Old Friends

Chapter 1076, "Old Friends," opens in the wrecked Tower A command room with Luffy, Zoro, Shaka, Lucci, Kaku, S-Hawk, and S-Bear facing one another amid broken rubble. The caption asks whether they are really joining forces. Luffy says, "Let's say we free you guys... I can't see you letting us cuff you again later." Lucci claims, "That's not true. When we're out of danger... we'll put these restraints back on without a fight." Luffy naively says, "Really? In that case sure," but Zoro immediately snaps, "He's obviously lying!" S-Hawk moves with a "Shroom!" and S-Bear looms, while the uneasy alliance begins under obvious distrust.

S-Hawk attacks with enormous cutting waves, sending rubble flying through the command room. Zoro blocks and recognizes the power, exclaiming, "What?! Isn't that...!! The Dice-Dice Fruit's power?!" after seeing the slash behave like the ability of Daz Bones, formerly Mr. 1. Kaku, still restrained, calls out with "Glub glub" as S-Hawk and S-Bear continue their assault. Zoro complains, "See, Roronoa? You keep having to save us!" or is taunted about saving CP0, while the battlefield shakes with repeated impact SFX. The Seraphim's copied abilities and Lunarian-like durability make the fight far more dangerous than a simple brawl.

As S-Bear smashes through the room, Zoro warns, "You won't get anywhere like this!" Shaka asks CP0 what their mission here was, and Lucci bluntly answers, "Eliminating all seven Vegapunks." Kaku shouts, "Lucci! Don't just blurt it out like that!" and Shaka asks whether that means Stussy was also on their hook because of her betrayal. Lucci says, "That's right. I won't show her any mercy." Luffy yells, "Are you trying to convince them not to save us?!" while S-Bear roars below with "Kyaaaah!!" The page makes the absurdity of the alliance clear: CP0 admits they came to murder every Vegapunk, yet they still need Luffy and Zoro's help to survive the Seraphim.

Nami's scream comes through, and Luffy reacts, "That was Nami!! All four of those things must be running wild!" Zoro asks how they are supposed to protect everyone on top of the seven Vegapunks. Shaka finally tosses the cuff keys and says, "I'll leave the decision in your hands. Just please protect the Stella at all costs!!" Luffy warns Lucci and Kaku that when the four Seraphim are out of the way, they must not be sore losers or go after his friends and the Vegapunks. Zoro calls Luffy an idiot because those guys will not fall for that kind of taunt, but Lucci bites anyway: "You're the top priority on my hit list, you Straw Hat bastard!" while Kaku says he will not go out of order but Luffy's friends will not outlive him for long. Law, watching the danger, notes that Lucci took the bait, and the cuffs snap open.

With the restraints unlocked, S-Bear begins an "Ursus... Shock!!" attack, forming a huge paw-shaped blast that swells across the command room. Luffy transforms into Gear Fourth and says, "Sorry about this, Bonney!!" because S-Bear has Kuma's appearance. He winds up with "Gum-Gum..." while Lucci shifts into his leopard Zoan form beside him. The four combatants line up against the Seraphim: Luffy and Lucci against S-Bear, Zoro and Kaku against S-Hawk. The clash is framed as a temporary but serious team-up born from necessity, with Luffy willing to strike the Kuma-shaped weapon despite Bonney's feelings because the Seraphim threatens everyone.

The temporary alliance lands simultaneous attacks. Luffy and Lucci strike S-Bear with "Gum-Gum Kong Gun!!" and "Six King Gun!!" while Zoro and Kaku attack S-Hawk with "Purgatory Onigiri!!" and "Tempest Kick: White Thunder!!" The double-page action spread shows their blows slamming the Seraphim backward through the wreckage, with heavy impact marks and panels of Zoro, Kaku, Lucci, and Luffy focused in combat. The page has little dialogue beyond attack names and impact SFX, but it marks the payoff of freeing CP0: old enemies fight side by side against Vegapunk's runaway strongest humans.

