Phantom

Gyoncord Plaza erupts into close combat. Neptune's soldiers and the citizens who chose to stay crash into the remaining New Fishman Pirates while the sound of battle rolls across the plaza. Blades, spears, and fists send pirates flying as the once-dominant army starts to buckle. Amid the chaos, one of Hody's officers regains himself with a startled "Gashiraa!!" and the page catches the rough cries of the melee: "Urghhh..." "Ahh..." and "Unh hhr!"

The slave tank prisoners suddenly find their chains falling away. They shout, "Our chains came off!!" and the New Fishman Pirates panic: "Who unlocked the chains on the slaves?!" and "What's gotten into these slaves?!!" The freed men attack their former captors while Robin stands calmly behind the act. One slave asks, "Was it you who did this?! Why did you save us?!" Robin answers, "I can't turn down a request from a handsome man." Then she clarifies, "Thank Boss Jinbe, not me."

Hammond tries to catch Robin again and boasts, "Hamo-hamo!! I got you good!!!" but the body he catches is only part of her power. Robin activates "Cuerpo Fleur!!" and another Robin blooms behind him. Hammond yells, "Whoa?! When did you get back there?!!" while she calmly says, "This will be over quickly. Just hold still..." The fishman panics as two of her bodies restrain him at once: "Huh?! Get off me!! Who the hell are you?!!"

Robin finishes Hammond with "Double Clutch!!" His body is twisted and folded until he screams, "Guoooooohhhh!!!" The freed human slaves cheer and rush through the battlefield. The New Fishman Pirates cry, "Ahhhh!! Hammond-saaaan!!!" and blame Robin: "That woman!!" Another shouts that the human slaves are running wild, and one former prisoner declares, "We owe you big time, lady, and you... you're gonna pay for what you did to us...!"

Zeo hides under his "Camouflage Carpet!!!" and mocks Brook from concealment: "I'm right here, you fool... heh eheheh... But by the time you realise, you'll be long dead!!!" Brook looks around and admits, "I seem to have lost sight of him!!" yet he immediately strikes anyway, saying, "I heard a voice coming from around here!!!" Zeo is hit and screams, "Aaaa ghhhhh hhh!!!" The joke is precise: Brook did not see Zeo, but he did not need to.

Zeo reveals another trick after Brook's blade cuts him. He coughs, "Did you see that, skeleton?!! Your blade has fallen foul of my deadly 'Body Sword Crush' attack...!" and claims that soon Brook's weapon will rust away and become worthless. Brook simply answers, "Yes, yes, I stabbed you." Zeo attacks with "Kamikakure Flail!!!" and "66 Neck!!!" but Brook has grown beyond such tricks. He says, "Over these past two years I have come to understand... the true power of the Yomi Yomi no Mi...!"

Brook explains the power behind his new state. Though his spirit has parted from his body and now belongs in the afterlife, it remains in this world, allowing him to live on. Even if he leaves his body behind, he remains visible as a distinct entity, and the thing that exists is not organs, tendons, or muscles, but his soul. Through music he can touch the souls of others, drawing them into his world and bewitching their senses. When Zeo claims victory over a fallen Straw Hat, Brook cuts him off: "I think not!" He calls it "the power that holds me in this world" and releases a long cry of "...Soooooooooul!!!"

Brook draws his blade and says that as long as his bones themselves are not shattered, no attack has any effect upon his skeletal form. He announces that he has learned the name of his blade, honed to perfection by Tenaga workmanship, and strikes with "Soul Solid!!!" Each cut is imbued with his soul's own energy, inflicting the chill of the underworld upon its victims. Zeo shivers, "Ahhhh!! So... so cold!!" as Brook tells him to witness the terror of his icy blade.

Usopp faces Daruma and thinks of the crew's growth. He says, "Talk about a tough act to follow...!!" and reminds himself that all his crewmates have gained the skills to make it in the New World ahead. Daruma mocks him as the weak link and threatens, "Don't worry, I'll make sure they're all nice and safe... in tiny pieces across the sea bed!!" He attacks with "Hidaruma Cutter!!!" and Usopp feels the heat: "Whoa, that's hot!!!" Daruma laughs, "Kyakk yahh!" as the chase begins.

