Egghead Arc

The Egghead Arc, also referred to as the Future Island Arc, is the thirty-second story arc of the manga and anime One Piece, the first story arc of the Final Saga, and the ninth story arc of the second half of the series.

The aftermaths of both the Levely and the Raid on Onigashima have had immense consequences for the world. After the Lulusia Kingdom is erased from history and while major shifts in the world are happening with the global war heating up, the Straw Hat Pirates, following their Log Pose, arrive at the mysterious, futuristic island Egghead where the super genius Dr. Vegapunk resides. However, after being tipped off about Vegapunk's research into the Void Century, the World Government decides to assassinate Vegapunk, sending a CP0 team that includes two agents the Straw Hats have dealt with before.

Shifting Balance: The World's New Great Powers


After recovering from their dangerous descent down Wano's waterfall, Nami put Luffy in a cage to punish him. They then received the newspaper, learning of their new bounties and about the many massive events that had occurred during their time on Wano. They were horrified at the news of Cobra's death and Vivi's disappearance. Luffy immediately wanted to go and rescue Vivi, but Zoro talked him out of it, saying they should allow Vivi to take care of herself until it becomes clear she was in imminent danger. Luffy refused to believe that Sabo would kill Cobra, recalling the time he declared his dream to Sabo and Ace and thus revealing it to his crew for the first time. They reacted with a mixture of disbelief, wonder and glee. Usopp said that such a thing would be impossible, but Luffy replied that the Pirate King might be able to do it. Franky declared that they needed to find the last Road Poneglyph to help their captain become Pirate King and achieve the dream as soon as possible, but Robin adds that it would not be easy as its whereabouts had been unknown for a long period of time.

The Red Hair Pirates dropped Marco off back at Sphinx, and as he bid farewell to them, Marco recalled his farewell with the Straw Hats on Wano. Yamato had informed the crew of his decision not to join them, as he believed that Wano would need his protection for the time being from threats like Ryokugyu. Marco then arrived to tell the crew he was about to leave, and he, Luffy, and Jinbe reminisced about their first meeting in the Summit War of Marineford. Marco said Ace would have certainly been delighted to see Luffy's growth.



On Karai Bari Island, Crocodile and Mihawk confronted Buggy over why he was being advertized as the leader of Cross Guild, which in reality was created by the two of them. Some days ago, Crocodile contacted Mihawk as the now ex-Warlord was under attack by the Marines and proposed that the two of them team up to take on the Marines. Later, as Buggy was under attack by the Marines, Crocodile arrived at Karai Bari Island and ambushed the attacking fleet. Buggy's henchman believed that Crocodile was working for him, but in reality, Crocodile was after him to collect the money Buggy owed him. With no options left, Buggy offered to work as a servant for Crocodile's new company in order to pay off his debt. However, Buggy's subordinates put their captain front and center when creating a poster to spread word about the Cross Guild, and the World Government misinterpreted the poster as well as Crocodile's attack on the Marines to label Buggy as the company's leader and label him one of the Four Emperors. Because of the massive threat posed by Cross Guild, Crocodile's bounty was raised to over 1,000,000,000 while Buggy's and Mihawk's were raised to over 3,000,000,000. Although Crocodile was enraged by this development and proceeded to beat up Buggy in response, Mihawk stated that he had no desire to be an Emperor and that it might actually be advantageous for them if they were to keep Buggy as their figurehead leader, which Crocodile agreed to.

On Amazon Lily, Gloriosa comments that the island had suffered great damage and that they had never experienced an invasion of this magnitude before, to which Boa Hancock replies that as long as she is there the marines will not stop coming and adds that she should marry Luffy now, annoying Gloriosa who was already sick of her constantly bringing it up.



A few weeks ago, Koby, Yamakaji, and their fleet assaulted the island, bringing in the new line of Pacifista, Seraphim. The Kuja were left in shock as they came under attack by a cyborg resembling a young version of Hancock. The battle was then interrupted by the arrival of the Blackbeard Pirates, who came to take Hancock's Mero Mero no Mi power. Blackbeard was attacked by a Seraphim resembling a young Mihawk. Hancock used the opportunity to use her ability, turning the Marines and pirates except Koby and Blackbeard to stone. Blackbeard was able to grab hold of Hancock and nullify her ability. They arrived at a standstill as Hancock said that if she were killed, her victims would remain petrified, and Blackbeard would never be able to use her fruit to undo it. Blackbeard ultimately decided to kill her regardless but was stopped by the sudden arrival of Rayleigh, who told the Emperor to depart the island and in return Hancock would reverse the petrification of his crew.

In the present day, Rayleigh remained on Amazon Lily along with Shakky, who was the former Amazon Lily empress and Kuja Pirates captain two generations before Hancock. He remarked it was fortunate everything went the way it did, as he was not sure he would have been able to take on Blackbeard in a battle at this point.

Out at sea, a Marine ship reported via Den Den Mushi that they were setting course for Egghead and that Koby's status was unknown as he had been kidnapped by the Blackbeard Pirates.



In the Kamabakka Kingdom, the Revolutionary Army officers expressed relief that Sabo was still alive, although Dragon was concerned about the report of King Cobra's assassination and said he and Sabo would have a reckoning if he was indeed the one responsible for the incident. Dragon then went up to the liberated Kuma and asked him what he had seen. Right then, the revolutionaries received a call from Sabo, which the Marines were able to intercept. They traced the location of the call to the Lulusia Kingdom, which was one of the kingdoms that had revolted in the Eight-Nation Revolution; the Five Elders were made aware of this and remarked that Sabo was unlucky. In his call, Sabo told his comrades that he had not killed Cobra; in reality, he had seen something terrible. As he was saying this, the citizens of Lulusia looked up as a massive object appeared in the sky, shrouded by clouds. As Sabo began to tell the revolutionaries that the Empty Throne actually possessed an occupant, Im unleashed a rain of lasers from the sky which instantly obliterated Lulusia and left nothing in its wake; it was declared during this attack that Lulusia had never existed to begin with.

Arrival at Egghead: A Certain Scientist's Island of the Future
A few days after their departure from Wano, the Straw Hats were in a brutally cold climate zone as they approached their next island. They came across a giant Warm Eddy, and spotted a person trapped inside it. Zoro cut through the eddy to free them, and Jewelry Bonney emerged in child form. Luffy jumped in midair and stretched his arms to catch her as well as a blown-overboard Chopper, but the Sunny and crew then came under attack by Mecha-Shark, a giant shark made out of metal. As Luffy, Bonney, and Chopper fell into the ocean, Jinbe went to rescue them while Franky tried piloting the Sunny out of harm's way. However, Mecha-Shark fired homing torpedoes out of its mouth, causing the Sunny to capsize and sink. It then attacked Jinbe's group with cannon fire as the fish-man tried to save the Devil Fruit users, forcing him to dive underwater to escape. Mecha-Shark turned its attention back to the Sunny but was suddenly punched by a person inside a giant mecha.

Meanwhile, at the nearby Marine base, G-14, Helmeppo and several other Marine officers pleaded to Tashigi and Rear Admiral Prince Grus to let them go and rescue Koby from Hachinosu. Grus refused their request to deploy a Seraphim from Egghead, saying they were in no position to act as they had not been able to get a hold of X Drake.



Jinbe brought Luffy, Chopper, and Bonney onto the nearby island, where they dried their clothes and got warm. Bonney revealed who she was to Luffy and told the three stranded Straw Hats that they were in Egghead, an island home to Dr. Vegapunk's research labs and said to be 500 years in the future. She revealed that she came alone as she had business with Vegapunk, though her ship was devoured by Mecha-Shark before she could reach the island. The four then enter the island, where they were dazzled by the futuristic sights of aliens, giant robots and giant parfaits. However, upon interacting with them, they soon realized they were all holograms. Annoyed, Luffy punches a large robotic girl that talked to him, only to find out it was real when he was punched back. He was knocked into the Automatic Food Machine, which the pirates were very delighted to discover and started playing around with it. As they ate the food dispensed from the machine, the girl started explaining some of the technology around them, the Island A.C. that kept the island warm despite being a winter island, and her Light Pressure Gloves that allow her to interact with holograms. When enquired who she was, she claimed to be Dr. Vegapunk, though Bonney, who said she knew the real Vegapunk, immediately claimed she was lying.

Meanwhile, the mecha that hit Mecha-Shark lifted the Sunny out of the ocean, along with the rest of the Straw Hats and a woman emerged from it, saying Mecha-Shark was a creation she built to guard the island but was acting awry due to its primal desires to eat ships. The woman then also introduced herself as Dr. Vegapunk, to the Straw Hats' great shock. However, when Robin questioned this, knowing for a fact the Vegapunk should be an elderly man, the woman expanded on this by revealing that she was Punk-02, Lilith, not the original Stella, before demanding the Straw Hats to hand over their treasure and surrounding them with giant Sea Beast Weapons. However, Punk-01, Shaka contacted Lilith, scolding her for plundering and warning her of the danger she is in, particularly from Zoro and Robin. After she had realized this, Zoro then started to make demands, with Shaka, who was interested in the crew, obliging. The giant mecha then flew with the Sunny to the top part of the island, the Labophase, as Lilith explained how the machine could currently only work in the vicinity of the island, and how the clouds around the top were Island Clouds and that the lower area was the residential Fabiriophase. The Straw Hats, except for Zoro and Brook, who remained on ship watch duty, then disembarked and obtained some new clothes. While the two swordsmen had tea on the ship, they released Caribou and told him to disembark, despite his protests as the island was a government island.

