Chapter Summaries

Ross rescued Otohime’s three mermaid attendants from A-Da’s dungeon and helped Nia wake up. Nia recognized Otohime and greeted Ross as her true love, leaving Otohime bewildered.

• Ross cut open the cell and carried the unconscious mermaids out while Otohime recognized them as her former attendants.
• Marines rescued the human prisoners from the estate as Ross brought Otohime and the mermaids to a quiet place.
• Ross used seawater to cleanse the drugs from the mermaids, and Nia woke first.
• Nia recognized Otohime as her sister and said she felt fine.
• Nia recognized Ross as Otohime’s true love, leaving Otohime confused.

Otohime learned that rumors on Fish-Man Island claimed she had abandoned Neptune to pursue Ross, and she worried about the damage to both their reputations. After Nia explained how the rumors began, Otohime clarified that a photograph of her leaning toward Ross showed only a game, not a kiss.

• Nia told Otohime that people on Fish-Man Island believed she had left Neptune for Ross and that Neptune had driven Nia and her sisters from the palace.
• Ross comforted Otohime and asked Nia to explain what had happened.
• Nia said the kingdom had searched for Otohime and that a Fish-Man later reported seeing her with Ross and taking their photograph.
• Nia claimed the photo showed Otohime and Ross kissing, but Otohime explained that she had only leaned toward him during a game where she had to stare into his eyes.
• Otohime realized the story was a misunderstanding and apologized to Ross for harming his reputation.

After Nia revealed that the Sea King Army had abducted her and her sisters, Otohime fainted, devastated by the suspicion that Neptune was involved. Ross arranged for Nia and her sisters to investigate Neptune with CP9’s support, while Otohime remained unconscious—or pretended to be.

• Otohime apologized to Nia, who said the Sea King Army had abducted the sisters and urged Otohime not to return to Fish-Man Island.
• Otohime fainted from shock, and Ross reassured Nia that she was unharmed.
• After Iya and Sanya woke, Ross asked the sisters to help investigate Neptune and Holp, promising that Otohime would decide what to do once they learned the truth.
• Ross ordered Spandine to send CP9 agents to protect the sisters and obey their orders during the investigation on Fish-Man Island.
• Spandine agreed and recognized that Ross intended to use the investigation to sow discord.

Nia and Iya set out to investigate Neptune with CP9’s support, while Sanya stayed behind to care for Otohime. Ross warned them about the danger and promised to protect them, and the two sisters left through the waterway he created.

• Nia, Iya, and Sanya agreed to help uncover evidence against Neptune, and Ross told them to prioritize their safety and contact him if they were in danger.
• Nia chose to go with Iya and assigned Sanya to stay with Otohime.
• Ross contacted Spandam and arranged for CP9 to assist the sisters under Nia’s direction.
• Ross created a waterway to CP9’s base, and Nia and Iya said goodbye to Sanya and Otohime before swimming away.

Ross encouraged Otohime to train and let her decide whether to contact Neptune, while Nia and the others returned to Fish-Man Island to investigate. Otohime chose to trust Sanya and continue rescuing slaves in the Sabaody Archipelago, as Marco and Vista tried to arrange a new lover for Neptune.

• Ross pointed out that Otohime had been pretending to sleep and urged her to train with Gion instead of eating a devil fruit.
• Otohime worried that Nia might be in danger, but Ross said the main threat was Neptune acting against her and the others.
• Ross offered to help Otohime contact Neptune, but Sanya protested that doing so would mean Otohime did not believe the sisters.
• Otohime gave up on contacting Neptune and asked Ross to let her continue rescuing slaves in the Sabaody Archipelago.
• At the Ryugu Kingdom palace, Marco and Vista discussed finding Neptune a new mermaid lover to ease the scandal surrounding Otohime.

Holp and CP0's Chigao negotiated over the Mermaid girls who had escaped and planned to shift the blame for their capture onto Neptune. The chapter ended with both men embracing a scheme to obtain many Mermaid slaves, while Holp secretly intended to use the plot to secure his own survival and allegiance.

