Punk Hazard Arc

The Punk Hazard arc is the twenty-sixth story arc in the series, and the third in the New World Saga of the One Piece series, continuing on from the Fishman Island arc. Upon finally entering the New World, the Straw Hat Pirates immediately receive a distress call from an island called Punk Hazard, stating that they are being attacked by a samurai. Without hesitation, Luffy sets out to the blazing island, with Vice Admiral Smoker and Captain Tashigi hot on his tail.

Entering the New World: A Distress Call to a New Adventure
As the Straw Hat Pirates leave from Fishman Island, the crew has some free time. Nami decides to spend hers taking a bath, using a new Shower Tempo as a shower with Chopper (and unknown to her Sanji and Brook) looking on. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew has decided to go fishing. Luffy knocks out one fish but it just attracts a bigger one, and that fish attracts an even bigger eel. Zoro kills it, but the weight of the fish brings the ship to a stop. To make matters worse, an underwater maelstrom called the White Strom, suddenly appears in front of them. The eel gets sucked into it dragging the Thousand Sunny into it.

After a wild ride, the ship suddenly hits something and the crew sees it is a pod of Island Whales. Luffy mistakes the whale they hit for Laboon. Brook starts crying and calling out to them, though calmed down by Usopp afterwards. Nami realizes that even through they got out of the maelstrom, the current caused by the pod is still dangerous to them and they need to raise the sails to ride it. As the crew does so, Brook starts to sing Binks' Sake. This attracts the attention of a whale who gives them a ride. After a bit, the Straw Hat reach the surface. Despite the thunderous seas around them, the crew is excited for the new challenges that awaits them.

In the distance, Luffy sees a volcano erupting on an island and decides to head there even though none of the New World Log Pose needles are pointing there. Sanji tells Luffy that he managed to cut off some meat, but the fish that they had caught had been burnt to a crisp by the sea of flames. Usopp is concerned about the Sunny, but Franky assures him that the ship will not lose. Suddenly, Luffy hears the Den Den Mushi ringing, but Robin states that there is a 50% chance that the distress signal is merely a Marine trap. Luffy decides to answer anyways, and hears a man calling for help, stating that the crew is being killed by samurai, and that they are on Punk Hazard. However, the man is presumably killed before the conversation can continue. Zoro asks Brook about the samurai, whom answers that samurais are the swordsmen of Wano Country, who have a closed-door policy to outsiders and aren't affiliated with the World Government. Luffy decides to go rescue him, and go for the nearest island, the one with the volcano.

Meanwhile, on a G-5 Marine ship, Vice Admiral Smoker is commenting that while there were three islands the Straw Hats could have gone to, but they have somehow gone to Punk Hazard, which was closed off due to an incident four years ago. Back at the Sunny, the crewmembers draw straws to see who will go with Luffy. Zoro, Robin and Usopp get the "winning" straws. Sanji hands Luffy a deep-sea fish lunchbox, and Nami forms a cloud road over the flames and the adventure party sets out on the Mini Merry II. While the others eat, Usopp is frightened to go to the island, stating that he has the "Can't set foot on new islands" disease.

Arriving at Punk Hazard: The Adventure on the Burning Island
The four arrive at the shore, pulling Mini Merry ll onto the beach and find a large metal gate bearing the World Government and Marine logos warning them to stay out. Despite Usopp's fear, the crew enters, finding it blazing-hot with most of the buildings melted. Looking at the structures, Robin deduces the buildings to be a former government base. As they walk along, Usopp comments on how strange it is that the man on the Den Den Mushi remarked on the coldness of the island despite the intense heat. On the Sunny, Nami remarks that the clouds on the opposite side of the island are snow clouds, while Luffy's group stumbles upon a massive skull bigger than a giant's.



Suddenly, they turn around and see a monster that they thought could only exist in fairy tales: a dragon. The dragon seemingly talks, and asks who they are. Suddenly, the dragon attacks, breathing fire, forcing the Straw Hats to escape the attack. Luffy attacks the dragon but hardly deals any damage because the dragon's scales are so hard. The dragon sends Luffy flying and Zoro starts attacking it, only to discover that not only is the dragon resistant to damage but also strong. It seemingly starts to speak again, asking them if they are allies with "that shichibukai". Luffy rockets up to the dragon's back and makes it bite its wing, wounding it and noticing some human legs on the dragon's head. Zoro is then shot into the air by Usopp and decapitates the dragon with a single slash.



