Two Changes You Need to Know

Inside Ryugu Palace, Robin quietly lays out the truth of the Ancient Weapons before Neptune. She explains, "For whatever reason, in the ancient world there existed..." "...three great weapons with power enough to destroy the world." Those weapons are not vague legends to her. "Three ancient weapons..." she says, "...each bearing the name of a god." The names hang in the chamber one by one: "Pluton"... "Uranus"... "...and Poseidon." Robin then turns the history directly toward the royal family: "And one of those three weapons... is your daughter." Neptune, heavy with the burden of the secret, answers only, "I cannot deny it."

Robin understands why the secret has been guarded so closely. She tells Neptune, "I can see why you would keep this a closely-guarded secret." If the world learned that Shirahoshi was Poseidon, "all manner of different factions..." would seek that power, "including both pirates, and the government...!!" Nearby, a wet shape rises with a "GLOOP" and Caribou hears everything. He trembles with greed: "An ancient weaaaapon?! A power capable of destroying the wooorld?!" Then he whispers to himself, "Is it just me, or did I just overhear a major scoop?!" and laughs, "Kehihihihihithi?! I see, I see... That mermaid princess, eh...?" Elsewhere in the palace, Jinbe tries to pull Luffy's attention back to the world around him: "Luffy, I do think you should pay a little more attention..." Luffy answers, "Really?" Jinbe says he wants to speak "somewhere more private," and Luffy casually replies, "Sure! Hang on a minute... I'll just go fetch some things to eat!"

Luffy returns to the others still eating, cheeks full, and calls out, "Oh, hey! You guys are out here too?" Around him the Straw Hats are recovering from the banquet in their own ways. Usopp admits, "I drank a little too much! I came out here to sober up." Chopper says, "And I ate too much. I'm stuffed." Sanji is collapsed in bliss because "Sanji's recovering from a mermaid overdose," while Brook declares, "Fishman Island is the best!!" Jinbe resumes the news from the outside world, and Luffy reacts in shock: "Whaaaat?! Akainu and Aokiji had a big fight?!" Jinbe says Rayleigh was right that Luffy does not do things by halves, but Luffy has missed a major incident. Chopper has heard of this one too. Jinbe explains that immediately after the war two years ago, Fleet Admiral Sengoku stepped down, forcing the question of a successor. Sengoku himself recommended Aokiji, "a man who commands great respect from his subordinates," but among the upper echelons of the World Government, Akainu became the favored candidate.

Jinbe continues the account over the memory of the two admirals facing one another. "As you may know, Aokiji isn't exactly a man of action. He tends to take things as they come." But this time, Aokiji "objected vigorously to the prospect of Akainu becoming fleet admiral." The two were fiercely opposed, and the unprecedented conflict between Marine admirals became an all-out battle on a certain island. The terms were clear: "The loser would forfeit all further right to object," while "the victor would take absolute control of the Marine forces." Luffy listens with a stiff, alarmed face as Jinbe says the battle raged "for ten whole days," with the world waiting on tenterhooks. Though the two admirals were almost equal in strength, one man ultimately emerged victorious.

Jinbe gives the result plainly: "The victor was Akainu!!" and "Sakazuki is the new fleet admiral of the Marines...!!" Luffy grips himself at the name and mutters, "Akainu...!!" The cost was brutal. When Nami asks, "So did Aokiji die, then?" Jinbe says both parties were severely wounded, but "even Akainu could not find it in himself... to slaughter the one-time ally who lay helpless before him." Aokiji staunchly refused to serve under Akainu and left the Marines. Robin asks whether Aokiji is no longer a Marine, and Jinbe confirms, "Indeed. I do not know what has become of him since." One thing, however, is certain: "The Marines have lost a powerful asset."

Jinbe warns the crew to listen carefully. If nothing else, they must understand "two great changes that have shaken the New World in these past two years." The first is the Marines themselves: under Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, Marine HQ "has become a more powerful force for justice than ever before." That power was granted by the measures the government took after losing Aokiji. The other change concerns "the Blackbeard Pirates." The name lands differently among the Straw Hats. Luffy remembers, "Blackbeard... the crew we met back in Mock Town!!" Chopper adds, "The guy who crushed my hometown!!" Jinbe explains that Blackbeard was once a member of the Whitebeard Pirates and intimately familiar with Whitebeard's territories. After Whitebeard's death, he conquered those regions almost immediately, using none other than the Gura Gura powers he stole from the old man himself.

