Water 7 Arc

The Water 7 Arc is the fifteenth story arc in the series and the second in the Water 7 Saga of the manga and anime series, One Piece.

The Straw Hats arrive at the oceanic metropolis of Water 7 to find a shipwright who can repair the Going Merry, as well as potentially join their crew. They soon become targeted by the Franky Family, the city's underground gang, as well as the mysterious World Government organization CP9. Between the disappearance of Robin and a schism that develops between Luffy and Usopp, the crew begins to fall apart.

The City of Water: Arrival at Water 7


After being attacked by Aokiji, the crew was fully recovered and had returned to sailing. Along their way, the crew saw a giant frog doing the crawl stroke and, wanting to eat it, Luffy ordered everyone to make the ship follow after it. They ended up on some tracks underwater and were nearly run over by a train traveling on top of the water, and the frog was sent flying by it. They were amazed by this sight.

On a nearby station, they met with the stationmaster named Kokoro and her granddaughter Chimney, along with her pet rabbit (who acts like a cat) Gonbe. After revealing that the frog, Yokozuna, was perfectly fine and that it was always testing its strength against the train, Kokoro explained that the train was a Sea Train that connects several of the nearby islands and is called the Puffing Tom. She then told them that the Log Pose would lead them to Water 7, a city of shipwrights where they could fix their ship, and told them to get help from a man named Iceburg.

The crew arrived at the city, which resembled a fountain, and sailed through the canals in the city looking for a place to dock, but the people were kind enough to tell them where to hide their boat. After stopping, a group of Luffy, Nami, and Usopp headed out to exchange their gold from Skypiea and find a shipwright, using creatures called yagaras to navigate the canals.



Later, Robin and Chopper left to look around, and Sanji went by himself to do the same, leaving Zoro on the ship. While Chopper was in a bookstore, a masked man walked past Robin and simply said, "CP9," which left her in shock. When Chopper came out, Robin was gone.

Meanwhile, several bounty hunters came onto the Going Merry to claim the bounty on the crew, but they underestimated Zoro's power and were quickly defeated.

Luffy's group managed to exchange the gold for 300,000,000 and they went to Dock One of the Galley-La Company. There, they met Kaku, one of the foremen, who revealed that Iceburg was the mayor of Water 7 and the president of Galley-La. Kaku did not know where Iceburg was, so he decided to inspect their ship in the meantime, using immense speed and leaping capabilities to rocket across the city. Just after Kaku left, Iceburg and his secretary, Kalifa, introduced themselves to the three and he agreed to work on their ship.

However, as they were about to enter the dock, the crew found that all of their money was gone, and they saw it being taken by several people. Luckily, at that moment, another foreman, Paulie, was running from tax collectors and knocked the robbers off of their yagara bulls, but was about to use the money to pay his debt before another foreman, Rob Lucci, stopped him. Iceburg revealed that the thieves (and the men who attacked Zoro) were known as the Franky Family, a gang of dismantlers that bounty hunt and steal on the side and were led by a powerful man named Franky.

Meanwhile, Sanji saw Robin with the masked man from before, but when they turned the corner, he found that they were gone. He later met up with Chopper and they started looking for Robin.

Meanwhile, in Dock One, while Usopp was separated from the group, he was attacked by the Franky Family and the 200,000,000 he had was taken.

Kaku returned from his inspection of the ship and revealed a startling fact—the Going Merry was impossible to fix. Since the keel was broken, trying to fix it would be no different from making a new ship entirely. Though Luffy complained about this, Iceburg told him to think about it for a while. The empty suitcases containing the money Usopp carried were found, and they concluded the Franky Family was the cause, so Luffy rushed off aimlessly into the city while Nami headed back to the ship after finding out about the location of their headquarters from the Galley-La workers.

On the way, however, Nami found Usopp bloody and battered on the street, and he deeply regretted letting them take the money. She left him there for now so she could get everyone else and explained the situation to the others, including Sanji and Chopper who had returned to the ship.



At the Franky House, the dismantlers' headquarters, the stolen money was presented to Franky himself, who revealed that the amount would be enough to buy what they had always wanted and left his gang a bunch of money to party with. As he was about to leave, the door exploded as Usopp walked in demanding that he give the money back. After a failed attempt to attack Franky, the others ganged up on Usopp.

