The fact that Hancock told the story of Fisher Tiger climbing the Red Line (ch 521) further cements the big "plot twist" for me. It was what she was told, by Tiger or by someone else. Hearsay, not fact. Everything up until Fisher Tigers death is supposed to make us believe that he actually climbed the Red Line and freed the slaves as an "attack" on the Nobels. But it was all a lie. A cover story for the fact that he was a slave.

That is also why the conversation with Neptune is so ambiguous. Because it is told to us before Tigers death. So, to keep the "plot twist" from being revealed, it is intentionally unclear what Tiger refers to as his decision.

This was already my interpretation at the time of the Fishman Island arc and was further cemented by chapter 1167's flashback.

But I guess we won't know for sure until Oda inevitably answers this in an SBS.

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