Chapter Summaries

The Straw Hats crossed Wano’s barren, polluted wasteland and learned that Orochi and Kaido hoarded clean food and water for themselves. When two Beasts Pirates pursued a woman, Sanji rushed in and defeated them, then offered her his protection.

• Tama told the Straw Hats that Kaido’s mining camp and weapons factory forced Wano’s people to work amid the wasteland’s pollution.
• Tama explained that Kurozumi Orochi and Kaido kept private farms with clean water and abundant food, while ordinary people were barred from them.
• Luffy and Zoro reacted to the news by proposing to fight into the enemy’s stronghold and take its supplies.
• A woman fled from two Beasts Pirates on dragonlike creatures and cried for help after falling in the desert.
• Sanji used Geppo to strike down the pirates and their mounts, then knelt beside the woman and offered to protect her.

Zoro interrupted Sanji’s attempt to rescue a woman by defeating two Beasts Pirates lackeys and demanding their sake. As the woman thanked him, the group sensed approaching footsteps in the desert and turned toward the danger.

• Zoro rushed to the woman, demanded that the two Beasts Pirates lackeys hand over their good booze, and blocked Sanji’s view.
• Zoro defeated the two lackeys with a swift sword slash and caught their wineskins as they fell.
• Zoro drank the sake while the woman thanked him for saving her, and Sanji angrily complained that Zoro had stolen his rescue.
• Sanji draped his jacket over the woman and tried to comfort her, while Zoro asked her for more booze.
• Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Ronan, and Katakuri sensed footsteps approaching through the desert and turned toward them.

Hawkins encountered Ronan and the Straw Hat Pirates in the Land of Wano and was overwhelmed by Ronan’s terrifying aura. Unable to fight or flee, he knelt and begged Ronan to forgive him.

• Hawkins spotted Ronan, Katakuri, and the Straw Hat Pirates and realized he had encountered a force far beyond the Beasts Pirates.
• Hawkins prepared to escape, but Ronan’s gaze immobilized him with an aura that left him unable to move or resist.
• Hawkins concluded his divination could not predict the outcome against Ronan and feared that Ronan could kill him effortlessly.
• Hawkins dropped to his knees, called himself insignificant, and begged Ronan to forgive his insolence.

Ronan overwhelmed Hawkins with his presence, and Hawkins surrendered to save his life. Katakuri recognized the choice as practical survival, while the Beasts Pirates lackeys remained stunned by what they had witnessed.

• Katakuri watched Hawkins kneel and understood why he chose submission over resisting Ronan.
• Ronan praised Hawkins for knowing when to yield and released the pressure crushing him.
• Hawkins collapsed, gasping for air, and reflected on the vast gulf between himself and the world's strongest figures.
• Hawkins recalled Apoo and Drake submitting to Kaido and accepted that staying alive mattered more than pride.
• The Beasts Pirates lackeys stood frozen, unable to process Hawkins's defeat.

Ronan’s presence forced Hawkins and his men to kneel, leaving Pudding awed by the power of the crew she had joined. When Ronan asked Luffy whether they should kill the surrendered pirates, Luffy refused and chose to let them go.

• A perceptive lackey recognized the deadly pressure around Ronan and warned the others to kneel, prompting the pirates and their dragon-shaped mounts to collapse to the ground.
• Pudding watched Hawkins surrender without Ronan lifting a finger and felt astonished and newly secure in following him.
• Ronan asked Luffy whether they should kill Hawkins and the other Beasts Pirates to prevent them from causing trouble.
• Zoro offered to cut down the pirates, drawing Shusui and unleashing his killing intent.
• Luffy stopped Zoro and ordered the surrendered pirates spared because they had not attacked and had already given up fighting.

Ronan offered Hawkins a choice between death and abandoning Kaido to join the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, then ordered Pudding to bind Hawkins with a soul shackle. Hawkins accepted the oath but faced the loss of his free will, leaving his fate in Pudding’s hands.

• Zoro sheathed Shusui after Luffy told him to spare Hawkins.
• Ronan offered Hawkins safety and a position if he left Kaido and pledged loyalty to the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.
• Hawkins chose survival, swore loyalty to Luffy’s fleet, and endured Luffy’s open disgust.
• Ronan explained that he wanted to turn Kaido’s subordinates against him and called Pudding forward to secure Hawkins’s loyalty.
• Ronan told Hawkins that Pudding would place a shackle in his soul, and Hawkins’s resistance faded under the threat of Ronan, Katakuri, and Zoro.

Pudding used her third eye and the Memo-Memo Fruit to make Hawkins absolutely loyal to the Straw Hat Pirates, then Ronan sent him back undercover among the Beasts Pirates. The group met Atsuru, who invited them to rest at her teahouse.

• Hawkins surrendered to Pudding, who implanted commands of absolute loyalty to the Straw Hat Pirates into his subconscious.
• Hawkins pledged obedience to Ronan and promised to control his underlings and silence anyone who might betray them.
• Ronan ordered Hawkins to return to Kaido and continue serving as a Headliner undercover, and Hawkins led his men away.
• Atsuru thanked the group for defeating the Beasts Pirates and introduced herself as a teahouse owner seeking medicinal herbs.
• Atsuru invited the group to her teahouse to rest and drink tea.

Ronan’s group followed Proprietress Atsuru to her teahouse in impoverished Pickings Village, where Sanji rescued Kiku from Ushimaru’s advances. The group entered the teahouse, where Atsuru brought Tama a bowl of red bean mochi soup.

• Atsuru led Ronan’s group through the wasteland to her Crane Woman Teahouse in Pickings Village.
• Ushimaru cornered Kiku at the teahouse entrance and demanded that she accept his advances.
• Sanji kicked Ushimaru and ordered him to leave Kiku alone.
• Ushimaru saw Ronan, Zoro, and Katakuri behind Sanji, panicked, and fled after inviting Kiku to watch his sumo performance.
• Kiku thanked the group and introduced herself, then the group entered the teahouse with her and Atsuru.
• Atsuru carried a bowl of red bean mochi soup over to Tama.

Tama struggled to accept a free bowl of red bean soup until Luffy revealed it was her eighth birthday and Atsuru made it a birthday gift. Tama finally ate and wept with joy, while the Straw Hat Pirates watched.

• Atsuru urged Tama to eat the red bean soup for free, then threatened to pour it into the street when Tama kept refusing.
• Kiku comforted Tama, while Usopp and Chopper called from outside for her to eat.
• Luffy entered the teahouse, wished Tama a happy birthday, and told Atsuru that Tama had turned eight that day.
• Atsuru declared the soup a birthday gift and told Tama to finish it.
• Tama took a sip, then gulped down the soup and sobbed as she savored it.