Episode 339

"One Phenomenon After Another! Disembarking at Thriller Bark" is the 339th episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
Brook bids farewell to the Straw Hats and leaps overboard, revealing that he can dash across the ocean's surface. Nami, Usopp, and Chopper sail out to explore the island using the Mini Merry II, and encounter a Cerberus. Back on the ship, the remaining crew members are harassed by an invisible creature. After fleeing from the Cerberus, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper encounter Hildon, a vampiric creature who offers to take them to the mansion of Dr. Hogback.

Long Summary
Nami notices that her Log Pose has not reacted to the presence of the island. Brook explains that is because Thriller Bark is an island that drifted from West Blue. As he walks inside and picks up his cane, Brook tells the Straw Hat crew that this is a lucky day because he both met them and now sees one his dearest wishes finally realized. He opens the door on the other side of the kitchen and jumps in the air on the prow. Sanji remarks on how light he is. Brook then bids farewell to the crew. He urges them to quickly make their way out of the gate away from this island and thanks them for the meal. He suggest fate may make them cross paths again some day. He then jumps off the boat altogether and to the crew's amazement, he runs on the water away from them.

Nami then suggests they follow his advice and sail away as fast as they can but from Luffy's facial expression the others realize he wants to go on the island. Chopper worries about the ghost they saw earlier but Zoro saw it fly towards the island. Robin then points out to the rest of the crew what probably happened earlier when the boat shook. The "mouth-like" gate probably enclosed them in a fence wall that runs all around the island. They are trapped. Franky also points out that they are in the middle of the sea which means they can't drop anchor. Nami and Chopper sob they have the "can't get on this island" disease but Luffy is ready and raring to go. He has a net and a box to catch a ghost and keep it as a pet! Usopp is appalled and try to dissuade him. Robin also suggests she wants to go and it is decided Luffy, Robin and Franky will go explore the island. Franky suggests they need to use Soldier Dock System Channel 2 to get on the island. He explains the Soldier Dock System system and unveils his "present" to the crew: Channel 2 is a steam-powered Mini Merry II that can seat four people. As they will be staying on the Thousand Sunny, Nami, Chopper and Usopp are invited to test run the Mini-Merry first while the others watch from the boat. Everybody is thrilled and excited and Luffy is dying to try it too. As the people still on the boat are talking, Nami is heard screaming in the distance. Sanji runs to the side of the boat but nobody can see anything in the fog.

Suddenly the anchor is dropped without anyone visibly dropping it. Franky notes the gears sound much more worn out than they should be on a brand new boat. A trapdoor on the lawn deck abruptly opens and everybody is puzzled. There shouldn't be anyone else on the boat. Luffy's face start stretching and as Sanji yells at him to stop goofing around, Luffy protests he isn't doing anything. One of Zoro's katanas is taken out of its scabbard and thrown in the air at Luffy who is on the floor after his face was stretched back. Franky jumps in and kicks Luffy out of the way before he gets injured. Franky yells at Zoro who protests it wasn't him. Everybody realizes that there must be someone else on the boat with them.

Franky speculates the culprit is a ghost or a Devil's Fruit user. Luffy confirms he did feel someone grabbing him and Robin says she heard the growl of a wild beast. Sanji is worried about Nami and decides to jump off the ship to go after the missing members of the crew. However as he jumps, something grabs his leg and starts throwing him around and back on the ship. Franky is shocked the "ghost" won't let them leave the ship. Robin starts screaming and is seen pushing back against something that is pushing onto her and we see the signs she is being licked by something. Sanji is furious and runs to protect her but he is tripped by an unseen obstacle. A beast is indeed heard growling.

The sea starts becoming tormented with big waves that Franky speculates must be artificial since they are inside the fence. Everybody is confused what to do and Sanji is worried they are going to be separated from Nami and the others. Franky suggests they use his "Flying Surprise Pool" to overcome the waves.

Back on the island, Nami, Chopper and Usopp have fallen down a very deep ditch that is located between the actual island and the sea. She explains they were having too much fun with the Mini-Merry and probably bumped into the embankment that she did not see because of the fog and got thrown into the ditch. Chopper and Usopp are upset and scared that they are on the ghost island. The bottom of the ditch is full of skulls and bones which does not help calm their nerves. Nami hopes her cuteness will help them forgive her for putting them in this predicament. Usopp hopes Luffy will find them there but they debate whether it would be wiser to wait on the bank above instead.

Suddenly a three-headed dog appear in the dark. As the three stranded Straw Hat Pirates are shocked, Chopper realize this must be Cerberus, the guard dog of hell! Nami, Usopp and Chopper start running away, with Cerberus in tow chasing them. Chopper notices that one of the three heads is the head of a fox, not of a dog, which seems to anger Cerberus even more. Everybody is confused where they are and what is going on. As they run they find a large staircase that seems to lead to the island proper.

Upstairs they find themselves in a forest. Usopp uses a Kemuri Boshi to create smoke and once it clears, the Cerberus cannot find them anywhere. The beast starts moving further into the forest while Nami, Usopp and Chopper are  actually hiding up in a tree. Usopp remarks that the beast does not seem to have the developed sense of smell of a normal dog. The three Straw Hat Pirates wonder what to do now. With Cerberus running around, they can't be walking around in the open.

A voice behind them confirms they are in danger. It is a vampire-looking man who is hanging upside down on a tree branch. He introduces himself as Hildon. He says he saw them being chased by Cerberus and followed them secretly to protect them in case of trouble. He says that, as nighttime is falling, the forest is indeed going to become dangerous for them and maybe they should ride his carriage with him back to Doctor Hogback's mansion.

Chopper reacts with shock to hearing Doctor Hogback's name.

Anime Notes

 * This is the first appearance of Mini Merry II, a much smaller version of Going Merry.

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Episodi 339