Chapter Summaries

Ronglin let Crocodile flee ahead while Kaido’s pursuers closed in, then stopped the men who stayed behind to attack him. He demanded to know why they were chasing Crocodile, leaving the pursuit and the answer unresolved.

• Crocodile ignored Ronglin and hurried onward as a large group of pursuers approached.
• Crocodile contacted MR. 1 by Den Den Mushi and told him to retreat in another direction.
• Ronglin pointed the pursuers toward Crocodile, and their leader ordered three men to stay behind and kill Ronglin.
• Ronglin subdued the three attackers with Conqueror’s Haki and knocked one unconscious when he insulted him.
• Ronglin eased his Haki and demanded that the remaining men explain why they were pursuing Crocodile.

Ronglin interrogated two Beasts Pirates pursuing Crocodile and learned that Crocodile had infiltrated Kaido’s territory to steal a Poneglyph rubbing. The surviving pursuer revealed that the rubbing remained missing, leaving Ronglin to press for any further information.

• Ronglin broke one pursuer’s arm and killed him after he refused to answer why the Beasts Pirates were chasing Crocodile.
• Ronglin broke the surviving pursuer’s legs and forced him to explain the pursuit.
• The pursuer said Crocodile had used a diversion to draw away the Beasts Pirates’ forces while a traitor tried to steal Kaido’s Poneglyph.
• The pursuer revealed that the traitor made a rubbing before being killed, but the Beasts Pirates never recovered it.
• Ronglin considered the explanation and asked the pursuer whether he had anything else to confess.

Ronglin learned that the Beasts Pirates had around a hundred Devil Fruit users in their main battle units and decided to help Crocodile, hoping to gain leverage against Kaido. As Crocodile fought a large group of Beasts Pirates, Ronglin concluded that the Star Alliance could not defeat a Four Emperor crew through brute force alone and that he would have to intervene himself.

• Ronglin questioned a Beasts Pirates captive and learned that around a hundred Devil Fruit users served in its main battle units.
• Ronglin decided to accelerate Caesar’s Artificial Devil Fruit production and the formation of his Phantom Combat Group.
• Ronglin located Crocodile, who was already fighting the Beasts Pirates, and headed to help him.
• Ronglin watched Crocodile become overwhelmed by dozens of powerful opponents, many of them Devil Fruit users wielding Haki.
• Ronglin considered using a large force of Devil Fruit users against the Beasts Pirates, but concluded that the Star Alliance would still need him to fight a Four Emperor crew.

Ronglin watched Crocodile defeat Kaido’s pursuers, then followed him and faced his attacks after mentioning the Poneglyph rubbing. Crocodile believed Ronglin did not want the rubbing and proposed a deal to help him reach Laugh Tale.

• Crocodile unleashed a Sandstorm and defeated or drove off the Beasts Pirates pursuing him, though he was injured in the fight.
• Crocodile tried to leave, but Ronglin followed and warned that Kaido’s forces would keep hunting him within Kaido’s territory.
• Crocodile attacked Ronglin with sand-based techniques after learning he knew about the Poneglyph rubbing.
• Ronglin dodged Crocodile’s attacks and explained that he had learned about the rubbing from the pursuers and had no interest in taking it.
• Crocodile lowered his guard when Ronglin said he wanted to reach Laugh Tale but did not want to become Pirate King, then proposed a deal.

Ronglin refused Crocodile’s proposal to work together to collect the Road Poneglyphs, explaining that he knew where some of them were but had no interest in becoming Pirate King. Crocodile rejected an invitation to visit the Star Alliance, while Ronglin warned him that Kaido and the BIGMOM Pirates posed a serious threat.

• Crocodile proposed that he and Ronglin join forces to seize the Road Poneglyphs and travel to Laugh Tale.
• Ronglin refused, revealed that he knew a Road Poneglyph was on Zou, and said he had more important priorities than finding the stones.
• Ronglin explained that he could not read the Poneglyphs and wanted true freedom rather than the title of Pirate King.
• Crocodile told Ronglin that achieving freedom would require defeating the Four Emperors, the Marines, and the Celestial Dragons, and Ronglin said that was part of his plan.
• Ronglin invited Crocodile to visit the Star Alliance as a guest advisor, but Crocodile refused.
• Ronglin warned Crocodile that Kaido had joined forces with the BIGMOM Pirates and that powerful Marine and Mary Geoise forces threatened the New World.

