The Empty Throne

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Far across the seas from Mary Geoise, Whole Cake Island still bears the damage and humiliation left by the Straw Hats' escape. Big Mom refuses to let it end there, shouting, "Are you kidding?! I refuse!" When someone tells her, "Look, it doesn't really have anything to do with you," she insists that if she is not the one to take Straw Hat's head, she will be shamed forever, because "he has something he needs to return to me!" The newspaper with Luffy's new bounty lies nearby, making the insult concrete. When Kaido enters the conversation, he reminds her, "Besides, you still owe me one big time, Kaido." Big Mom tries to dismiss it as the past, but Kaido answers, "Nope. That debt is lifelong."

Kaido refuses to let Big Mom claim Luffy for herself. His face fills the panel as he declares, "I'm the one with a bone to pick with that kid! If you come here, I'm killing you, Linlin!" Big Mom does not sound intimidated. She grins and replies, "Let's stay friendly on this, eh?! Like good old times!" The conversation exposes a dangerous history between the two Emperors: they are enemies now, but they share old ties and old debts. A terrified subordinate says, "Do your worst then. I just figured I'd drop you a line. Listen up. I'm going to be the one to kill Straw Hat." The page turns Luffy's survival into a trigger for a possible collision between two Yonko.

At Marine HQ, the unencrypted call between Big Mom and Kaido throws the Navy into alarm. Officers report, "Big Mom's on the move!" and "She's going to make contact with Kaido!" Because their signal is completely unencrypted, the Marines realize the message is probably meant as a provocation: "Come and stop us if you can!" One officer says it is almost too easy to tap into, while another concludes that only the Admirals or the Shichibukai could possibly stop them. Kizaru calmly offers, "Shall I go, then, Sakazuki?" but Sakazuki tells him to hold. The strength of the armies in Wano Country is still unknown, and the word that stops him is the same mystery hanging over the arc: "The samurai, eh..."

On the Red Line, news of Big Mom and Kaido reaches the royal bodyguards at Mary Geoise. Hina is alarmed and says, "Are you serious, Garp?! They're after your grandson! Straw Hat Luffy!" Garp bursts out laughing, "Pppfffttt! Hilarious!" She snaps, "It's no laughing matter! Do you really want to just let two Yonku meet each other like this?!" Garp answers that Reverie is happening right now and all the people who could stop the meeting are gathered as royal bodyguards. He adds that Big Mom has surely accounted for that and asks what Boss Sakazuki said. When Hina warns that all this talk of Big Mom and Kaido points to a deeper danger, Garp says the Wano Country lies outside the World Government alliance, therefore outside their jurisdiction. He laughs that not interfering right now is their best bet.

Hina calls the two Emperors "the reason you're called the hero of the Marines," and asks about the old "Locks" connection. Garp notes that she is well informed for someone so young, then says, "Yes. Before Roger, the age was theirs!" But more than forty years have passed, and "the past has passed." Hina remains worried, saying that even if those pirates lost their captain, they have only become stronger. Garp does not deny the danger. He smiles grimly and says there is no point worrying: if they return, they will be a huge threat, and the situation will get far bigger than any of them are imagining. The page plants the shadow of Rocks over the present crisis without fully explaining it.

Inside the Holy Land Mary Geoise, Pangaea Castle, King Stelly of the Goa Kingdom is led to the place called "The Empty Throne." When he hears it is part of the oath, he asks, "Huh?" The chamber is immense, with a throne set high above crossed weapons. Stelly immediately asks, "Can I sit on it?" and his guide is horrified: "Even as a joke, such a thing would be unthinkable!" The explanation follows: none must sit on that throne. It is an oath that the kings of the various countries are equal and that none must harbor the greed to rule them all, the greed of dictatorship. The Empty Throne is presented as the symbol of a world without a single king.

The guide explains the symbolism around the Empty Throne in detail. The twenty weapons that protect the throne represent the oath taken eight hundred years ago by the architects of the world, the "first twenty." They placed the throne at the center of the world with the fact that it cannot be sat upon as a symbol of peace. Just as the highest authorities of the world, who sit atop even the Celestial Dragons, are five people known as the Five Elders, so too shall this world have no single king. Stelly hears only the temptation. His eyes bulge as he imagines that if he sat there, he would be king of the world, and he cries, "I wanna sit theeeeeere!"