On Luffy's group's side, after they had eaten their fill, Atlas flew off to do her job of fighting holograms, while the four discovered a Trancos clothes dispenser, and picked out some new attire. However, as they wandered around, a policing Pacifista attacked them, for not paying for the clothes and food. When Luffy attempted to fight back, Bonney intervened, tearfully revealing how Bartholomew Kuma was her father. They eventually managed to escape it thanks to Bonney's Devil Fruit ability altering Luffy and Chopper to their old age, while Jinbe and the Glutton became children, fooling the cyborg's detection. Jinbe then revealed what he knew about he knew about Kuma, such as how he was the king of Sorbet Kingdom, but was driven out due to his tyranny before becoming affiliated with the Revolutionary Army only to be captured and imprisoned for life. He revealed that thanks to Vegapunk taking interest in him, Kuma gained his freedom as a Warlord at the cost of donating his body to science. However, as Bonney salvaged through a scrap heap, discovering a beam saber in the process, she contradicted many of these "facts", and believed her father would not have willingly sacrificed himself for science as he was apparently part of a certain race.



At sea, a ship from the World Government headed towards Egghead. On board, Rob Lucci, Kaku and Stussy were going over their newest mission, the assassination of Vegapunk. As it turned out Dr. Vegapunk, somehow split himself amongst six more people, referred to as Satellites, as he had too much to do. In the process of delivering S-Bear, the three are to assassinate all the Vegapunks with as little damage to the lab as possible. When Lucci pondered whether this order is due to what happened to Lulusia, the other agents warned him against inquiring needlessly. At around the same time Shaka, having foreseen his imminent death, contacted Dragon to tell him something.

Meanwhile, in the seas of Winner Island, the Polar Tang was under attack, and the Heart Pirates suddenly started turning into women. Forced to surface, they soon found their attackers, the Blackbeard Pirates, waiting for them. Law countered his feminization with a strong amount of Haki, with Doc Q, the one who spread the disease with his Shiku Shiku no Mi ability, commenting that by doing so, the cure would also spread out amongst the crew. Van Augur then used his Wapu Wapu no Mi ability to teleport Jesus Burgess to the island, who used his Riki Riki no Mi ability to throw a mountain at the Heart Pirates, though Law countered it with his own ability. Teach himself appeared with Doc Q on top of Stronger, who now could fly thanks to the Uma Uma no Mi, Model: Pegasus. It is revealed that the Blackbeard captain launched this ambush in order to steal Law's copies of the Road Poneglyphs. Law then used his awakened ability R-ROOM: Amputate on Stronger to make them fall, though not before Teach used Gurash to shake up the Heart Pirates and the island with it. Doc Q then threw a basket of explosive apples at his enemies, but Shachi countered it by spitting out a jet of water to intercept the bombs. Bepo then identified Augur's position and had Jean Bart intercept his shot targeted at Law. Law faced Blackbeard, using K-ROOM: Shock Willie against the Emperor.



Augur saves Teach using his teleportation before placing him in front of Law, and just as the two clashed again, Teach used his Kurouzu. Meanwhile, the Heart Pirates display their aquatic fighting ability by attacking the Blackbeard Prates ship from underwater. In the Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki expressed his frustration of his inability to do anything, as he received the news of the two crews fighting.

Meeting Dr. Vegapunk: Secrets Unraveled
In the Labophase of Egghead, as the Straw Hats entered the lab, they marveled at the technology, such as the escalator and the phase-through door, while Lilith explained the the island's mechanisms are powered through fire. The crew soon lost sight of Lilith but were guided to a room by Edison over the speaker system, where they encountered S-Shark. Jinbe's Seraphim Pacifista. Though at first confused, after the cyborg had attacked them, the Straw Hats quickly fought back, though they were hampered by S-Shark's combination of lasers, Fish-Man Karate, his Lunarian/Fish-Man physique, cyborg modifications and an ability similar to the Sui Sui no Mi. The battle was quickly put to an end by Shaka, who ordered S-Shark to stand down whilst restraining the pirates by magnetizing the Dom Shoes they were wearing to the floor. As it turns out, the battle was an experiment set up by the three satellites Lilith, Edison and Pythagoras, to test out S-Shark in actual combat. Shaka then asked the four whether the island looked like the future to them, and though Franky gave an enthusiastic positive response, Shaka stated that this was an island of the past.



He goes on to state that the technology they used was mostly that which they recreated from an ancient kingdom from 900 years ago. As he continued talking, Robin realized that he was referring to the Void Century, with Shaka expanding that he theorized that Ohara discovered the existence of the kingdom and that the Void Century was the history of the war between the Great Kingdom, and the 20 nations which later became known as the World Government, who won the war and erased its existence from history. The Straw Hats were shocked by this reveal, though Sanji then realized that this information would make them a target of erasure by the World Government if they knew that the pirates knew this, to which Shaka casually affirmed, causing some of the pirates to despair. Though the satellite stated it was but a theory, he questioned Robin that if Ohara were annihilated for simple conjecture, then this should probably mean that they were basically admitting it was true. However, Robin asked back of whether he really could get such information from being affiliated to the Government, to which he denied, and when she asked how he could have known this, Shaka stated that the "will of Ohara" still exists.

He then tells his story of how he once knew Professor Clover, who was an eccentric yet well-respected Archaeologist/adventurer in his youth, whose charisma helped make Ohara the "holy land of archaeology". A few months after the Ohara Incident, Vegapunk visited the remains of the island to pay his respects, where he came across the sight of a lake stuffed full to the brim with books, the final acts of the Oharan scholars. In doing so, they managed to safeguard their knowledge and legacy, and as such, secured Ohara's "victory". Hearing this, Robin recalled parting with her mother and fellow archaeologists, and realized what her mother and old friends intended, causing her to tear up. Robin then affirmed Vegapunk's theory of the Oharans discoveries before asking where the books were now. Shaka then elaborated on the story, stating how the lakes were being dredged of the books by giants of Elbaf, being led by a giant covered in bandages. Vegapunk learnt their identities from Dragon, who arrived earlier to also pay his respects, and found out who they were directly from them. As the two paid their respects, Dragon who was then a captain of the Freedom Fighters, expressed his disgust at not only what the World Government did to Ohara, but also at Vegapunk for turning his group down and working for them, though the scientist was practical stating that their poor group could not support his research.



Dragon then stated that he would create an army that could fight back against the World Government's injustices, which Vegapunk doubted due to Dragon's pacifistic nature. However, before the end of that year, Dragon, together with Kuma and Ivankov, established the Revolutionary Army. While the Straw Hats were shocked by all these revelations, Shaka continued to say how Vegapunk later visited Elbaf and read all the books from Ohara, with all that knowledge now stored in his brain. Robin however, wished to know if that bandage-wrapped giant leader was perhaps Saul, and though Shaka did not confirm this, he did say that the giant was in hiding, which brought happy tears to Robin's eyes. He then dragged the Straw Hats to the monitor room using their Dom Shoes, allowing them to see their captain on the surveillance.

Meanwhile, in the Fabiriophase, Luffy's group managed to get lost and stumble upon an Iron Giant in the Scrap Heap, with Luffy excitedly wishing to ride it. However, all of a sudden, something impacted the machine, and the next moment they found a man half stuck to the Iron Giant, exclaiming how his warping experiment failed and that he was sinking into the machine. Luffy saved him, and the man happily recognized Luffy and Bonney, though Bonney was not happy to see him, realizing the man as the original Dr. Vegapunk. When Luffy exclaimed at his hovering, Vegapunk explained to them how they could use their Dom Shoes to do the same, with Luffy, Chopper and the doctor accidentally flying off too high in the process. A bit later, Bonney demanded to know what happened to his head, to which Vegapunk casually replied that it grew too big and he had to cut it, though he was shocked when Luffy asked if he was now stupid. Vegapunk then explained that, even though he was already a genius, he had eaten the Nomi Nomi no Mi, which allowed him to store an unlimited amount of knowledge but caused his brain to continuously grow to accommodate. But since it was too big, he turned his brain into Punk Records, the giant egg in which the Labophase is contained, and he can access all this information thanks to the apple top antenna he replaced his brain with. He then explained about his satellites, each containing an aspect of his personality, and how he divided his work amongst the six, with all of them updating their experiences and ideas to Punk Records daily. Vegapunk shared his intent to one day allow humanity to have access to it, essentially allowing humankind to share a brain, though Jinbe questioned whether there would have issues if dangerous ideologies were included, the doctor brushed it off, in favor for more knowledge.