• Chigao confronted Holp over the escaped Mermaids and demanded five Mermaid slaves in exchange for help.
• Chigao warned Holp that two of the Mermaids had gone to CP9's base in the Sabaody Archipelago, where CP9 agents were gathering.
• Holp argued that the World Government should protect him, but Chigao warned him not to involve the Celestial Dragons and suggested blaming Neptune.
• Holp realized he could use bribed Sea King Army soldiers and the pawn he had placed in the palace to frame Neptune.
• Holp proposed a larger scheme to Chigao, who became excited by the prospect of obtaining thousands of Mermaid slaves.

Three days after the operation began, Ross addressed the freed slaves of Sabaody Archipelago and announced the closure of all 518 slave shops on Island 1. The operation boosted Sakazuki’s standing as a future Fleet Admiral, while Ross reflected that powerful figures within the World Government had become an eyesore.

• Blamenco watched the Marines’ liberation operation on Island 1, where more than fifty thousand people gathered, including over five thousand Marines and the rescued slaves.
• Sakazuki summoned Blamenco to the gathering, where Blamenco saw Sakazuki, Ross, and Otohime on the platform and considered Sakazuki’s path to Fleet Admiral.
• Ross explained that Otohime’s real-name report had led the World Government to investigate Island 1, where all 518 slave shops were found to have violated the law.
• Ross announced that the shops had been shut down and their staff would be sent to Enies Lobby for trial, while connected slave merchants had escaped beforehand.
• Ross reflected that the operation had benefited the Marines, the freed slaves, Otohime, and himself, but he resented the World Government figures who had let the connected merchants escape.

Neptune watched Otohime stand beside Ross and decided to make the scorpionfish mermaid his new queen, while Marco and Vista considered how to kill Ross. On Island 1, Ross condemned slavery during a worldwide broadcast and called for a society based on paid work.

• Neptune watched Otohime beside Ross, resented the Celestial Dragon, and grew closer to the scorpionfish mermaid who had supported him.
• Neptune decided to appoint the scorpionfish mermaid queen and let her arrange a formal queen selection.
• Marco and Vista discussed Ross's threat to pirates, and Marco considered targeting him if he came to Fish-Man Island.
• Ross told the worldwide broadcast that slaves should not exist and called for their freedom and an employment system.
• Ross described a world where people worked according to their abilities, and the audience reacted with fervor.

The Five Elders debated Saint Ross’s plan to abolish slavery on the surface and replace it with a World Government employment system. Saint Saturn explained how the plan would bind citizens to the Government and give it leverage over the Allied Nations, while the Elders weighed its costs and benefits.

• Nusjuro and Saint Wokyu dismissed the plight of commoners, while Saint Saturn argued that growing chaos and piracy threatened the World Government’s rule.
• Saint Maz mocked Nusjuro’s call to kill rebels, and Saint Pitt ended the argument by stressing the Government’s need to strengthen its control over the seas.
• Saint Pitt asked whether Ross’s real plan was to transfer the value of slaves and bind more people to the World Government, and Saint Saturn confirmed it.
• Saint Pitt understood that Ross would publicly take responsibility for abolishing slavery while the World Government quietly cooperated with the policy.
• Saint Warcury asked what the employment system would achieve, and Saint Saturn explained how hiring citizens and selling their goods would tie them to the Government and help it influence or seize control of Allied Nations.

Saint Saturn secured the Five Elders’ approval for Ross to lead a plan funded by the Jaygarcia Family, while Ross announced a worldwide network of Employment Associations backed by the Navy. He invited Otohime to manage the associations, but she hesitated because she could not yet abandon Fish-Man Island.

• Saint Saturn proposed that Ross personally lead the plan, with the Jaygarcia Family covering its costs and receiving sixty percent of the profits, and the other Four Elders agreed.
• Ross announced a one-trillion-Belly investment to establish Employment Associations across the world and promised protection and compensation for their members.
• Ross said the Navy would receive an additional thirty billion Belly each year to prioritize hunting attackers of association members and offer bounties for their capture or death.
• Ross ended the broadcast and reflected that the associations would take years to establish, while he gathered resources and delayed claiming the highest throne.
• Ross invited Otohime to help him and offered her authority over the associations, but Otohime said she wanted to wait until she knew what would happen to Fish-Man Island.

