Chapters · Fish-Man Island › Fish-Man Island
Chapter 625: Uninherited Will
This chapter's foreshadowing ledger — what it plants, what it pays off, and what debuts here. Locked seeds pay off beyond your ⚓ progress; tap one to reveal it anyway.
- Plants
- 4 seeds🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 visual-silhouette🌱 chekhov-explicit
- Pays off
- 1 chainOtohime Saves The Celestial Dragon Myosgard Forgiveness Doctrine
- Firsts
- A wrecked Celestial-Dragon ship sinks to Fish-Man Island; its only survivor is the World Noble **St. Myosgard**, whose crew of 'weak-willed trash' all died
- Enraged fish-men nearly execute Myosgard; one argues a World Noble's power 'is only guaranteed by your Navy Admirals' — on the seafloor he is 'just another shipwrecked corpse'
- **Queen Otohime takes a bullet** to shield Myosgard and preaches forgiveness, begging her people not to teach their children to hate humans
- **Princess Shirahoshi (age 6) unconsciously summons giant Neptunians (Sea Kings)** — the on-page demonstration of the legend that 'a mermaid princess had the uncanny ability to control Neptunians'
- That same legend is what 'lured the first Vander Decken down to the seafloor'; **Vander Decken IX** realizes Shirahoshi is the legendary princess and resolves to marry her — 'the truth of the legend is a secret that belongs to my family alone'
- Otohime escorts the recovered Myosgard back to the surface to negotiate with the World Nobles; after days of talks she returns with a 'piece of paper' that 'would become a ray of hope for all of Fish-Man Island'
Arc: Fish-Man Island · Saga: Fish-Man Island · Released: 2011-04-25 (est.)
Summary
Continuing the Otohime flashback, a wrecked ship bearing a Celestial Dragon sinks to Fish-Man Island after its crew was destroyed by the creatures of the seafloor. The sole survivor, the World Noble St. Myosgard, demands a mask and a doctor while screaming that the place “reeks of fish-men” and ordering the islanders — whom he calls his slaves — back to the surface with him. Fish-men whose freedom he never granted round on him with guns: a World Noble, one argues, is powerless this far under the sea, “just another shipwrecked corpse” whose authority “is only guaranteed by your Navy Admirals.” As one fish-man fires, unable to forgive, Queen Otohime throws herself in front of Myosgard and takes the bullet, then — bleeding, with the children watching — pleads with her people not to let their suffering curdle into hatred and not to teach their children to hate humans. A second shot rings out, and the six-year-old Princess Shirahoshi, terrified, unconsciously summons a host of colossal Neptunians (Sea Kings) that loom over the island. The fish-men recognize “the legend”: long ago a mermaid princess had the uncanny power to control Neptunians — the very legend that once “lured the first Vander Decken down to the seafloor.” Witnessing it, Vander Decken IX exults that he has “finally found her” and resolves to marry the princess, the legend’s truth being his family’s secret alone. Weeks later, the recovered Myosgard threatens revenge for his ordeal; rather than let him endanger the island, Otohime resolves to accompany him to the surface herself to prove fish-men can safely walk among humans, over King Neptune’s objections. After days of negotiation she returns home alive and triumphant, bearing a “piece of paper” that would become a ray of hope for Fish-Man Island.
New reveals
- A Celestial Dragon’s ship is wrecked by the seafloor’s creatures and sinks to Fish-Man Island; the only survivor is the World Noble St. Myosgard (data box, p. 3), who berates his dead crew as “weak-willed trash” (pp. 2-3).
- A World Noble’s power is externally enforced, not intrinsic. A fish-man tells the helpless Myosgard: “You’re on the floor of the sea now… you’re just another shipwrecked corpse. The power you wield on the surface is only guaranteed by your Navy Admirals” (p. 6). Killing him risks nullifying the islanders’ pardons (p. 6).
- Queen Otohime takes a bullet meant for Myosgard (pp. 7-8) and preaches forgiveness — “Don’t let yourselves hate the humans… I feel the suffering in your hearts” — and begs her people not to tell the island of “our tragedy… our rage against the humans” or teach their children to hate (pp. 10).
- Princess Shirahoshi (age 6, data box p. 9) unconsciously summons giant Neptunians — the on-page realization of the legend that “a mermaid princess had the uncanny ability to control Neptunians” (pp. 11-14). This is the Poseidon-princess mechanic shown for the first time.