Blackbeard's new position is now undeniable. Jinbe says, "He already has the people of the world referring to him..." "...in the same breath as Red-Hair, Kaido and Big Mom, as a member of the Yonkou...!!!" Jinbe calls him, "Truly, he is a despicable man...!!" and warns that the Blackbeard Pirates' primary aim is to acquire the most powerful Devil Fruit abilities they can obtain. Rumor says they actively hunt down Devil Fruit users, and though little is known about the method, they seem to possess "some means of killing Devil Fruit users and taking their abilities for themselves...!!" Chopper panics, "They might come after me!!" then wonders why they would care about the Hito Hito no Mi. Jinbe tries to stress that Blackbeard has Luffy's particular attention, but Luffy is already fighting over food. Jinbe snaps, "Luffy!!! Are you even listening to me?!!"

Jinbe loses patience with Luffy's carelessness and asks, "Should a captain not bear responsibility for the lives of his crew, Luffy?!!" Luffy, still eating, argues, "Hm? Isn't a 'captain' someone who doesn't listen to what anybody says?" Sanji quietly says it is all right, because at least the rest of them know now, while Usopp lectures Luffy: "You're supposed to be the captain of this crew!! You need to know the basics!!!" Luffy only recommends Fishman Island sweets: "They're so tasty!! The meat's great too!!" Then the conversation turns to Shirahoshi. Camie asks whether anyone has seen Cry-hoshi, and someone says the princess apparently is not used to drinking, so it went to her head a little and she retired to her room. Luffy laughs off Jinbe's complicated warnings, but Sanji and Zoro suddenly sense something. Zoro says, "Hey, Sanji." Sanji answers, "Hm?" Luffy asks if there is "a wild beast or something in this palace...?" and Sanji says, "Now you mention it... I do sense something."

At Ryugu Palace, outside Shell Tower, Shirahoshi is already in danger. A dark hand clamps over her mouth as she struggles, crying "MMPH!! MMM NHH!" and "MMM NNNHH HHH!!" She begs, "Please stop doing this!" and demands, "Who are you?! What in the world do you want?!!" Caribou gloats over her fear. "Kehihihihihi!! No need to look at me like that now, princess!!" he says. "It ain't like I'm gonna go hurting you or anything!!" But he has changed his plan. "With all the treasure I've found, I don't care about kidnapping mermaids to sell any more... But you're a special case!!" He says his brother has already brought the crew to the port so they can head off to the New World together, and tells Shirahoshi, "So if you'll juuust go to sleep for me for a little while... yeah?!!"

Luffy finds the threat at once. He appears with food still in his mouth, then notices Caribou and reacts with "!!?" Caribou freezes in horror. Shirahoshi sees him and cries, "Luffy-sama...!" Before Caribou can complete his plan, Luffy sends him flying with a stretched strike. Caribou screams, "Straw Haaaaaaaat!!" and "Aaaaaaaa aaaaaaargh hhhhhhh!!!" The rescue is immediate. Shirahoshi, sobbing with relief, clings to Luffy and says, "Oh, Luffy-sama!! Uwaaa aaaaaaahh!! I was so scared!!" Luffy, still casual, says, "That guy was still hanging around?" Zoro, arriving nearby, complains, "You lucky bastard, Luffy!! If only I'd been able to kick him first...!!"

The ministers rush in and grasp how close disaster came. One says, "I must offer you my deepest gratitude once more!! This could have been a terrible disaster!!" Caribou had hidden in a castle whose security is normally so tight "that not even a goldfish could enter undetected," but the battle had left the gate wide open. Worse, he found the treasure still in the palace: "To think that the despicable treasure thief was still lurking within the palace...!!" The right tower of Ryugu Palace has been sliced clean apart, and the blame briefly falls on Zoro, who snarls, "Let the thief take the blame, you stupid starfish!!" Then the real loss becomes clear. The minister says the thief "made off with all the treasure in the castle's vaults?!!" Nami immediately raises a hand and asks, "Hold on a minute, Minister of the Right-chan! What's this about a 'treasure thief'?" As Shirahoshi holds Luffy, Luffy admits, "I have a bad feeling about this..."