His statement however, angered Bonney who drew the beam saber on the doctor and demanded he turn her father back to normal. Despite being threatened, Vegapunk insisted that she turn off the saber as it was a failure, and though she refused, stating that it cuts well enough, the doctor elaborated by stating that the light of the beam attracts bugs, just as a huge swarm of insects surged toward her causing her to faint in fear. After she had fainted and the insect swarm left, Chopper attended to her, and Vegapunk became depressed, stating that he could not blame her for wanting to kill him. He then inquired about the second dragon in Wano, coming to the conclusion that it must have been his failed Artificial Devil Fruit, though Luffy claimed it was a success as Momonosuke was capable of doing nearly everything Kaidou was. Vegapunk then asked about its color, and Luffy stated it was pink, the scientist became more depressed insisting it was a failure, revealing that he was a perfectionist, and that the Artificial Devil Fruit was a failed product solely because of the color. When Luffy then asked about the Iron Giant, Vegapunk explained that they did not build it, and that it was made approximately 900 years ago, but 200 years ago it climbed up the Red Line and nearly attacked Mary Geoise, but suddenly stopped before it did any damage. It was supposed to be disposed of, but the scientists of that time preserved it instead. After stating how he felt bad for Bonney and that he needed to give her something, Vegapunk then requested Luffy to take him off Egghead.

In the Labophase monitor room, the Straw Hats observe their captain talking to Vegapunk, and when the talk of the Iron Giant came up, Shaka explained how he built the Vegaforce-01 based on the older robot, but he was unable to replicate the machine's dynamic power source. Soon after, CP0 started breaking through the Sea Beast Weapon defense line, with Pythagoras being notified and spreading the news to the other satellites and Straw Hats. Though Lilith suggested handing the pirates over, Shaka ordered that they tell the agents to drop the Seraphim and immediately leave while preparing them for battle much to everyone's surprise.

On Momoiro Island, the Revolutionaries are in disarray when Kuma, who was undergoing repairs, suddenly gets up and starts running and falling over continuously as he heads to the coast, with no regards of his own safety or the voices of his old friends. As they pursued him, Kuma ripped of the implements used to fix him, before using his Nikyu Nikyu no Mi ability to transport himself from the island.



Back on Egghead, in the Scrap Heap, Luffy questioned why Vegapunk wanted to leave, to which he explained how he wished to create endless, free energy for all mankind, though this did not impress the Straw Hat captain. When Jinbe stated that a lack of resources to create energy is one of the main causes of war, Vegapunk enthusiastically expanded on that, stating how energy was everywhere and that he wished to convert it into a form that can be seen and harnessed, though Luffy was still unimpressed. The scientist then revealed that his research into this led him to the "ancient energy" which was the power source of the Iron Giant. Their conversation is then interrupted by an explosion caused by CP0 landing on the island, prompting Vegapunk to wrap things up by stating that he took too much interest in the Void Century and now the Government wants to get rid of him. After briefly explaining what the CP0 were to Luffy, he again requested for the Straw Hats to take him, which the captain approved of, on account that he found the scientist's head funny. Vegapunk then decided they should reconvene in the Labophase and requested they bring Bonney with them, and after Luffy had agreed, the scientist literally vanished before their eyes.

A Fateful Reunion: Monkey D. Luffy and Rob Lucci
In the Labophase, Pythagoras attempted to civilly ask the agents to have S-Bear return by itself, and for the rest of them to turn back. Lucci, suspecting that Vegapunk was onto them, asked if they knew about the Egghead Disappearances, how Government ships from CP5, CP7, and CP8, who had visited the island within the last two months, all disappeared. The Vegapunks seemed unaware of this, with Pythagoras claiming all three ships visited and left their port safely, and Lilith getting angry at their insinuation and even considering letting them in just to prove themselves, though in the end the satellites again requested they leave, before cutting communications. However, Pythagoras soon reported that the Sea Beast Weapons were consuming the Government ship, while the agents and S-Bear were spotted in the Fabiriophase. Coming to the conclusion that they used S-Bear's replicated Nikyu Nikyu no Mi ability to transport themselves onto the island, Shaka came to the conclusion that the agents were determined to fight, and started giving out orders, having the researchers and workers evacuate, to have Atlas return and to mobilize S-Shark, S-Snake and S-Hawk, while putting Sentomaru in charge of them.

As the Government ship approached Egghead, they were attacked by the Sea Beast Weapons, with the CP0 agents fighting back. The agents then discussed reports of Jewelry Bonney heading to Egghead and contemplated killing her. Pythagoras then contacted them, politely asking them to have S-Bear return by itself and for them to leave. Lucci then decided to abandon the ship to the Sea Beast Weapons and had S-Bear use its ability to transport them to the island. Once they land in the Fabiriophase, Kaku excitedly attacks a space monster that seems to be trying to attack them, though just as he attacks, Stussy, who had been on the island before, mentions it was a hologram, which elicits an annoyed reaction that she should have mentioned that first. However, as he was already in the air, Kaku decided to try to enter the Labophase using Geppo, when Stussy casually mentioned to Lucci that the double lines running the circumference of Punk Records was actually a border known as the Frontier Dome and those who cross it gets shot down by laser fire, which Kaku unintentionally triggers, causing them to fall down all burnt.



Just as a burnt up Kaku yells at Stussy for again mentioning things too late, Atlas charged at them and wound up for an attack, but Lucci quickly transformed into his hybrid leopard form and used Rokuogan on her, instantly knocking her out and badly damaging the large robot. At this point the Jinbe, Chopper, Luffy and the still unconscious Bonney ran right in front of the agents, with Lucci and the rubber-man instantly recognizing each other. While temporarily surprised at each other's presence, Luffy quickly ran towards Atlas in concern, and seeing her condition, requested Chopper to take care of her. Kaku cautioned Lucci from engaging them, as Luffy was now considered an Emperor, and that they were not permitted to engage one without approval from their superiors, as it could potentially lead to an unwanted war, however a fight soon broke out regardless as the Straw Hats went to support their assassination target.

Meanwhile, at Marineford HQ, Akainu learnt of the Straw Hats presence on Egghead, with the Marines assuming that Vegapunk recruited them after realizing CP0 was targeting him for assassination. After learning that Borsalino was already heading to Egghead on a different mission, the Fleet Admiral then ordered them to contact CP0 and demand that they wait for Marine reinforcement and to not engage the pirates. Kizaru soon learnt of his new orders and promptly ordered all battleships they could mobilize to set course for Egghead. However, at Marine Base G-14, Doll argued with Vice Admiral Garp over the Den Den Mushi, trying to stop him as the base mobilized their battleships to head for Egghead. However, the Hero simply yelled for Helmeppo, who heard him, and told them that he was going to Blackbeard's base Hachinosu, to beat up the pirates and rescue Koby, while inviting him aboard.

In the meantime, Kuma, having used his ability to transport himself, ended up colliding into the Red Line, and falling into Red Port. He then attempted to climb up the continent, though was met with great resistance as the Marines fired mortars at him, causing him to fall of the wall. They continued to attack him while calling for back up, as the former Warlord while single-mindedly attempting to ascend the continent. Elsewhere, the Kid Pirates sighted Elbaf.



Back on Egghead, as Luffy and Lucci engaged each other in their awakened forms, in the Labophase, the original Vegapunk appeared in the monitor room and asked the Straw Hats about their captain's new form, though they were also clueless, believing it to be an extension of his rubber powers. However, Vegapunk then revealed that none of the old books ever mentioned the Gomu Gomu no Mi, and instead he drew comparisons between Gear 5 and the legends of the Sun God, Nika. He then stated his shocking theory to the Straw Hats, that Devil Fruits themselves were manifestation of the possibility for human evolution, with all the different powers representing the many branches for humanity's future, brought into existence by human hope and desire, though this unnatural state ended up making them loathed by the sea. When Sentomaru entered the battlefield with the other Seraphim, thinking he was going to support CP0, he was shocked when Vegapunk informed him that the agents were there to kill the scientist. Vegapunk then guilt-tripped the Marine with the favors the scientist did for him in the past, forcing him to go against the agents. As the Seraphim joined the battle, Franky started weeping, having recognized S-Shark's ability, and believing Senor Pink to be dead, though Vegapunk then revealed his research in Artificial Devil Fruits, with him having greater success with Zoan (though it was highly limited and expensive with Mythical Zoans), virtually no results with Logia, and his success with Paramecia, which he replicated using Lineage Factor to create Green Blood, which all the Seraphim possess, declaring the cyborgs to be the "strongest form of humanity".

In the Fabiriophase, Luffy and Lucci both used awakening, though in spite doing so, the CP0 agent struggled to land a single blow on the pirate. When Sentomaru appeared with three more Seraphim, Kaku attempted to have S-Bear eliminate at least one of the cyborgs, before remembering that in terms of the Pacifista's authority hierarchy, they, who possessed the Authority Chips held less priority than the Marine. Sentomaru then ordered S-Bear to wipe out the agents, S-Snake to guide the pirates to the Vacuum Rocket and S-Shark and S-Hawk to hold back CP0. Lucci, having observed the situation after being knocked back by Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Mogura Pistol, attacked Sentomaru with Shugan in an attempt to usurp control over the cyborgs. Though the Marine managed to defend himself in time, it was still penetrated, leaving him with a mortal wound. Luffy, shocked that the Marine he was just chatting to during the lull of battle was attacked, sent Lucci flying with a Gomu Gomu no Dawn Whip before he could finish the job, though the recoil of the attack sent him comedically drilling into the ground. In the meantime, the Seraphim demonstrated their replicated Devil Fruit abilities against the Cipher Pol minions, with S-Bear firing a small Ursus Shock and S-Snake using Mero Mero Mellow. Lucci reappeared and again ran at Sentomaru with Soru, though Luffy blocked his way by emerging from underground with a gigantified head and attempted to chomp him. The leopard-man dodged it, but the Sun god then spat the rubble in his mouth at him and used the opening to defeat Lucci with a Gomu Gomu no Dawn Rocket.