Deep within the lab, imprisoned World Government Intelligence CP5, CP7, and CP8 agents lie weak and chained in a hidden chamber. One groans, "Need f-foooood..." while others say they have not had a decent meal "in over two months" and wonder whether they will ever be allowed to leave or die there. One agent recounts that two months ago, after their inspection of Egghead, they were meant to set sail, but "those weaponized sea beasts attacked us," forcing them back to the island. Then all the other agents who came to look into their disappearance met the same fate too. The speaker turns toward a shadowed prisoner and says he figured that person was behind it all, setting up the reveal that Stella Vegapunk himself is chained with them.

The hidden prisoner is revealed as Dr. Vegapunk's Stella, chained and battered in the underground lab. The agents cry, "Dr. Vegapunk!!" while Stella apologizes, "Sorry, I'm afraid I had no idea... to think this was happening on Egghead right under my nose." He says it is troubling because "this whole affair has been baffling from the start" and that word leaking to the Government about his research into the Poneglyphs should have been impossible. Outside Egghead, a Navy report says the Navy has successfully deployed from Branch G-9, with over one hundred ships of all sizes en route and "all heading for Egghead." Vegapunk's imprisonment and the incoming fleet show that the island is being squeezed from inside and outside at once.

The scene shifts to a bar at a small port on a certain island in the New World. Children and locals beg, "Take me with you! Take me with you! Come on!" but a silhouetted adult says there is no way he would bring a hot-headed kid like that. A young admirer asks why he will not give it up because he will make the other captains jealous, then insists, "No way!! I really look up to the chief!!" A subordinate bursts in yelling, "Boss!! That bastard's actually attacking us!!" Another explains that so far the enemy has only been scraping with their youngsters, but it looks like it will turn into a full-on battle soon. Shanks, relaxed but serious, says he does not know whether to call it good or bad timing because they were just about to set off, then admits he lost track of time while "catching up with everyone" after coming across old friends he thought were dead.

Shanks stands among old friends as the Red-Haired Pirates prepare to move. One crewmate warns that the enemy will be pissed at Shanks for keeping them waiting, while the giants laugh, "Gya ha ha ha! You can't talk, Beck!" and joke that Shanks is not the only one they are mad at. A subordinate asks, "So we're really doing this, chief?!" Shanks answers, "Let's set sail!" and says he would never let this island become a warzone. Fans swoon that he is dreamy, and someone asks whether he is really going out there to fight. Shanks then turns to the giants and says, "Hey, Dorry, Brogy, can you lend me a hand?" calling on his old Giant Warrior Pirate friends as the confrontation escalates.

The island is revealed as Elbaf, home of the most prideful warriors around. Dorry and Brogy happily agree to help Shanks, laughing, "Ga ba ba ba! Sure, brother! I don't mind!" and "Ge gya gya gya!! Let's do it, Red Hair!!" Before the fight, Shanks asks Rockstar to check something for him and deliver a message to Captain Kid. Shanks says Kid has a choice: "He can either hand over his Load Poneglyph rubbings and scram... or he can risk fighting me!!" The Red-Haired Pirates, giants, and allied crews stand together behind him, turning the port into a gathering of enormous force before Kid even reaches Shanks himself.

At War-Land Elbaf in the New World, Kid's crew sights a line of ships on the horizon. Someone says, "Those ships on the horizon are all his... including the ones lagging behind..." and another identifies them as allies of the Red-Haired Pirates. The crew realizes that every one of them seems like a big shot and that all are sworn to the Emperor. Kid remembers the last encounter and says, "Last time, it was completely one-sided..." Killer adds the brutal reminder: "They took your arm... before we even got a glimpse of Red Hair himself!" Even before meeting Shanks directly, Kid is facing an Emperor's whole network of allied ships and veterans.

Killer warns that this time the Red-Haired Pirates "won't settle for an arm," but Kid grins and answers, "Only if I lose!!" At the port, people shout, "Make way! The chief's coming through!" and celebrate Shanks's arrival. Admirers say, "I'm so glad to see you, chief! You too, Beckman!" and one says they feel like they owe protection money, only for another to reply, "We don't do that!" A harsher warning follows: "They'll take your life instead!!" Shanks walks through the cheering crowd toward the fight, his face serious, while Kid smiles with defiant confidence. The closing caption reads, "Bold warriors face off!!" and notes a break next week.

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