Queen's Gamble

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The prisoners of Udon recoil when Luffy and Hyogoro's collars come off. They warn, "Explode! We've seen slaves' collars! Those collars are no joke! I'm serious!" Luffy holds Hyo steady while the collar beeps, telling him, "You're okay. Just hold still." Then the device bursts apart in Luffy's hands rather than killing Hyo. Hyo survives, coughing and staring, and Luffy looks shocked at what he has done.

Luffy realizes that the power he used is the same kind of technique Rayleigh used in the past. He says, "What I just did is what Rayleigh did that day! There's no mistaking it!" but admits he cannot remember exactly how he did it because he was so desperate to get the collar off. Hyo understands immediately: "Straw Hat, the power you just wielded... is already beyond any ryo I could ever teach you." He tells Luffy to blast aside the fists of the giant woman, because if he can use that power again, he should be able to stop Big Mom and save both their lives.

The prisoners think Luffy is insane for trying to take Big Mom's punch head-on. They shout, "That's impossible!" and "Is he stupid?!" Hyo coaches him to direct his haki rather than brute force it, telling him, "You've got this!" Luffy sets himself, looks straight at O-Lin, and says, "Come!" O-Lin roars and drives her fist into him. The impact erupts through the ring as Luffy tries to pour the power into his fist.

The attempt fails. O-Lin's blow sends Luffy and Hyo flying through the prison yard while Chopper and the others cry, "Luffy!" and "Luffy-taro!" The watching prisoners fall silent in horror and then scream, "We told you!" as Luffy tumbles across the ground, twitching from the hit. He survived, but the clean haki technique he wanted did not come out. The prison yard is left in dust and disbelief, with Luffy still alive but clearly unable to reproduce the collar-breaking power on command.

Luffy checks on Hyo in panic, shouting, "Gramps! Wagh! My bad, Gramps! I messed that up! Don't die on me!" Hyo answers that he managed to guard himself with ryuo and is still alive. He explains the technique more clearly: ryuo is haki that covers the outside of the body, like invisible armor, protecting the user and increasing the strength of attacks. But one level above that is the ability to have the haki enter the enemy and destroy them from the inside out. Hyo says that is far more powerful.

Hyo tells Luffy that he has already mastered cladding the outside of his body in haki, even if he does not know it. Then Hyo points to the earlier steel collar and says Luffy destroyed it from the inside out with his haki. The revelation is interrupted by O-Lin, who roars, "I won't forgive you!" and charges again. Hyo urges, "Fight well, Straw Hat!" while Luffy is knocked back through the rubble, still trying to understand the power he briefly used.

At Udon Prisoner's Ironworks, the guards realize that something is causing tremors and that the boss snail has disappeared somewhere. They ask why they cannot reach anyone and panic as the prison shakes again. O-Lin bursts through the area with Luffy and Hyo still in danger, causing more screams and scattering the guards. Udon is falling apart from the inside, and no one can report it properly.

The guards see Big Mom and scream, "Big Mooom?!" The disaster worsens: she has destroyed the doors and headed into the prisoner's ironworks next door, toward the blast furnace. They admit this is a huge problem and wonder how they can ever stop her if even Lord Queen could not stand a chance. Then Babanuki steps forward with a plan. Since Wano is Lord Kaido's territory, he says, he will not let the old hag have her way. "We've got one shot. Listen closely, boys."

Babanuki tells the guards to think of Big Mom as a wild boar. She is only going to run one lap through Udon, he says, and will be back soon enough. Luffy continues moving through the prison as O-Lin barrels along the path, still searching for oshiruko. The guards ready themselves, waiting for the exact moment when she comes back around. The plan depends on her momentum and hunger carrying her along the same route, turning the prison itself into a trap.

The trap lands. As O-Lin rushes through, a heavy blast detonates against her, and the attack knocks her down. The pot marked "Oshiruko" is nearby, and the shock ripples through the prison yard while guards stare at the fallen Emperor. O-Lin's face changes as fragments of memory return, and the chaos pauses around her. The hunger-driven O-Lin persona starts to crack, leaving everyone unsure whether they have stopped the disaster or awakened something worse.

Queen launches the true gamble: "Brachio... Bomber!" In his brachiosaurus form, he drops from above and slams his full weight onto Big Mom's head. The impact rattles the prison, and Queen lands directly on her, hoping the blow will end the disaster. Big Mom's eyes flicker; she murmurs "Mama..." and then wakes confused, asking what happened, why her head hurts, and what she is doing there. She remembers being in the ocean and separated from everyone, and the guards cheer, "He did it! He got her!" calling Queen the savior of Wano.

Big Mom's memories return fully. She recognizes Queen and asks, "You're Kaido's lackey, Queen, was it?" The guards panic because her whole vibe has changed: "We're finished! There's no way she's a monster!" Then, just as suddenly, Big Mom falls asleep with a loud "Snooore." Queen sees the opening and immediately orders his men to bring one hundred percent Seastone handcuffs and chains.

Queen orders Big Mom wrapped one hundred times in Seastone and injected with one hundred doses of beast tranquilizer. He demands a ship at once, shouting, "Roger!" when told it is ready. This is now a super-high-alert priority: they must transport Big Mom to Onigashima, leave only the absolutely necessary guards behind, and everyone else must get moving. Queen leaves Babanuki in charge, ordering him to throw all the prisoners back into their cells, regain control of the situation, and use the emergency gates to lock down Udon because Big Mom destroyed nearly every normal door.

Big Mom is hauled away toward Onigashima, chained and unconscious on a ship marked for Queen. The guards shout, "Get on the boat!" "Anchors aweigh!" and "Full speed ahead!" Chopper, O-Tama, Kiku, and Momonosuke watch the ship leave while the gates close behind them. Momonosuke says the gate is closing, and the others realize there is nothing they can do except wait because they promised to stay hidden.

Udon is cut off from the rest of Wano. The gates are closed, communications are down, and the guards worry that if anything happens, they have no way to tell anyone. Luffy, however, sees the opportunity. With Big Mom and Queen gone, he says there is no one left he really has to fight, except the newly freed Kawamatsu. Then Luffy grins, cracks his knuckles, and declares, "I've been free for a minute. I'll be taking Udon now." The counterattack begins.

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