The other Straw Hats went to where Nami left Usopp, but all they could find was bloody footsteps as Luffy fell from the sky. After he explained that he was trying to leap across the city like Kaku, he was told the situation. Outside of the Franky House, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Chopper found Usopp even worse off than before. The four battled the Franky Family, destroying the building, but they found that Franky had already left with most of the money. At this point, Luffy decided to abandon the Going Merry and buy a new ship.

Leaving Friends Behind: The Crew Splits Apart
At the Going Merry, Usopp's wounds are treated, and the news is broken to him that they will change ships. At first, Usopp thinks they are joking but when it's confirmed to be true, he asks if it is because he lost the money, but Luffy insists that the money would not have made any difference and the ship can no longer sail. Usopp gets angry and insists that the Going Merry is just as much of a crewmate as everyone else, yelling that Luffy would trust strangers he met just that day and abandon a friend that was with them from the beginning.

Luffy insists that he thought long and hard to make the decision and that if Usopp does not like the way he captains then he should just leave. Sanji manages to get Luffy to calm down and the captain apologizes for what he said, but Usopp says those were his true feelings and states that if they are going to abandon Merry, they'll have to leave him behind too. As Usopp leaves the ship, with everyone else looking on tearfully, he turns around and challenges Luffy to a duel over control of the ship at 10:00 that night.

On the ship, Nami tries to convince Luffy to resolve the matter with words, but Luffy points out that Usopp is not the type to arbitrarily put his life on the line for things he did not strongly believe in. Once he issued the challenge, there was no turning back. Meanwhile, Sanji yells at Zoro for letting the Franky Family escape after they attacked him, because if they did not steal the money from Usopp none of this would have happened, but Nami gets them to calm down.



True to his word at ten o'clock that night Usopp came back to the ship for his duel. The fight begins and Usopp mostly uses his weaker attacks like the Shinsen Tamago Boshi and Usopp Spell, but at it turns out these were simply to set up for several brand new attacks. Usopp reveals that his strategy is to not even give Luffy a chance to attack and manages to get in several damaging hits in, though Luffy manages to hit him with a Gomu Gomu no Pistol.

After being hit by a humongous explosion caused by shooting a Kaen Boshi into a cloud of explosive gas stored in a Breath Dial, Luffy charges towards Usopp while doing his Gomu Gomu no Bazooka attack, but Usopp absorbs the blow into his Impact Dial. Usopp then hits Luffy with the full force of his own attack, thinking he won, but Luffy manages to land on his feet and brings Usopp down with a Gomu Gomu no Bullet. Despite being the winner, Luffy lets Usopp have the Going Merry and has the rest of the crew leave the ship.

The next morning, the entire city is in a frenzy with news that Iceburg was shot. Upon hearing this at the hotel they are staying in, Luffy and Nami decided to see the mayor while the others keep looking for Robin.

At the ruins of Franky House, Franky returns and concludes that the Straw Hats were behind this. As it turns out, the other Franky Family members were hoping their boss would want to avenge them and were keeping tabs on the pirates. They tell Franky that Luffy is heading for Dock One.

Meanwhile, Iceburg manages to wake up and identify his attackers—one was a large man wearing a mask, while the other was Nico Robin of the Straw Hat Pirates. At the same time, it is announced around the town that Aqua Laguna, an annual high tide that engulfs the lower part of the city is coming, so Kokoro, Chimney, and her rabbit come to Water 7.

At Dock One, Franky attacks Luffy with a flame attack, leading the two pirates to believe he's a Devil Fruit user, until he jumps straight into the canal and attacks from there. After trading several more attacks, Franky reveals that he's a cyborg, a human with robotic parts. Before the fight can go on for much longer, however, the Galley-La foremen intervene. At first, Luffy and Nami think they are helping fend off Franky, but then they start attacking Luffy. They reveal that the Straw Hat Pirates are behind the assassination attempt and are trying to arrest Luffy. After much fighting, with Luffy not fighting back, Franky gets tired of everyone ignoring him and unleashes his ultimate attack, Coup de Vent, to destroy the entire dock. Luffy and Nami take this chance to escape and Luffy decides to see if Iceburg was telling the truth about Robin being his attacker.