Ronglin persuaded Crocodile to visit the Star Alliance, hoping to deter enemies and make a dramatic show of strength. As Crocodile accompanied Ronglin back, the Star Alliance mobilized its fleets and turned the visit into a spectacle that shook the New World.

• Ronglin warned Crocodile that rivals would target him for possessing a Poneglyph rubbing and invited him to join the Star Alliance’s visit.
• Crocodile agreed to change his plans and rendezvous with MR.1 after Ronglin argued that the Star Alliance’s growing strength would deter attacks.
• Ronglin arranged for Jinbe to publicize Crocodile’s visit and send out the Three Great Fleets to welcome them.
• News reports spread sensational claims about Crocodile, the Star Alliance, and a clash with Kaido’s forces, while Kaido and Charlotte Linlin issued bounties on Star Alliance members.
• The Three Great Fleets crossed two seas to welcome Ronglin and Crocodile, drawing the attention of the New World’s major powers.

Ronglin returned to Ashil Kingdom with the Star Alliance’s Three Great Fleets, and the New World fell into an unexpected period of calm. He chose to focus on strengthening the alliance, whose forces and research programs continued to develop.

• Moria, Hawkins, and Capone led fleets to welcome Ronglin, while Jinbe, Caesar, Shiryu, Burgess, and others arrived aboard the Starry.
• Ronglin led the Three Great Fleets back to Ashil Kingdom, where the people welcomed his return with relief.
• The Star Alliance’s fleet display intimidated watching powers, and the Navy, CP0, and other forces withdrew or fell quiet.
• Ronglin wondered why the New World had become peaceful, and Jinbe suggested asking the Intelligence Department.
• Crocodile supported stable development, and Ronglin agreed that the alliance should build its strength rather than risk further depletion.
• Caesar advanced his Artificial Devil Fruit research, while Burgess trained the Phantom Group and the Star Alliance developed its ability-user legion.

Ronglin showed Crocodile the Phantom Group’s training and explained his plans for Jazz’s leadership. He then learned that regional lords were pushing to convene a senior cadre meeting and declare war on the BIGMOM Pirates, leaving him to confront growing pressure within the Star Alliance.

• Ronglin showed Crocodile and the others Caesar’s research and the Phantom Group’s training, where Burgess sternly trained the recruits under Jazz and Pig Head.
• Crocodile questioned whether the Phantom Group could become too powerful to control and challenged Ronglin’s intention to let Jazz take over the Star Alliance.
• The King of Ashil told Ronglin that regional lords wanted to convene the 366th senior cadre meeting and launch a war against the BIGMOM Pirates over Bilida’s death.
• Ronglin learned that the lords had offered to handle logistics and were using the attack to rally people seeking military merit and promotion.
• Ronglin questioned how the lords had stirred up support for war, while Crocodile watched to see how he would address the Alliance’s internal instability.

Ronglin rejected the lords’ demand for war against the BIGMOM Pirates and planned to use any rebellion to remove disloyal nobles and introduce low taxes. The lords exploited public anger at his refusal to stir unrest, while Ronglin urged Hawkins to wait before seeking revenge.

• Ronglin rejected the lords’ joint request for war, despite King of Ashil warning that suppressing them could cause internal trouble.
• Ronglin told Jinbe and the other leaders that a rebellion would let the alliance eliminate disloyal lords and reclaim their wealth.
• Ronglin proposed imposing low taxes on the surrounding islands, blaming the lords for draining the alliance treasury.
• Ronglin warned that the Star Alliance would strike hard at any major power that took advantage of the turmoil, and told Hawkins to delay revenge against the BIGMOM Pirates.
• After Ronglin refused to convene another meeting, the lords stirred public anger to pressure the alliance into war.

As calls for war against the Four Emperors spread through the Star Alliance, Ronglin rejected the petition and plotted to brand the six leading lords as traitors. His response and a leaked proposal to silence dissent plunged the Alliance into deeper turmoil, while rival powers watched for a chance to strike.

• Six lords rallied thirty-six islands to petition for war against the BIGMOM Pirates, and pro-war voices overwhelmed the anti-war faction.
• Ronglin noticed the World Government, Marines, and Pirate Alliance had gone unusually quiet, and he told Shiryu to reject the war petition and accuse the six lords of joining the Four Emperors.
• King of Ashil objected that the lords had not betrayed the Star Alliance, but Ronglin said he would use public opinion to turn against them and kill them.
• Ronglin dispatched the Second Fleet and Fourth Fleet to patrol Alliance territory and suppress dissent, provoking widespread anger among the people.
• Anrield asked Jazz whether the Third Fleet should crush people speaking against the Alliance, and the leaked conversation intensified the panic and unrest.

