Recaps

Morgans publicized Captain John’s death, prompting Linlin, Newgate, and Shiki to react to the news in different ways. Shiki vowed to punish the traitors after learning John was dead.

• Morgans verified the footage of John’s death, accepted the payment, and rushed to write a headline for World Economic News.
• Linlin read the report and declared that she would find the traitors and take back John’s treasure.
• Newgate mourned John but chose to celebrate with his new Whitebeard Pirates rather than risk his family by seeking revenge.
• Shiki defeated Ochoku for control of Hachinosu, then read the newspaper and raged that John had died before Shiki could recruit him.
• Shiki blamed the traitors and vowed they would not be forgiven.

John tracked down a slave-trading deal in the Kingdom of Troy after earning six billion Beli from selling his fingernails across six countries. At Warehouse No. 3, Ouroboros’s Scott Parker and Misa prepared to trade kidnapped children and planned to capture John for the bounty on him.

• John overheard that three children were being held at the harbor warehouse and cursed the slave trader who called him a pirate.
• John reflected on his six billion Beli earnings and his rejection of trade requests from Shiki and Linlin, who had placed bounties on him.
• A masked woman in a black suit emerged from beneath the harbor bridge and walked away after drying her clothes with heat.
• Scott Parker threatened the children in their cages, while Misa used her Emotion-Emotion Fruit to calm them and put them to sleep.
• Misa told Parker to keep John alive because Big Mom and Golden Lion had placed a one-billion-Beli bounty on him.

John used the Steel Puppet to ambush the Ouroboros slave-catchers Parker and Misa, killing Misa and beating Parker. He spared Parker only to order him to use his connections to capture Pete and the other conspirators.

• Parker and Misa planned to use Misa's Emotion-Emotion Fruit to subdue the informant without paying for the information.
• The Steel Puppet blasted through the warehouse doors and confronted Parker and Misa, then crushed Parker's face with a stomp.
• Misa activated her Devil Fruit power, but John sensed its energy through Mantra and directed the Steel Puppet to stab her through the chest, killing her.
• Parker begged for his life, and the Steel Puppet told him that slave traders ranked at the bottom among criminals before declaring its own superiority.
• The Steel Puppet gave Parker sealed bags and ordered him to use his connections to capture Pete and the others, or die.

The Steel Puppet rescued the children from the warehouse and exposed the fake money, while John reflected on his growing arrogance and resolved to change. Meanwhile, Pete and the Rocks remnants escaped the Calm Belt only to meet five Marine warships led by Chaychitz Maffey and Somaz, who demanded everything John had.

• The Steel Puppet sent the caged children toward the crowded harbor, discovered that the Beli notes in the suitcases were blank paper, and left.
• John woke at an inn, recognized that power had made him arrogant, and decided to correct himself before he lost his drive to advance.
• Pete and the pirates finally sailed out of the Calm Belt after weeks of searching for treasure and fighting Sea Kings, but they were nearly out of food and water.
• The Treasure came under cannon fire from five Marine warships, and Pete rallied the pirates to fight for supplies despite their fear of the Marines.
• Chaychitz Maffey prepared a laser attack as Somaz demanded that the pirates hand over everything belonging to John, while Pete ordered the Treasure to dodge.

Pete’s pirates boarded a Marine warship and slaughtered its crew, but Somaz and Maffy survived Pete’s attacks thanks to their Immortal Bodies. Pete fled when he realized they could regenerate, while Somaz planned to capture him and Maffy warned him about the Reaction Fruit’s danger.

• Pete ordered his pirates to ram the Treasure into the lead warship and began the boarding battle.
• Pete’s Reaction Fruit froze everyone on the deck, allowing the pirates to kill the Marines and Cipher Pol agents; Pete beheaded the vice admiral, Somaz, and Maffy.
• Somaz and Maffy restored their heads and bodies, then Somaz attacked Pete with thorny vines.
• Pete froze the vines and shot Somaz and Maffy with Armament Haki bullets, but their wounds healed, so he fled into the cabin to find food and water.
• Somaz resolved to capture Pete and keep him as a slave, while Maffy warned him that Armament Haki could resist the Reaction Fruit and that the sea remained a threat.