Luffy then quickly reunited with his friends at the Vacuum Rocket, but not before promising Sentomaru that he would take Vegapunk off the island. After boarding the Rocket, Luffy deactivated his awakening, quickly aging in appearance, whilst Bonney suddenly regained consciousness and expressed her confusion. They quickly reached the Labophase, where Bonney angrily started to look for Vegapunk, irrationally blaming him for the bugs attack, with the intent of forcing him to restore her father, or else. In the Labophase, the Straw Hats in the monitor room question Vegapunk joining them, as well as why the Government would want to eliminate their greatest scientific mind, though they quickly understood after the scientist questioned back what they would do if said mind were to turn on them. In the Fabiriophase, with Sentomaru finally unconscious, the CP0 now have control over the Seraphim, but were now met with the Frontier Dome's virtually impenetrable defense. They decide to cordon of the island to prevent escape.

CP0 Closes In: Vegapunk's Trump Card
When Stussy questioned Lucci's decision to fight Luffy, the agent simply stated that he did not see Luffy as an Emperor. All of a sudden, the security seemed to knock off, and though Lucci wished to exercise caution, believing it to be a trap, when the three agents used Geppo to reach the Labophase and still did not receive a counterattack, Kaku believed that this was an opportunity. The three then spotted the Thousand Sunny, and at Lucci's order Kaku attacked it with Rankyaku "Amane Dachi". Thankfully Zoro, who was napping aboard the ship cancelled out the attack and engaged the agents. As it turns out Bonney had found Vegapunk and pursued him through the facility, demanding he restore her father, even though he could not and that he had a good reason.

The Vegapunks then assembled, with Stella packed up to depart. As they contemplated how to escape, since CP0 had cordoned off the island, Lilith opted to use force, which Shaka vetoed, and while Pythagoras mentioned that they had one more ally, Edison stated that supporting them would result in said ally being pursued by the Government. This did not stop Vegapunk requesting the mysterious ally for help, who easily obliged. Vegapunk then requested the Straw Hats for permission to board their ship for all seven, which was met with mixed reactions from the pirates. However, much to the scientists' surprise, the Frontier Dome was deactivated, despite seemingly no one being in the control room, allowing the agents as well as the Seraphim to infiltrate before they could reactivate their defenses. Meanwhile Luffy managed to reunite with the rest of his crew, and though he was disappointed in leaving early, he quickly realized he lost sight of Bonney.

In the monitor room the Straw Hats and the satellites observed the situation outside, and though they thought Brook and Zoro might be able to hold on in a two vs. three match, Shaka revealed that the Seraphim followed the agents, most likely due to their limited personality judging they would be needed there. The satellites decided to take advantage of this, with Lilith and Edison heading towards the Seraphim to order them to fight CP0, with Franky and Sanji following to assist their crewmates. This left Nami and Usopp with Shaka who started panicking when CP0 ordered the Seraphim to destroy the lab.



At some point he managed to hide from her, though taking advantage of his naivete, she regressed her age into a child and started weeping crocodile tears, which drew him out. She then used Distortion Future to assume a muscular form, before using Toshi Tsuki to regress Vegapunk into a child. Having captured him, she demanded to know the reason for her father's lobotomy, though Vegapunk claimed that the truth would only hurt Bonney, and that he promised Kuma that he could never tell her, insisting that Kuma himself volunteered for this. Though she claimed he was lying, Vegapunk insisted that he loved Kuma as a dear friend and was proud of him, how doing what he did was so hard he wished to forget it, and that was why he could not tell her, though Bonney refused to accept this. At that moment a locked door started beeping, drawing Bonney's attention, and though the child-sized Vegapunk tried to stop her, Bonney eroded the lock with Oil Shock, and opened the door to reveal a large paw-shaped bubble. Vegapunk then recalled how he theorized together with Kuma that his abilities may work on other things, like memories, and requested that the Warlord try it out, though Kuma persistently refused. In the present, Vegapunk attempted to stop Bonney from touching it by claiming the bubble was pain, but Bonney knew that it was most likely memories as she slowly approached it. Bonney saw a bit of Kuma's childhood when he was running away from something and beaten by assailants for trying to flee. Overwhelmed by the sight, Bonney fell out of the memory world but resolved to reenter so she could understand her father's motives.



As Zoro fought Kaku, the other two agents soon found that the Seraphim had followed them by their own discretion and realized that they could not send them back down as the defense system has reactivated. Meanwhile, Kaku entered his awakened form and fought Zoro though the swordsman repelled him. Knowing that they would lose control if a Vegapunk were to give the Seraphim a direct command, Lucci ordered the cyborgs to destroy the lab before the scientists could get their chance.



While Kaku looked at the destruction in satisfaction, the two male agents noticed too late that Stussy had approached the giraffe-man and knocked him out by sucking his blood. A clone of Buckingham Stussy of the Rocks Pirates, she was secretly Vegapunk's ally. She dodged Lucci's attack before subduing him as well, using Seastone hidden within a lipstick tube to weaken him before biting him. Stussy then contacted Shaka to inform that she had taken care of the Cipher Pol agents, surprising the Straw Hats with him that he has a mole within the World Government. However, Stussy could not override Lucci's command to the Seraphim. Zoro and Brook defended the lab, as Lilith and Edison rushed outside. When Lilith tried to shout out an order, S-Hawk prepared to attack her, and although Zoro managed to block it, Lilith was too frightened to continue. Edison arrived shortly after and managed to order the Seraphim to stop, but Sanji had to save Edison from S-Shark's laser beam. This finally ceased the attack on the lab. After Stussy bound Lucci and Kaku with Seastone, Shaka invited her to join the Satellites on the Straw Hats' ship. Meanwhile, Luffy and Chopper began searching around for Vegapunk and Bonney.



On Sphinx, the residents informed Marco that the Marines had invaded looking for Whitebeard's treasure. The Marine captain, Ratel, had threatened to execute them one-by-one until they would admit where it was. However, Weevil had arrived to defend his father's hometown and fought off the Marines, forcing them to retreat and request backup. Ryokugyu was sent and had subdued and captured Weevil. After the story finished, Miss Buckin, formerly known as Buckingham Stussy, an ex-Rock pirate and a former member of MADS as well, demanded that Marco rescue her son and tell her where Whitebeard's treasure was. Marco thanked her for protecting the island, but she assumed that he doubted her son's lineage and offered to have Vegapunk prove it. In a fleet of Marine and World Government ships making their way to Egghead, Kizaru served tea to Saint Jaygarcia Saturn, one of the Five Elders.

Vegapunk Search Operation: The Labophase Death Game


Back on Egghead, Sentomaru had awakened and ordered a Pacifista Mark III to detain the other Cipher Pol agents in the Fabiriophase. Still unable to contact Vegapunk or receive reports from the outside world, Sentomaru deployed all fifty Pacifistas Mark III and ordered them to aid in the Straw Hats' escape with Vegapunk.

In the Labophase, Luffy, Zoro, Brook, and Stussy regrouped with the others after Luffy was unable to find Vegapunk or Bonney. Checking the monitors, Shaka noted that Bonney was in Room Nikyu but could not see Vegapunk anywhere. Pythagoras was already on the lookout for main body, and seeing as they could not leave without Vegapunk, Nami suggested the crew go look as well. Luffy and Zoro stayed behind to look after the unconscious Lucci and Kaki. As Pythagoras was searching, someone approached him from behind, and an explosion went off in part of the lab.

In his news balloon, Morgans learned that the World Government was attempting to assassinate Vegapunk and that Luffy was also on Egghead. When he considered writing that Luffy was holding Vegapunk hostage and waging war with the World Government over it, Nefertari Vivi rebuked him for mischaracterizing Luffy. Wapol urged her to be quiet out of fear that the World Government could overhear, as well as reminding her that Morgans was hiding them both. Morgans dismissed Vivi's opinion, stating that his main concern was what sold as entertainment.

Back at the lab, Shaka sees Pythagoras being attacked on the camera Den Den Mushi and tries to contact him, but suddenly notices a figure attack the camera and cut the feed. Luffy likewise notes he cannot hear the others over the radio anymore. When he goes to tell Shaka this, Shaka points out the cameras all over Egghead are being taken out. Meanwhile the Straw Hats and Stella units have formed into teams to explore the lab to look for Vegapunk. Nami, Brook and Edison search the third floor of building A where Nami finds a machine that produces jewelry which she is ecstatic over and tries to take a few, but is forced to leave them behind to continue the search (though insists on retrieving them later).



Robin, Chopper, and Atlas searched the second floor of building A, a section which manufactured artificial organs to Chopper's amazement. On the second floor of the right side of building B. Sanji, Stussy and Jinbe search the development floor. On the third floor on the left side of building C are Usopp, Lilith, York, and Franky, the four arriving at the area where Pythagoras was attacked and finding his body. However, he survived by ejecting from his bigger body before he was hit. York then found S-Snake nearby, and Pythagoras yelled out to York to stay away from her. However, having Hancock's Mero Mero no Mi powers, S-Snake turned her to stone. When Lilith ordered her to stand down, S-Snake attacked the group and forced them to jump off the platform.

