On the way to the Ryugu Palace, they passed through most of Fish-Man Island. Sig was able to use his Observation Haki to vaguely sense the "general trend" in the hearts of the Fish-Man Island's inhabitants.
Although the people of the Ryugu Kingdom love Queen Otohime and shun the fierce Hody and his gang, Fisher Tiger is the undisputed hero of the Fish-Man Race!
A year and a half ago, Fisher Tiger's death fueled the anger of ordinary Fish-Man Race towards "humans."
Over the past few years, Queen Otohime has actively led the King Neptune's Army in rescuing wrecked human ships, while also giving numerous speeches promoting a strategy of peaceful coexistence...
However, rescuing some ships has had little practical impact on the outside world, and internally... in the past five years, only about a thousand people have signed the petition to "establish friendly relations," which is a drop in the ocean compared to the five million Fish-Man Race.
Moreover, after Fisher Tiger's death, most of the one thousand signatures were taken back—they couldn't accept the "human" who killed Fisher Tiger.
Sig could sense that the ordinary merfolk felt a mixture of fear, curiosity, and anticipation towards himself, or rather, towards the "Siegfried" created by Hody and his Fish-Man Race!
After Fisher Tiger's death, Queen Otohime's proposals failed to offer them any hope, and the Fish-Man District gang was too brutal and extreme. The Fish-Man Race people themselves no longer knew what to expect, only hoping to see a turning point.
If the story continues as it was in the original work, Queen Otohime will also be assassinated by Hody and the blame will be placed on humans.
Seeing no hope, the Fish-Man Race have largely turned to segregationism—no longer expecting to return to the sunlight and live among humans.
Sig looked at both sides of the waterway, occasionally spotting Fish-Man Race hiding behind buildings or inside houses, secretly watching him. Queen Otohime was also looking at Sig.
The World Government remains tight-lipped about the truth behind the Auction House massacre, simply pinning all the blame on Strawberry!
However, the Navy's high command naturally knew the truth; otherwise, they wouldn't have ordered Strawberry's arrest so quickly...
At this moment, in the Fleet Admiral's office, the Fleet Admiral Kong was reprimanding Sengoku, who had just come to Sengoku with some documents.
"Sengoku! Get your facts straight! What is this? What do you want to investigate? Investigate why the Celestial Dragons were led to the auction house like dogs? This matter ends here. The Strawberry auction house raid is the only truth for the Navy. Let the Celestial Dragons' own lackeys handle the rest! It has nothing to do with us!"
Sora then put all the information that Sengoku had compiled into the wastepaper basket—it contained a list of all the candidates who were suspected of possessing, or who might have developed, the corresponding abilities to accomplish this task, which Sengoku had summarized overnight... Sig was also on the list.
However, in Kong's view, this kind of thing should only be investigated by the Celestial Dragons' own dogs, and the Navy should absolutely not get involved.
Otherwise, they would think the Navy was "very interested" in them being auctioned off like dogs.
Seeing Sengoku lower his head somewhat unwillingly, Sora softened his tone and instructed, "I'll be retiring next year. After that, the Five Elders will probably give me an honorary title and completely sideline me. The future of the Navy will depend on you... Zephyr has been unable to go to the battlefield since that incident. Garp is a brave general, and you are a strategist, but... actually, sometimes you are even more stubborn Garp!"
This is also something I'm worried about. As you become Fleet Admiral, you need to think carefully about how to be accountable to the World Government and how to reassure them."
"Yes! I understand..." Sengoku bowed his head in response.
He sighed, realizing that Sengoku was still resentful about what happened at Strawberry, but there was nothing that could be done about it.
Compared to the empty Fleet Admiral's Office, the banquet hall of the Ryugu Palace, though somewhat somber, was generally harmonious.
Shanks, in particular, is the "social butterfly" of the Red-Hair Pirates. He has a knack for toasting people. Although he is only twenty-six or twenty-seven, he looks like Old Man bartender in a tavern. He is very easygoing... even humble. At first, Neptune had a long face, but after Shanks toasted him, he quickly entered the "reminiscing about his friendship with Roger" mode.
Also present at the banquet at the Ryugu Palace Minister Right and Queen Otohime. At that moment, Queen Otohime and Sig exchanged glances—after a brief test, their suspicions were confirmed...
As expected, "he/she" also possesses Observation Haki similar to his/her own!
Being able to perceive other people's emotions, and to influence and influence those emotions...
Sig's Observation Haki was bestowed upon him by a "Psychiatrist," while Queen Otohime's Observation Haki was innate.
Sig suddenly realized something – indeed, none of the abilities of the "Paths of the Divine" currently exceed the scope of the rules of this world.
However, all of Sieg's "innate" magical abilities were bestowed upon Sig through Paths of the Divine.
It was precisely because they possessed similar abilities that Sig and Queen Otohime quickly came to understand each other; the phrase "met like old friends at first sight" was insufficient to describe it...
Just as Neptune slightly tipsy and talking to Shanks about Roger, he suddenly heard a crying sound. He turned around and saw Queen Otohime crying and patting Sig's shoulder, her face flushed, clearly having been drinking.
Otohime has a very low alcohol tolerance and poor drinking manners—she gets drunk after just a little bit, and when drunk, she is easily agitated.
"I understand! I understand how you feel... But, but... Everyone yearns for the sunlight on the sea. Fish-Man Race are also human, and they cannot live in the sea without sunlight. Fish-Man Island became our home because of the few rays of sunlight transmitted by the Eve Tree..."
Even if there's only the slightest possibility, I hope the Fish-Man Race can take a step forward. If the discord with humans is an obstacle, then I hope we can remove that obstacle! Waaah... I can feel it... I can feel that you also hope the Fish-Man Race will take this step! Can we work together?"
Otohime cried and spoke excitedly, even hugging Sig and wiping her snot and tears on Sig.
"Ahem, Queen Otohime... His Majesty Neptune is looking at me," Sig said helplessly.
Sig could naturally sense that Otohime was just excited after drinking and thought that she might be "like-minded" with her, but Neptune was clearly unhappy!
Of course, as a man, Sig could understand his dissatisfaction.
"Ahem, my apologies." Queen Otohime calmed down slightly.
King Neptune also looked helpless—this wasn't the first time he'd experienced his wife's occasional over-excitement, though he was slightly annoyed.
"Now that Queen Otohime has brought this up, I also have something I'd like to clarify with His Majesty Neptune and the Queen..."
Sig became serious, put his glass aside, and stood up.
Neptune glanced at Sig, then at Shanks, knowing Sig wanted to speak privately. He stood up and said, "Minister Right, please entertain my guest for me." With that, he and Otohime led Sig to the council chamber.