Chapter Summaries

Ross took Kaido to the Road Poneglyph beneath Wano and rewrote its message after explaining Joy Boy’s lingering Conqueror’s Haki. He told Kaido that Joy Boy would defeat him in twenty years, then prompted him to reconsider why Rocks had been so desperate.

• Ross reunited with Gion, then arrived at the Road Poneglyph beneath the ruins of the Flower Capital with Gion and Kaido.
• Ross told Kaido that Sukiyaki had eaten the Dada Fruit, which compelled those affected by its power to answer questions thoroughly.
• Ross used the Sea God Halberd to erase and rewrite the Road Poneglyph’s inscription, overcoming the Conqueror’s Haki Joy Boy had left on it.
• Kaido asked about Joy Boy’s reincarnation, and Ross said Joy Boy had not yet been born and would defeat Kaido in twenty years.
• Ross offered Kaido the chance to become one of Joy Boy’s trials and asked why Rocks had been so desperate; Kaido wondered how it connected to taking another step forward.

Ross explained that reaching the highest level required fate, then let Gion and Kaido infer that fate concerned a world-changing role rather than a fixed personal destiny. Kaido concluded that Ross had engineered the Age of Gods and reshaped the world’s beliefs to manufacture his own fate, though Ross did not confirm the theory.

• Ross told Kaido that reaching his level required the favor of heaven and earth, which he called fate.
• Gion suggested that fate might mean a mission or status, and Ross’s approving glance confirmed her suspicion.
• Kaido connected fate to the empty throne, realized it had never been empty, and questioned how Ross had gained his current strength.
• Kaido reasoned that Ross had ascended during the Holy Land Incident and had planned the Age of Gods.
• Kaido accused Ross of using deception and changing the world’s perception to make his Devil Fruit seem divine and create the effect of faking fate.

Ross explained to Kaido how fate related to reaching the SS-class and revealed that Dragon’s unborn son was the child of destiny. In Foosha Village, Dragon learned his wife was pregnant and named the child Luffy if it was a boy, or Lucci if it was a girl.

• Ross reflected that Kaido’s theory about claiming fate was right in its conclusion but wrong in its reasoning, and considered challenging the World Consciousness himself.
• Kaido asked Ross what he wanted from him, and Ross said he only needed him as a witness before revealing that Dragon’s son would be the child of destiny.
• Kaido accepted Ross’s information and felt exhilarated at the prospect of witnessing Ross’s game against heaven.
• Dragon’s wife told him they were expecting a child, and Dragon joyfully embraced her.
• Dragon and his wife discussed names, and Dragon said they would name a boy Luffy or a girl Lucci.

Ross's crew encountered Zou on their voyage toward the Red Line, while Ross secretly boarded the giant elephant to alter its red Poneglyphs. He sent Kaido to test his strength against Zunesha as a distraction.

• Ross left the Land of Wano with his people after finishing the Poneglyph alterations and having Olvia translate one of the stones.
• Two days into the voyage, Ross noticed something to the west and ordered the Jaygor to change course.
• Kaido and the others spotted Zou and recognized the giant elephant from legend.
• Ross told Kaido that Zunesha could be killed, then encouraged him to test himself against it.
• Kaido transformed into a massive dragon and charged at Zunesha while Ross's true body remained aboard Zou.

Kaido challenged Zunesha but was overwhelmed and thrown into the sea, then returned to the Jaygor unharmed. Ross appeared relaxed on deck, while Gion recognized that the figure was a clone and continued training with his help.

• Kaido attacked Zunesha with Dragon Flame, but the blast left no mark on its body.
• Zunesha struck Kaido with its trunk and sent him crashing into the sea near the Jaygor.
• Gion and Zephyr used Armament Haki to calm the waves around the ship, and Kaido surfaced in human form.
• Kaido watched Ross return to his beach chair and marveled at his speed, unaware that Gion knew the figure was a clone.
• Gion presented Konpira to Ross, who restored his Conqueror's Haki coating and urged her to keep practicing.
• Gion took back Konpira and settled into Ross's embrace to continue sensing the technique.

Ross and Gion arrived in Dressrosa, where King Riku III Dold and the nobles gave them a grand welcome. As Ross accepted the reception warmly, Kaido reflected on the Celestial Dragons’ power and his own abandoned plans to build the Beast Pirates.

