proceed by allowing a single Log Pose to attune to the magnetic field of the next island, but in the New World "even the magnetic fields cannot always be trusted." Sometimes the next island's magnetic field may vanish entirely while they are out in open water, leaving them unable to reach their destination. Nami asks what the point is of having three needles. The answer is that each of the three needles on the Log Pose will attune to a different island in the waters ahead. One needle is moving shakily, just like the old Log Pose, while the other two appear stable.

The three-needle Log Pose forces navigators to choose between three possible courses. The minister says, "Which course to follow is for your instincts to decide. But the decision can mean the difference between life and death!" Skilled navigators use the slight movements of the individual needles to deduce the safest route. As a basic rule, the more unstable the needle, the more dangerous that path is likely to be, because an unstable needle suggests something is disrupting the magnetic field around that island. Usopp, Brook, and Chopper beg Nami not to seek the safest route if she does not have the backbone, while Luffy suddenly grabs Nami and the Log Pose, excited to see for himself.

Luffy chooses the most dangerous option instantly. He looks at the shaky needle and says, "I like the look of that island in the middle with the really shaky needle! We should go there!!!" Nami screams, "Noooooooo!!!" and the rest of the crew realizes, "He was listening!!!" Nami protests that deciding where they go has nothing to do with Luffy because she is the one who decides the route. Luffy shouts, "Don't be stupid!! I'm the captain!!!" while the others beg the captain to listen to the navigator. Franky asks if everyone is ready to set sail and says he is clear on how to take them up. Luffy grins and gives the order: "Let's go!!!"

As the ship prepares to leave, the people of Fishman Island call after the Straw Hats. One fishman says he will help with the repairs at the factory and asks if the crew will be okay without a guide. Luffy answers that they will be fine because they managed to have fun adventures on the way there. Someone praises that spirit as the true way of a man who follows his own path "into the jaws of hell," while others worry the crew is losing it. The mermaids invite them back anytime. Sanji, overwhelmed by the mermaids, declares that the All Blue of his heart's desire can be found right there, and promises to come back. Luffy and Shirahoshi clasp hands, and she offers him her deepest thanks. Luffy replies simply, "Great!" while she promises that her people will pray for their safety.

The princes of Fishman Island send the Straw Hats off with pride. They promise, "Next time we see you, we'll be leading the greatest fighting force the depths have ever seen! You count on it!! Ooh, mambo!!" Another says their tales will become so amazing that even the tale of the great warrior Neptune will pale in comparison. Luffy says he looks forward to it. Then, from the deck, he calls back to Jinbe. Jinbe watches him silently for a moment, and Luffy answers the unfinished promise with a bright, firm "All right!!!" Their exchange confirms that Luffy still expects Jinbe to join him someday, even if Jinbe cannot leave with them now.

The Thousand Sunny hoists sail. Luffy shouts, "Hoist the sail, guys!!! We're setting off!!!" and the crew calls, "Farewell to Fishman Island!!!" The people shout back for them to come back anytime, promising sweets and meat, while others say they now like humans and even robots. The Thousand Sunny glides away from the island amid cheers. Luffy laughs "Shishishi!" and tells the people to come back and have some of his takoyaki sometime. The fishmen and merfolk call, "Take care of yourself, Luffy-chin and everyone!" and "I love you guys, dammit!!" Even Brook answers the old question by saying, "We like skeletons too!!"

Shirahoshi reaches after the departing ship and calls, "Luffy-sama! If I am lucky enough... to meet you again...!!" She promises that when that time comes, she will no longer be a crybaby, and she hopes Luffy will take her out for a wonderful walk again. Luffy misunderstands at first and asks, "For a walk? What, you want to visit your mum's grave again?" Shirahoshi says she would rather go somewhere even farther away, above the waves. She wants to see a real forest. Luffy understands and promises, "Next time we meet, I'll take you to see one!" Shirahoshi asks, "Do you promise?!" and the promise becomes personal, not political.

Luffy seals the promise with Shirahoshi by biting his thumb and calling it "a promise!!" Nami and Brook worry that Luffy is making promises without consulting the crew, but Shirahoshi says a promise is something to be honoured to the grave and beyond. She smiles through tears and says she will promise too, while the others join their fingers together with hers. The crew tells her to remember not to cry, and Shirahoshi answers, "Of course!!" The Sunny pulls farther away while Shirahoshi stands in the water waving, changed by the farewell. Her goodbye is still tearful, but it is no longer helpless.

Shirahoshi watches the Thousand Sunny disappear and quietly holds herself together. Neptune then speaks over the departure: "Do not forget this debt we owe." When asked if he means it, he answers, "But of course!!" On the island, children immediately turn Luffy's hat into the symbol of the new heroes. One child asks, "Hey, Dad, Dad!! Can you buy me a straw hat?!" Another says they are going to play at being heroes, and adults joke that only straw hats are sold on the surface. Someone says not to be ridiculous because the terrifying humans who hate all fishmen are still up there, but another corrects that there are also strong and heroic people like those Straw Hats. The island's view of humans is beginning to change.

The Thousand Sunny enters the upward current. Nami says the palace was "like a mermaid heaven" but reminds everyone they are heading for "a dark and dangerous sea." Franky explains that the rising supports are called "kuigos," exceptionally powerful buoyancy aids that lift ships toward the surface. By adjusting how many are extended into the ocean, he can control their speed. Luffy stands apart, suddenly focused on what waits above. Once they reach the surface, he says, "We'll be in the same sea as Shanks!!!" He cannot wait to meet him. The farewell to Fishman Island turns into anticipation for the New World and for the promise connected to Luffy's straw hat.

Luffy remembers Shanks giving him the hat. Shanks told him, "I'll leave this hat with you. It's a precious possession of mine. Make sure you come and give it back to me someday... when you've become a great pirate." The memory expands into the larger promises of Luffy's journey: Ace told him, "You'll pull it off for sure...!! You're my brother, after all...!!!" and Jinbe once challenged him, "Ask yourself this!! What is there that still remains to you?!!" Rayleigh told him to head straight for the top. Usopp recalls that most people call the final ocean by another name, but it is the sea where great men gather to forge a brand-new age. The man who conquers that sea will be the Pirate King.

The Thousand Sunny surges upward at full speed. Luffy shouts, "Once we get back up above the waves... we'll be in the greatest sea of all...!!!" Zoro says it has taken long enough and tells Laboon to hang on a little longer because they are only halfway left to go. Nami promises, "The Sunny won't let us down!!" Franky says not to worry about getting injured, Chopper protests, and Sanji promises to make sure they never go hungry. Usopp says that with a warrior of the sea like him on board there is nothing to fear, while Robin laughs. The ship barrels toward the surface under the order, "Full speed ahead, men!!!" and the page declares, "TO THE NEW WORLD!!!"

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