Chapter Summaries

Bane, Sakazuki, and Issho defeated Kaido on Butter Island, ending the Four Emperors’ rule over the New World and claiming Kaido’s Devil Fruit. They left to celebrate at Meruvio while the Navy gathered the fallen, and Morgans wondered what conflict would shape the seas next.

• Kaido emerged severely burned from the magma, and Bane joined Sakazuki and Issho as they prepared to finish him.
• Issho restrained Kaido with gravity while Bane locked him in place and nullified his Devil Fruit ability.
• Sakazuki killed Kaido with a magma punch, accidentally burning Bane’s shoulder in the process.
• Bane seized Kaido’s power and obtained the Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon Fruit, while Sakazuki declared the Great Pirate Era over.
• Bane and Issho persuaded Sakazuki to visit Meruvio and celebrate, as Navy personnel collected Kaido’s and Charlotte Linlin’s bodies.
• Morgans photographed the Navy’s departure from Butter Island and wondered what would come after the struggle between the Navy and Pirates.

After waking from a drunken blackout in Meruvio, Sakazuki discovered that everyone treated him as Commander-in-Chief of the Neo Marines rather than Fleet Admiral. A video revealed that someone had impersonated him to declare a rebellion against Mary Geoise and the World Government, leaving Sakazuki furious and determined to confront Bane.

• Sakazuki woke after sleeping for three days and learned it was January 2nd, Marine Calendar 1523.
• Marine soldiers and officers saluted Sakazuki with the Neo Marines’ salute and called him Commander-in-Chief.
• An officer told Sakazuki that he had announced the Neo Marines’ formation and vowed to overthrow the World Government in a speech the previous day.
• Sakazuki demanded an explanation from Bane and entered the elevator to reach his office.
• Sakazuki watched a recording of himself denouncing Mary Geoise and declaring a break with the World Government, then burned holes in the elevator floor with his magma.

Bane and his allies reviewed the growing support for the New World Government as Gild Tesoro publicly joined their side and executed three Celestial Dragons. Sakazuki arrived furious at Bane’s actions, but Bane apologized and Sakazuki began asking about the current situation and Borsalino’s role in Saturn’s death.

• Bane and Ain reported that Mary Geoise’s forces controlled Marine Headquarters while nations and Marine branches across the seas chose sides, with several New World fronts supporting Meruvio.
• Ain reported that Gild Tesoro had announced cooperation with Baroque Works, sought to join the New World Government, and publicly executed three Celestial Dragons.
• Bane ordered Robin’s side to integrate Gran Tesoro’s finances with the New World Government.
• Sakazuki burst into Bane’s office, and Bane and the others contained his magma while they restrained him.
• Bane apologized for deceiving Sakazuki and said he had misjudged his sense of justice, after which Sakazuki asked why Borsalino was there and whether he had killed Saturn.

Sakazuki learned how Bane and the others had built the New World Government and the Neo Marines, then assessed the forces available to both sides. He accepted his role as Commander-in-Chief and realized that the Neo Marines had inherited the overwhelming majority of the original Marines’ strength, leaving the World Government at a severe disadvantage.

• Sakazuki questioned Bane, Sengoku, and Borsalino about their plans and confirmed that the world-ending catastrophe was real.
• Sakazuki learned that the New World Government retained the World Government’s basic system while abolishing the Heavenly Tribute and the World Nobles, but still lacked practical administration.
• Sakazuki recognized that Zephyr formally led the Neo Marines while Bane held real authority, with Kuzan and Issho serving as the other Admirals.
• Sakazuki reviewed the Neo Marines’ senior officers, core troops, and Zephyr’s preparations to attack Mary Geoise and Marine Headquarters.
• Sakazuki realized that his mobilization and supplies had helped Bane absorb most of the Marines’ forces and resources, and planned to tell his loyal officers to join Meruvio.
• Sakazuki concluded that the Neo Marines had already won on paper because the World Government had too little strength to resist them.