• Ross and Kaido discussed Kaido’s ambitions for the Beast Pirates, and Ross offered to help build the crew while using it to train his subordinates.
• The Jaygor docked at Dressrosa, and Ross and Gion stepped onto the pier to a formal welcome from King Riku III Dold and the assembled nobles and guards.
• Kaido watched the people kneel before Ross and privately condemned their reverence for Celestial Dragons.
• Ross thanked King Riku III Dold and helped him rise, and the king invited Ross and Gion to a banquet at the palace.

Ross attended Riku King's welcoming party in Dressrosa, where the princess Scarlet admired him and questioned him about his support for the Mermaid Kingdom. After meeting the royal family, Ross and Gion left in a carriage as his forces prepared to resupply.

• Riku King introduced his daughters Scarlet and Violet to Ross at the welcoming party.
• Scarlet called Ross “Brother Ross” and asked about his support for the Mermaid Kingdom, then listed the good deeds she had heard about him.
• Ross told Scarlet he liked her familiar way of addressing him, rubbed her hair, and asked Riku King to dismiss the guests and arrange supplies.
• Riku King and his wife worried about Ross's reputation and watched Scarlet's admiration of him with concern.
• Ross and Gion rode away in Riku King's carriage, and Gion teased Ross about being admired.

Ross arrived at Dressrosa and clashed with Kyros after the captain tried to keep him away from Scarlet. Riku King argued with Scarlet over whether she could attend Ross's banquet, and Scarlet ultimately agreed to go while reflecting on the reforms she had made for Dressrosa.

• Ross arrived at the palace and told Kyros he disliked him, demanding that Riku King later show him either Kyros's head or Scarlet.
• Ross entered the palace as the nobles turned hostile, admiring, or greedy toward Kyros, while Kaido watched their reactions with contempt.
• Scarlet argued with Riku King about attending the banquet, and a guard relayed Ross's demand to them.
• Scarlet said she would return to her chambers, but after Riku King rebuked her, she muttered that she would go anyway.
• Scarlet recalled helping ordinary workers, freeing slaves, and reforming the colosseum gladiators through Dressrosa's Mercenary Guild.

Scarlet challenged Riku King's fears about befriending Ross and argued that Dressrosa needed allies to survive in the New World. She left for the palace banquet determined to protect Dressrosa proactively, while privately considering the Riku Family's rise to Celestial Dragon status and a future beyond the island.

• Riku King explained the Riku Family's traditions and warned Scarlet that becoming close to Ross could invite Whitebeard's retaliation.
• Scarlet asked Riku King what he would do if Dragon threatened Dressrosa, leaving him without an answer.
• Scarlet argued that Dressrosa could not rely on itself and had to depend on others, then went to the palace banquet.
• Scarlet recalled Sakazuki's destruction of Ohara and concluded that Dressrosa's survival depended on its status and the World Government's protection, not merely the Riku Family's benevolence.
• Scarlet resolved to protect Dressrosa more proactively and considered whether the Riku Family could rise to become Celestial Dragons, while Violet might suit the role of queen.

At a banquet in Dressrosa, Ross offered the Tontatta Tribe a seat to observe the Reverie and invited them to seek his help. Scarlet welcomed the offer and planned to travel with Ross to the Holy Land, while Kaido remained disgusted by the polite gathering.

• The Riku King introduced Dressrosa’s Tontatta-grown vegetables to Ross, who praised their flavor and asked about the tribe.
• Scarlet offered to guide Ross to the Tontatta Tribe, but Ross said they would leave for the Holy Land the next day and offered the tribe a seat to observe the Reverie.
• The Riku King was surprised by Ross’s offer, and Scarlet promised to tell Gancio, believing he would agree.
• Ross told Scarlet that the Tontatta Tribe could ask him for help, while Scarlet decided to leave Dressrosa with him.
• Ross and the Riku King maintained a friendly banquet, but Kaido privately condemned Ross and the Riku King as hypocrites.

After the banquet, Ross discussed Scarlet’s future role in his forces and challenged Kaido’s belief that strength alone entitled the strong to rule. Kaido began questioning whether ruling through slaughter could ever sustain a nation.