Meanwhile, the Galley-La workers search through the town for the other crewmates and the Iceburg's statement is printed in all of the newspapers. At the company's headquarters, and where Iceburg lives, Luffy breaks in and rushes around the building looking for the mayor's room, avoiding the attacks of the shipwrights there. Iceburg hears about this and has Kalifa lead Luffy to his room.

When the two meet, Iceburg confirms that he really saw Nico Robin and then pulls out a gun, requesting that Luffy let him see her. Luffy says that he has no idea where she is and Iceburg shoots, attracting the attention of the other workers, though Luffy manages to escape before they get there.



Meanwhile, Chopper and Sanji find Robin. Robin explains that there is a darkness in her heart that will engulf the rest of the crew if she stays any longer and declares that she is leaving. Sanji tells Chopper to go back and tell everyone what happened, but he has something else he needs to do.

Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Chopper gather together and reach the conclusion that Robin may be being forced to do everything by the man in the mask, but Zoro points out that it would not be good to have false hope. Either way, they conclude that there will be another attack that night and they should confront her there.

Meanwhile, Franky decides to bring Luffy out of hiding by kidnapping Usopp and stealing the ship.

At the Galley-La headquarters, all of the workers and foremen gather to protect their director.

The Masked Assassins: CP9 Strikes
In the Galley-La headquarters, Iceburg calls Paulie into his room to tell him something, and afterwards Paulie leaves his guard post to go into another room, opening a hidden safe. The four remaining Straw Hats gather outside of headquarters hiding in a tree, observing the building for any events out of the ordinary when there is a huge explosion. At that point, several masked men in costumes (including Robin) rush into the building, who the workers assume are Straw Hat pirates.

Nami, Chopper, and Zoro decide to break in too, only to find that Luffy is gone.

While the female assassin distracts the guard, showing incredible speed and the ability to jump while airborne, the man with Robin, wearing a bear mask, manages to enter Iceburg's room from the side using his Doa Doa no Mi. He shoots Iceburg to weaken him, stating that they cannot kill him until they get the signal, and leaves him to Robin while he handles the guards. The bear masked man easily takes care of the foreman Tilestone, demonstrating an ability to make his body as hard as metal.

At this point, Iceburg reveals the identities of the attackers—they are the government agency Cipher Pol 9, who intentionally failed in the first assassination attempt in order to place the blame on the Straw Hats, and they are after the blueprints for the ancient weapon Pluton, which Iceburg owns through inheritance from the great shipwright Tom.

Meanwhile, Zoro, Nami, and Chopper break into the building, thinking that Luffy would have distracted all of the guards by aimlessly rushing in, only to find themselves surrounded.

As it turns out, Luffy got stuck between two buildings.

Meanwhile, Paulie pulls blueprints out of Iceburg's safe only to encounter two men in a bull and skull mask. Paulie attacks them only to be beaten easily, but as it turns out the blueprints are fake. Using Den Den Mushis, the other CP9 agents are alerted to gather in Iceburg's room. In Iceburg's room, the four CP9 agents reveal their identities—the foremen Lucci and Kaku, the secretary Kalifa, and the bar owner Blueno.

At this time, however, Luffy manages to get free and breaks into the room only to be caught off guard by the powers of CP9, which include the ability to fire an "air blade" from their legs. Luffy and Paulie are pinned to the ground, but after talking for a bit, Luffy manages to squeeze himself out and release Paulie.

Meanwhile, Zoro fends off the shipwrights using the backs of his swords and he, along with Nami and Chopper, make their way upstairs.

Iceburg refuses to cooperate with the CP9 so Lucci (who, as it turns out, can speak normally), asks Kaku to check Iceburg's pulse to gauge his reaction to his "theory." Lucci gives his theory as to what happened to the Pluton blueprints. It was assumed that Iceburg was the last apprentice of the shipwright Tom and inherited the blueprints as a result, since reports said that his other apprentice, Cutty Flam, died when he was run over by the Sea Train. However, Cutty Flam is not actually dead—he continues to live in the city to this very day under the name Franky. When he hears this, Iceburg's pulse greatly quickens and Lucci concludes that he was right.

