Chapter 652

Chapter 652 is called "Grim Premonitions".

Cover Page
From the Decks of the World Vol. 34 - "Shift Station - Station Captain Chimney, The Sunday Spectacle".

Short Summary
Jinbe and Neptune have a discussion at Ryugu Palace about cutting off their connections to Big Mom and Neptune has found the flag he would wish to use to defend his island in case he loses Big Mom's, the flag of the Straw Hat Pirates. The Minister of the Right comes and alerts Neptune that there is a bomb inside the tamatebako that will explode when the box is opened. Luffy returns to the palace and tells everyone that he gave all the treasure he collected from Caribou to Big Mom and that he would fight her. In consequence, everyone is shocked and Luffy, Zoro and Sanji get beaten up by Nami. Caribou wakes up and tries to find the treasure he stole. He sees that Pekoms has it and tries fighting him only to be defeated with one punch. In the New World, the pirates that just escaped from Hody's slave army are attacked by the Marines. On a Marine battleship, Smoker is interrogating some captured pirates who tell him that the one who saved them was Luffy.

Long Summary
The chapter starts off in Ryugu palace with Neptune and Jinbe. Neptune asks Jinbe how the Sun Pirates are faring under the leadership of Yonko's Big Mam. Jinbe says that everything is fine but Big Mam can be unreasonable at times. Neptune then states that he thought Jinbe would have problems serving someone other than Fisher Tiger, but to Jinbe, he has no problems with whoever his boss may be. In fact, serving under one of the Yonko is the best way to protect his own crew. Neptune replies saying he thought Jinbe did so to protect Fishman island. Anyhow, this has indeed protected Fishman Island since the war ended 2 years ago, and they are thankful for that. Jinbe points out that the Sun Pirates should be protecting fishman island instead. But since they allied themselves with Whitebeard during the war (or at least Jinbe did), they are especially wanted men. He then tells Neptune that he was planning on cutting off ties with Big Mam. Neptune asks if it is because of Luffy's invitation, to which Jinbe says yes, and is thinking about it. However, since he made the deal with Big Mam on honour alone, without any written contract, such a deal would be very hard to break. Neptune says that Jinbe is being overly courteous and responsible as usual, and that when the time comes, he will think about it. He adds that they have just gained 70,000 more soldiers from the Fishman District, and if they should lose Big Mam's protection, he has another flag in mind that they could borrow, the Straw Hat pirates. Jinbe agrees with this enthusiastically.

Just then, the Minister of the Right bursts in, with something he remembered about the treasure they promised to the Straw Hat pirates. He requests that if the deal ever goes through, they ask the Straw Hats back for one of the treasures, the Tamatebako. Neptune then tells him that they have already given it to the Straw Hats, and that they can't just take it back now. The minister panics and says that if the Straw Hats open the box, it will explode. Neptune then asks why a bomb was placed inside it. The Minister of the Rights then explains - 10 years ago someone opened the Tamatebako, and they decided to place a bomb inside to punish whoever might repeat this same mistake. As the man in charge of the treasure vault and Tamatebako, the minister fixed it so that when the box is opened, all the bombs inside will go off at once creating a huge explosion. Neptune relents and asks him to request that the Straw Hat pirates pass them the Tamatebako with a full explanation. As they worry about them opening the box on their way to the palace, a soldier announces that the Straw Hats have arrived. They then let out a sigh of relief as it appears they have not opened the box.

However, the results are worse than they expected when they find out that Luffy gave all the treasure to Big Mam's subordinates, Pekoms and Tamago, including the Tamatebako. Luffy explained that he did so because Big Mam was going to destroy Fishman Island as they gave all their candy to the Straw Hat pirates, and that he'd fight her if she did. The rest of his crew and Jinbe are shocked. Princess Shirahoshi comically states that he's so strong, only to be told off by Usopp. She then says he's scary and almost cries, making him apolegetic. Jinbe is worried and states that now he has to end things with Big Mam sooner than expected, and tells the Straw Hats to not annoy her anymore. Usopp replies by saying they wouldn't as they could get killed by picking a fight with one of the Yonko. Meanwhile, Neptune's thought that the situation is bad is directed to the Minister of the Right, who agrees and adds that if Big Mam happens to obtain the Tamatebako and opens it, it will be a sign of war from Luffy. Nami appears understanding at first, saying how her captain was just standing his ground, to Luffy's agreement. She then turns violent and punches Luffy, Zoro and Sanji for giving Big Mam all the treasure, more upset about losing the treasure than picking a fight with Big Mam.

