Chapter 653

Madame Shyarly lets the Mermaid Cafe dancers leave to see the crew off, and she tells Camie she has shattered her crystal ball and abandoned fortune-telling for good, saying she would feel only relief if her grim vision of the island never comes true. Clinging to Luffy, Shirahoshi begs him to stay another week, then a month, then a year, while Sanji and the others wrestle with their own reluctance to go. Off to the side, the king and his right-hand minister quietly debate whether to warn the pirates about the bomb still sealed within the Tamatebako, and they choose to keep silent.

The Minister of the Left presents Nami with an upgraded Log Pose bearing three needles rather than one, explaining that each tracks a separate New World island and that the harder a needle shakes, the more dangerous its destination. Nami finds the method deeply unnerving, and it sours further when Luffy overhears and gleefully picks the most violently trembling needle. Shirahoshi and Luffy seal a pinky promise, with the princess vowing to stop being a crybaby if he returns one day to take her up to the surface and show her a real forest. Jinbe pledges to arrange a merchant ship so the island's children can each own a straw hat of their own.

Kokoro and Yokozuna make their first post-timeskip appearance on the cover. The chapter explains how coated vessels rise using buoyant Kuuigosu blocks strung from the mast, their ascent paced by how many are released. Climbing aboard the Sunny, Luffy reflects on Shanks gifting him the hat and on the encouragement of Ace, Jinbe, Rayleigh, and Koby, firing up everyone. This installment closes out both the Fish-Man Island story arc and the saga that bears the same name.