Luffytaro Repays a Favor

Holdem's punishment arrives in a single fiery blow. Luffy's fist, still blazing from Red Hawk, drives straight into the Headliner's face and launches him backward with Kamijiro, the lion on his stomach, roaring along with him. The page marks the impact as "One blow to the head liner!" The men of Bakura Town can only stare as their officer is blasted away, while Tama, still recovering from captivity, cries out, "Lord Holdem!" The violence of the strike clears the way at once: Luffy has not negotiated, hesitated, or hidden his anger. He has answered Holdem's cruelty with open rebellion, right in the middle of Kaido's territory.

With Holdem sent flying, the escape begins immediately. Koma-chiyo tears through Bakura Town with Luffy, Zoro, O-Kiku, and Tama aboard, while the stolen treasure ship of food rattles along behind them. Zoro watches the chaos and mutters, "He's gone and done it..." O-Kiku urges them forward without slowing down: "Don't stop! Head straight to the gate!" Behind them, the Beast Pirates reel from what they have just seen. Someone cries, "Someone like you, defeated in one blow?! Who is that man?!" Others scream after their fallen commander: "Lord Holdeeeeeem!" Luffy does not wait for the town to recover. He shouts, "Alright, we've gotta split!" and the whole rescue turns into a full-speed raid.

Luffy spots the next piece they need for the getaway: Speed, a Headliner with the body of a horse. He calls to Tama, "Oi, Tama!" and asks for one of the millet dumplings from her cheek: "Gimme one of your dangos!" Tama nervously prepares it, the familiar phrase forming as "Kibi... dango," and Luffy sends it toward Speed. The Beast Pirates shout in confusion, "Lady Speed!" and "A human?! And a horse?!" Speed eats the dumpling and reacts with delight: "Heen! Yummy!" O-Kiku quickly tells Tama, "'Kay, now control that horse!" Tama protests, "Wha-?! I can't! It doesn't work on huma-" but the effect takes hold before she can finish. Speed, despite being partly human, responds to Tama's power.

The gamble works. Speed bounds after the stolen provisions with a bright, obedient "Heheen! Where to, master?" and the Beast Pirates panic over what has happened to one of their Headliners. Voices call, "Lady Speed?!" and wonder whether the raiders have taken advantage of her strange weakness. Luffy celebrates the success and gives Speed her new nickname: "Alright, Umami! Follow that treasure ship!" O-Kiku can only reason through the absurdity after the fact, noting that it is "Probably cause this thing's half horse!" Tama is still stunned that her power worked on someone like Speed. The escape becomes even stranger and more effective: one of Kaido's own officers is now helping haul the stolen food out of town.

As they race away, Tama looks at Luffy and is pulled back to another promise from another pirate. Quietly, she admits, "You reminded me of'n Ace..." Luffy does not quite catch it and asks, "What? What was that?" Tama hides the feeling at once: "Nothing. Nothing at all." Elsewhere at the edge of Bakura Town, the escape has already drawn another confrontation. Trafalgar Law appears before Basil Hawkins and issues a cold threat: "I'll be taking your life." Hawkins, unable to immediately identify the masked figure, snaps back, "Who are you?!" The page moves from Tama's private memory to the larger danger surrounding the Straw Hats' reckless attack.

Law strikes before Hawkins can get comfortable, but Hawkins begins putting the pieces together. He knows Zoro was with the raiders and that Zoro should understand the alliance's plan, so he thinks through the danger aloud: "Roronoa's with them, and he should know the plan..." He also understands the political consequence of touching Holdem: "They won't do anything like taking out Holdem. We raise a finger on him, it's all over." Law presses him to vanish, saying, "Disappear, Hawkins!" Yet Hawkins studies the power and the clue on Law's body, thinking, "This power... and that tattoo..." His conclusion lands quickly: "It's possible! These two... they made an alliance!"

The fight turns into a display of Law's surgical battlefield. His ability cuts through the space between him and Hawkins, with the familiar shift of his technique marked by "Chambres." Hawkins avoids a simple defeat through his own strange power, pushing the damage onto his subordinates instead. Around them, men scream in terror as the effect becomes clear: "Wha-?! He's still alive! What the--?! Help me!" Law keeps attacking, but each slash reveals that Hawkins has prepared lives to spend in his place. The exchange is not a clean duel; it is a clash between two powers that both twist the meaning of a direct hit.

Hawkins now has enough evidence to name his opponent. He calls out, "Trafalgar Law!!" and orders him, "Remove that helmet!" Law is not interested in giving him satisfaction. Instead, he studies the voodoo-like transfer of damage and asks, "Now, then, what sort of power was that just now?" When Hawkins demands the reveal, Law answers flatly, "It's useless." Their eyes lock across the battlefield: Hawkins wants confirmation of the pirate alliance, while Law wants to keep the Straw Hats' presence contained before the entire Wano operation collapses. Neither man is speaking casually; every line is a move in the struggle to control information.

