The Former Shichibukai Who Stands in the Way

In the Ocean Forest, the argument from the previous chapter erupts in front of everyone. Nami cries, "Luffy...!! Jimbei!!" and asks, "Wait a minute, would you?! What are you two saying?!!" Luffy states his intention plainly: "I'm gonna go to the palace, save my friends..." and adds that he will "kick that Hordy guy's ass!!!" Jinbe blocks him just as firmly: "And I am saying that you must not!!!" Sanji looks at the two of them and asks, "Seriously...?! Do we really need a fight here?!" while Chopper panics, "Stop this, you guys...!!" The page frames the clash not as a misunderstanding, but as two urgent duties colliding.

Shirahoshi calls after them, "Luffy-sama!! Boss Jimbei-sama!!" as Luffy tries to leave on Megalo, shouting, "Shark!! Take me to the Ryuguu Palace!!!" Megalo reacts with "RRHH HHH?!" but Jinbe moves first. Luffy notices the stance with a sharp "Hm?" as Jinbe begins, "Fishman Karate..." and launches "Samegawara Seiken!!!" The blow catches Luffy before he can escape, punching through the air and water around him. The page makes Jinbe's intervention physical and decisive: he is not debating anymore, he is using Fishman Karate to stop Luffy from charging into the palace.

Jinbe's Samegawara Seiken sends Luffy flying, and Luffy grunts, "NGUAH HHHHH HH...!!!" Chopper and Nami cry out, "Luffy-chin!!!" as Luffy clutches himself and gasps, "Ungh!!!" and "Urghh... that hurt!!" Nami realizes the strike reached him in a way ordinary blunt force should not: "Eh?! His punches damage Luffy's body?!!" Jinbe explains the principle behind Fishman Karate: "The secret of Fishman Karate lies in the mastery of water...!!" By using the water in the atmosphere, it sends powerful waves that impact the water within the opponent's body. Luffy's rubber body is not exempt from that inner shock.

Jinbe presses the lesson, saying, "All living beings are filled with water!!" and "Even a rubber man cannot escape this truth!!!" Luffy answers by winding up with "Gomu Gomu no..." and slamming in with "Jet Stamp!!!" His foot crashes into Jinbe with a loud "STOMP!" but Jinbe holds firm, asking through the impact, "...Is this all that your training has achieved?!!" Luffy glares back, injured but still defiant. The page sets their strengths against each other directly: Jinbe's disciplined water mastery against Luffy's newly sharpened speed and force.

Before the fight can spiral further, Robin steps between them with calm authority: "That's enough." Luffy, still rushing forward, shouts, "Robin!!! Get out of the way!!!" and Jinbe snaps, "Who are you?! Move yourself!!!" Robin simply stands there, letting the two fighters collide around her presence, and the force of their exchange breaks apart before it reaches another decisive hit. Nami screams, "Robin!!!" while Sanji cries, "Robin-chan is in trouble!!" Robin's intervention stops both sides without matching their violence; she turns the page from impact back toward reason.

The clash leaves Luffy and Jinbe sprawled and battered, while Sanji, Nami, and the others stare in confusion. Someone asks, "Why is Robin coming out of the forest?" and Robin answers the larger problem with a composed question: "Aha... I'm not sure what's going on exactly. But we're all on the same side here, yes? We shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves." Shirahoshi and Megalo pant nearby, the forest still around them except for the dust and motion from the fight. Robin's arrival reframes the situation: before they can save anyone, they have to stop wasting strength against allies.

Jinbe sits up and tells Luffy to think about what he is doing: "If you and your friends start rampaging across Fishman Island, what will the result be...?!!" He explains that every time the fish-man race has tried to make peace with humans, humans have stood in their way. The old beliefs are still lodged in people's hearts: "Humans are a violent and dangerous race!" and "Humans look down on fishmen and detest them!" Jinbe says this is the reality their people have learned from the cruel path history has taken. Even with Arlong, many still believe he was hunted down by humans purely for being a fishman.

Jinbe makes the political danger explicit. If Luffy and the humans responsible for Arlong's defeat now stand against Hody as well, the people may not see heroes; they may see the shadow of dark history. Even if the Straw Hats save Fishman Island, seeing Hody's attempt crushed mercilessly by humans would only reinforce doubts and fears about humankind. Shirahoshi understands Jinbe's point but says, "I get what you're trying to say, Jimbei..." and then insists, "But it's only natural for us to save our own captured comrades." She adds that if they sit and do nothing, Fishman Island will fall completely into Hody's grasp, and there are plenty of people on the island whom they call friends.

Chopper turns to Hatchan and says, "Hey, Hachi... You seem pretty determined not to tell us how you got so beat up... But you said something earlier. You said Hordy isn't afraid to victimise his fellow fishmen if they show sympathy towards humans." Sanji looks at Hatchan's wounds and asks whether Hody's group did that to him "because you tried to stand up for us...?" Camie asks, "Hacchin, is that true? Did Hordy and his cronies do this to you?!" Hatchan hesitates, saying only, "Nyuuu... I..." while Luffy's face hardens. Chopper realizes the truth behind Hatchan's silence: "How could I face him in the knowledge... that Arlong's will still lives on?!!!"

