"What's going on with these guys? Has an imposter been here? Queen Otohime, keep an eye on my face..." Sig pushed Shanks aside and moved closer to Otohime.
"No, there's no mistake, they are definitely welcoming you..." Otohime said with certainty.
Just as Sig was beginning to suspect that someone with the Imitation Devil Fruit ability was plotting against him, Otohime explained, "Indeed, you probably haven't even stayed in the Ryugu Kingdom properly, but... those children see you as Mr. Fisher Tiger's successor. Ever since Mr. Fisher Tiger... they've been worshipping you like crazy, using your name... um."
Otohime phrased it delicately, but Sig still understood. It was the brats of Fish-Man District who, after learning of Fisher Tiger's death, began to "worship" Sig on their own, even regarding him as the hope of the Fish-Man Race.
Even when Queen Otohime was giving a speech, they would hold up signs about Siegfried to disrupt and protest.
Although Sig did not come in person, he was already very famous on Fish-Man Island!
Just then, the sound of an engine came from behind, and more "Fish-Man District thugs," led by a leader wearing a pink hat, with long wavy hair and an open shirt revealing a white sharkskin, roared in on shark-shaped motorcycles.
"Brother Fei!"
"You're finally back..."
"We are ready, and we can fight humanity at any time!"
Sig:...
"No, no, no, even if you say that... I don't know you at all," Sig said helplessly, pulling his hand away from hers.
"Brother Fei, do you still recognize me?" The leader asked enthusiastically, grabbing Sig's hand again.
"Huh?" Sig looked at it carefully, and then he remembered.
Hmm, it seems... he's the kid who pestered Fisher Tiger to come aboard when Tiger went out to sea, but was refused?
Seeing the look of reminiscence on Sig, the White Fish-Man exclaimed excitedly, "That's right! It's me... Hody Jones!"
"Huh?" Sig finally realized, comparing the young man in front of him... no, he should be called a teenager, with the "hateful Monster" from the original work twelve years later.
Indeed, there are many similarities...
However, it's still a bit difficult to compare him to the little boy who went out to sea three and a half years ago!
"Wait, Hody, calm down..." Sig calmed the overly excited Hody Jones down, then couldn't help but ask, "How old are you this year?"
Upon hearing this, the bastards behind him immediately began to whisper among themselves.
"Did you hear that? He's asking my age!"
"They're asking about your age..."
"So... it really is that kind of relationship, isn't it?"
"Is it a lie to say that you only stayed on Fish-Man Island for a few hours when you were conscious?"
"No, I think that's enough for Sig!"
The crew members all cast disdainful glances at him... Sig, who had overheard this, felt his veins throb – this guy looks older than me, okay?
"I'm 18 years old now! Back then Fisher Tiger said I was too young, but now... I'm shouldering the future of the Fish-Man Race with Fei Ge!" Hody Jones said.
Is this guy 18?
Sig took a closer look. Although he was less greasy than he appeared twelve years later in the original work, he still looked older Jack!
However, Sig turned his head and looked at Jack, who was a head taller than him and had a face full of fat... Well, considering that Jack "only" 16 years old, it didn't seem wrong that Hody looked older Jack.
Hody was only 14 years old when he first went to sea with Fisher Tiger!
Fourteen-year-old Hody looked like a complete kid; Sig thought he was only in his early teens. He never imagined that three and a half years later, he would be a fully grown adult. Sig felt that he still didn't understand the growth cycle of the Fish-Man Race —perhaps this was the Fish-Man Race's adolescence.
In fact, it was the same in the original work... From Fisher Tiger's departure to Otohime's death, only five or six years passed, but Hody Jones had grown from a child into a slightly greasy adult.
At the same time, in the short time it took Sig to say those few words, he had already confirmed with his Observation Haki that the worship that Hody Jones and the other Fish-Man thugs had for him was genuine and so intense as to burn him.
"Back then... we never even spoke, right? Actually, back in the Sun Pirates, I was just the Second Helmsman..." Sig tried to explain.
However, Hody Jones immediately interrupted, "That's right! I didn't have the chance to hear Siegfried's teachings back then, but now we know that compared to Jinbe, Arlong, and those guys... Siegfried, you are the Sun of the Fish-Man Race! Siegfried... may I call you 'Big Brother'?"
"Who is this guy?" Jack muttered, looking at Hody Jones with some displeasure.
"The point isn't what we call each other..." Sig, a little exasperated.
Through his observation using Observation Haki, Sig could roughly guess what was going on with Hody Jones and the others.
Originally, these thugs from Fish-Man District were crazy about Fisher Tiger. Even though they were too young to go with Tiger when Fisher Tiger set sail, it's easy to imagine that their worship of Fisher Tiger didn't disappear. Instead, they continued to be "heart-to-heart" with the Sun Pirates through the newspapers.
They cheered when the Sun Pirates escaped their pursuers; they rejoiced when the Sun Pirates defeated the mastermind behind the slave trade...
She even fantasized about setting sail in the future to find the Sun Pirates and Fisher Tiger.
However, just a year and a half ago, devastating news struck.
The Sun Pirates were ambushed by the Navy, Fisher Tiger died on the spot while covering his comrades.
Just as the boys were filled with gloom and disbelief, one piece of bad news after another arrived— Jinbe had actually accepted "amnesty" and become Shichibukai, Arlong had also left the Grand Line...
From their attitude towards Arlong in the original work, one can imagine some of the feelings of Hody Jones and others.
In the original work, Arlong, who left the Grand Line and was almost never heard from again, was still respected by them—which shows that after the collapse of their idols, they were forcibly finding someone to be respected for the time being.
At least Brother Arlong didn't grovel before the World Government!
However, unlike in the original work, another former member of the Sun Pirates soon started causing a stir—defecting from the Sun Pirates, who had become Shichibukai, and attacking the Marines...
Although joining a human pirate crew was somewhat unpleasant, Siegfried, who was still at odds with the World Government, immediately became their new "spiritual support."
Seeing Sig's bounty skyrocket, they will celebrate in Fish-Man District just like they did when they followed the news about the Sun Pirates...
As for Jinbe and Arlong?
Don't mention those traitors and cowards!
They weren't unaware of why Jinbe agreed to become Shichibukai; however, precisely because they "understood," they also harbored resentment towards King Neptune and Queen Otohime...
If they hadn't disregarded the plight of the Fish-Man Race and the tragic death of Fisher Tiger, and instead constantly talked about living in harmony with humans, but instead fought bravely, how could Jinbe have become Shichibukai?
Are they still secretly pleased with Fisher Tiger's death?
Without guidance, young people are prone to thinking in extremes, especially since the Fish-Man Race are indeed in an unfair situation!
Therefore, they repeatedly used the banner of "Siegfried" to spread ideas completely opposite to those of Queen Otohime on Fish-Man Island, and even disrupted Otohime's speeches time and time again.
The ordinary Fish-Man Race generally loved and respected Queen Otohime, but feared these Fish-Man District thugs.
However, she could not agree with Queen Otohime's thoughts at all, and instead had the same respect for Fisher Tiger. In the original work, the Sun Pirates concealed the true cause of Fisher Tiger's death, making the outside world believe that he died because no human donated blood for him. As a result, Fish-Man Island developed the custom of "not connecting with humans through blood".
The Fisher Tiger incident had only just passed, Queen Otohime had already done her best to prevent the conflict from escalating further due to Fisher Tiger's death!
So even though Sig never actually came to Fish-Man Island, in the eyes of the Fish-Man Island's inhabitants, he represented the opposite of "Queen Otohime," the future of the Fish-Man Race...