Just as CP9 is about to leave to go after Franky; Luffy, Paulie, Zoro, Chopper, and Nami break into the room. When Paulie finds out the situation, he attacks Lucci only to be beaten easily. Lucci reveals that all CP9 agents are capable of using "Rokushiki", the six martial art techniques, to put them beyond any other human. The Straw Hats try to talk to Robin, but she leaves stating that there's a wish she cannot accomplish when with them.

As it turns out, CP9 had set a firebomb in the building to go off soon, but before that Lucci decides to show off his Devil Fruit power, the Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Leopard. Luffy and Zoro attack him, only to be thrown across the island, and the building is engulfed in flames, with Iceburg and Paulie tied up unconscious, Nami thrown outside, and Chopper buried under rubble inside.



At this point, the four CP9 agents leave and come across several Franky Family members, who are yelling around town that they have Usopp and the ship captive and that Luffy has to go to the workplace under the bridge if he wants to see them again. Lucci beats them up to find an exact location and the agents head for Franky's hiding place.

Meanwhile, at Franky's hide-out, Usopp continues to fix the ship while Franky and his assistants, the Square Sisters, cry from his story. When Franky asks what Usopp plans on doing once he fixes his ship, he replies that he's going back to Syrup Village in East Blue after adventuring for a bit longer. Franky tells him that he cannot let him do that, since the ship will not even reach the next island, nonetheless go back to East Blue, and suggests letting him dismantle it. After arguing, Franky throws Usopp into the water under the ship so he can see for himself that the ship is too damaged to go anywhere. Even after resurfacing, Usopp continues fixing the ship and reveals that he already knew the ship was doomed.

He tells them that in Skypiea, the night after the ship was heavily damaged by Priest Shura, Usopp saw a strange figure in the fog fixing it, telling Usopp, "Don't worry, I'll carry everyone a little longer." The next day, though crudely done, the ship was fixed and back in its original form without the upgrades made by the Saruyama Alliance. Not only was it odd that someone would be there to help them, but that they would know what the ship originally looked like, which led Usopp into thinking that the figure was the Going Merry's soul.

Franky confirms this suspicion, telling Usopp about the Klabautermann, a ship spirit that appears to warn and even save crewmembers when the ship is near destruction and only appears if the ship loves the crew it carries. Franky points out that if Usopp traveled on the ship and ended up dying when it fell apart, the Going Merry's soul would not be able to live with itself, but Usopp asks Franky if he should just leave behind a friend when he is about to die.



Before this discussion can go on much longer, the four CP9 members break in, knocking out the Square Sisters. Franky recognizes them as being from the Galley-La Company and attacks them, asking them what they think they are doing there. Lucci reveals to him that they are from the government, and they know he is really Cutty Flam, also claiming that they killed Iceburg. The cyborg is then knocked through a wall, revealing a dusty workshop—the place where Tom's Workers operated—and the CP9 decide to look through it in search of the Pluton blueprints, tearing the room apart, but Franky tells them to get out of there.

Living with Pride: Franky's Past
Twenty-two years ago, a young Franky sails his newest ship only to be attacked by a Sea King and his new weapons are ineffective against it. When he comes back onto shore, a young Iceburg scorns him for constantly making weapons as their mentor, a pufferfish fish-man named Tom, finishes up on a ship by tossing it into the air and throwing the masts in with great accuracy.

As they, along with Yokozuna the frog, eat food made by Kokoro, she explains how the island is not getting any business, and when they do the shipbuilding companies fight each other over customers, and with the water level steadily rising, all anyone can do is wait for the city to sink. That night, however, Tom works on his plan to fix this problem.

Later, after the execution of Gol D. Roger, a judiciary ship arrives in the town to put Tom on trial—they are arresting anyone who helped the late Pirate King, and Tom was the one who built his ship, the Oro Jackson. Tom is about to be sentenced to be executed at Enies Lobby until he reveals his plans: he will build a Sea Train that can travel in any weather to connect the nearby islands together.