Lilith and Edison were confused as they should have the higher clearance to command the Seraphim, and then the group noted the communication devices had malfunctioned, and they cannot contract the main control room. Back in building A, the lab was suddenly attacked by S-Bear and S-Hawk to the similar confusion of Shaka as Luffy and he arrived on the scene, finding Zoro trying to fend them off so they would not kill a still bound and helpless Lucci and Kaku. After the group had barely avoided an attack from the two Seraphim, Shaka noted that someone in the base was commanding them to kill everyone inside. Lucci requested the three untie him and Kaku to help with the situation, a suggestion that Luffy and Zoro did not take favorably.



The Seraphim continue their attacks (at one point Zoro noticing that S-Hawk is wielding Mr. 1's Supa Supa no Mi power) forcing Luffy and Zoro to pull Lucci and Kaku out of danger. Kaku proposes once again Lucci and he be freed, even promising to return to their cuffs once the threat is dealt with, but Zoro remains unconvinced. Shaka questions Lucci what their mission is to Egghead which Lucci bluntly answers that it was to kill Vegapunk and the Satellites. Also putting Stussy on his hitlist for her earlier betrayal. Seeing that they likely have no choice, Luffy agrees to free them but only with the condition Lucci only come after went after his assigned targets only once he defeats Luffy himself. A term Lucci surprisingly agrees with stating he intends to kill Luffy before his crew. With that, the two CP-0 agents are freed and work together with Luffy and Zoro to fight the Seraphim.

In the basement floor of the old Devil Fruit research lab, Cipher Pol agents from CP 5, 7 and 8 were being kept prisoner, being held there for two months without almost no food or water. Vegapunk finds himself awakening there and surprised to find that Lucci's statement of agents disappearing near the island were truth as one of the agents reveal they were chased back to the island by his Sea Beast Weapons and captured, with the following agents investigating their disappearances meeting the same fate. Vegapunk worries about this occurrence as there should have been no way the World Government knows about him studying Poneglyphs.



Meanwhile on the island of Elbaf, in a bar of one of the coastal villages, a young giant asks Shanks to take him with him but is refused for being too young. Rockstar then entered in to inform Shanks someone is fighting their crew near the island. Shanks chides himself for taking so long to leave but promises the residents he won't let the island become a warzone. The rest of the Red Hair Pirates follow after him, joined along with Dorry and Brogy at Shanks' request to fight the incoming threat, who turned out to be the Kid Pirates. Shanks tells Rockstar to give Kid a message: either fight there and now or leave their Road Poneglyphs and flee. Out at sea, Eustass Kid and Killer notice the ships their fighting are crews allied with the Red Hair Pirates. Killer asks Kid if he truly wishes to continue as their last encounter with the crew ended with their defeat, not even seeing Shanks and the loss of Kid's left arm, with the added risk of the pirates killing him if he loses to them again. Kid confirms he is not backing down and proceeds onward to battle.

Back at Egghead, in the city, the citizens ask Sentomaru why he deployed the Pacifista with the only answer Sentomaru can give being that the island is about to suffer the same fate of Ohara and hoped the Straw Hats can get Vegapunk off the island. Back in the Command Floor, Luffy, Zoro, Lucci and Kaku continue to battle the Seraphim, but their attacks did not seem to affect S-Hawk and S-Bear. Zoro noticed the two seem similar to King which Shaka surmises must have been the Lunarian, then named Alber, that had escaped with Kaidou in the past. Zoro informed the others about the flames on their back and their vulnerability once its off (humorously getting chided by them for not noticing the Lunarian features sooner during the fight). As the others re-engage the battle, Shaka heads off by himself, thinking he knew where Vegapunk was.

In 3F, Building A, Nami and Zeus battled S-Shark, who had defeated Brook and Edison. However, as with the other Seraphim, Nami attacks hardly affect him as she held back as the Seraphim were children. Just as S-Shark is about to ambush her with his Sui Sui no Mi, Sanji arrives and knocks S-Shark back. Over in Building C, Lilith tries to subdue S-Snake with her bubble gun which she reveals has the same properties of Seastone, citing since the green blood gives them their Devil Fruit powers, it likewise gives them their weaknesses. While S-Snake dodged her attack, Franky manages to briefly incapacitate her with one of the bubbles. However, he fell for S-Snake's crocodile tears and accidently released her, to which she uses her kicks to turn most of his body to stone and turns Lilith and Usopp to stone as well when they try to stop her, thanks to the two falling for her charms.



In the basement floor of the old Devil Fruit research lab, Shaka found where Vegapunk and the Cipher Pol agents are imprisoned. However, just as he was about to free them, Vegapunk noticed someone else in the room who proceeds to shoot Shaka with a pistol and destroy his helmet, much to Vegapunk's horror.

In 2F of building B. Stussy and Jinbe have continued with their search, the former contacting Sentomaru informing him of the World Government sending in the CP0 first then a Marine fleet to come destroy Egghead due to Vegapunk studying Poneglyph and the island having military weapons that could rival them. With his fears of a Buster Call confirmed, Sentomaru ordered the citizens of the island to evacuate.

Back in 3F of Building C, S-Snake stands unopposed as Franky is unable to do anything due to being half petrified in stone. She proceeds to stomp on the helpless Pythagoras and destroy him before turning her attention to Franky. Robin's group hear the noise from building A and worry for their friends' safety, Atlas then remembers the abandoned research section and leads Robin and Chopper to the area of the lab. Meanwhile Sanji takes over the fight against S-Shark, the latter who can't seem to harm him thanks to Sanji's new awakened Germa enhancements, while Nami and Brook tend to Edison.

Luffy's group find that the Seraphim will not let their flames go out to harm them. In addition, S-Hawk disappeared which Lucci presumed is to deal with the weaker targets first. Zoro took off to go find him, with Luffy ordering Kaku to follow after to make sure he does not get lost while Lucci and he continue to fight S-Bear. Elsewhere, Bonney continued to cry over Kuma's memories.



In a flashback three months prior to the story's events, someone from Egghead had contacted the Five Elders to inform them of Vegapunk's research and weaponry development. This had prompted the Five Elders to send Cipher Pol agents to investigate. In the present day, the shooter of Shaka was revealed to be York, who had been unpetrified. When Vegapunk asked why she was doing this, York revealed her wish to become a Celestial Dragon, despite knowing how despicable they were, and intended to be the only Vegapunk left standing. Another flashback showed that York had realized the World Government would not just kill Vegapunk, but all of the Satellites as well, including her. Therefore, she secretly had commanded the Seraphim to kill everyone except her, Vegapunk, and the Cipher Pol hostages. She had also specifically ordered S-Snake to turn her to stone in front of the others and then turn her back to normal when they were separated, as well as having S-Snake head off toward a secret area of the lab. In the present day, the citizens fled Egghead, but a ship bearing the Blackbeard Pirates' flag made its way to the island.

Turbulence in the New World: Heroes and Emperors Make Their Moves


Near Elbaf, the Kid Pirates were confronted by Shanks' allies, but Shanks ordered them aside. After checking up on Kid's bounty and statistics, Shanks foresaw Kid using his Damned Punk to devastate the fleet, so he immediately rushed to the Victoria Punk and sliced the railgun in half before Kid had a chance to fire it. Shanks' strike and the resulting explosion knocked out both Kid and Killer, who had tried to defend his captain. The Kid Pirates who had withstood Shanks' Haoshoku Haki burst quickly surrendered and offered the Road Poneglyph rubbings in exchange for sparing their lives. Shanks took the rubbings and left the Victoria Punk before Dorry and Brogy's Hakoku hit the ship, splitting it in half and sinking the Kid Pirates.

Meanwhile on Hachinosu, Koby has managed to escape from captivity thanks to Perona, who in turn requested he free Gecko Moria for her assistance. His escape was soon noticed, with the pirate inhabitants after him for his Cross Guild bounty. In the process of his escape, he freed several captured Marines and rushed off to act as a decoy so that they may escape. Three of Blackbeard's commanders, Shiryu, Avalo Pizarro and Vasco Shot (the latter two now wielding the Shima Shima no Mi and Gabu Gabu no Mi respectively) discussed how to go about capturing him while Sanjuan Wolf (who wields the Deka Deka no Mi) slept nearby. In a flashback, after Koby was captured following the Rocky Port incident. Blackbeard planned to use him as leverage against the World Government to force them to turn Hachinosu into a legitimate kingdom with him as the king.

However, Koby revealed he was a member of SWORD which Kuzan elaborates are Marine members that resigned from the main branch and act as an independent group without having to follow any orders from the top. Though this likewise means the Marines will disavow any responsibility for their action. Thus, Koby will be useless as a bargaining chip. This doesn't deter Blackbeard who figured Koby's reputation will make them reconsider and had Koby chained and locked up, though he was later freed by Perona. Back in the present, as Koby continued to flee from the pirate horde, he noticed an explosion in another section of the town. This is revealed to be several Marines who have invaded the island. One of the pirates manages to behead a Marine only for him to find out he is made of clay. In another section of the island, the pirates meet a female Marine Rear Admiral named Kujaku, Tsuru's granddaughter, who wields the Muchi Muchi no Mi and was whipping the surrounding buildings to force them to move to form an enclosure. Koby soon found himself surrounded and the pirates made to shoot him, only for their bullets to turn into flowers. This is shown to be the work of Hibari using GP Flowers to stop their assault. She signals over to Prince Grus, who wields the Gunyo Gunyo no Mi and the creator of the artificial golem Marines, that Koby is okay.