- The Neptunian-control legend is what “lured the first Vander Decken down to the seafloor” (p. 14), binding the Vander Decken line to the legend across generations.
- Vander Decken IX recognizes Shirahoshi as the legendary princess — “Great ancestor! I’ve finally… found her!” — and resolves to marry her, declaring “the truth of the legend is a secret that belongs to my family alone” (p. 15).
- Aladdin (Sun Pirates) acts as the field doctor, tending the wounded Otohime (pp. 9, 15).
- Otohime accompanies Myosgard to the surface to negotiate with the World Nobles (“If someone must talk to the nobles, then I will do it!”), over King King Neptune’s objection, and returns days later alive, having “appease[d] the high-handed Celestial Dragon” — bearing a “piece of paper” (pp. 16-19).
Foreshadowing seeds planted
Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)
Mentions / appearances
- Characters: Otohime (Queen; shielded Myosgard, shot), Shirahoshi (Princess, age 6; summons Neptunians), King Neptune (King; forbids Otohime’s surface trip), Saint Myosgard (World Noble — debut), Vander Decken IX (identifies Shirahoshi as the legend), Aladdin (Sun Pirates field-doctor), Jinbei (referenced as “Big Boss Jimbei”; the royal party turns to him at the docks), the three royal princes (unnamed this chapter), an unnamed Celestial-Dragon father + son (“I paid good money for my fish-man slave collection,” p. 4).
- Crews / groups: Sun Pirates (Aladdin; freed-slave members returned home, p. 4), Seven Warlords of the Sea (Jimbei’s seat referenced, p. 4).
- Races: Fish-Men (incl. merfolk — Otohime/Shirahoshi are mermaids), Sea Kings (the giant Neptunians, pp. 12-14).
- Locations: Fish-Man Island, Ryugu Kingdom (named p. 18), Ryugu Castle.
- Lore / threads: Celestial Dragons, Slavery, Ancient Weapons (Poseidon vector).
Notable panels
- p. 1 — Title page. Cover serial “Decks of the World, Vol. 11: Baratie Remodeling” — a finely-dressed gentleman lounges reading a newspaper amid the rebuilt Baratie’s decks.
- p. 2 — The Celestial Dragon’s wrecked ship at Fish-Man Island (“attacked by the creatures of the seafloor”); fish-men scramble, the Noble inside raging.
- p. 3 — Data box: St. Myosgard, World Noble (Celestial Dragon); “This place reeks of fish-men!” Fish-men: “That kind is the world’s worst trash. We should kill him.”
- p. 4 — “Captain Vander Decken!” hears the news in a pub; backstory caption — Jimbei a Warlord, the Sun Pirates’ freed slaves returned home; a World Noble fumes over his lost “fish-man slave collection.”
- p. 6 — The “shipwrecked corpse” speech: a Celestial Dragon’s power “is only guaranteed by your Navy Admirals.”
- pp. 7-8 — A fish-man fires (“I can never forgive you!”); Otohime takes the bullet — “The bullet hit the Queen!!”
- p. 9 — Data box: Shirahoshi (age 6) — “What’s a Celestial Dragon, brother?” The royal children and Aladdin arrive.
- pp. 11-13 — Otohime cries out; giant Neptunians (Sea Kings) erupt over the island — “NEPTUNIANS!!”
- p. 14 — “It’s the legend!” — caption: the legend that “lured the first Vander Decken down to the seafloor”; a mermaid princess who can “control Neptunians.”
- p. 15 — Vander Decken IX: “I’ve finally found her!… First I have to marry the princess!”
- pp. 16-18 — Otohime resolves to go to the surface herself; her parting plea: “Believe… in the woman you love… and in the humans too!”
- p. 19 — “Queen Otohime is back!” — she appeases the Celestial Dragon and returns with the “piece of paper.”
Open questions raised
- What is on the “piece of paper” Otohime brought back from the surface, and how does it become “a ray of hope” for Fish-Man Island?
- Is the six-year-old Shirahoshi the once-a-generation mermaid princess of the legend — the being who commands the Sea Kings (i.e. the Ancient Weapon Poseidon)?
- What is the full history of the Vander Decken line and the legend “that belongs to my family alone”?
- How will Otohime’s debt-bond with the World Noble Myosgard and her surface negotiation shape the fish-men’s future on the surface?