Zephyr tried to persuade the Marine fleet at G-1 to surrender, but Brugrus rejected him and ordered an attack. Kuzan froze the six warships and their crews after the Neo Marines destroyed the fleet, leaving Ponsky and Brugrus frozen on a sinking ship.

• Ponsky and Brugrus faced Zephyr's vastly larger Neo Marine fleet with only six Marine warships.
• Zephyr called Ponsky and urged him to surrender, but Brugrus denounced Zephyr and refused.
• Brugrus crushed Ponsky's Den Den Mushi and ordered the six warships to fire on the Steel Beast.
• Kuzan froze the sea around the Marine ships and ordered the Neo Marines to fire.
• The Neo Marines' barrage overwhelmed the six warships, and Kuzan froze Ponsky, Brugrus, and the surviving Marines.

Aramaki struggled to command the weakened Marine Headquarters while secretly hoping to defect to the Neo Marines, but Bane ignored his attempts to make contact. After the Five Elders urged him to hold out, Aramaki planned to surrender if defeat became inevitable, while the Five Elders prepared to retreat to the East Blue and use Mother Flame to bring about a world-destroying catastrophe.

• A Marine Colonel told Aramaki that Vice Admiral Ponsky and the Grand Staff Officer's fleet had lost contact, and Aramaki hid his panic until the Colonel left before wrecking his office.
• Aramaki resented Sakazuki and Bane for leaving him behind, recalled that he had repeatedly tried to contact them, and decided to support the World Government only because Bane had ignored his request to join the Neo Marines.
• Saint Ju Peter called Aramaki for a situation report, and Aramaki falsely promised that Marine Headquarters could withstand the rebels.
• After the call, Aramaki admitted to himself that he would surrender if he could not hold out, hoping the Neo Marines would accept him as Fleet Admiral.
• Saint Ju Peter told the other Five Elders that Aramaki might not last, and the Five Elders discussed moving resources to the East Blue and using their remaining Mother Flame Source to hasten the rising seas.

Bane received Sabo’s top-secret report confirming that the World Government had revived Uranus by adapting Vegapunk’s Mother Flame energy research. He learned that Vegapunk had tried to stop the project and destroyed much of its data, while Bane prepared to attack Mary Geoise.

• Ain told Bane that the World Government was moving important assets from Mary Geoise to the East Blue, possibly toward Tequila Wolf, and Bane ordered the Revolutionary Army to keep investigating.
• Ain reported that Sabo had arrived with intelligence delivered under strict secrecy rules, and Bane met him at Meruvio’s port.
• Sabo handed Bane the documents about Vegapunk’s secret research, and Bane’s guards secured the area against signals and outside recording.
• Sabo explained that Vegapunk had developed the Mother Flame as an energy source before discovering that the World Government was using it to power Uranus.
• Bane read that Saturn had completed the adaptation, while Vegapunk tried to halt the work, altered the energy technology, and destroyed much of its data; the government later uncovered Vegapunk’s secret research into ancient writings and technology.

Bane learned Sabo’s theory that Mother Flame attacks sank the world’s foundations and would eventually lead to disaster, strengthening his resolve to pursue the Darkness Gate plan. Before leaving to join the war effort, Bane heard Sabo ask how he could help secure Ace’s release and hinted that the new regime could reconsider Ace’s sentence.

• Sabo told Bane that the World Government had likely used Mother Flame only once and that the weapon’s test had caused the sudden one-meter rise in sea level.
• Sabo explained that the apparent sea-level rise might actually be the world’s foundation sinking, though its cause and eventual consequences remained unknown.
• Bane concluded that the looming catastrophe made his Darkness Gate plan essential and invited Sabo to travel with him to meet Dragon and the others.
• Sabo asked how he could atone for Ace’s crimes and reduce his sentence, rather than asking Bane to free him outright.
• Bane said a new regime could grant amnesty and implied that Ace’s crimes could be reassessed, then boarded the warship.

Bane, Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Sabo discussed what the Revolutionary Army knew about Imu and theorized about his Devil Fruit and the source of his apparent immortality. They left with the possibility that Imu awakened a Mythical Zoan within the last two centuries, gaining immense vitality and control over the Five Elders.