Ronglin learned that a hidden force had framed six Star Alliance lords as defectors and was attacking the islands. He identified the attackers as the Pirate Alliance and planned to trap them on Kersley Island with the Star Alliance fleets.

• News spread that six Star Alliance lords had supposedly defected to the Four Emperors, prompting other powers to mobilize against them.
• The six lords tried to contact Ronglin to deny the betrayal, but their Den Den Mushi calls failed, so they sent trusted subordinates to seek protection from Anrield in the Lodun Islands.
• Charlotte Linlin and Kaido denied taking in the lords and suspected that someone was trying to provoke a conflict with the Star Alliance.
• Disguised pirates attacked Kersley Island, and a messenger told Ronglin that the attackers were an unidentified force suspected to be the Pirate Alliance.
• Ronglin recognized the raid as the Pirate Alliance's scheme, and the King of Ashil assessed how the Third and Fourth Fleets could surround the attackers.

Ronglin realized the Marines and CP0 might be working with the Pirate Alliance to ambush his fleets, but Crocodile proposed playing along with their scheme. The meeting ended with Ronglin stopping Shiryu from attacking Crocodile and insisting they focus on their enemies first.

• Ronglin ordered the Third and Fourth Fleets to encircle the Pirate Alliance without attacking, then asked about the Marines' movements.
• Ronglin suspected the Pirate Alliance was bait and that CP0 and the Marines planned to trap the Star Alliance's fleets from both sides.
• Caesar urged Ronglin to attack, and Ronglin agreed that the enemy needed to be killed.
• Crocodile suggested playing along with the enemy's scheme, then provoked Shiryu by refusing to explain his idea.
• Ronglin stopped Shiryu from drawing his sword and told him to settle matters with Crocodile after their enemies were defeated.

Ronglin learned that CP0 might be waiting to ambush the Star Alliance and decided to lead the expedition himself, leaving Moria to defend the Ashil Kingdom. As the fleets adjusted their tactics to draw out the ambush, the Pirate Alliance began slaughtering civilians on Kersley Island.

• Crocodile proposed using the Second Fleet to counterattack CP0, but Ronglin warned that CP0 was too powerful and decided to lead the expedition personally.
• Ronglin left Moria in charge of the First Fleet and the Ashil Kingdom’s defenses, and asked Crocodile to help protect the island.
• Ronglin ordered the Three Great Fleets to prepare for a trap and sailed toward the battlefield aboard the Starry with Caesar, Burgess, Shiryu, and Drake.
• The Second Fleet withdrew from the tactical encirclement while the Third and Fourth Fleets feigned an attack to draw out CP0’s possible ambush force.
• The Pirate Alliance landed on Kersley Island and began burning, killing, and plundering in revenge against the Star Alliance.

Ronglin learned that the Pirate Alliance was massacring civilians on Kerris Island to lure the Star Alliance into a World Government trap. He ordered Anrield to risk the Third Fleet to save whoever they could, leaving the fleet headed toward the island.

• Fujitora learned that the Pirate Alliance was killing civilians on Kerris Island while the Marines waited nearby, and he condemned their inaction.
• Momousagi and Green Bull explained that CP0 and the Marines were using the massacre to draw the Star Alliance's forces into a trap.
• Ronglin contacted Anrield, who said the Marines were likely letting the slaughter continue to force the Star Alliance to land on the island.
• Anrield volunteered to test the trap and stop the Pirate Alliance, despite the danger to the Third Fleet.
• Ronglin ordered Anrield to save whoever he could, declaring that the Star Alliance would protect those the World Government could not.

Fujitora considered defying orders to rescue Kerris Island’s civilians, but Momousagi persuaded him to wait for the island’s defenders. The Star Alliance’s Third Fleet attacked the Pirate Alliance’s harbor forces, while the Pirate Alliance’s leader learned that the Star Alliance had arrived despite their plan to lure it into an ambush.

• Fujitora prepared to leave the Marine camp and save Kerris Island’s civilians, but Green Bull and Momousagi warned him against disobeying orders.
• Momousagi reminded Fujitora that the island’s Guard Corps might hold off the Pirate Alliance, and he agreed to wait.
• Anrield led the Star Alliance’s Third Fleet toward Kerris Island to protect the Alliance Leader’s reputation and the civilians.
• Anrield ordered the fleet to bombard the Pirate Alliance ships in the harbor, and the outnumbered guards called for help.
• The Pirate Alliance leader heard that the Star Alliance had arrived and looked to his strategist in astonishment, since their plan had counted on Ronglin refusing to intervene.