Ross explained to Sola that freeing slaves was not the same as banning the slave trade, and revealed how an Employment Association could use paid labor and economic competition to expand his influence across the Allied Nations. The freed slaves departed for Alabasta and other territories, while Ross left Otohime to win their trust and advance his plan.

• Slave traders around the world raged over Ross’s destruction of their businesses on Sabaody Archipelago Island 1 but hesitated to challenge him because he was a Celestial Dragon.
• At the harbor, Sola warned Ross that freeing the slaves would have a huge impact, and Ross clarified that he had not promised to ban the slave trade.
• Ross explained that paid workers could be driven to work more efficiently than slaves through wages and economic pressure, and Sola recognized the system’s harsh incentives.
• Ross described how the Employment Association would compete with local industries, force Allied Nations to adopt his labor system, and extend his influence under the banner of freeing slaves.
• Ross pointed to Otohime as the best person to manage the plan while she said goodbye to the departing slaves, and he admitted that fulfilling his promise would serve his greater profit.

After returning to the Holy Land, Ross showed Gion and Sola the secret underground laboratory prepared for Sola and left them to discuss its security. He then went to find Robin and let her spring a surprise attack on him during training.

• Ross took Gion and Sola to the laboratory five hundred meters beneath the Jaygarcia Family estate, where Sola questioned the security arrangements.
• Ross told Sola that the prisoners from Impel Down who excavated the laboratory had been executed, and Gion said her bat clone could last about three months if it was fed blood.
• Ross left Sola and Gion to plan together, then found that Otohime was with Rouge and headed toward Robin's training grounds.
• Robin attacked Ross with countless hands emerging from the ground and collapsing earth, but he allowed himself to be dragged underground without panic.

Ross tested Robin’s strength, then asked her to translate a Poneglyph rubbing from Sky Island. Robin concealed its revelations about the Mermaid Princess and an eight-hundred-year cycle, while Ross pretended not to know and considered how to control what she learned.

• Ross washed away Robin’s Devil Fruit-created hands and reassured her that her strength was impressive for someone who had trained only a few days.
• Ross gave Robin a Poneglyph rubbing and asked her to translate it.
• Robin read about the Sea God, Poseidon, and the Ancient Weapons, then hid the Poneglyph’s references to the Mermaid Princess and the eight-hundred-year cycle.
• Robin told Ross that the Poneglyph described a Sea God who ruled the world and said its history might date to the Heavenly Calendar era, around fifteen hundred years earlier.
• Ross claimed he would look for more historical material, while privately deciding that Robin’s limited knowledge would help him fabricate history and shape her future travels.

Ross visited Olvia and offered to take her on a trip if she translated a historical text from Sky Island. After Olvia translated it, Ross revealed that Robin had given him a different version, leaving Olvia to realize Robin stood in her way.

• Ross left Robin after she fabricated history and visited Olvia, who pleaded to leave the Holy Land.
• Ross told Olvia he would take her on a trip if she helped translate a historical text.
• Olvia translated the text as saying the Sea God would return with Poseidon and command the ocean.
• Olvia said she would reveal the world's history if the claim proved true, and Ross told her Robin had given him a different translation.

Ross convinced Olvia that he trusted her and ordered her to translate honestly, then negotiated with Saint Saturn to consolidate the Jaygarcia Family around his descendants. He prepared to leave for Fish-Man Island and Wano Country, learning that Whitebeard’s Captains were on Fish-Man Island.

• Ross told Olvia he believed her and asked her to translate honestly, and she hugged him in relief.
• Saint Saturn told Ross that the other families had yielded to his plan, though the Jaygarcia Family’s reserves were nearly drained.
• Ross persuaded Saint Saturn to place the family’s other members under house arrest and agreed that his future children would bear the Jaygarcia name.
• Ross announced that he would leave in a few days, visit Fish-Man Island, and then travel to Wano Country.
• Saint Saturn warned Ross that Rozward’s CP0 was on Fish-Man Island and that two Whitebeard Pirates Captains were there.

