Chapter 498

Chapter 498 is called "The Eleven Supernovas".

Cover
CP9's Independent Report Vol. 8: "Earning Medical Fees - Jabra & Blueno's Wild Animal Show"

As part of fund-raising for Lucci's operation, Jabra jumps through a hoop while Blueno is his shower.

Short Summary
The Straw Hat Pirates arrive at Shakky's Rip-off Bar, after managing to get to Grove 13. There, they inquire about Ray. Shakky informs the Straw Hat Pirates about The Eleven Supernovas, a group of rookie pirates with bounties of over 100,000,000 that arrived at Sabaody Archipelago at the same time.

Long Summary
Luffy pummels through his third bounty-hunter on the Sabaody Archipelago to the applause of Hatchan, Keimi and Pappug as Chopper and Brook continue to journey with them. When someone asks why there were so many bounty hunters suddenly, Hatchan explains that where they are currently is the "Lawless Zone" of the archipelago, a collection of twenty nine mangroves where pirates and bounty hunters usually are instead of the usual tourists. Chopper remarks that Sanji or Zoro could have come with them, but the octopus fishman assures them that they are nearing Grove 13, where his bubble coater friend await. The two bounty hunters left, remarking that Luffy's 300,000,000 bounty is impressive but there are "other pickings" on the island they could try instead.

At Grove 13, the group arrives at what appears to be a rip-off bar run by Hatchan's friends, whom Keimi trusts even though she too has not been here before. Upon arriving in the bar, they immediately see the bar owner, Shakuyaku, a tough-looking woman with a cigarette in her mouth and a bloody customer who almost was not paying his bill in her grip. Yet Shakky drops her tough act and appears more hospitable towards Hatchan when she sees him. While chewing the fat with him and Keimi, she offers food and drinks to the Straw Hats, giving beans to Brook and cotton candy to Chopper (despite his claims of her being a possible rip-off). Luffy figured she knew something about them, which Shakky admits immediately on being a "pirate watcher" while asking about the Enies Lobby incident and his relation to his grandfather Monkey D. Garp. Shakky then reveals that she is a former pirate, which is how she know Garp, whom she was chased by herself forty years ago.

Hatchan soon asks about the location of their friend, "Rayleigh the Bubble Coater" to get the Thousand Sunny coated, but she admits that he has been gone for a half year already but can look after himself being a former pirate as well. She gives various hints regarding Rayleigh's whereabouts including the "Lawless Zone" and Sabaody Park, but tells everyone to be on their guard while searching due to the appearance of other powerful pirates. In particular, she notes that at this point, there are now eleven pirates (including Luffy and Zoro) with bounties over 100,000,000 on Sabaody Archipelago, many of the others taking the paths not followed by the Straw Hats in the first half of the Grand Line and one of them even higher than Luffy.

At this moment, the story cuts away from the Straw Hats to introduce the nine other pirates and crews on the Sabaody Archipelago:
 * On Grove 29, a big-spending man in a mafia suit named Capone Bege is noting the horrific gluttony of the cowgirl-like pirate Jewelry Bonney, who is gobbling everything in site and demanding for more pizza.
 * Nearby, a man apologizes to a medieval-themed pirate named Basil Hawkins, who states that his day was unlucky, further emphasized by the spaghetti spilled on his clothes.
 * In the midst of the lawless zone, a DJ-like pirate Scratchmen Apoo is taunting the rocker-pirate Eustass Kid (the one Shakky mentioned was higher than Luffy) in the midst of battle.
 * In Grove 21, a monk-like White Sea citizen Urouge and a masked warrior Killer are stopped in battle by the civil former Marine X Drake, who tells them to save hostilities until they in the New World. Urouge notes this was a narrow escape from death.
 * As Drake leaves them, a winter-dressed pirate Trafalgar Law asks him enigmatically how many he had killed.

Back at Shakky's bar, the owner admits that while many other crews have set out, only the strongest like the Straw Hat Pirates and these other rookies have made it this far. She notes all will make their mark but others are more violent than the Straw Hats, such as Kid's infamy for damaging civilians, yet she remains rooting for Luffy's crew to succeed, because they are not as violent as the Kid Pirates. Yet as Luffy worries about Rayleigh's fate outside, she states that he would do fine being a hundred times stronger than all of them.

Chapter Notes

 * Shakuyaku is introduced.
 * Ray is first mentioned.
 * Shakuyaku reveals that she was always chased after by Garp, forty years ago when she was a pirate.
 * The Eleven Supernovas excluding Luffy and Zoro are introduced.
 * X Drake is revealed to be a former Marine.
 * The reason Eustass Kid's bounty is higher than Luffy's, is he and his crew has hurt innocent civilians, sometime going as far as killing them.
 * Shakuyaku says that Ray is a hundred times stronger than Luffy and the other Supernovas.

Characters
3: First appearance

Anime Episode

 * Episode 392 (p.2-19)

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