News from the Straw Hat Pirates

The Straw Hat Pirates, after recovering from their dangerous descent down Wano’s waterfall, received the newspaper and learned about their new bounties and the massive events that had occurred during their time on Wano. The crew was horrified at the news of Cobra’s death and Vivi’s disappearance. Although Luffy immediately wanted to rescue Vivi, Zoro talked him out of it, saying they should allow Vivi to take care of herself until it became clear she was in imminent danger. However, Luffy refused to believe that Sabo would kill Cobra, recalling the time he declared his dream to Sabo and Ace. The crew reacted with a mixture of disbelief, wonder, and glee.

The Search for the Last Road Poneglyph

Sanji laughed, Usopp said that such a thing would be impossible, and 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 added that it would not be easy as its whereabouts had been unknown for a long period of time.

Farewell to Marco

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.

Cross Guild and the Four Emperors

Crocodile and Mihawk confront Buggy

On Karai Bari Island, Crocodile and Mihawk confronted Buggy over why he was being advertised 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 to pay off his debt.

Buggy as a Figurehead Leader

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 1,965,000,000 while Buggy’s was raised to 3,189,000,000 and Mihawk’s raised to over 3,590,000,000. 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.

Boa Hancock and Blackbeard

Chaos on Amazon Lily

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

Blackbeard’s Attack

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.

Rayleigh’s Plan

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.