John found Teach being bullied on Drum Island and tried to guide the boy toward kindness, despite first telling him to fight back. Teach led John toward Alice, and John found her visiting Dr. Kureha while hearing villagers gossip about them.

• Three boys pelted Teach with snowballs, and Teach forced himself to laugh so they would accept him as a friend.
• John appeared, asked Teach why he had not fought back, and told him the boys were bullies rather than friends.
• John reversed his advice and urged Teach to answer hatred with truth, kindness, beauty, and love.
• Teach led John toward their temporary home, but John followed Alice's Vivre Card and found her with Dr. Kureha.
• John heard village women gossiping about Alice and him as they watched from the road.

John visited Alice, Teach, and Dr. Kureha, hoping to learn about Teach’s ability to possess multiple Devil Fruits and Kureha’s extraordinary longevity. Kureha let him take some of her hair, and John left intent on studying powerful bloodlines and creating new ones.

• John dismissed the gossip about him and went with Teach to Dr. Kureha’s home to see Alice and Teach.
• Alice recognized John despite his changed appearance and welcomed him, while Kureha offered him liquor and discussed her longevity.
• Kureha said she had no explanation for staying young, though she guessed it might be due to her bloodline.
• John asked to study Kureha’s blood, then used his magnetic power to gather strands of her hair after she resisted.
• Kureha allowed John to keep the hair, and he planned to use it with others’ research to create new bloodlines.
• Alice asked John whether he had come to see her only to obtain Kureha’s hair.

John stayed on Drum Island for a few days, examining Teach and watching the children torment him before deciding to leave. He gave Alice a Den Den Mushi for emergencies and hinted to the village chief that a surprise was coming that night.

• John told Alice he had come to say goodbye and would lie low, but agreed to keep Teach company for a while.
• John rented a house near Alice's home, and rumors spread that he and Alice had fled the Pleasure District together.
• John examined Teach in the mountains and found no unusual traits beyond his excessive body hair.
• John watched children and adults bully Teach, then confronted the village chief, who had spread rumors about him and Alice.
• John visited Alice, left her a Den Den Mushi, and told her he was leaving but could be called if she faced a serious problem.

After leaving Alice, John reflected on the three stages of his life and resolved to break free from the role imposed on him. That night, he visited Vanessa, the village chief’s wife, and seduced her while the drunken village chief headed home and threatened Alice.

• Alice reassured John that she hoped he would take care of himself, and John left her cabin.
• John recalled his past as a freedom-seeking pirate, a justice-minded Marine, and a calculating World Government politician, then vowed to become the master of his fate.
• John visited Vanessa late at night, charmed her with stories about the outside world, and drank wine with her.
• Vanessa became intoxicated and leaned against John, who drew her close and began an intimate encounter with her.
• The village chief passed Alice’s cabin on his way home and vowed to get her into his bed.

John exposed the village chief’s wife, Vanessa, as a willing participant in their affair, then used his power to leave the chief mentally incapacitated. He comforted Vanessa before departing, and that day lightning killed Drum Island’s finance minister.

• The village chief returned home and found Vanessa with John, who made her admit she had chosen to be with him.
• John struck the village chief with purple lightning and left him helpless while he continued with Vanessa.
• Vanessa woke the next afternoon, and John told her he had given the village chief a prefrontal lobotomy.
• John refused to take Vanessa away, told her to seek Alice’s help if needed, and left after she asked him to visit.
• Lightning struck the palace atop Drum Mountain and blasted the finance minister into ashes.

John arrived in Shells Town and tried to enlist in the Marines at the 153rd Branch. Captain Gavin Reed initially rejected him for claiming to be from a non-affiliated kingdom, but accepted a bribe and registered him as a local before assigning him a role.