• Bane and Borsalino discussed Zephyr's forces surrounding G-1 and their reluctance to attack ordinary Marines.
• Sakazuki said he had never heard of Imu, while Sabo explained that Dragon had seen the Five Elders kneel to Imu at the Empty Throne but had learned little else.
• Sabo shared clues from Alabasta's Nefertari family suggesting Imu was Saint Nerona Imu, a Mythical Zoan user whose death had been recorded last among the Twenty Kings.
• Sabo theorized Imu had received eternal life through the Op-Op Fruit, and Bane said Imu could transmit immense life force to the Five Elders.
• Borsalino noted that the Five Elders had stopped being replaced about a century ago, leading the group to speculate that Imu gained his present power within the last two hundred years.
• Bane reasoned that Imu may have awakened his Mythical Zoan, while the Five Elders' apparent awakenings might be tied to Imu's control over them.

Bane concluded that Imu feared Teach because the Dark-Dark Fruit could counter his immortality, and began to suspect that Bane himself might also threaten Imu. Meanwhile, Zephyr's fleet surrounded New Marineford but held back after learning the World Government could use Uranus against them, and he waited for Tsuru's intelligence before deciding what to do.

• Bane reasoned that Imu had marked Teach for elimination because Teach's Dark-Dark Fruit could counter Imu's immortality, reinforcing Bane's theory about Imu's power.
• Bane suspected the Five Elders had once planned to use and then kill him, and he wondered whether he was Imu's natural counter.
• Zephyr's fleet divided to blockade Mary Geoise and New Marineford, where Aramaki's dense vegetation obscured the island and might endanger ordinary Marines.
• Garp, Kuzan, and Zephyr discussed the danger of attacking New Marineford and the risk that Aramaki's plants could be connected to the Marines' life force.
• Zephyr revealed that Dragon had passed him intelligence about Uranus, now called the Mother Flame, and said he suspected the Marines on the island were bait.
• Zephyr said he would wait for Tsuru, who knew the situation inside headquarters, before deciding whether to attack or retreat.

Tsuru joined Zephyr, Garp, Kuzan, and Dragon to discuss how to take Marine Headquarters without triggering Mary Geoise’s destructive weapon. They learned that Stussy, a Vegapunk clone embedded in CP-0, could help them reach the wavering Fleet Admiral Aramaki, while Aramaki began to suspect Mary Geoise had abandoned him.

• Tsuru scolded Zephyr and Garp for hiding their plans, then described Marine Headquarters’ forces and warned that Mary Geoise might destroy the base’s attackers.
• Dragon revealed that Stussy, CP-0’s senior operations commander and a clone of Buckingham Stussy, was Vegapunk’s covert agent inside Marine Headquarters.
• Tsuru said Stussy could help them contact the isolated Marines and suspected Aramaki might surrender, while Zephyr and the others speculated that Bane had deliberately maneuvered Aramaki into leadership.
• Zephyr and the others decided to secretly contact Stussy and ask her to persuade Aramaki to surrender without a battle.
• Aramaki discussed the encirclement with Stussy, who left after receiving a call, and he cursed Mary Geoise as he realized he might have been abandoned.

Aramaki decided that surrendering to the Neo Marines offered him a better future than serving Mary Geoise, and he resolved to eliminate Stussy and the CP agents controlling Marine Headquarters communications. When Stussy returned and claimed Mary Geoise wanted them to hold on, Aramaki attacked her.

• Aramaki weighed fighting, fleeing to Mary Geoise, and surrendering before concluding that Mary Geoise would keep treating him as an expendable outsider.
• Aramaki decided to surrender to the Neo Marines and planned to kill Stussy and the CP agents so he could contact the fleet outside.
• Stussy entered after receiving Zephyr's request to persuade Aramaki to surrender and avoid a battle at Marine Headquarters.
• Stussy told Aramaki that Mary Geoise wanted them to keep holding on, and Aramaki smashed a teapot at her and attacked with vines and branches.