Kujaku and Grus then cornered the pirates into a town square with his clay golems and her whip powers moving the buildings to create an enclosure. With the setup complete, Tashigi and Helmeppo yell to Garp that they are ready and have his Marine ship shoot into the air (similar to Franky's Coup De Burst) toward the square. Garp made himself known to the pirates, who were unable to run due to the buildings blocking their path, stating their mistake in capturing his protégé before striking the lot with Galaxy Impact which proceeded to demolish the area. Grus used his clay power to cushion the landing of Garp’s ship as Garp goes to confront the pirates, lamenting his strength not being as strong as it used to be. Koby and Hibari go to greet him but the latter is suddenly frozen by an arriving Kuzan, much to the shock of the Marines, with Garp demanding to know what he is doing.

A flashback shows that a year after Akainu and Aokiji's battle at Punk Hazard, some of Blackbeard’s crew confronted Kuzan at a bar not long after he had quit the Marines following his fight with Akainu. Kuzan easily froze them, forcing Blackbeard and the remainder of his crew to confront him personally.The two managed to cordially talk over drinks. Devon asked him about a man with a burn scar who holds one of the Road Poneglyphs, sailing on an all-black ship that forms whirlpools to ships that try to approach it. Shiryu speculates that said man might work for the World Government to keep pirates from reaching the One Piece, but Kuzan has no knowledge about any of it. A fight almost breaks out when Kuzan overheard Laffitte suggesting that Blackbeard steal Kuzan’s Devil Fruit, but Blackbeard diffuses the situation by offering Kuzan to join his crew since he was not with the Marines anymore and pirates generally join together due to an alignment of interests, asking what Kuzan wished to do now. In the present, Kuzan reveals himself as the tenth captain of the Blackbeard Pirates, forcing Garp to engage him in a clash between former teacher and student. Kuzan attempted to freeze Garp with Ice Ball, though the Hero of the Marines quickly broke out and punched Kuzan through the ground with Blue Hole.



Back on Winner Island, the Blackbeard Pirates emerged victorious against Law having defeated the Heart Pirates and destroyed their submarine, with Teach contemplating whether to take the Ope Ope no Mi for himself, sell it or have Law do the surgery to give him eternal life. Bepo then used a medicine given to him by Chopper at Wano to transform into his Sulong form, allowing him to knock Blackbeard back, grab Law and escape into the sea to prevent Blackbeard from following them. A weakened Law insists they can’t leave their crew behind, but Bepo stated they’ve survived this far and to have faith in them while ensuring Law survives in the meantime.

At New Marineford HQ, Sengoku and Tsuru are reading a newspaper about T Bone’s death and they show their concern about people turning on the Marines thanks to the new Cross Guild bounties. When Sengoku asks Hina where Garp is, she revealed to them Garp and Kujaku’s mission to Hachinosu to the shock of Sengoku and Tsuru.

On Karai Bari Island, Buggy congratulates the man who killed T Bone, even though said man only did it to help his destitute family and is clearly distraught over his actions. Buggy assures him he is under his protection and that his family will be compensated via the bounty reward. As the crew celebrates, one of Buggy’s shipwrights announced the completion of the Cross Guild flagship. But to Buggy’s dismay, they designed it in his likeness, which didn’t please Crocodile and Mihawk who dismember and beat up Buggy in private for it. The two then discuss how to go about their operations in becoming a military like power, but Buggy speaks out against them, finding their dreams to be too small-minded.



He reminisced his confrontation with Shanks at Loguetown, after Roger's execution, where he thought that Shanks would take up Roger’s mantle of being the Pirate King after he died and was willing to go sail with him. However to his shock, Shanks declined to do so, having other intentions in mind, though still wanted Buggy to join his crew. Buggy refused under the excuse of him being mad about losing the treasure map that resulted in him swallowing the Bara Bara no Mi, but in truth felt betrayed by Shanks' change in plans. Mihawk and Crocodile were not swayed and state they do not have any interest in going after the One Piece or in claiming the heads of Shanks, Blackbeard and Luffy. Buggy takes matters into his own hands by announcing over a Den Den Mushi that the Cross Guild was going after One Piece, much to the ire of his two partners.

Mysteries Uncovered: The Truths of the Levely
On Momoiro Island, a few of the Revolutionaries (Ushiano, Ahiru, Gambo, and Jiron) spot a ship coming to the island which is revealed to be Sabo who survived the destruction of Lulusia Kingdom due to already being on a ship along with a few others who wanted to join the Revolutionaries and was calling while sailing away before Im destroyed the island. He refrained from calling again after fearing the Marines were still listening in on his transmission, though he had sent a coded signal to indicate he was okay. Sabo went to meet with Ivankov and Dragon who discuss Kuma for a bit before going into what he saw at Mary Geoise.

Sabo recounts that he managed to complete his objectives of declaring war on the World Nobles by burning their flag, destroying Mary Geoise's food storages and rescuing Kuma. Dragon and Ivankov praised him for it since it sparked a few kingdoms to rebel against the World Government (one of which was Lulusia). However, the two also lament the loss of Cobra, who was a loved and respected ruler. Plus, that the World Government will likely unleash the God's Knights against the Revolutionaries with Sabo as their number one target. Sabo accepts both outcomes if it can serve their cause before continuing the story.



During the Levely, back at Mary Geoise, Karasu (revealed to be the wielder of Susu Susu no Mi), Lindbergh, and Morley freed as many slaves as they could and kept the Admirals, Issho and Aramaki, busy, while Sabo went to retrieve the slave collar keys, he spotted Kuma with Saint Charlos while doing so. As that was going on, Cobra went to go talk with the World Nobles leaving Vivi to be looked after by CP0, though she refused their service after seeing their inaction to step in to save Shirahoshi earlier from Saint Charlos. As Cobra proceeded to the Elders room, Pell and Chaka were refused to be allowed to come with him. Cobra dismissed them, telling the two to look after Vivi, as he was worried about what she would get into.

Sabo made his way inside Pangaea Castle and dealt with a few guards before running into Jewelry Bonney whom he knew as Kuma’s daughter. Seeing that they had a common interest to save Kuma the two briefly teamed up. Sabo handed off the keys to the slave collar to Karasu and ordered him and the others to retreat once they freed the slaves, promising to be right behind them once he took care of something. Sabo and Bonney narrowly avoid a few guards, overhearing them talk about a certain room no one can enter and all who see it disappear. Once they’ve passed, the pair separated due to different destinations (Bonney going to Egghead while Sabo was heading for Kamabakka) though Bonney entrusted Sabo to save Kuma.



In the Empty Throne room, Cobra meets with the Five Elders, where he recounted the creation of the Celestial Dragons, 20 kings who moved to Mary Geoise and the vow to all rule the world equally, as well as the new royalty that took over their kingdoms in their place. However, Alabasta’s ruler, Nefertari Lili, refrained from joining them and returned to her kingdom. But Cobra noticed, when he was going over his kingdom’s documents after the Void Century, that there was no mention of her name and that Lili never returned to Alabasta, with her younger brother ruling in her place. He questions the Elders if they knew anything of what became of her, but they state they do not since it’s information from 800 years and any record since then were lost. Cobra then goes on to ask what the meaning of “D” is, as he found the name in an 800-year letter passed through Alabasta’s kings.



Meanwhile, Saint Charlos once more attempted to abduct Shirahoshi, this time with the help of Kuma backing him. Her brothers rush to her aid but are stymied by the former Warlord. Donquixote Mjosgard stops them, claiming if they attack him that’ll put their kingdom in danger. Fortunately, Sai and Leo rush to Shirahoshi’s rescue as, since they’re not affiliated with any kingdom and are pirates, they don’t have to worry about that stipulation. The two swiftly knocked out Charlos while Morley managed to grab Kuma and he and Karasu began their retreat.

Back in the Empty Throne room, Imu decides to make their presence known, much to the Five Elders' shock that they revealed themselves and Cobra, who find them sitting on the supposed empty throne of the world.

Imu agrees to answer Cobra questions, but Cobra demands to know who they are, recognizing Imu’s name in the letter as one of the first 20 kings, but Imu refuses to answer that one. Imu goes on to state that the D are a those who oppose the World Government but believes those that bear the name in the modern day don’t know the real meaning behind it. Furthermore, Lili made a mistake that resulted in the Ponegliffs scattered across the world and resulted in the current pirate age.

The Elders suddenly pull out guns and point them at Cobra as Imu ask his question: What was the proper name of Lili. Cobra resigns himself to his fate which he confirms when asking if would be allowed to leave if he lied but is told that his fate was seal once he saw Imu. He answers truthfully that her true name was Nefeltari D. Lily. Upon hearing this, Imu sends out a dark arrow that skewers Cobra. Sabo, who was eavesdropping, suddenly attacks the Elders and Imu, but the latter manages to eat his fire. Imu and the Elders suddenly turned into monstrous forms as Sabo tries to protect Cobra, a camera Den Den Mushi catching him in the process. Sabo grabs Cobra and tries to run with Cobra noting him as Luffy’s brother and revealing that Luffy saved him back in Alabasta.