After the judge requests a route to Enies Lobby, he gives Tom ten years to make the Sea Train before his trial is redone. Though Franky is angry that Tom would be arrested for making such a great ship that reached the end of the Grand Line in the first place, Tom's Workers immediately gets to work. After ten years, the Puffing Tom makes its first successful launch.



Government agents, led by the leader of Cipher Pol 5, Spandam, arrive at where Tom and Iceburg are, only to be shot by Franky's cannons. Spandam ignored as Franky exclaims that he finally made a ship strong enough to defeat a Sea King, but is once again yelled at by Iceburg, explaining that he cannot just leave such powerful weapons lying around. Spandam manages to get their attention again and talks with Tom personally. Spandam explains that he is after the blueprints for the Pluton, though Tom denies having them. The CP5 leader then threatens to reveal that Tom built Gol D. Roger's ship if he does not reveal where the plans are, only to be dumbfounded when Tom points out that everyone already knows that.

After the agents leave, Tom takes the blueprints out of a safe and entrust them to Iceburg and Franky. Franky suggests that they try to build it but is yelled at by Iceburg once again. Meanwhile, at a bar, Spandam laments that it is just not right for the builder of the Pirate King's ship to go free.

The next day, the judiciary ship comes back to give Tom a retrial and everyone is sure that Tom will go free this time, until the ship is attacked. As Franky watches in horror, the attacking ships turn out to be his own creations, and after the judiciary ship sinks Spandam orders the agents controlling the ships to return and jump off the ship. Tom and Iceburg board the ships once they stop attacking only to find that there is no one there and are shot by some more ships. Franky arrives to find them badly wounded and the three are arrested by CP5.



At the trial, Spandam claims that he was the one who saved everyone, and no one believes Franky when he declares that Spandam was the one who attacked in the first place. It is pointed out by the CP5 leader that the ships were made by their company, but Franky declares that no ship that hurts his friends like that is any ship of his, which Tom responds to by breaking out of his manacles and punching his apprentice for the first time. The fish-man declares that no matter what a ship does, even if it ends up bringing about the end of the world, the creator must love it with all of his heart.

He then runs up and attacks Spandam too only to be shot by tranquilizers. Since the creation of the Sea Train nullifies one crime, Tom requests that this one be erased, making it so that he will be executed for building the Oro Jackson but Franky and Iceburg are now safe. Franky and Iceburg are released and the first thing Franky does is take a tranquilizer gun from a nearby soldier and smashes in Spandam's face with it.

Franky then runs away as the soldiers attack him. Tom is taken onto the Sea Train, which is leaving for Enies Lobby, and Franky takes one of his boats farther down the track. As he stands on the track, with Yokozuna watching, he fires cannons at the train, but it will not stop. He then tries to stop it with his bare hands only to get run over, supposedly getting killed.

Four years later, Iceburg has managed to unite the shipping companies of the island and Water 7 is thriving once again. One day, Franky comes to Galley-La Headquarters requesting to talk to Iceburg only to be turned away.

Later that day, Iceburg meets with Franky in secret, and he gives him the Pluton blueprints after an argument. Iceburg requests that Franky leaves the island, but he refuses to do so.

Another Sea Train: Voyage to Enies Lobby
As Franky and Usopp are restrained by CP9, Franky is told that their commander would like to talk with him. As it turns out, the leader of CP9 is Spandam, who now has to wear a leather mask to cover his wounds, and he states that he will make Franky pay for what he did to him before. CP9 decide to arrest Usopp too, as even though he left the crew he still claims to be a pirate. Kaku then notices that they still have not gotten rid of the ship and releases it into the storm of Aqua Laguna.

Meanwhile, at the Galley-La Headquarters, Iceburg (who was saved by Chopper at the last minute inside the Galley La Headquarters) and Nami manage to regain consciousness and Iceburg requests to the other carpenters that they speak alone. Iceburg then reveals that Robin told him that CP9 could call for an island-destroying fleet of battleships known as the Buster Call, thanks to permission from Aokiji, and that they would use it on the Straw Hat Pirates if Robin did not help assassinate Iceburg and come with them to be executed at Enies Lobby. In other words, the goal she cannot reach when with the Straw Hats is for the six crewmembers, excluding herself, to leave the island safely.