Aramaki attacked Stussy, mistaking her for a World Government agent sent to kill him, but she revealed she worked for the Neo Marines and was tasked with persuading him to defect. They reconciled and began negotiating, with Stussy steering him toward serving under Commander-in-Chief Sakazuki instead of joining the Neo Marines.

• Aramaki attacked Stussy in the Fleet Admiral's office and trapped her in a forest of vines and branches.
• Stussy told Aramaki she was a special investigator for the Neo Marines Intelligence Department and explained that Zephyr had sent her to persuade him to return to the right path.
• Aramaki accepted Stussy's explanation, released her, and asked if they could reconcile.
• Stussy and Aramaki discussed his conditions for surrendering Marine Headquarters, and she rejected his request to become a Neo Marines Admiral.
• Stussy explained why Sakazuki had been unable to protect Aramaki, and Aramaki realized Sakazuki had not abandoned him.

Aramaki revealed that he had delivered Garp’s grandson to Mary Geoise on the Five Elders’ orders, enraging Garp but earning a place as Sakazuki’s powerless aide rather than joining the Neo Marines. After Aramaki left, Zephyr told Bane about the meeting, while Bane was with Nami aboard a battleship.

• Aramaki told Zephyr, Garp, and Kuzan that he had secretly taken Garp’s grandson to Mary Geoise for the Five Elders, who had ordered him kept alive.
• Garp nearly attacked Aramaki, but Kuzan restrained him; Aramaki said he did not know what the Five Elders wanted with the boy.
• Zephyr refused to let Aramaki join the Neo Marines and assigned him to serve as Sakazuki’s aide, and Aramaki accepted.
• After Aramaki left, Zephyr, Garp, and Kuzan condemned the World Government and agreed to focus on the battle against Mary Geoise.
• Zephyr asked for Bane to be informed of what had happened, while Bane and Nami were in a cabin aboard a battleship.

Bane learned that Wano Country's new shogun, Kozuki Momonosuke, had declared support for the New World Government, but he rejected the regime and ordered Sakazuki to destroy it after the crisis. Meanwhile, the naval civil war ended with Aramaki's surrender, and allied fleets gathered to blockade Mary Geoise as countries began aligning with the New World Government.

• Ain told Bane that Aramaki had surrendered, would serve as Sakazuki's aide, and had secretly sent Monkey D. Luffy to Mary Geoise; Bane realized Ain might have feelings for him, and she hurried away after denying it.
• Marine Headquarters surrendered to the New World Government, and Zephyr declared the naval civil war over and called on naval bases to recognize Meruvio Marine Headquarters.
• Morgans began calling Zephyr's forces Marine Headquarters and the defeated forces the Old Navy, while Germa and North Blue nations declared support for the New World Government.
• Sengoku announced that the New World Government Joint Conference would be held in Meruvio in April, and Elbaf pledged support if the new laws abolished the Heavenly Tribute and cracked down on slavery.
• Bane joined the allied fleets blockading Mary Geoise as Boa Hancock and Shirahoshi arrived, and Shirahoshi announced Fish-Man Island's support for the New World Government.
• Ain reported that Kozuki Momonosuke had become Wano Country's shogun and pledged support; Bane rejected Wano Country's application and ordered Sakazuki to wipe it out after the conflict.

Bane gathered with the Navy, Revolutionary Army, and their allies to plan an assault on Mary Geoise, while catching up with Zoro and welcoming Tesoro. Hancock asked to join him in killing the Celestial Dragons, and Zephyr began the war council.

• Bane sent Sakazuki to deal with the remnants in Wano Country and then joined Zephyr’s meeting aboard a warship.
• Sakazuki and Kuzan exchanged barbs about their rivalry and Sakazuki carrying Kuzan off the battlefield at Punk Hazard.
• Bane teased Zoro about defeating Katakuri, and Zoro said he planned to challenge Mihawk after the war.
• Bane greeted Tesoro, who credited Bane with giving him the chance to take revenge on the Celestial Dragons.
• Hancock asked Bane to let her follow him onto Mary Geoise so she could slaughter the Celestial Dragons.
• Zephyr called the assembled leaders to order and began the discussion of the assault on Mary Geoise.