The scene cuts back to Pangaea Castle's Mingling Plaza, where Saint Charlos's desire becomes open violence. Shirahoshi screams as he rides forward and grabs her, laughing, "Mufufu! Funghh!" People cry, "Please stop, Saint Charlos!" and "What are you doing?! Please stop!" but Charlos only orders, "Yes! Put handcuffs on it and capture it!" Rebecca immediately moves to help Shirahoshi, but those around her pull her back. Someone warns, "Stop, Rebecca! That's a Celestial Dragon!" while another shouts, "Stop! What are you planning on doing, Princess of Alabasta?!" Neptune and the princes cry Shirahoshi's name, but the plaza freezes under the terror of Celestial Dragon authority.

Charlos drags Shirahoshi through the plaza as if she were property, calling, "Go, slave #3!" He boasts, "I caught one! I caught a big mermaid! She's gonna be my pet!" Shirahoshi cries out, "Aaaaggghhh!" and "Gyah!" while the crowd recoils. Vivi tries to intervene and is restrained; someone tells her, "D'ya have no common sense?! If you anger him, all of Dressrosa could be destroyed!" Leo cannot stand watching and attacks, but Charlos's slave swats him away with a brutal blow. Sai rushes forward too, shouting that he will save the mermaid princess, yet others warn, "No! Kano Country soldier, stop!" and "Someone, stop them!" The page shows every bystander understanding the horror and almost everyone being paralyzed by the political consequences.

Before Sai and Leo can reach Charlos, Cipher Pol Aigis Zero appears. Rob Lucci stands at the center with Kaku and Stussy, and the shock around them is immediate: "Who the hell are you lot?!" Lucci answers coldly, "You should thank us, first. Know that us stopping you just now saved several countries from utter destruction." Stussy adds that even children know not to mess with the Celestial Dragons. When someone asks whether this means that man is one of the kings of the Earth, Lucci clarifies the ideology he serves: "The Celestial Dragons are the gods that created our world." A god's wants are to be yielded to, and it is inexorable. Kaku's blunt aside, "Thas right you dummies!" makes the scene even uglier: CP0 protects Charlos's legal power, not Shirahoshi's life.

The plaza reaches its breaking point. Vivi looks crushed and whispers "Vivi..." while Sai and Leo are held back. Vivi shouts that it makes no sense for a god not to make sense, and then cries, "Give Shirahoshi back! She's my friend!" Neptune can endure no more. He thanks the people who tried to help, saying, "Thank you! I shall not forget your kindness," but adds that with a heavy heart he must give up the dream that brought him here. If the world above is like this, he cannot bring his people here. He prepares to beat Charlos "to a pulp" and then return to the sea floor. Shirahoshi screams for him to stop, pleading that this is not what the world is like and that this is not what humans are like.

Shirahoshi begs her father not to hate humans, clinging to the hope her mother gave her: "Only a little longer until we're all under the sun." Neptune still moves to fight, and CP0 warns, "You dare fight back? Kill them, CP0!" Others call for restraint: "Stop, Paladin Neptune!" and "Do not act in haste!" Neptune thinks of the future of their children and wonders whether maybe, just maybe, it might turn out differently. Then the impossible happens: a powerful blow smashes into Charlos's head. The sound explodes across the plaza, and a voice shouts, "Stop that, Charlos!" The Celestial Dragon who had seemed untouchable is struck down in front of everyone.

The plaza reels. People cry, "Who was that?! Someone just punched the Celestial Dragon!" and a panicked voice tries to deny involvement: "N-none of this has anything to do with me! I wasn't involved, you hippos!" Charlos lies smashed while Shirahoshi is freed from his grip. Neptune demands, "Let go of the princess, you lunk!" The attacker then reveals himself as another Celestial Dragon, Saint Don Quixote Mjosgard. He bows and apologizes to the gathered royals: "Everyone, please! Accept my apology! A witless fool has polluted the Mingling Plaza with fear." He tells Neptune, "I do not think you remember me, Neptune. But I owe a great debt to the Ryugu Kingdom. I have waited long for this day." The memory is clear: years ago in the Ryugu Kingdom, Otohime changed him, and now he uses his own status to protect Shirahoshi.

Mjosgard's past is recalled: ten years ago, he washed up on the shores of the Ryugu Kingdom as a foolish Celestial Dragon and ordered others to save him, but the late Queen Otohime scolded and reformed him. Now he declares, "I want to support you all with everything I have!" The chapter then shifts to the Chambers of Authority inside Pangaea Castle, where the Five Elders receive an unexpected visitor. They recognize that the person's identity makes the politics dangerous, saying, "It is Reverie. Given who you are, these politics are not for you. But, given who you are, we will give you the time of day." The visitor thanks them and steps forward: Shanks. The Elders ask what prompted him to come all the way there, and he answers, "I wish to talk with you about a certain pirate." The chapter ends on the shock of an Emperor standing before the highest authorities of the World Government.

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