• John disembarked in Shells Town, a peaceful town that housed the Marine 153rd Branch.
• John entered the base to join the Marines, and Captain Gavin Reed took him to his office to register him.
• John told Reed that he came from the non-affiliated Feros Kingdom, so Reed claimed the Marines could not accept him due to security concerns.
• John offered Reed Beli, and Reed agreed to record Shells Town in the Leon Kingdom as his birthplace.
• John offered Reed more money, and Reed recommended that he start as a navigator on a warship.

After resigning from the Marines, Dragon arrived in Shells Town and noticed a shipment of alcohol being smuggled in defiance of Leon Kingdom’s Prohibition Order. At the Ideal Restaurant, John recognized Dragon, but their meal was interrupted when someone kicked over an empty table.

• Dragon recalled how Garp had secured his release from prison by promising to remain in the Marines, and Dragon had resigned after his punishment ended.
• In Shells Town, Dragon spotted smuggled alcohol in a broken crate but chose not to intervene, then followed the smell of food to the Ideal Restaurant.
• Reed treated John to a meal to celebrate his becoming a Marine, while John complained about the inflated alcohol prices caused by Leon Kingdom’s Prohibition Order.
• John recognized the eyebrowless Dragon as he entered the restaurant and watched him take a seat nearby.
• As John began eating, someone kicked over an unoccupied dining table, drawing the restaurant’s attention.

John and Reed witnessed a local gang pressure the Felose Chamber of Commerce, whose legal residency in Shells Town had not stopped Colonel Burns and the locals from trying to drive them out. Dragon left after the gang leader threatened him, then intervened outside when gang members attacked an unfamiliar newcomer.

• Black-suited gang members confronted the Felose Chamber of Commerce restaurant owner and demanded that the foreigners leave, despite their permanent residence permits.
• Reed explained to John that the locals wanted to drive out the Chamber of Commerce after using its members to build Shells Town, and the gang leader warned Reed that he had interfered with Colonel Burns's business.
• The gang leader turned on Dragon, who saw that John and Reed would not intervene and left the restaurant disappointed in the Marines.
• John used Mantra to observe a fight outside and saw Dragon helping an unfamiliar newcomer whom the gang members had attacked.

John left the restaurant to intervene after learning that the Navy’s 153rd Branch had law enforcement authority in Shells Town, despite Reed warning him that Colonel Burns had forbidden it. Meanwhile, Dragon and Felo Vincent fought the gang members attacking Vincent’s father’s restaurant, and the two young men recognized each other’s strength.

• John explained to Reed why the 153rd Branch could maintain order in Shells Town, but Reed said Colonel Burns had prohibited sailors from interfering in local conflicts.
• John declared that he would follow his sense of justice and rushed out, prompting Reed to chase after him.
• Felo Vincent hurried to his father’s restaurant after seeing gang members surround it and attacked them when they tried to block his way.
• Dragon charged in to help the civilians, dodged the gang members’ gunfire, and knocked down several attackers with his martial arts.
• Vincent used his strength to take down gang members, and he and Dragon grinned at each other with mutual admiration.

Dragon and Vincent fought Hughes’s gang in Shells Town until Marine Third Class John intervened and effortlessly defeated Hughes’s two hidden enforcers. John ordered Hughes and his men to surrender, while Hughes secretly planned to seek help from Colonel Burns.

• Dragon and Vincent joined forces against the gang, but Hughes shot at Vincent and wounded Dragon as he shielded him.
• Dragon and Vincent dodged Hughes’s second shot and charged him, only for two men with Armament Haki-coated kicks to threaten them.
• John appeared, caught the attackers’ legs, and hurled both men into a building across the street.
• Reed saw John’s strength and complained that John had concealed it from him.
• John ordered Hughes and the gang to squat with their hands over their heads, and Hughes complied while telling his men he would appeal to Colonel Burns.

Vincent confronted Old Felo over the Feloce people’s humiliating struggle to survive, and Dragon decided to join him in returning to the Feros Kingdom and rising up. John recognized Dragon’s change, then was summoned to Colonel Rory Burns’s office, where Burns finally noticed him smoking.