With the knowledge that Robin did not betray them, Nami rushes to wake up Chopper. Paulie wakes up and tells the other shipwrights that the pirates were not the assassins, but lies that he did not see who the attackers really were and that Lucci, Kaku, and Kalifa were at home. Nami rushes to stop the Sea Train, led by Paulie and several other Galley-La workers, while Chopper and other workers search for Luffy and Zoro.



At the Blue Station, the four CP9 agents, along with Corgi and their prisoners, board the Sea Train as Sanji observes the situation. Due to the severe weather conditions, the Sea Train is forced to depart from the station early. As the train starts to leave, Sanji sneaks on board, but Nami and the others get there just in time to see it leave. Thankfully, the carpenters find a note from Sanji that states that he's on the train along with a Baby Den Den Mushi so they can contact each other once he finds a Den Den Mushi on the train. Thus, Nami switches her priorities to finding a ship to chase after them, but Paulie says it would be crazy to use a ship during Aqua Laguna.

During this, Kokoro watches the ocean, noting that the distance the water drawback shows how strong the following waves will be during Aqua Laguna. This year, the water draws back an abnormally large distance, giving the appearance of the ocean drying up. At this point, Chimney notices something in the back alleys and, as Nami approaches them, she points out that Luffy is stuck between two of the buildings. Meanwhile, Chopper looks at the back alley too and sees Zoro stuck in a chimney.

Both Nami and Chopper hop across the buildings to where each respective crewmate is. While Chopper tries to pull Zoro out of the chimney, handing Zoro his sword upon request, Nami yells to Luffy that Robin gave up her life so that they could escape the government's wrath. Luffy then pushes the buildings he was stuck between apart and Zoro slices in half the building whose chimney he was stuck in just as the first wave of Aqua Laguna crashes towards them. They just barely manage to reach higher ground only to underestimate the strength of the waves and are engulfed. Thankfully, Paulie was close by and manages to pull them up, but it is still not over as they have to quickly reach even higher ground before they are caught again. They succeed and the two crewmates are told about the situation.



Meanwhile, on Puffing Tom, Sanji tries to decide the best course of action when he is found by an agent. He kicks the agent through the cart, drawing the attention of everyone there. One of them suggests alerting CP9, but the CP6 agent Jerry, a very tall man that needs to bend over to fit in the cart, says that there's no need to do that. He tries to fight Sanji only to be beaten without any effort. In the car where CP9 is staying, Corgi explains that in the 5th car is the Marine Captain T Bone, in the 4th Wanze of CP7, and finally in the 3rd the newest member of CP9, Nero, making it so that there is no chance of any attackers reaching them.

Back at Water 7, Luffy decides that they are going to take a ship to chase after Robin, but Paulie points out it is useless since no ship can get past a normal Aqua Laguna and this year's is far beyond average.



At this point, Kokoro says that if any ship could get past this it would be the Sea Train, and tells the Straw Hats to follow her. She takes them to an old cellar where the prototype Sea Train, Rocketman, was kept, and they find Iceburg finishing up on maintenance. He had the same idea as Kokoro and came to the warehouse earlier to get it ready, and the train is ready for departure. Luffy and Zoro manage to fully recover by eating a bunch of meat and sake brought by Nami and a pair of conductors.

Before they can leave, the Franky Family appears before them. They tearfully request to Luffy that they come with them to Enies Lobby so they can rescue Franky, and Luffy lets the group join them. As Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Chopper get on board, with Kokoro conducting, the train launches out of one of the gates in the city straight into Aqua Laguna.



As the train launches out of the city, the Franky Family attaches their cart to the train, bringing along their king bulls Sodom and Gomorrah, and Kokoro steers the ship onto the tracks, greatly boosting its speed. Being a prototype, Rocketman's speed cannot be controlled and, once it gets on the tracks, it is almost impossible to steer. As it turns out, Chimney, Gonbe, Paulie, Tilestone, and Lulu stowed onboard. After Paulie tells the other two foremen the identities of the assassins, he reveals that he came along to avenge Iceburg. Since they share a common enemy, the Straw Hat Pirates, Galley-La Company, and Franky Family officially form an alliance.

