Thank You, Bonney

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At the future location of Egghead, Navy Admiral Kizaru, Borsalino, visits in the snow and says, "I'm afraid I'm here on business." Vegapunk complains that the cold is a far cry from Punk Hazard, but Kizaru tells him the future will be born right here. Kizaru explains that Vegapunk missed him because he should have checked every nook and cranny of the lab after moving in. The government frowns on secret backroom deals with pirates. Vegapunk tries to calm him with "Okay, okay. You got me, Borsalino," while Kuma and Bonney stare. Kizaru says he is just doing his job, and Kuma mutters, "I hate it when you get like this." SFX include the long staring beat, "staaare," and Kizaru's entrance carries the weight of a formal Navy inspection.

Kizaru says it is irrelevant whether Vegapunk considers Kuma an ideal candidate: "This man is a pirate with 296 million on his head!!" Vegapunk can claim ignorance or admit he does not care, but making a fugitive the face of their clone program is out of the question and would be an affront to the Navy's reputation. Saturn speaks through the Den Den Mushi and adds that if Kuma wants the World Government to honor the deal, there will be three additional stipulations. First, Bartholomew Kuma must agree to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Saturn explains that Ace's exploits left them a member short, and Kuma's terrible name in the pirate world makes him a natural choice to fill the opening and calm the seas.

Saturn gives the second condition: Kuma must undergo procedures to become a human weapon for the Navy. Kuma asks, "Are you talking about modifying my body...?" Saturn says Kuma already has all the traits required to be an effective weapon and will become a paragon of fear for pirates after receiving his enhancements. Kizaru seconds the idea, saying the Navy would love to have Kuma on their side. Vegapunk sees where this is going, but Saturn continues: the offer is only acceptable if they make absolutely sure Kuma will never turn his power against the World Government again. That brings the third and final condition. In a dark close-up, Saturn says Kuma must agree to give up "your free will and sense of individuality."

Vegapunk explodes at Saturn, shouting that none of the other Warlords follow orders and asking if Saturn really expects him to murder a man. He warns that if they snuff out all of Kuma's humanity and leave only a cyborg, they will have nothing but a robot. Saturn reminds Vegapunk that he is a military scientist and has no right to talk back. The conditions must be met if this criminal wants to save his daughter, and Saturn calls it a small price compared with the expense and difficulty of the procedure. Vegapunk says this is murder and it would be perverse to modify a human like that. Kuma softly interrupts that he has been worrying all this time and thinking it might be impossible to save Bonney. He asks Vegapunk how long it will take to finish his own modifications and cure his daughter.

Kuma accepts the impossible bargain with tears streaming down his face. Vegapunk, Kizaru, and Saturn react in silence as Kuma says, "I'm so grateful!! I'll happily accept any fate... so long as Bonney is cured!!" Vegapunk answers that dealing with the Sapphire Scales will take six months, followed by another year before Bonney can safely be exposed to natural light. Kuma's own modifications will take at least two years. Bonney, unaware of the price, leaps happily through the lab with Sentomaru and the others. Kuma asks from his bed how long Vegapunk will need, and the panel keeps the contrast cruel: a father calmly surrenders his future while his daughter smiles because she has been promised a cure.

Kuma cries that Bonney will really be better by the time she is ten. Kizaru asks how they can trust Kuma to remain obedient after she is cured, since his daughter is their only leverage. Kuma insists he has no intention of running, but Saturn says the World Government will have to take custody of Bonney once her treatment is complete. She will be free only after Kuma follows through with the erasure of his personality. Until then, his modifications will begin immediately and remain an ongoing process, helping the Government tame the seas as Kuma starts his tenure as a Warlord. Saturn adds that after Bonney is cured, any contact between father and daughter will be forbidden, and any hint of defiance from Kuma or his guarantees will mean Bonney spends the rest of her life as a slave.

Kuma reacts in shock, but Saturn's demands only harden. Kuma says he has one request: he will not try to see Bonney and swears it, but asks that she never be told the truth. She must not know about her illness being used as a hostage or about the cost of her cure. Kuma does not want her to wake after surgery in some soulless government facility, so he asks that she be taken back to Sorbet and kept in the church where she grew up. If Saturn grants that one request, Kuma promises he will not seek her out and will obey without question. Saturn answers, "Very well." To him it makes no difference where Bonney is kept as long as the Government oversees it. The panel closes on the cold bargain: two interesting years ahead, watched by Saturn's eye and Kizaru's silent presence.

Bonney is told she and Kuma will be staying on Egghead for the next six months, and she beams, asking if she gets to stay with him. Kuma and Vegapunk explain that they may have to come down with something too, so they need tests run; Sentomaru reacts when Bonney calls him "this weirdo," and he snaps, "That's rude." Bonney says staying together means they get to be together, while she marvels that the place has so many windowless rooms. Someone warns her to be careful because there are all sorts of dangerous gadgets around. Vegapunk's scattered genius fills the lower panels: he wants someone to write everything he is thinking down, shouts that the brain waves will not stop, believes he can create the weapon of his dreams, then loses the thread and complains that he just had another eureka moment and wishes there were five more of him. SFX clatter and bustle around the lab.

The treatment montage begins. Bonney lies on an operating bed while Vegapunk and doctors work around her, and Kuma is fitted into enormous machines as the human-weapon modifications begin. He screams through painful procedures while tubes and vats bubble with SFX like "gobogobo" and heavy mechanical rumbles. Bonney writes a cheerful drawing of Daddy, and Kuma, Bonney, Kizaru, Sentomaru, and the Egghead staff eat together and share small moments despite the shadow over the process. A cargo ship waits outside in the snow and choppy sea, marked "Umit Cargo Ship," while Egghead's strange factory skyline churns. The page has little direct dialogue, but it carefully shows the first months of rehabilitation, experimentation, and the strange family routine that forms around Kuma and Bonney inside Vegapunk's laboratory.

