Dear Bonney

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The story opens three years ago at Mt. Colubo in the Kingdom of Goa, East Blue, labeled as Luffy's hometown. A sixteen-year-old Monkey D. Luffy trains in the forest, shouting "Gum-Gum" and smashing through huge rock formations with an attack. Kuma watches from a distance while Luffy yells "Aye!!" and keeps fighting wild animals. Luffy declares that after he sets sail and gets his crew, he will save that technique for a super strong enemy, calling it an awesome finishing move. Kuma quietly recognizes Dragon's connection to the boy and sees Luffy's determination from hiding. The chapter title printed across the page is "Chapter 1101: Dear Bonney," tying this side trip to Kuma's letters and the secret he keeps from Bonney.

Dragon and Kuma speak while looking over Foosha Village and the mountains of Dawn Island. Kuma asks whether Dragon is familiar with this island. Dragon says that when he went to stretch his legs earlier, he found a remote village on the outskirts and there was a young boy there. When Kuma keeps pressing him, Dragon coldly warns, "If you keep talking about this, you may as well kill me yourself." Kuma understands that a child is a parent's weak spot, and Dragon asks what he means. Kuma apologizes and says he will forget what he saw. Back in the forest, Luffy prepares to leave his huge rock crater behind, boasting that he will save the technique for a strong enemy after he has a crew. Kuma watches silently from behind the trees, realizing Dragon's concern is about his son.

Luffy continues training with beasts on Mt. Colubo, announcing that he has to be ready for when someone tries to take his friends away. He says he will never let that happen and that he will give the enemy a Gum-Gum Axe to the face: "Blam!!" He asks if that is pretty cool, while a monster grumbles and roars, and Luffy reassures himself, "Don't worry, I don't eat wimps!" Kuma watches, and Luffy suddenly senses him. A sound like "Ring..." and "Bing bing..." accompanies Kuma's presence or call. Luffy shivers, saying the strange feeling gave him the chills, then asks "Who's there?!" and decides there must still be tough opponents around. Kuma remains quiet, leaving Luffy to wonder while he keeps preparing to whoop everyone before he sets sail.

Kuma receives an urgent report at sea. Some pirates fled after raiding a nearby merchant ship, and the voices over the Den Den Mushi say the offenders came out of nowhere and need their wounds tended at the nearest hospital. Kuma is ordered to come in and asks what is going on, but the terrified pirates beg him to turn themselves in, saying they did not mean anything by it and will give everything back. The grateful victims tell Kuma that they thought they were going to die and that the rest of the victims should follow as soon as they can. Kuma resumes writing to Bonney: "Dear Bonney..." He longs to see her bright smiling face as she experiences the world's wonders for herself, and says the world is full of beauty that cannot be captured in photos or picture books.

Meanwhile in the Kingdom of Sorbet, Bonney waits impatiently for Kuma's letters. She asks over and over, "Is it here yet?" and even slams her face against the window while shouting the question. Alpha and Conney try to manage her expectations. Conney says one letter will turn up sooner or later, and Alpha says Kuma is probably very busy with work or the news coos are messing up. Bonney insists Daddy said he would write a whole bunch of letters. A bird arrives with a newspaper, and Alpha tells someone it is another heart-warming letter even though it is only the morning paper. Bonney's hope keeps rising and falling every time something arrives, showing how tightly she clings to Kuma's promise.

Alpha orders the morning paper put in the church mailbox, and Bonney asks with shining eyes if it is a letter. Alpha answers that it is just the morning paper. Bonney droops with a long "Awww..." while the scene reveals Alpha's deception: Kuma is sending around ten letters a month, but Alpha tears them up as soon as they arrive, asking how he even finds so much to write about and calling the letters mushy. Scraps addressed "To Bonney" fill a waste bin with lines like "One last thing, Bonney... You're probably sick of me saying this, but... I love you so much. I'll be sure to write again soon." Bonney, unaware, spars with Gyogyo and complains that she wants to fight rather than play Jenga. The page makes the captivity emotional as well as physical: her father's love reaches the church but is destroyed before she can read it.

Alpha bursts in, shouting that it is time for Bonney's medicine. Bonney tastes it and complains, "Yuck! Does the medicine hafta be this bitter?!" Alpha thinks to herself that it is just some horrid lemon-flavored placebo and that its bitterness merely makes Bonney believe it is working. Conney and Gyogyo whisper about hiding Bonney's abilities again, and Conney says it is safer because talented hawks hide their claws. The scene cuts to Navy Science Division Lab 08, where Egghead and Vegapunk are praised: "Amazing, Doctor!" Vegapunk says about half of what people see there is holographic and complains he had planned for Punk Hazard to be like this too. Someone says now they just have to lift the brain and lab using island clouds, showing Egghead's grand project advancing while Bonney is kept in a false recovery routine.