Anrield led the Star Alliance Third Fleet to retake the harbor and advance across Kerris Island to rescue its people, finding the settlements burned and their inhabitants massacred. The fleet reached a point southwest of the central city of Kerris Island and paused to rest and regroup before confronting the Pirate Alliance.

• Anrield reported the harbor secured, and Ronglin ordered him to land and advance while warning that the Navy and CP0 had encircled the island.
• Anrield ordered the Third Fleet to prepare for battle and rallied its members to rescue the islanders and defend the Star Alliance.
• The Third Fleet marched inland, finding villages and towns burned and their people and animals slaughtered.
• Anrield led the exhausted fleet to a point ten li southwest of Kerris Island's central city and ordered the troops to rest and regroup.

Anrield led the Star Alliance Third Fleet to Central City, where they discovered its lord had surrendered to the Pirate Alliance. After Ronglin urged them to fight for their fellow citizens, the fleet rallied and prepared to storm the city, where a middle-aged enemy commander warned them of the cost.

• Anrield found no sign that Central City had been attacked and alerted Ronglin that its lord might have surrendered to the Pirate Alliance.
• Ronglin reminded Anrield’s fleet that they were fighting to save their fellow citizens, and the soldiers rallied around the cause.
• Anrield led the Star Alliance Third Fleet to Central City’s walls, where the city’s commander revealed that its lord had surrendered and showed the lord’s severed head.
• Anrield declared that the lord’s fate suited him, while the enemy commander warned that the fleet would meet a similar end if it attacked.

The Star Alliance attacked the Pirate Alliance at the central city while its leader realized the World Government had abandoned him. Fujitora and the other Marine commanders learned that the Pirate Alliance had massacred Kerris Island, and Fujitora raged that CP0 had kept the atrocity from them.

• Anrield led several thousand Star Alliance fighters in a charge toward the central city walls.
• The Pirate Alliance leader realized CP0 had used him as bait and intended to let him die alongside the Star Alliance.
• A Marine soldier told Fujitora, Green Bull, and Momousagi that the Star Alliance Fourth Fleet had vanished and that Bony-Sen had requested an attack on Kerris Island.
• The soldier reported that the Pirate Alliance had burned settlements and killed everyone on Kerris Island.
• Fujitora smashed his cup and demanded to know why the Marines had not been told in time to stop the massacre.

Bony-Sen used his wartime authority to order the Marines to destroy Kerris Island, despite Fujitora and Momousagi refusing to take part. Green Bull led the fleet toward the island as the Star Alliance’s Third Fleet continued to suffer heavy losses against the Pirate Alliance.

• A soldier told Fujitora that Bony-Sen planned to sink Kerris Island and destroy both the Pirate Alliance and the Star Alliance there.
• Fujitora called for a search and rescue, but Bony-Sen argued that sparing the enemy could lead to even more deaths and invoked his authority to mobilize the Marines.
• Bony-Sen sidelined Fujitora and Momousagi when they refused to fight, while he compelled Green Bull to lead the Marines toward Kerris Island.
• Green Bull privately contacted Sengoku to challenge the order, but Sengoku accepted it under pressure from the World Government.
• CP0 spies watched the battle from above as the Star Alliance’s Third Fleet failed to break through the Pirate Alliance’s defenses and suffered heavy casualties.

Green Bull’s fleet encountered an unflagged vessel while sailing toward Kerris Island, and he suspected it was the Star Alliance leader’s ship, the Starry. He ordered the warships into combat status as the vessel drew closer, leaving Flying Squirrel recognizing its familiar shape.

• Green Bull assigned combat duties to the Vice Admirals and ordered the fleet to stay alert after a lookout reported an obstruction ahead.
• Green Bull questioned CP0 about the Star Alliance’s missing Fourth Fleet and notified Fujitora as the approaching vessel remained unidentified.
• The lookout confirmed that only one unflagged ship was approaching and that no hidden vessels were nearby.
• Green Bull recognized that the vessel might be the Star Alliance leader’s personal ship, the Starry, and ordered the fleet into combat status.
• Flying Squirrel examined the approaching ship and said it looked like the Star Alliance leader’s vessel he had encountered before.