A beaten up Luffy then declares that they are heading for the New World, while Franky, Usopp, Chopper and Brook are still shocked and ask comically whether they're going just to die.

The scene then changes to the area around the candy factory on Fishman Island. Caribou is frantically searching for the treasure that he stole, saying that he'll kill the thieves. He also says that if he brings back the information about Princess Shirahoshi being one of the Ancient Weapons, Poseidon, together with the treasure, he will gain extra points with someone, most probably a higher-power pirate. He sees a group of people with two men, Pekoms and Tamago, who are carrying the treasure. Proudly saying to himself that he'll bury the two alive, he charges at them. Tamago asks who Caribou is, and Pekoms states that he's seen his face before. Pekoms takes out a stack of bounties and finds 'Wet Haired Caribou' who is worth 200,000,000. Several civilians are surprised at the large amount. Caribou pulls out a gattling gun from his own body through his Logia fruit powers, and proceeds to shoot at Pekoms. As the dust settles, Caribou sees that Pekoms has changed into a giant shell, which could be a turtle Zoan type fruit. Caribou states that Pekoms has a power, to which Pekoms agrees. Caribou then takes out a scythe from his body saying that Pekoms is probably just a 'Zoan' type user. Just before Caribou lands his strike, Pekoms punches him, sending Caribou flying away knocked out with just one punch. This goes to show that Pekoms is capable of Busoshoku Haki. The civilians are surprised and Pekoms says, 'Logia who think they are invincible have short life spans.' He and Tamago then leave on a fish through Fishman Island. Pekoms bounty is also revealed to be 330,000,000.

In the meantime, somewhere along the Red Line in the New world, pirates are popping up around this area from the sea. Marines are trying to control the situation. As a cannon ball approaches a Marine ship, Tashigi is revealed, deflecting it gracefully with her sword, letting it roll on the blunt edge before throwing it away. She is now a captain under the Marine G-5 branch. She tells off her crew for fooling around, goofing over their 'cute' captain, in a serious situation. Sadly, it appears she doesn't have much control over her crew as they continue to act silly. She is told to shut up by Smoker (now a Vice Admiral) who is interrogating some pirates. He learns that the pirates were made into slaves by Hodi and were suddenly freed by a group of pirates who also stopped Hodi's civil war. Smoker also realises that this is the reason why it has been a month since no rookie pirates could make it past Fishman Island and why they were appearing out of the blue (literally) all of the sudden. One pirate does not tell Smoker the name of their saviors as they are indebted to Luffy and his crew. But another explains that these weren't just normal Marines, but the G-5. He continues to spout stories about the G-5 marines such as they don't even listen to their orders. As a trio of menacing Marines ask Smoker if they could have the pirates already, the pirates panic and tell Smoker that it was the Straw Hats. Smoker then says that he already knew that.

Chapter Notes

 * Chimney, Gonbe, Tashigi and Smoker are shown for the first time since the timeskip.
 * Chimney has become the station captain of Shift Station.
 * It is revealed that the Tamatebako has been filled with bombs that will explode when it is opened.
 * All the treasure Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji acquired from Caribou has been given to Big Mom and the situation is explained to the rest of the Straw Hats and King Neptune.
 * Pekoms is a Zoan Devil Fruit user with the ability to transform into a turtle. He has a bounty of 330,000,000 and he is also able to use Busoshoku Haki as he is able to defeat Caribou with a single punch.
 * Smoker is revealed to have been promoted to Vice Admiral and Tashigi is now a Captain. They are now officers in charge of G-5.
 * Jinbe and the other members of the Sun Pirates are currently serving Big Mom, and have been since Big Mom started protecting Fishman Island. This is also part of the reason Jinbe rebuffed Luffy's offer to join the Straw Hats as he is unsure of how to cut ties with Big Mom.

Trivia

 * Tashigi's skill in deflecting a cannonball using her katana is similar to Mihawk's skill in easily deflecting enemy bullets in Chapter 50.