Daruma charges again with "Cookie-Cutter Shark!!!" and sneers that he is starting to feel Usopp out: "You're the weak link in this crew!! Not one of your useless shots has put a scratch on me yet!!" Usopp stays calm and tells him the boring part is over: all his traps are laid. He counts down, "One move... two moves... three moves. On the third move, my shot will strike you down..." Daruma calls it nonsense, but Usopp says he has lost his touch if he still has to scare opponents off with outrageous claims alone. Now, he finds himself following through.

The wider battle continues while the evacuation chain receives urgent news. A Den-Den Mushi rings, and the Border Guard calls, "Minister of the Left, are you there?! This is the Border Guard!!" The minister answers from the plaza's edge and asks about the current situation with Noah, the prince, and the princess. There is no time for details. The guard reports that Noah has been released from the force propelling it and has begun plummeting back downward, straight toward Fishman Island. The minister reacts with a horrified "What?!"

The Minister of the Left asks where the guard is, and the answer comes: "In the air tank control tower!!" The minister orders him to reach the royal Den-Den Mushi from there and spread the word to the entire island. The broadcast begins: "Calling all regions of the kingdom from the air tank!! This is an emergency evacuation order!! The Noah is once more on a collision course with Fishman Island!!! All citizens must leave the island at once!!!" Below, people look up and realize the feared ship is coming back.

The warning spreads through Fishman Island. Citizens scream, "The island will be crushed!!!" and "The bubble's gonna burst!!!" The order is repeated: "Evacuate the island and head for open water!!!" People flee toward the sea while others ask if Decken is doing this again. The Mermaid Cafe girls and the citizens worry about the ones above, asking, "Is Luffy all right?" and "What has become of Princess Shirahoshi?! Luffy...!!"

Luffy's conversation from above is accidentally broadcast across the country. The air tank crew call, "Straw Hat Luffy-san!! You remember me - we met earlier!! We have reached the air tank!!" and explain that they can see Noah falling straight toward the island. The Minister of the Left realizes, "Your communication is being broadcast across the entire country!!" Citizens hear Luffy's voice and recognize him as the alleged serial kidnapper, while Luffy tells them plainly, "Forget about the complicated stuff... just shoot that bubble, right now!!"

The broadcast turns public fear into hope. The words "Fishman Island is in your hands!!!" reach the crowd, and citizens cry, "Luffy-san!!" Some still ask why the Border Guard is relying on a human pirate, while others wonder whether a human can really stop Noah. Someone calls to Fukaboshi, and then the prince's wounded voice comes through: "I've worked it out... I know..." The people hear him begin, "...what Hody Jones really is...!!!"

Back in the present above Fishman Island, Fukaboshi's revelation continues while Noah's shadow hangs overhead. People below shout that they can see the shadow above and cry, "It's the Noah!!!" Fukaboshi says, "Who Hody really is...?!!" and then states the answer: "Hody is... a monster shaped by his environment...!!!" Luffy and Shirahoshi listen from the bubble as the prince names the root of the hatred that has driven Hody.

Fukaboshi explains the New Fishman Pirates' nature. They were twisted into what they are by the hatred around them. They fear, above all else, that the bitter grudge of their predecessors may one day be forgotten, and in that desperation they have become reckless. They want to see humans as evil to justify their own mad crusade, and they seek only carnage, not even caring for the wellbeing of fellow fishmen. Hody roars in fury while Fukaboshi's earlier question returns: "What happened to you, Hody Jones, to drive you to this?!! What in the world did the humans do to you?!!"

Hody's answer is the emptiest and most terrifying one possible: "Nothing." He claims, "We were chosen by the heavens, granted this power... ...to bring down judgment upon humanity!!" Fukaboshi understands the truth. The New Fishman Pirates have no experience of humanity, no reason or higher purpose behind their actions. They are driven by "blind and empty hatred alone!!!" Luffy and Shirahoshi hear it clearly: Hody's rage is not revenge for a wound. It is inherited hatred without a real cause.

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