Nami understands the treasure problem before anyone else is ready to act. The minister says, "But these are priceless royal treasures, right?! Aren't you going to go after him?!" Neptune answers with the kingdom's priorities: "After we came so close to losing the lives of our precious subjects... treasure doesn't seem so important any more." Nami then proposes it another way: if they recover the treasure, would the Straw Hats be free to keep it? Neptune says he would be happy to know it was in the hands of his country's saviors, and Nami beams, "Really?!" Then she turns on the crew: "What were you thinking, sending that scoundrel flying out of the palace...?!!" When they protest, she shouts, "Why didn't you tie him up and keep him as a prisoner?!" and orders everyone to get out there and find him immediately. A scream trails off in the distance. Then a messenger brings a new crisis: "Your Majesty!! Something strange has happened to Hody and his men!! Their handcuffs fell off, and..."

In the Prison Tower, Hody Jones and his captured officers have changed into feeble old men. Hody still snarls, "Worthless humans!!!" and vows, "Our hatred will not fade... We will have our revenge!!!" He demands, "Bring Straw Hat to me at once... I'll slaughter him!!!" but his body has withered. The others cough and gasp around him. One laughs, "Jahhahahah yahyurgh... *cough cough*..." then wonders, "Am I drunk? My joints are aching like crazy..." Another says, "Hahahah ah... I have aged on purpose..." Zeo says they ought to take revenge on the Straw Hats, and Dosun declares, "Mushii... We will be the judges of humanity..." Their words remain hateful, but their bodies no longer match their threats.

The royal family and Jinbe stare at the transformed prisoners. Someone asks, "What in the world has happened here...?" Another says, "Is this really Hody and his crew...?" Hody still tries to rage, snapping at the "worthless royals" and breaking the bars with a "SNAP," but his body cannot sustain him. Neptune asks what it means. The left minister identifies the truth: "It is as I suspected... These 'Energy Steroids' must have been none other than the legendary pills that were stored inside the royal Tamatebako!" He explains that the contents of the Tamatebako were stolen ten years ago in a little-known incident. The culprit was never found, and the king kept the matter under wraps. The minister realizes the timing: this happened around the same time Hody left the Neptune Army. Hody, panting, admits, "True enough! It was me who stole them!!"

The left minister explains why the Tamatebako was treated as a national treasure despite its danger. "The nature of the pills inside the Tamatebako has never been entirely clear, even among the royal family...!!!" One theory claims they grant the user the strength of a thousand men; another claims they simply cause him to age overnight. The pills were placed in the custody of the royal family "as a means of sealing them away, and protecting the people from their dangerous effects." Neptune tells Hody, "You should never have opened that box, Hody. Though you thought it granted you power, that was no more than a foolish dream." Hody can only pant, "Silence, Neptune!!" and continue threatening revenge. Neptune looks at their ruined state and says, "Well, they will hardly be capable of any further 'revenge' in this state..." He even finds himself almost pitying them, perhaps enough to rethink their sentence.

Fukaboshi interrupts Hody's curses and says, "...I will not resent you for what you did to my mother." He orders, "...so please... just be quiet." He does not want the children of the island to hear Hody's tainted words. The scene then shifts to another urgent problem: the envoys of Big Mom, Mr. Pekoms and Baron Tamago, have arrived at the sweet factory. The minister of the left is called, and a report follows: "We don't have any sweets to give to them, Minister! The factory was ransacked by Hody's crew, of course..." The remaining sweets are supposed to be taken to the banquet for the Straw Hats to enjoy. The danger is political as much as practical: "After all, we are dealing with that monster who has been known to raze entire countries for the sake of sweets..." The chapter ends by naming her threat directly: "The Yonkou, 'Big Mom'!!"

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