Nami tells Jinbe that she understands Fishman Island is his home, and that is exactly why Luffy has to act now. Sanji says, "We can't just ignore what's going on here...!!" and Nami adds, "We have more than enough reason to fight!!!" Luffy's reasons tumble out in his own blunt way: "Because this is Camie's home!" "And Shirahoshi-chan's home!" and Sanji throws in, "And the glorious mermaid paradise of my dreams!" Luffy orders, "You heard him - move it, Jimbei!!! I've said I'm going, and I mean it!!!" Jinbe answers, "I will not allow it!!!" and repeats, "Leave this to me!!!" The standoff tightens again.

Luffy loses patience. With his face pinched in anger, he growls, "Grrrr...!!" and announces, "Then I'll just have to beat you up first!!!" Jinbe warns, "Stop that, you two!!" as the scene cuts from the Ocean Forest to Ryugu Palace, where the crisis continues without them. A subordinate asks Hody, "So, boss... are you gonna leave anyone behind here in the palace?!" Hody, standing before the enormous palace, says there is little need. The Ryuguu Palace is an impenetrable fortress, and leaving a few men to open the gates when they return should be enough.

At Ryugu Palace, Neptune remains chained and helpless while Hody's men mock the captured Straw Hats. One asks, "Wouldn't want the king to get locked out of his own palace, after all, would we...?" and another laughs, "Gyaha hahah!! You got that right!!" A soldier complains that the wounds from fighting Zoro are still aching, but Hody dismisses the prisoners: "Those three are only humans. They'll drown to death sooner or later." He says his energy steroids are running out and orders more. What he wants to know is the migration from Fishman District. Told it is already underway, Hody smiles and declares that those who fled, those killed, and the residents can be readied for new occupants. "We will make this into a fine country... filled only with proud, human-hating citizens. Jaha hahahah!!"

At Sweet Factory Town, one of Hody's officers turns destruction into appetite. Daruma, a cookiecutter shark fish-man, chews through the stone factory walls while bystanders scream, "He's chewing up the stone factory walls...!!" and "Daruma-saan!! What are you...?!" Someone asks, "What are that man's teeth made of...?" Daruma answers through a mouthful of stone and debris, "My fangs are thirsting for more!! Kyakkkrl yyahh!!" He is introduced in bold as "DARUMA (COOKIECUTTER SHARK FISHMAN)," a small, ravenous figure whose bite turns the city itself into food.

Daruma terrorizes the people around Sweet Factory Town, snarling, "What's wrong with you people, bringing me cappuccino and sweets?!! You call this a snack?!! What am I, an office lady?!!!" When a citizen stammers, "W... we're sorry, Daruma-san!!" Daruma grabs another victim and threatens, "You want me to tear your flesh apart?!!!" adding, "My favourite food is fishman bones, you know!!!" Then he says he is going ahead to Gyoncord Plaza: "Everyone's gotta be there - don't be late, you got that?!" Asked what to do with the citizens, he laughs, "No need to do anything. Each of 'em already oughtta know... what kind of fate awaits them...!! Kyakkyah!!"

Daruma continues chewing and tunneling through the city, leaving citizens watching the ground and walls crumble in his wake. As panic spreads, people discuss the strength of Hody's commanders: including Hody himself, four leading members of the New Fishman Pirates are shark fish-men, another is a giant squid, and they have hired the greatest swordsman on Fishman Island as a bodyguard. Yet the people try to hold onto hope. One says, "I'm sure the princes will pull through!!" and another answers, "But on our side, we have the three Neptune brothers to rely on..." The page balances the enemy's terrifying roster against the islanders' remaining faith in the royal family.

Inside the Ryuguu Palace indoor pool, Brook reveals the advantage of being a soul. His spirit floats free and sings, "I have found ittttt tttttttt!! Our ray of hopeee eeeee!!" In the cage, Zoro and Usopp stare at him, unnerved. Usopp asks, "...Since when have you been able to do that...?" and says, "This guy is getting creepier and creepier..." Brook explains cheerfully, "Oh yes, it was the funniest thing! One day when I was kneeling down and praying a little... my soul just suddenly slipped right out! Yohohohoho!" He can float around and peek through walls, and Zoro yells, "I'm jealous!!! Zoro, I'm so jealous of this guy!!!" before being told, "Oh, shut up!"

Brook tells Zoro there is no need to ask Pappag for all the keys: "Just tell him to bring one of my swords." Zoro immediately understands and says, "I'll slice through the lot." Brook agrees that "That... also works...!!" Outside, Pappag panics when Brook's soul appears and begs, "Pappag-saaaan!! It's only meeee!! We're in quite a hurry!! We need you to find a key... I mean, a sword!!" Pappag screams, "AAAAAAA ARGHHH HHH!!!" and "Stay away from me, ghost!!!" while Brook tries to calm him. The imprisoned crew's escape plan now depends on a terrified starfish bringing them a blade before the flooding room kills them.

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