At Lab 08, Vegapunk tests Kuma's modifications. A Pacifista-like body peels off a target or casing while Vegapunk admits the cut suits Kuma and jokes, "Pe pe pe! I feel light as a feather!" He then turns serious, telling Kuma that he heard Kuma is going to lose his sense of individuality and wonders which of them has the most checkered fate: the human who lacks free will or the clone that does not. He tells the clone or target to knock it off and says it is just as human as the rest of them. Kuma asks what exactly to expect when his personality is erased. Vegapunk explains that Kuma will lose not only his memories, but also any empathy or humanity holding him back from fulfilling such a command as killing a child. Even so, Vegapunk says Kuma should retain some degree of free will until the process is fully complete, giving him roughly one more year.

Kuma answers that he will keep writing until he runs out of time. He says Bonney deserves to know how he feels and that he wants to send her a whole lifetime's worth of love before the year is over. In Sorbet, Conney smiles over another supposed letter and notes that Bonney is almost nine now, wondering how big she has gotten. The letter scraps say, "Happy Birthday, Bonney! I don't know when you'll get this letter, but... I'm back at Vegapunk's lab. Things are busy around here." The church erupts in a surprise celebration with Conney, Gyogyo, Tots, Potato, and the others shouting "Congratulations!!" and "Bonney!!!" for Bonney's birthday. Kuma's birthday letter never reaches her, but the party tries to fill the silence with joy.

Bonney enjoys her birthday celebration. Conney says she made an extra special giant pizza for her, and Bonney shouts, "Woo hoo!! Thanks!! I love it!!" She eats happily and calls it so good, but the scene cuts back to the empty church mailbox. Nothing arrives. Bonney waits by the creaking door, then sits alone with tears in her eyes. "There's still no letter..." she says. "Daddy... I'm nine now... You said you'd write..." Her celebration collapses into loneliness once the guests and food are gone. The page quietly shows the cost of Alpha intercepting Kuma's letters: Bonney has no idea that her father is desperately writing to her, so every missing letter feels like abandonment.

Another half year passes without a single letter reaching the church. On Baltigo, the Revolutionary Army discusses Kuma's latest rescue. A member reports that Kuma came to the rescue again and swept in at the last minute to save everyone after the left-side unit was left without a word. Another says Kuma probably has his reasons for keeping them in the dark. Back in Sorbet, Bonney declares that she is all better because the stones are completely gone and she can finally go outside. Alpha immediately blocks her, saying she has been told to keep Bonney under close supervision until her tenth birthday. Bonney calls her a liar, saying Vegapunk said she would be fine after a year and that was a year ago, and she forbids Alpha's restriction. The page turns Bonney's recovery into an argument over imprisonment.

Bonney discovers the truth from Conney and the Sorbet locals. Someone whispers for silence because Alpha and the others are Government intelligence agents, and Conney reveals that Bonney's disease has apparently been cured for a while. It slipped out while the agents were drinking in town. Bonney realizes they must be missing something: why would anyone keep a perfectly healthy young girl trapped inside for another six months, and why would Kuma not send a single letter? Conney has already sorted everything out with Gyogyo and the others. She tells Bonney to head for the port, sail the seas, and go find her father. Gyogyo and the rest are an average group of fishermen, but Conney calls them a strong pack of hooligans and trusts that the pirates and sea beasts will flee once they see them in action. Bonney steels herself and prepares to escape.

Bonney steps into the outside world for the first time after years indoors. She crouches in the dirt and grass, overwhelmed: "So this is the outside world... There's so much dirt... and grass!!" She looks up at the sky and marvels, "Look at the sky!! There's the sun!!" People watching from the church call it a miracle and say Bonney is actually walking outside, admitting they never thought they would see the day. Bonney calls to Gyogyo, Tots, and Potato and tells everyone she is really outside. Their ship arrives, and the crew calls, "Bonney!! Over here!!" and proudly says they made the ship look like a pizza for her. Bonney uses her age power to fool watchers, telling an old woman it is really her, Bonney, and snapping, "You lying old prune!!" when Conney's disguise causes confusion. The ship sets sail as Sorbet realizes something is happening.

Bonney's escape explodes across a full spread. The narration says the Government would soon receive word that their hostage, Bonney, escaped to find her father, and that like Luffy and the others her vessel would gain fame, going from a humble fishing boat to an infamous pirate ship in the new era. Alpha catches up, shouting that she found them and ordering them to hold it there. Bonney says, "You think you can get away from me?!" and Alpha vows to beat her within an inch of her life, then keep Bonney chained day and night. She says she was ordered to eliminate any accomplices. Bonney remembers asking Kuma what Nika looked like. Kuma says no one knows, but Nika's body was rubber and there was no limit to what he could do in a fight. Bonney calls out, "Hey, Daddy... Gimme a Nika-ish future!!" and uses "Distorted Future!!" to punch Alpha with a giant muscular arm, shocking everyone. The chapter ends with Bonney heading toward the future and a break next week notice.

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