Meanwhile, on the Puffing Tom, Sanji breaches the next car, which is where Usopp and Franky are being kept. After being convinced that Franky is good by Usopp, Sanji reluctantly frees both of them and they climb on top of the next car, where Captain T Bone is stationed. Using a Den Den Mushi from the previous car, he calls Nami and is told about Robin's situation.

Back at the Rocketman, a huge wave is coming towards them and despite the best efforts of the Franky Family and the Galley-La Foremen, they cannot break it apart. At this point, Luffy and Zoro make their move by performing their ultimate combo attack, Gomu Gomu no 300 Pound Cannon, and blast a huge tunnel through the wave, saving the train.

Though Franky decides to help rescue Robin, Usopp refuses to, citing that he is no longer a member of the crew, and walks away. Minutes later, however, a masked man in a cape who looks exactly like Usopp, calling himself "Sogeking", appears before them and says that Usopp told him about the entire situation and that he is willing to help. Sanji and Franky see right through his disguise, but decide not to say anything.

As Captain T Bone, a zombie-like but honorable knight swordsman, and his soldiers look through the last two cars, the three intruders detach them from the rest of the train, leaving very few people left. They enter the next car, which holds the kitchen, and encounter the CP7 chef Wanze, a very odd-looking and energetic man that makes ramen with his nose hairs and fights using Ramen Kenpo. Sanji holds him off as Franky and Sogeking continue to the next car.



Sanji battles Wanze and Franky faces off with Nero as Sogeking continues on to Robin's car by using suction octopi to walk along the side of the train. He tells Robin about the situation, but she still refuses to be saved. When Corgi comes in to see the source of the noise, Sogeking hides under Robin's cloak.



In the kitchen, Wanze proves to be very weak, but Sanji cannot hurt him with his kicks since his feet will get stuck in his ramen armor. The Straw Hat cook manages to bypass this, however, by using knives to cut the armor apart, stating that he's in a kitchen and he's cutting up food, so he can ignore his legs-only rule in this case.

After a while, Rocketman approaches the detached cars and, after Luffy makes sure Sanji and the others aren't not on it, Zoro cuts it in half to get it off the tracks. Soon afterwards, they come across Captain T Bone, who ran on ahead on the Sea Train tracks in a desperate attempt to stop the intruders. T Bone fires projectile slashes towards Zoro, but he manages to dodge them and knocks T Bone off the tracks.

On the top of Car 3, Franky is overwhelmed by Nero's speed, especially once he discovers that his back is his weak point, but through trickery Franky manages to pin him down. As the cyborg punches Nero through the roof, Sanji kicks Wanze through several cars until he lands right next to the CP9 agents.



In Robin's car, Corgi finds Sogeking, but he is shot by one of his Gunpowder Stars. Despite Sogeking trying to stop her, Robin goes into the car where CP9, Sanji and Franky are. She once again denies their help, even going as far as attacking the sniper king, but he throws a smoke bomb and the four criminals escape to the last car, detaching it from CP9's car. However, Kalifa manages to grab onto the car with her whip and it is pulled in by Blueno.

Franky sacrifices himself by breaking down the wall being held by Blueno and falling back into their car, but this is futile as Blueno teleports to the separated car with an "Air Door" using his Devil Fruit power. He attacks Sanji and Usopp, but Robin has him stop on the condition that she willingly goes with him. Before Sanji can counterattack, Blueno and Robin go into the air door back to the Sea Train.

Talking to Robin, Franky learns that Iceburg is still alive (Sogeking told her this) and then informs her that no matter what anyone says, simply being alive is not a sin. Puffing Tom then arrives at the no-night government island of Enies Lobby.

Yokozuna the frog appears on the tracks to test his strength against Rocketman and the impact separates the Franky Family's car from the train and knocks the train off the tracks. After landing on the train, Kokoro calls the frog over and he is extremely happy to see her, since he thought she was kidnapped by the government. Somehow managing to talk to the frog, Kokoro finds out that he was attacking the Sea Train so he could become stronger and so he will be able to stop his friends from being taken away again. She informs him that Franky was taken just like Tom was, and Yokozuna decides to accompany them to Enies Lobby.