Ross discussed taking Rozward to Fish-Man Island and using the threat of a Buster Call to advance his plans, while Saint Saturn warned him not to challenge the ruler on the throne before gaining greater strength. Ross then visited Rouge and carried her off, leaving Otohime with Ace.

• Ross proposed taking Rozward to Fish-Man Island, and Saint Saturn warned that Whitebeard would not go there personally.
• Ross said he would not stop a Buster Call on Fish-Man Island, and Saint Saturn agreed to raise the proposal at the Five Elders' meeting.
• Saint Saturn warned Ross not to act recklessly before breaking through his current limits, and Ross considered how much strength he still needed to gain.
• Ross left Saturn's study and found Otohime and Rouge at the side hall where Rouge and Ace were staying.
• Ross embraced Rouge, then carried her toward the palace despite her concern that Otohime was still with Ace.

Ross told Otohime why Robin hated Olvia, revealing that Olvia had pulled the trigger when he tested how far she would go for her dream. He also explained Rouge’s past and Ace’s parentage, leaving Otohime furious at Roger.

• Ross met Otohime and Rouge after leaving the palace, and Rouge took Ace away to feed him.
• Otohime warned Ross that Robin’s heart held deep hatred toward him and Olvia.
• Ross explained that Olvia had caused Ohara’s destruction by trying to expose forbidden history, and that she had pulled the trigger when he offered her a choice between dying or shooting Robin.
• Ross told Otohime that he had tested how far Olvia would go for her dream.
• Ross revealed that Ace was Roger’s son and recounted Rouge’s past, prompting Otohime to condemn Roger.

Ross called Nia to ask about her investigation on Fish-Man Island, and Otohime learned that Neptune had replaced her as queen. After hearing that Sabina had moved into her palace and was looking after her three sons, Otohime begged Ross to help her return to Fish-Man Island.

• Otohime worried about Nia and the others, so Ross called Nia on a Den Den Mushi.
• Nia told Ross that CP9 had captured Sea King Army soldiers, some of whom claimed to have acted on Holman's orders.
• Nia reported that she suspected Neptune and Sabina had conspired to capture and sell her and the other Nia sisters.
• Nia revealed that Neptune had chosen Sabina as queen and that she had moved into Otohime's palace.
• Nia said Sabina was looking after Otohime's three sons and feared they were in danger.
• Otohime asked Ross to help her return to Fish-Man Island, while Nia heard her voice through the Den Den Mushi.

Ross agreed to accompany Otohime back to Fish-Man Island after learning that Neptune and two Whitebeard Pirates captains planned to use the island to trap him. They secretly departed aboard a World Government ship, leaving Otohime determined to protect Ross and resolve the island’s crisis.

• Nia warned Ross and Otohime that Neptune and two Whitebeard Pirates captains intended to lure Ross to Fish-Man Island and strand him underwater.
• Ross chose to travel with Otohime, postponing their wager, and learned that the bride selection would take place in three days.
• Ross left for the Holy Land harbor with Otohime, intending to travel with only her and hitch a ride on another ship.
• Ross and Otohime boarded a World Government ship with Saint Rosward, and Ross warned him to keep Ross’s presence on Fish-Man Island secret.
• The ship descended from the Holy Land into the deep sea, while Otohime vowed to bring Ross back safely, even if she had to oppose the whole island.

Otohime and Ross entered the Fish-Man District, where Otohime sensed the deep hostility between Fish-Men and mermaids. After Otohime questioned Hogor about his life of robbery, she learned how Fish-Men felt excluded and oppressed, and decided to uncover the truth herself.

• Otohime sensed the hostility Fish-Men held toward her and Ross and realized she had been shielded from the conflict before.
• Ross warned Otohime that Fish-Men and mermaids alike needed their basic needs met, and challenged her to consider whether Fish-Man Island’s rulers had provided that.
• Otohime used her Observation Haki on Hogor and asked why he robbed people instead of working.
• Hogor told Otohime that mermaids controlled the profitable jobs, excluded Fish-Men, and treated them like slaves.
• Otohime grew despondent as she recognized how little she had understood, then resolved to find out for herself since no one would tell her.