Hawkins recognizes how quickly Law has understood his ability and says, "You certainly catch on quick." Law answers, "I'm still just bluffing. I don't like taking lives. After all, I'm a doctor." Hawkins then places the moment in history: "I doubt you're here to sightsee. Welcome to Wano Country. We haven't seen each other since that fateful day in Sabaody, have we?" Law replies, "I didn't expect your whole alliance to enter this country together." He already knows too much, and says so: "Surprised that I know? I came across Straw Hat earlier. I assume you sought to seal my lips before I could tell anyone, but..." A transponder snail interrupts with "Prrr rrr! Gacha!" The report is disastrous: "Lord Holdem has been defeated by the bandits! They're on the run now!" Hawkins can only grimace: "Those guys... this is the worst conceivable situation!"

The source of Hawkins's disaster barrels straight through town. Zoro rides with the others and shouts ahead, "Oi! You lot! Over there! Make way!" Luffy calls out with the same reckless confidence, "Coming through!" and adds, "We're in a bit of a hurry!" Civilians and enemies scatter with screams of "Gyaa aah!" and "Hwaa aagh!" while Koma-chiyo and the stolen food thunder past. Zoro notices Law in the middle of the chaos and greets him almost casually: "Oh, Traffy." Law snaps back at the sight of the mess, "You bastard!" Behind them, pursuers shout, "After them! Food thieves!" The alliance's secrecy has not merely cracked; it has been dragged through Bakura Town at full speed.

Law races after them and shouts, "Zorojuro! We'll be out of the city soon!" Zoro answers, "Alright, we'll split this up in Leftover Town!" O-Kiku, still trying to understand why the supposed ronin is involved, demands, "Your job was to be a ronin in the Flower Capital! Why are you all the way out here, in Kuri?!" Law erupts at Zoro and Luffy for the damage they have done to the plan: "You swore up and down that you wouldn't cause trouble!" and "And not only did you get on the wanted list, you've gone and done something bad enough to get Jack called out!" O-Kiku asks in alarm, "Wha- who is he?! Is this okay?!" As the treasure ship reaches Okobore Town, starving people stare and cry, "A treasure ship?!" "Food?!" "Why?!" "How?!" "Really?!"

The stolen cargo is not kept as treasure. Luffy has it thrown open for the starving people of Okobore Town. Beast Pirates try to object, yelling, "Hey, hey! Wait a minute, you mongrels!" and "Oi! Listen to me! Those aren't leftovers yet!" but the food is already being handed out. The townspeople receive not just meals but clean water, and the words spill through the crowd: "Water!" "Poison-free!" "Money-free, too! Take it!" One resident can hardly believe it: "So much drinkable water... how many years has it been..." Gratitude rises toward the pirate who made it happen: "Luffytaro! Thank you!" Luffy makes sure the name spreads, declaring, "The name's Luffytaro! Anyone asks, you tell 'em!"

Luffy finally notices Law properly and greets him as though the town were not in flames: "Huh?! Traffy! It's been a while!" Law cuts straight to the consequence: "Straw Hat... this is rebellion. Against Wano." Tama sits nearby eating, glowing over the simple miracle of "An apple!" Luffy explains why he did it without apology: "This is me repaying the food Tama gave me. And it's just the beginning!" Around them, the town is still in panic. Someone shouts, "Oi! Save some meat for me, too!" while another cries, "Where are the firefighters?! The fire's spreading." Holdem lies defeated, with men pleading, "Lord Holdem! Keep it together!" and noting, "Only the lion's conscious!" Law judges the exposure grimly, saying that it is a public failure, but with "three rather troublesome characters present," even he doubts he could have contained it.

Luffy turns the stolen feast into a promise. He tells Tama, "Tama... don't let just this satisfy ya." Then he gives her the future he intends to make real: "By the time we leave this country, we'll make it a place where you can eat your fill every day!" Tama looks at him and cries, "Brother!" When Luffy wonders, "Hm? Do you not wanna?" she quickly answers through tears, "N-no! Of course'n not! I'm so happy! Just... surprised." The reason is the echo of Ace. In her memory, Ace once promised the same thing: "The next time we come to this country," and "We'll make it one where you can eat your fill!" Luffy's words do not erase Ace's promise; they carry it forward.

With the food delivered and the town stirred into open crisis, Law forces the group onward. He sighs, "Sheesh. Always doing too much." Zoro understands that the enemy response will escalate: "Right, then. They'll be after us for real, now. Get ready." Luffy snaps back, "I don't want to hear that from you!" Law gives the next destination: "In any case, we're moving! To the ruins of Oden Castle! On that peak." Luffy asks, "Ghosts?" Law answers, "Wano's ghosts. We've gotta meet." Zoro adds, "Yeah. I was pretty shocked, too." Law warns, "You're in for a surprise." The page then reveals grave markers bearing impossible names, including Kozuki Oden, Kozuki Toki, Kozuki Momonosuke, Raizo, Kinemon, and Kanjuro, while the narration points to the mystery: "The names carved there... what's the truth behind all this?!"

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