Meanwhile, the Franky Family come across the cars Sanji and Sogeking were in and the two board theirs. As the sky starts to turn blue again, Enies Lobby comes in sight.

Story Impact

 * Franky and his past are introduced leading to him becoming the Shipwright of the Straw Hat Pirates.
 * More of Roger's life as a pirate is shown, as his ship was called the Oro Jackson and was built by Franky's mentor Tom.
 * Luffy and Zoro first begin being recognized for their bounties in this arc. The Franky Family identifies Zoro upon attacking him on the Going Merry, and recognize Luffy once the Straw Hats attack the Franky House.
 * More of the World Government's secret actions are revealed, such as their underhanded methods of willing to do anything for what they want. Such as in Franky's past would show how Spandam and other government agents were fine with framing him, Iceburg and Tom and killing of other people without remorse, foreshadowing their ruthless nature into Robin's past in the Enies Lobby Arc and their doctrine of Absolute Justice.
 * The Ancient Weapon Pluton, first mentioned by Crocodile in Arabasta, is revealed to have blueprints that have been passed down through various shipwrights of Water 7.
 * Secret agents of the World Government, that are assassins are shown called CP9, as well as others mentioned that go from CP1 to CP8.
 * The maintenance check on the Going Merry reveals that it cannot be used anymore leading Luffy to abandon their previous objective of using their new money to fix the Merry, and instead the money would be used to purchase a new ship, which would eventually lead the Straw Hat Pirates to get the Thousand Sunny.
 * Most of the money that the Straw Hats acquired from Sky Island would be taken by Franky for him to buy the Adam Wood, which would be used to build the Thousand Sunny in the Post-Enies Lobby Arc.
 * Robin and Usopp leave the crew for their own reasons:
 * Usopp leaves over his own weakness as a fighter and his stubbornness over how he believes Luffy is giving up the ship like he's abandoning a friend and his refusal to abandon the ship. However, he is fully aware that the Going Merry cannot be used again and yet his stubbornness caused him to leave. His desertion would also cause him to masquerade as Sogeking during the battle at Enies Lobby though everyone excluding Luffy, and Chopper are not fooled by his disguise.
 * Robin's reason is over her being blackmailed by CP9 and if she does not do what they want the rest of the crew will be killed and she'd rather have the whole world destroyed than lose the first real friends she's ever made. This would result in the Straw Hats traveling to Enies Lobby the following arc to save her.
 * CP9, a secret organization, is introduced, along with the fighting technique they use, Rokushiki. Other Marine officers would be seen using this.
 * Luffy cites his observation of Rokushiki this arc, specifically Soru, as a direct inspiration for Gear 2 during his fight with Blueno in Enies Lobby.
 * CP9 is revealed to have the authority to summon an island-destroying fleet of battleships, known as the Buster Call.
 * Nami introduced the Gates of Justice and the three main government facilities that it guards: Enies Lobby, Marine Headquarters, and Impel Down, foreshadowing the Summit War Saga.
 * Nami unveils the completed Perfect Clima-Tact, an upgraded model of the original Clima-Tact created by Usopp after he had mistakenly designed a joke weapon. This was his last work before he left the crew, fashioned by implanting Dials from Skypiea in her staff. Now that the Clima-Tact is a competent weapon instead of a comedic party favor, Nami begins to engage in more riveting and serious fights against her opponents.
 * Sanji using knives as a fighting method similar to swords will later be revealed to be related to his distant past.
 * The Straw Hats make their first alliance with outside organizations in order to achieve a mutual goal, allying themselves with the Galley-La foremen and the Franky Family in order to defeat CP9.

Anime and Manga Differences

 * During the Sea Train episodes of the anime a ghostly image of the Going Merry appeared. This foreshadowed the Going Merry's return in the manga to assist in the Straw Hat Pirates' escape.

Trivia

 * There is some dispute as to how the Water 7 Arc should be categorized, particularly whether the journey on the sea train should be attached to the Water 7 Arc, the Enies Lobby Arc, or if it should stand alone. Another is whether or not the Water 7 and Enies Lobby Arcs should be considered separate arcs or not.

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