Stussy briefed the Navy officers on Mary Geoise’s forces, including the Holy Knights and their large attendant army. Zephyr assigned Borsalino’s Flame Unit to destroy the Holy Knights, and Borsalino reluctantly accepted the mission.

• Stussy reported that Steel Bone Kong had been secretly arrested and might be held in Mary Geoise or transferred to the East Blue.
• Stussy revealed that Figarland Garling controlled Mary Geoise’s defenses and commanded five Grand Knights who claimed to match Navy Headquarters Admirals.
• Navy officers mocked the Grand Knights’ claims, but Zephyr warned them not to underestimate their enemies.
• Stussy explained that the Holy Knights included nineteen titled Knights and nineteen thousand attendants, many trained through slave gladiator tournaments.
• Bane suggested the Holy Knights would be suitable opponents for the Flame Unit, and Zephyr ordered Borsalino to lead the unit in wiping them out.
• Borsalino reluctantly guaranteed the mission’s completion as Kuzan teased him about receiving an important assignment.

Stussy briefed the leaders on Mary Geoise’s forces, describing the Holy Land Guard and the few powerful Cipher Pol operatives who remained there. Zephyr assigned forces to destroy the Guard, while Kuzan and Dragon volunteered to confront Cipher Pol Chief Night Owl.

• Stussy explained that the Holy Land Guard consisted of ten thousand armored noble soldiers, and Dragon and Hancock offered to help defeat them.
• Zephyr assigned Smoker and Doll to lead their combat units alongside Dragon and Hancock in wiping out the Holy Land Guard.
• Stussy said most Cipher Pol members had left Mary Geoise to manage the East Blue Project, but Spandine, Guernica, and Night Owl remained.
• Stussy described Night Owl as a secretive Mythical Zoan user with strength comparable to a Marine Admiral, and Sakazuki recalled his unnerving presence.
• Kuzan volunteered to fight Night Owl, and Dragon also offered to join him, saying he wanted to settle their long-standing connection.

The Five Elders planned to abandon Mary Geoise and sacrifice its defenders as bait, but Imu ordered them to hold the Holy Land and kill Bane at any cost. As Bane’s reputation as the world’s strongest man grew, the Elders began considering whether they could use the Mother Flame against him.

• Saint Ju Peter, Saint Mars, Nusjuro, Saint Peter, and Saint Shepherd Ju Peter discussed retreating from Mary Geoise and leaving the Holy Knights, the Holy Land Guard, and many Celestial Dragons behind as bait.
• Imu’s spiritual presence filled the Authority Room, and Imu ordered the Five Elders not to abandon Mary Geoise and to kill Bane, even if it cost their lives.
• Saint Ju Peter told Saint Shepherd Ju Peter that accepting Imu’s power had placed his life entirely under Imu’s control.
• Nusjuro and the others speculated that Bane’s Dark-Dark Fruit might threaten Imu and allow Bane to kill them permanently.
• The Five Elders recognized Bane’s rise as the youngest World’s Strongest Man and wondered whether the Mother Flame could help them defeat him.

Bane and the Marines struggled to find a safe route up the Red Line before realizing Lord Issho could lift the port and their warships. As the gathered forces began rising toward Mary Geoise, Bane and four Logia users prepared for a possible Mother Flame attack.

• Kuzan froze a stairway up the Red Line, but a Marine test squad slipped and tumbled down it.
• Sakazuki made a magma path and Kuzan cooled it, but the brittle surface collapsed beneath another test squad.
• Fubuki offered to carve a route through the cliff, until Lord Issho pointed out that he could simply lift the port and warships.
• Dragon revealed that the Revolutionary Army had already left a hidden passage in the Red Line, while the others jokingly blamed Kuzan for the detour.
• Bane ordered the forces to gather, and Sakazuki, Kuzan, Fubuki, and Zoro took positions to guard against a Mother Flame strike.
• After Hina reported that preparations were complete, Lord Issho used his gravity power to lift the port and warships toward Mary Geoise.