As they flee, Cobra requests Sabo tell Luffy and Vivi that they bear the name of D. Sabo is shocked to hear this remembering Ace likewise had the name as well back in the past when they were kids. Imu attacks again with his arrow and pierces both, somehow managing to bypass Sabo’s Logia power and forcing him to drop Cobra. Cobra gets to his feet and stands in front of the monsters to give Sabo time to escape, giving a final request to him, though it was partially drowned out by the roars of Imu and the Elders. Sabo can only watch helplessly and call out to Cobra as he is murdered in front of his eyes before being forced to flee.

After killing Cobra, Imu senses someone else watching and turns to a hole in a wall where Wapol witnessed the whole transaction. Realizing he saw something taboo, Wapol runs for his life using his powers make a path through the walls. Back in the council room, the other kings are told that Cobra and Wapol won’t be joining them which some of the kings think is the former being satisfied with the abolishment of the Warlord system. But King Riku and King Neptune sense something is wrong. Outside Shirahoshi has been freed and she and her brothers head back to the port though Shirahoshi wishes to say goodbye to Vivi first. However, in the guest room of Pangaea’s Castle, Vivi has been tied up and captured by the CP0. She demands answers for this action but none of them are willing to divulge, only stating once she goes missing, she’ll becoming one of the World Noble’s “pets”. Though they do tell her Shirahoshi is alright when she asks about her to her relief as well as Leo and Sai proclamation of being part of the Straw Hat Fleet and as well as Issho and Aramaki fighting when the former helped a few freed slaves.

Just as Vivi starts to think of a way to escape, Wapol busts into the room in his bid to escape. Vivi seizes the chance and jumps on him before the CP0 realizes what has happened. Realizing he’s running for his life, she agrees to go with him (to the shock of Wapol’s wife, Miss Universe who thinks they’re eloping).