Meanwhile back at the Thousand Sunny, Sanji prepares a special dish for Nami, only to realize that everybody on the ship was asleep. He realizes the scent of gas on the ship. He decides to contact Luffy's group via a Den Den mushi, but before reaching it, he also falls asleep. Afterwards, some strange people appear on the ship and decide to take the pirates, except for Brook, to "M", their master.

Back at Punk Hazard, Luffy decides to pull the legs out of the dragon's head in order to save him. Soon, everybody realizes that the "person" is missing half of his body. Luffy thinks that he killed him, but then hears the legs talk, and then the legs try to attack them in vain, Afterwards, the legs runs away. Luffy screams at him to join the crew with Usopp yelling at his captain that he needs to stop doing that.

Luffy then catches up to the samurai, and gets stuck to him, calling himself a centaur. The Straw Hats then see the other side of the island, which is cold looking, and has a mountain made of ice. Usopp realizes this is where the distress call must have come from. Usopp then looks into the sky, and sees a winged woman, he tries to point it out, but she disappears, and he is the only one to see her.

Meanwhile, Sanji, Chopper, Franky, and Nami wake up in a room on the island. They recall what happened on the ship before they fell asleep, and infer that they must have been carried there after they were all asleep. They then notice there are pieces of a head in the room with them. They put the head together (although his top of head and chin reversed), and the head tells them that he was cut up by someone he does not know. After finding out that they are pirates, the head exclaims that he hates pirates so much they make him sick. The head then reveals to them where they are, the frozen half of Punk Hazard. The crew decides to break out, so Franky uses his Radical Beam to blow the door down. Sanji picks up the head and arranges him correctly, revealing to be a samurai. Then the crew emerges into a room filled with giant children.

One Mystery After Another: The Island's Secrets Unfold
The kids asks if the group is part of the frozen people while most of the boys gush over seeing Franky's robotic appearance. Nami notes there are regular-sized kids there as well before the samurai asks the kids if they seen a boy named Momonosuke. However, his appearance frightens the kids. The hazmat attackers soon reach the room, forcing Nami's group to run for it. As they do, one of the kids, a giant boy, begs the group to take them off the island. The other kids joins in, telling the group that they've recovered from whatever sickness they've had and wish to go back home, which immediately concerns the Straw Hats. Nami, though at first reluctant, agrees to their pleas and vows to save them. Sanji and Franky are opposed to the idea, but when Nami declares she can't turn her back on crying children, the lovestruck Sanji gives in and attacks their pursuers. Franky backs him up with his trademark "super" punch and they both stay behind to hold them off while Nami and Chopper run off with the kids.

Meanwhile, some of the hazmat crew are looking over the damage to the Straw Hat's cell conversing with their "Master", an odd floating goo-like being. The goo recogonizes the melted steel as the aftermath of only one possible weapon: the lasers of Vegapunk's Pacifista, which unbeknownst to him Franky now possesses. One of his men then report one of the G5's ships on the shore of the island, to which the goo commands that they get rid of it.

Elsewhere, the winged-woman Usopp spotted talks to someone on portable Den Den Mushi about the four intruders as she makes her way over a frozen area. With Luffy's group, Ussop speaks with Brook, who finally awakened after being gassed. He explains what happened and that he took care of his captors, but not before the Sunny was moved to the snowy section of the island. The connection cuts out before he can explain more. However, the group has bigger concerns as they've run into a centuar with the body of a leopard. He's initially friendly with Luffy believing he too is a centaur after seeing him attached to the disembodied legs. Upon finding out he isn't, the centaur attacks Luffy, who easily takes him down. Robin stops another centaur, this one with the body of a giraffe, that was trying to sneak up on Luffy. Usopp checks them over and finds a Den Den Mushi with the name "CC" imprinted on it, surmising it to represent the initials of some unifed centaur clan. With another mysterious clue on their hands, the group heads off to find their friends.

Meanwhile Smoker's ship has arrived in the frozen part of the island, but the crew comment they can't get close with poison gas in the air, confusing the recently deployed sleep gas for the alleged poisonous danger of Punk Hazard. Smoker disagrees, commenting that two years ago the island was nothing more then a poison-free barren wasteland, and correctly guesses the remnants of gas are very recent. However, that all that changed when it became the site for the battle between Aokiji and Akainu, which forever changed the climate in the aftermath of their fight of near-mythical proportions.