• Scarlet escorted Ross and Gion to their quarters, then accepted Ross’s plan to take her to the Holy Land the next day.
• Gion praised Scarlet’s abilities, and Ross said he hoped she could eventually become a deputy to Otohime or Sola.
• Ross reflected on his shortage of capable leaders and his need to win the trust of key figures in his territories.
• Kaido asked why Ross blended himself into the flock, and Ross challenged Kaido’s view that the strong should rule the weak.
• Ross argued that killing alone could not govern the Land of Wano or a larger realm, leaving Kaido to consider whether rule through slaughter had a future.

Ross offered Kaido control of the Mercenary Guild, hoping to put his abilities to work while the organization grew. Kaido accepted, intending to challenge Ross through wits and patience.

• Kaido agreed that ruling through slaughter created resentment and praised Ross's methods of building influence through alliances and benefits.
• Kaido deduced that Ross had created the Mercenary Guild to counterbalance the Allied Nations and asked when it would become independent.
• Ross said the guild needed time to grow, then invited Kaido to manage it while he was not serving as experimental material.
• Kaido laughed at Ross's bold offer, compared him favorably to Rocks, and asked whether Ross feared he would sabotage the guild.
• Ross calmly explained why Kaido could not easily disrupt the organization, and Kaido accepted the position while vowing to test whether he could shake Ross's control.

After the Jaygor fleet set sail, Ross offered Gancio and the Tontatta Tribe support in exchange for their agricultural work. He promised them a future kingdom on the Red Line and an official place at the Reverie, leaving Gancio eager to help and newly aware of Ross’s power.

• The Jaygor departed with a fleet carrying Dressrosa’s Reverie attendees and Gancio, whom Ross had granted observer status.
• Gancio thanked Ross and asked why he had invited the Tontatta Tribe to observe the Reverie.
• Ross promised to provide the Tontatta Tribe with suitably sized household tools and explained that growing crops could earn them an official seat at the Reverie in four years.
• Ross offered the Tribe land on the Red Line for a kingdom and proposed establishing the World Government’s Plant Research Department in exchange for cultivating a vast area there.
• Gancio pledged the Tribe’s help and expressed hope of taking revenge on the Donquixote Family, while Ross promised to let them humiliate its members.
• Gion told Gancio that the Jaygarcia family was the World Government’s most powerful family and that the Donquixote Family was among its weakest.

Ross offered the Tontatta Tribe generous support and promised Scarlet a Devil Fruit of her choice, while Scarlet decided to choose later. After the Jaygarcia Special Administrative Region picked up Otohime and Nia, Scarlet spent her days with the ship’s other passengers, prompting Nia to ask why she did not seek out Ross despite liking him.

• Gancio worried that Ross was deceiving the Tontatta Tribe, but Ross reassured him and Gancio chose to trust him because Scarlet trusted Ross.
• Ross offered Scarlet any Devil Fruit the World Government did not possess, and Scarlet thanked him but asked to decide later.
• Ross agreed Scarlet could choose her Devil Fruit later and considered having her help Sola with work after they returned to the Holy Land.
• The Jaygarcia Special Administrative Region arrived at the Mermaid Kingdom and picked up Queen Otohime and Nia for the Reverie.
• Scarlet spent her time chatting with Otohime, watching Gion practice, and visiting Kaido and Zephyr instead of seeking out Ross.
• Nia asked Scarlet why she did not go find Ross if she liked him.

Scarlet explained that her admiration for Ross had changed as she came to understand him as a real person, and she resolved to become someone who could help him. She left the conversation confident that she had time to earn his recognition.

• Scarlet told Nia and Otohime that she had once admired Ross as an invincible hero but now understood him more realistically.
• Otohime reflected on her bond with Ross and gently touched her pregnant belly.
• Scarlet joked about Ross’s closeness with Otohime and Gion, prompting Otohime to playfully scold her.
• Nia questioned whether Scarlet was jealous, and Scarlet said she was happy that Otohime and the others could help Ross.
• Scarlet declared that she would follow Otohime and the others’ example, improve herself, and work toward earning Ross’s recognition.