• Old Felo checked that Vincent was safe, while John warned Dragon to watch himself and returned to his meal.
• Vincent showed Old Felo his pirate-flag design and urged him to return to the Feros Kingdom to overthrow the nobles.
• Old Felo tore up the design and argued that survival mattered more than dignity, but Vincent condemned the desperate work and exploitation facing the Feloce people.
• Dragon was inspired by Vincent’s defiance and decided to accompany him to the Feros Kingdom and rise up.
• John recognized Dragon’s transformation, then waited in Colonel Rory Burns’s office until Burns looked up and noticed him smoking.

John joined the Navy and found the comforts of base life appealing, while Vincent outlined to Dragon a plan to seize tax money from Leon Kingdom before it paid the Heavenly Tribute. The story left John heading into town to buy an estate and Vincent and Dragon preparing to gather weapons for an uprising.

• Burns suspected John might be stronger than him, but welcomed him into the Navy after John denied knowing the rules against interfering in local affairs.
• John used Mantra to read Burns's thoughts and reflected on the benefits of Navy life, including free meals, helpful subordinates, and a future salary.
• John decided the Navy dormitories were too cramped and shabby, so he headed into town to buy an estate.
• Vincent showed Dragon four crates of flintlock rifles and said an uprising needed force before it could overthrow the old order.
• Vincent explained that he planned to seize the taxes Leon Kingdom collected before paying the Heavenly Tribute, not to rob the tribute itself.

Dragon and Vincent agreed to seize Shells Town’s share of the tax revenue to fund their uprising, while John began searching for Buckingham Stussy. The chapter left John pursuing information about Stussy through both Morgans and an Underworld broker.

• Dragon rejected Vincent’s initial plan to take tax revenue that the Leon Kingdom needed for its Heavenly Tribute, fearing ordinary people would suffer more.
• Vincent argued that Shells Town owed the Feloce people compensation for building the port, and Dragon agreed they could take the town’s share before leaving.
• Vincent told Dragon that an acquaintance in the Marines could supply them with weapons, and Dragon reluctantly accepted the explanation.
• John dismissed a female agent who tried to wager her estate against his, then used electromagnetism to shut the estate gate.
• John offered Morgans money for Buckingham Stussy’s whereabouts, negotiated the price to eighty million Beli, and also placed a bounty with an Underworld intelligence broker.

John waited for his Underworld search for Stussy to lead him to Vegapunk, whose research he wanted for S.I.Q.'s evolution. Half a month later, he sailed with the 153rd Branch Marines on an operation while clashing with his fellow Marines over Sabrina.

• John decided against recruiting the MADS team and planned to seek out Vegapunk through a bounty for Stussy’s whereabouts, avoiding the World Government’s notice.
• Half a month later, the Marines of the 153rd Branch rushed to board their warship, and John appeared in the crow’s nest as they complained about him.
• John insulted the Marines and ordered them to prepare the ship, while Captain Reed got them moving under threat of punishment.
• Reed pleaded with John to stop provoking the Marines, then recalled how John had won over Sabrina and later rejected her.
• John told Reed that he and Sabrina had agreed they were only having fun, and blamed her for breaking their agreement by asking him to marry her.

John learned that the Morgan Pirates were led by a King Cobra Zoan user and set out to pursue them despite Reed’s suspicions about the mission. At sea, the Morgan Pirates and the Isaiah Gang celebrated together while Noreen watched uneasily, after the merchant captain had called the Marines for help.

• Reed warned John that the mayor and the Minister of Military Affairs might retaliate over Sabrina, but John dismissed the threat.
• Reed briefed John on King Snake Morgan, whose pirates collected protection money and repeatedly evaded Marine operations.
• John suspected the merchant ship’s distress call concealed a trap, but ordered Reed to speed up and attack the Morgan Pirates.
• The Isaiah Gang’s merchant ship and Morgan’s pirate ship anchored together and held a joint celebration.
• Noreen, a Felose waitress and the ship’s only Felose person, watched the gathering uneasily after the captain called the Marines for help.

Noreen witnessed the pirates’ scheme and was assaulted by Savage Cat while the merchant captain prepared a trap for the approaching Navy. John ignored Reed’s orders and launched a cannonball at the merchant ship, destroying its deck and killing the navigator as Savage Cat and his pirates watched.