Story Impact

 * A few characters make their first appearances in the manga after the timeskip. The characters (in the order they were reintroduced) are: Daz Bonez, Vasco Shot, Doc Q, Van Augur, Stronger, Oimo, Kashii, Sanjuan Wolf, Jabra, Blueno, Kalifa, Fukurou, and Kumadori.
 * Doc Q, Augur, and Stronger were previously seen as silhouettes during the Levely Arc.
 * Vegapunk is fully seen for the first time.
 * Every Straw Hat's bounty is revealed to have been raised following the events on Wano Country. Zoro's bounty is 1,111,000,000, Jinbe's is 1,100,000,000, Sanji's is 1,032,000,000, Robin's is 930,000,000, Usopp's is 500,000,000, Franky's is 394,000,000, Brook's is 383,000,000, Nami's is 366,000,000, and Chopper's is 1,000.
 * The fates of every remaining Warlord after the dissolution of the Seven Warlords of the Sea is revealed.
 * Crocodile contacted Mihawk in order to form the Cross Guild. He also rescues Buggy from the Marines and takes over Buggy's Delivery due to Buggy being unable to repay his debt. However, due to his subordinates' love for him, Buggy was advertised as the Cross Guild's leader, leading to the Marines recognizing him as such as well as giving him the status of an Emperor of the Sea. Ultimately, Crocodile and Mihawk let Buggy remain as president in order to have him attract all the unwanted attention.
 * Crocodile still plans to create a utopia of his own, with Mihawk showing support to the idea.
 * As a result of the Cross Guild posting bounties on Marines, T Bone is among the causalities.
 * Buggy decides for the Cross Guild to also go after the One Piece.
 * Boa Hancock decides to leave Amazon Lily to protect her people, leaving Rayleigh and Shakuyaku to protect her home and reunite with Luffy after its invasion by the Marines led Koby, who attempted to arrest her, and the Blackbeard Pirates, who wanted to steal her power.
 * Shakuyaku is revealed to be a former Empress of the Kuja tribe and the former captain of the Kuja Pirates from two generations ago.
 * The Seraphim, upgrades to the Pacifista, are revealed as the new fighting force of the SSG to replace the Seven Warlords as part of the Three Great Powers.
 * According to Stussy, the Five Elders, Vegapunk, and Sentomaru are the only holders of the authority over the Seraphim, superseding even CP0's "control chips". Likewise, the Seraphim can only be commanded directly, as commanding them via Den Den Mushi is impossible. However, according to Shaka, the Seraphim are capable of limited decision-making, not requiring orders to act in certain circumstances.
 * Shaka reveals that the Seraphim have King's Lineage Factor after Zoro notices that they have King's Lunarian abilities. Unlike the Lunarian Tribe, the flames on their backs are more durable making them much harder to defeat.
 * Koby is abducted by the Blackbeard Pirates, following the invasion of Amazon Lily by the Marines.
 * Blackbeard intends to turn Hachinosu into an official country under the World Government with himself as its king, using Koby as a potential bargaining chip by exploiting his status as a hero in order to pressure them into his demands.
 * Koby manages to escape Hachinosu's prison thanks to Perona who snuck onto the island to save Moria who was imprisoned alongside Koby.
 * Garp arrived at the G-14 Navy Base, and led the mission to rescue Koby.
 * Edward Weevil was captured by Ryokugyu after protecting Sphinx from the Marines who arrived to confiscate Whitebeard's treasure.
 * Sabo is aware that the Empty Throne has an occupant and is thus targeted by Im and the World Government, who annihilate the Lulusia Kingdom in the process and erase its existence from history.
 * However, as Sabo was not on the island during its destruction, both he and several civilians who escaped with him have survived, and the civilians are recruited into the Revolutionary Army.
 * Sabo decides to disclose what he learned only to Monkey D. Dragon and Emporio Ivankov.
 * Sabo claims to have accomplished all of his three intended objectives: destroying the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon, freeing as many slaves as they could (including Kuma), and destroying the food stocks of the World Nobles. Because of Sabo's actions, twelve countries around the world decided to start rebellions and no longer pay the Heavenly Tribute, with eight of them finding success (save for the Lulusia Kingdom).
 * Dragon mentions that the God's Knights should be deployed anytime soon against Sabo and the rebelling kingdoms.
 * More information about Jewelry Bonney, Kuma and their relationship is revealed.
 * Jewelry Bonney is revealed to the daughter of Bartholomew Kuma. This explains why she was crying while watching the Summit War of Marineford, witnessing the army of Kuma-like Pacifista. This also explains why she was in Mary Geoise during the Levely, as she wanted to save her father.
 * She claims to be looking for Vegapunk for an explanation regarding Kuma becoming a Pacifista. This reveals that Vegapunk is the person she held a grudge against and sought after before entering the New World.
 * According to Bonney, Kuma belongs to a special group of people and was therefore targeted by the World Government for their Pacifista project. Vegapunk told Bonney that the process of Kuma being turned is irreversible but that there is a good reason for why it happened. According to Vegapunk, Kuma willingly gave up his own free will while participating in the Pacifista project.
 * Bonney encounters one of Kuma's paw-shaped repulsions inside a room in Vegapunk's laboratory, which she recognizes as her father's memories. The repulsed memories were part of an experiment Vegapunk conducted on Kuma, after the former begged the latter to participate in it. Vegapunk tries to prevent Bonney from accessing Kuma's memories due to a promise he made to the former Warlord.
 * Her bounty was increased to 320,000,000.
 * The destinations of both the Heart Pirates and Kid Pirates after departing Wano Country have been revealed:
 * The Heart Pirates are close to Winner Island, where they are attacked by the Blackbeard Pirates for their Road Poneglyph etchings. The battle ends with the defeat of the Heart Pirates as Law and Bepo escape Winner Island.
 * Bepo utilizes the drug Chopper developed that allows Minks to turn into Sulong without the need of the full moon to rescue Law from Blackbeard.
 * The Polar Tang was destroyed during the battle.
 * Jesus Burgess, Augur, Doc Q, and Stronger have acquired Devil Fruit powers. Burgess has the Riki Riki no Mi, Auger has the Wapu Wapu no Mi, Doc Q has the Shiku Shiku no Mi, Stronger has the Uma Uma no Mi, Model: Pegasus, Avalo Pizarro has the Shima Shima no Mi, and Vasco Shot has the Gabu Gabu no Mi. As a result, Blackbeard confirms that all of his officers now have Devil Fruit powers, thus completing his quest of hunting down powerful Devil Fruits.
 * In addition, the name of Sanjuan Wolf's previously unnamed Devil Fruit is revealed to be the Deka Deka no Mi.
 * Kuzan is confirmed to have officially joined the Blackbeard Pirates and has kidnapped Charlotte Pudding alongside Augur. Pudding is held captive on one of the Blackbeard Pirates' ships. Kuzan is also revealed to be the final Titanic Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates. It is revealed that Blackbeard invited Kuzan into his crew got into a scuffle with him, but eventually started getting friendly with them one year after his battle with Sakazuki.
 * Blackbeard states that the one hundred pirates Law stole the hearts from during the Rocky Port Incident are still alive at Hachinosu.
 * The Kid Pirates arrive at their island of choice, Elbaf.
 * The Kid Pirates are challenged by the Red Hair Pirates to a battle with the former's Road Poneglyph etchings as the prize. They are utterly destroyed after Shanks defeats Kid and Killer, take their Road Poneglyph etchings, and Dorry and Brogy destroy the Victoria Punk.
 * In a flashback from Buggy, it is revealed that Shanks was meant to succeed their former captain Gol D. Roger, but Shanks decided he was not ready to head to Laugh Tale yet but is now determined to go there in the present for an unknown reason.
 * More information about the Void Century is revealed.
 * Shaka reveals that the technology on Egghead are all attempts to replicate the lost technologies of the Void Century.
 * Vegapunk is aware of the true events that happened during the Void Century and Shaka states that anyone holding such knowledge is liable to death by the World Government, regardless of affiliation.
 * Vegapunk explains that the ancient Iron Giant found in the Scrapyard was created before the Void Century and once attacked Mary Geoise 200 years ago, although it stopped working before it could cause any damage. According to Shaka, the robot is powered up by an unknown power source that is currently impossible to recreate but was available in ancient times.
 * As Vegapunk revealed that his research is connected to the ancient energy that powered the Iron Giant, he has learned too much about the Void Century which is why he wishes to leave Egghead as the World Government wishes to eliminate him.
 * More information of the Ohara Incident is revealed.
 * Jaguar D. Saul is revealed to be alive and has the Giants recover what is left of Ohara's books. Vegapunk and Monkey D. Dragon witnessed this event and Dragon announced his plans to start an Army in response to Ohara's destruction. He offers Vegapunk an invitation to join but he declines, believing he can do more good trying to change the Marines from the inside.
 * Dragon, Ivankov, and Kuma are the founding members of the Revolutionary Army, having established it that very same year.
 * Vegapunk visited Elbaf and memorized every book the Giants recovered from Ohara.
 * Vegapunk reveals that he is the user of the Nomi Nomi no Mi and that the Punk Records found in the Labophase is where most of his brain is stored, which he can remotely access anytime with the help of the antenna on his head. He wishes to someday grant the whole world access to Punk Records and the intellect and knowledge stored in it.
 * Vegapunk's satellites are revealed to be clones of the original and are also mentally synchronized with Punk Records, allowing it to expand daily with new experiences.
 * Lucci and Kaku's respective Devil Fruits have awakened, granting them both a new form similar to Luffy's Gear 5 form.
 * More information about Devil Fruits is revealed.
 * As the Five Elders gave the Gomu Gomu no Mi its current name to hide its real identity, it did not exist in the ancient Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, as stated by Vegapunk and noted that Gear 5 resembles the Mythical figure Nika.
 * According to Vegapunk, Devil Fruits are all born out of the desires of humans. Because of this "unnatural evolution", nature itself (aka the sea) rejects them.
 * According to Shaka, awakened Zoans usually lose control of their minds, with Lucci being considered an exceptional case due to averting this.
 * In some rare cases, though, Zoan users can retain their personality upon awakening their fruit.
 * An awakened Zoan is characterized by flaming hair and what appears to be sash of flaming smoke appearing around the user.
 * More information about Artificial Devil Fruits is revealed.
 * Vegapunk explains that only Zoan-type Devil Fruits can be completely reproduced successfully; he speculates that with limitless resources, he may also be able to do the same with the Mythical sub-type, but Vegapunk states that it is currently unknown whether or not these artificial Zoan Devil Fruits can be awakened by their consumers.
 * Vegapunk also explains that while it is very complicated to reproduce Logia-based fruits, Paramecia-type Devil Fruits can be reproduced only by having the user's Lineage Factor and a transfusion of an artificial Green Blood which he made that is transfused through the arms of the Seraphim.
 * Vegapunk confirms that he acquired Senor Pink's Lineage Factor at some point to provide S-Shark with the Sui Sui no Mi's abilities.
 * Lilith reveals that Green Blood still grants its user the standard Devil Fruit weaknesses.
 * Buckingham is revealed to be a scientist and a former member of MADS. She claims that Vegapunk can prove that Weevil is indeed Whitebeard's son.
 * A third type of Pacifista is introduced under Sentomaru's command, the Mk. III, which weaponizes resin bubbles for combat.
 * The Giant Warrior Pirates have reunited on Elbaf, including Dorry and Brogy, who are no longer in a feud.
 * In addition, they are acquainted with Shanks, and are allied with his crew.
 * It is revealed that the World Government's actions on Egghead and the events of what is to be known as the Egghead Incident began three months ago, when information about Vegapunk researching the Void Century was leaked by a traitor, which would cause an event that would affect the entire world.
 * This led the Five Elders to deploy a CP0 squad consisting of Rob Lucci, Kaku, Stussy, and S-Bear with the mission to eliminate Vegapunk and all his copies. Lucci thinks the mission could be connected to Lulusia's destruction. They also decide to kill Bonney as well due to her escaping the World Government too often.
 * However, Stussy betrays the group and renders the former two unconscious. She is revealed to be a MADS-developed clone of former Rocks Pirates' member, Buckingham Stussy. She is also revealed to have been an undercover spy for Vegapunk for the last two decades and is confirmed to have also been the one to whom Vegapunk had secretly contacted to help them.
 * Later when the Seraphim had been ordered to kill everyone, Lucci and Kaku are forced to propose a temporary alliance to deal with them, much to the chagrin of both Luffy and Zoro.
 * York reveals herself to be the traitor, as well as her desire to become a World Noble as the sole Vegapunk. She realized the World Government wanted to betray her; thus she ordered the Seraphim to kill everyone on Egghead except herself, Vegapunk, and the Cipher Pol hostages.
 * Kuzan reveals that SWORD are Marines who have formally resigned themselves from the actual command structure of the organization, but still operate on its behalf.
 * More information on the "man with the burn scar" is revealed.
 * Blackbeard believes this man might hold the fourth and last Road Poneglyph.
 * According to Lafitte, this man rides around the New World in a black ship and is capable of causing whirlpools that suck him any other approaching ships.
 * A flashback of the invasion of Mary Geoise during the fourth day of the Levely by the Revolutionary Army commanders that was previously mentioned in the Wano Country Arc is shown.
 * It is confirmed the Levely happened over one month ago from the present time.
 * Kalifa, Blueno, Jabra, Fukurou, and Kumadori are now part of CP0.
 * Mjosgard gives Sai and Leo permission to attack Charlos due to their status as pirates to rescue Shirahoshi. They also flatten Charlos' head, which also reveals the mystery of the "attempted murder" attempt against him that was previously mentioned during the Wano Country Arc.
 * Sabo overhears some guards speaking about a room known as "The Lost Chamber". According to one of the guards, those who often look into this chamber tend to mysteriously disappear.
 * Morley and Karasu manage to snatch Kuma away. Bonney allows the Revolutionaries to take Kuma with them while she will head to Egghead to talk to Vegapunk about reversing her father's condition.
 * King Cobra has his audience with the Five Elders to know the mystery of what happened to his ancestor Lili who was one of the leaders that founded the World Government but had disappeared after its foundation with no record of her name.
 * Imu uoverhears the conversation from their room and shows up in the Empty Throne, shocking Cobra who is still present. Imu answers Cobra's question about the Will of D. and states that the ancient enemies of the World Government once carried the moniker of "D". According to Imu, Lili committed a "mistake" that allowed the Poneglyphs to be scattered around the world but is suspicious that this was actually intentional on her part.
 * Cobra recognizes Imu's name and associates it with the First Twenty, but Imu tells Cobra to not pry any further on that matter.
 * The Five Elders pull out their weapons with the intent of assassinating Cobra due to him having witnessed Imu's existence.
 * Cobra reveals that Lili was in truth Nefertari "D." Lili and is pierced in the stomach by an arrow-like appendage.
 * Sabo shows up and attacks Imu and the Five Elders with his flames, but the attack is rendered ineffective by Im. A visual Den Den Mushi photographs Sabo at the exact moment he is standing next to the fallen Cobra, explaining the incriminating picture used by the World Economy News Paper. Sabo tries to escape with Cobra, learning about his connection with Luffy and is struck down by the one of the transformed Five Elders, prompting Cobra to sacrifice himself and allow the revolutionary to escape. Cobra's final request to Sabo is for him to find and inform Luffy and Vivi that the Nefertari Family also bears the Will of D. and recites the contents of Lili's letter to Sabo before dying.
 * Imu and the Five Elders are capable of transforming themselves into massive, shadowy monsters.
 * Wapol witnesses Cobra's actual murder from a peephole and gets noticed by the Five Elders. He attempts to run away by munching his way through the Pangaea Castle.
 * Admiral Fujitora let many of the slaves freed by the Revolutionary Army escape, leading to a fight between him and Admiral Ryokugyu.
 * Vivi was caught and tied up by CP0 at some point, being kept in a room somewhere in the castle. Wapol bursts into said room, giving Vivi a chance to escape CP0 by jumping into his mouth.
 * Due to these events Vivi and Wapol, are in hiding in the present with both of them being sheltered in Morgans' airship.

Trivia

 * This is the first main story arc where the plot directly connects with the concurrent cover story and characters appearing in person in both simultaneously.

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