Ross and his companions returned to Mary Geoise, where Scarlet saw the rebuilt Holy Land and learned how its design reflected Ross’s influence. Sola welcomed Scarlet and began showing her the city, leaving Scarlet determined to earn a place in the World Government’s inner circle.

• Ross’s fleet reached the Red Line, and Scarlet was awestruck by the rebuilt Mary Geoise.
• Sola explained that Ross had provided the designs, then embraced him and welcomed Scarlet to help with her work.
• Sola took Scarlet on a tour in a dinosaur-drawn Dragon Carriage, a status symbol Ross had suggested.
• Sola showed Scarlet the World Government building, which housed the Five Elders and Imu and had survived the Holy Land Incident.
• Scarlet noticed the Jaygarcia Family’s tower and flag stood above most of the other Celestial Dragon families, and she resolved to work harder.

At the Figarland Family tower, Saint Gringu explained that Ross’s decision to rank their family second among the Celestial Dragons had made them a likely target for other families seeking allies and power. He and Shamrock prepared to use the Reverie to expand their influence before their rivals could outmaneuver them.

• Shamrock admired the view from the Figarland Family tower and complained that the Jaygarcia Family’s tower stood taller, so Saint Gringu struck him and challenged his assumptions about their power.
• Saint Gringu warned Shamrock that they could not defeat Ross while also contending with Saint Saturn, the Marines, and Gion’s group.
• Shamrock recalled that Ross proposed the tower plan and that Saint Maz and Palace Vanessa proposed the heights, which the Five Elders approved over Saint Gringu’s objection.
• Saint Gringu explained that Ross’s ranking of the Figarland Family as second had made them a convenient target for other Celestial Dragon families forming secret alliances.
• Shamrock recognized that the Reverie would give the Figarland Family a chance to compete for control of affiliated nations, and Saint Gringu declared they would seize the top prize.

After returning to the Holy Land, Ross spent the morning with Sola and discussed Ace’s early education, agreeing to speak with Rouge about teaching the children. Sola also reminded him to meet Saint Saturn before the Reverie and told him that Robin was unsettled after Ross took Olvia away.

• Ross woke beside Sola, and they spent a warm morning together before Stella helped him dress.
• Sola told Ross that Ace was old enough to begin early education, and Ross considered finding a teacher for the children.
• Sola recommended Rouge as the children’s teacher because she had studied Ross’s educational ideas and was already teaching Reiju.
• Ross said he would speak with Rouge and noted that he had arranged to meet Saint Saturn in three days.
• Sola told Ross that Robin was uneasy after he took Olvia away, and Ross asked whether he could win Robin back.

Ross discussed Robin’s hatred and the coming arrival of Alabasta’s fleet with Sola, who planned to keep Vivi and Queen Titi in the Holy Land. After Sola left to handle negotiations with the Tontatta Tribe, Ross went to visit Rouge and Ace.

• Sola told Ross that he had never intended to win Robin back, and Ross explained that he wanted to see what Robin would do with the hatred he had fostered.
• Sola informed Ross that Alabasta’s fleet would arrive in two days with Conia and Vivi, and Ross agreed that Vivi and Queen Titi should stay in the Holy Land.
• Sola left to negotiate with the Tontatta Tribe and coordinate arrangements for Dressrosa, while Ross headed to Rouge’s residence with Stella.
• Stella explained that Sola had arranged round-the-clock service for Rouge and Ace, with two hundred employees earning one hundred thousand Beli per month.

Stella told Ross that Moi had secretly allied with Fegrandu, the NEO Marines, Dragon, and the Whitebeard Pirates, while Ross explained that Dragon’s wife being pregnant had worsened Moi’s mood. Ross then visited Rouge’s palace, where dozens of maids greeted him, and continued on without showing interest in them.

• Stella said she was content with her life as Ross’s personal maid and reported Moi’s secret cooperative agreement with Fegrandu and their allies.
• Ross said Moi was upset because Dragon’s wife was pregnant, and Stella suggested Moi might be better off serving Ross and managing the Employment Association.
• Ross promised Stella a reward, and they walked to Rouge’s palace.
• The maids at Rouge’s palace stopped working, greeted Ross, and tried to attract his attention.
• Ross calmly told the maids to get up and return to work, then continued deeper into the palace.