• The merchant captain dragged Noreen below deck, while the pirates ignored her cries for help.
• A Navy warship appeared, and the pirates staged the gang members as hostages while Savage Cat emerged from the cabins.
• The merchant captain told Savage Cat that Sabrina had been violated by a Navy man who was approaching, and Savage Cat vowed to make him suffer.
• The navigator reminded Savage Cat that Captain Morgan had ordered them to lure the Navy into Soul-Loss Bay, but Savage Cat refused to wait.
• John hurled a cannonball at the merchant ship despite Reed’s protests, killing the navigator and engulfing the staged hostages in flames.

John destroyed a merchant ship with a lightning-wrapped cannonball after discovering that its lone innocent victim had been tortured beyond saving. He forced Reed and the Marines to help pursue the pirates, while Savage Cat led the pirate ship toward Soul-Loss Bay to meet Captain Morgan.

• John blasted the merchant ship apart, then demanded more cannonballs as the Marines accused him of harming civilians and refused to help.
• John threatened to execute anyone who opposed him, and Reed ordered the Marines to hand over the cannonballs.
• A Marine revealed that the warship's cannonballs had been thrown into the sea, so John ordered the crew to row the warship alongside the pirate vessel.
• The pirates tried to escape after the explosion damaged their ship, while Savage Cat threatened the helmsman for fleeing.
• The helmsman reminded Savage Cat that Captain Morgan had ordered them to lure the Marines to Soul-Loss Bay, and Savage Cat agreed to rendezvous with Morgan before taking revenge on John.

John pursued a pirate ship with the Marines, but their warship struck hidden reefs in Soul-Loss Bay. After claiming he could clear the way with his sword, he unleashed a purple beam that destroyed the reefs as the pirates watched.

• John enjoyed chasing the fleeing pirates while Reed worried that the strange recruit might secretly be a pirate.
• Reed recognized Soul-Loss Bay and warned the crew about its reefs, but the warship struck one and lurched violently.
• John blamed the helmsman, then learned the Marines believed he was the navigator and tried to shift responsibility onto them.
• John claimed he was a great swordsman, and Reed handed him his treasured blade, Greedy Wolf.
• The pirates debated whether to wait for the Marines, but John unleashed a purple beam that blasted the hidden reefs into powder.

John and Reed brought their warship to Soul-Loss Town, where King Snake Morgan ruled a gathering place for East Blue outlaws and powerful pirates. As John assessed Morgan’s hidden influence, he asked Reed to inflate the pirate’s threat in his report.

• Reed confronted John for throwing his beloved Greedy Wolf, then agreed to supervise the rowers after John promised him a Supreme Grade Blade.
• Savage Cat urged the pirates to flee toward Captain Morgan, and they rowed faster after John’s display left them terrified.
• John’s warship approached Soul-Loss Town, where pirates and other outlaws gathered along the coast to meet it.
• Savage Cat reported to King Snake Morgan, who welcomed him as his subordinate while higher-bounty pirates stood behind him.
• Reed recognized several notorious pirates among Morgan’s followers, and John concluded Morgan had secretly united much of the East Blue’s pirate forces.
• John asked Reed to make Morgan sound like a billion-Beli threat in his report, but Reed said he lacked the skill.

John attacked the pirates after they mocked him, killing Butcher Wade and using Haki to devastate their ranks. As he searched for King Snake Morgan, Death Coil Moro and Ghost Axe Beckett launched a surprise attack from behind.

• Reed urged John to retreat and call for Colonel Burns, but Burns did not answer.
• John charged into the pirates, killed several, and seized Butcher Wade by the throat.
• The pirates fired at John, but the bullets bounced off him, and he learned from their words that some of them knew Armament Haki.
• John strangled Wade, then unleashed a Haki shockwave that blasted the pirates and left many dead or injured.
• John searched for the vanished King Snake Morgan, while Moro and Beckett struck him from behind and Reed shouted a warning.