The montage continues with the warmest day on Egghead. Kizaru carries trays in a Marine coat, Kuma, Bonney, Vegapunk, Sentomaru, and the staff share pizza-like food, and Bonney tears up with joy while everyone stuffs their faces. Kuma looks out over the island and says, "Thank you, Vegapunk." Vegapunk answers, "Yeah, of course!!" while Bonney calls, "Thanks!! Once I'm all better, can I come and visit?" The silhouettes dance to a lively "Don to to to" rhythm, echoing Nika's beat, with laughter filling the lab. Then time advances: "Half a year later..." After a year of rehabilitation, Vegapunk reports, "The results are good. You'll be completely cured!!" Bonney answers, "Okay!!" The page preserves a rare pocket of happiness before the contract tightens around them.

Back in the Kingdom of Sorbet, voices call "Bonney-chan!!" and "Kumachii!!" as Kuma and Bonney return. The villagers say it has been so long and ask whether Bonney is finally home for good. Bonney joyfully announces that they said she will be all better in a year and that she will finally be able to go outside. The elders remember Kuma always saying she would be fit as a fiddle by the time she turned ten, and they celebrate the fantastic news. Bonney asks if that means she will be taking care of Kuma again, but Granny Conney appears and says they would be more than happy to take care of her. The page identifies her as a member of the Sorbet royal family, Queen Dowager Conney. The reunion is full of cheers, tears, and relief, with the hidden tragedy of Kuma's agreement still unknown to Bonney and the villagers.

Kuma tells the Sorbet people, "Thank you!! I'll leave her in your hands." He says he is still a pirate after all, and if he stays it will not be good for the kingdom. Bonney panics when he says he does not think he will be back for at least a year. "What?! That long?!" she cries, then promises, "I'll write you tons of letters!!" Kuma tells her that the next time they see each other, they will both be able to sail the seas and reach the horizon. Bonney cannot wait and says she wants to travel to all sorts of places together. Kuma starts to say, "I'd love to take you--" but his face makes clear what he cannot tell her. Cipher Pol No. 8 intelligence agent Alpha appears, introduced with a note that her name is a direct romanization of Alufa. Bonney asks who she is while Kuma quietly thinks, "I really would have loved that..."

Alpha introduces herself to Bonney: "My name is Alpha. Nice to meet you, Bonney-chan." She lies smoothly that she is a nurse and that the doctor ordered her to take care of Bonney during her recovery. Alpha says she will check Bonney's temperature daily, make sure she takes her medicine, and monitor her for changes. She warns that no suspicious individuals will be allowed near Bonney during recovery, and that visitors must bring identification. Bonney notices the church's new security and says, "That's such a pain!! And what's that building you're putting up in front of the church?!" Alpha answers that those are their accommodations. Kuma, leaving under guard, says he understands and is not coming back. Bonney thanks him and says, "I'm so glad you were born!!" Kuma smiles through tears and answers, "Really?! Ehe he he!"

The Sorbet people wave and cry, "Take care!!" as Kuma leaves, while the narration says the pirates of the world were utterly shocked when the infamous tyrant Bartholomew Kuma suddenly became an absolutely obedient member of the Seven Warlords. Reactions spread across the seas. A young master hears, "There's a new Warlord!!" Doflamingo grins that Kuma the Tyrant sounds like another villain has come into play and laughs, "Fufu-fufuu!!" On Alvida's ship, someone says Koby looks as big as Whitebeard, while Alvida yells that he is stronger. Ace, asked what he thinks, says he could not care less, while someone asks whether Ace has taken care of the idiot who spotted their Nanmiking ship. The page turns Kuma's private sacrifice into public rumor and pirate gossip.

More reactions to Kuma's Warlord appointment ripple outward. Ace says, "So they finally found a replacement?! That's great news, Jinbei!!" Jinbei answers that considering the circumstances, Ace is the last person he expected to say that, and that he is still reading the details about Kuma. Another pirate notes that Kuma is a former king, and Jinbei says the pirate world is already changing on top of the fight with the king they have in their ranks. Hancock says their business does not affect her and declares, "I follow no man's orders!!" Nyon warns the princess that it is essential to keep track of this information. Moria laughs, "Ki shi shi shi shi!!" and says a paw-palmed man does not sound frightening. Perona worries that Kuma will never work for them, but Moria says Kuma is already a Warlord and must be strong enough to make the cut. A silent panel also shows someone absorbing the news without a word.

Kuma writes to Bonney from a ship at sea: "Dear Bonney, I'm still at sea as I write this." He says he has become quite well known and that sailing in peace is getting harder, but he is doing okay. He hopes everyone back home is doing as well as he is. He promises, "I'm doing my best to find interesting travel destinations for when you turn 10," and says it will be a long journey to deliver the letter, so she should take care. Usopp, still a child, receives mail with a "Koo!" from a bird. A government call interrupts Kuma: "Bartholomew Kuma, come in. You have new commands from the Government!" A nervous subordinate mutters, "Shi shi shi!! Uh-oh, I made him mad!!" Kuma asks for his current location, then reports, "I'm in the East Blue... What are my orders?" The final note promises a front cover and color spread next issue, ending Chapter 1100 on Kuma's first government mission after becoming a Warlord.

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