Recaps

Moonlight and his companions sailed toward Alabasta while he trained for the coming conflict, and Chopper learned more about the Straw Hat Crew. Near Nanohana, Moonlight spotted the Going Merry trapped between Baroque Works agents and Smoker’s Marines, and rushed to help.

• Nami told Chopper about the Straw Hat Crew and praised his medical skills as they sailed toward Alabasta.
• Moonlight trained until his Armament Haki advanced to lv5 and reviewed his sword techniques and Haki levels.
• The Iron King approached Nanohana, where Nami spotted the Going Merry leaving town as Baroque Works agents and Smoker’s Marines pursued it.
• Moonlight jumped into the sea and ran across its surface, astonishing Chopper as he headed toward the Going Merry.
• On the Going Merry, Sanji and Zoro faced a pincer attack while Luffy eagerly prepared to fight, and Moonlight offered to handle their pursuers.

Ace joined Luffy and the others, destroying five Baroque Works ships with his Fire Fist, while Moonlight cut Smoker’s Navy ship in half and stopped the Marines’ pursuit. Nami reunited with the Straw Hat Crew and comforted Vivi, and the chapter ended with Luffy noticing Chopper hiding behind Moonlight.

• Ace leaped aboard the Going Merry, and Luffy introduced him as his sworn brother.
• Ace sailed alone toward five Billions ships and destroyed them with his Fire Fist.
• Moonlight arrived and split the Navy ship in two with a sword strike, forcing Smoker to abandon the pursuit and request reinforcements.
• Nami arrived aboard the Iron King, and the Straw Hat Crew welcomed her back.
• Nami comforted Vivi, who reaffirmed that they were partners.
• Luffy spotted Chopper hiding behind Moonlight.

Chopper officially joined the Straw Hat Pirates after Luffy welcomed him aboard, and the crew celebrated his arrival. Ace met Moonlight and was astonished by his strength, ending the chapter by sharing a drink with him.

• Nami introduced Chopper to the crew and scolded the others for mistaking him for a raccoon and a monster.
• Chopper repeated Nami’s descriptions of Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro, provoking them until Nami struck the men to quiet them.
• Luffy formally invited Chopper to join the crew and thanked him for saving Nami, and Chopper accepted.
• Chopper, Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro danced together as the crew welcomed their new doctor.
• Ace clasped hands with Moonlight, recognized his remarkable strength, and shared a toast with him.

After reuniting with Ace and Chopper, Moonlight and the Straw Hat crew traveled with Vivi into Alabasta, where they learned how Crocodile’s arrival coincided with drought and unrest. When a sandstorm swept up Luffy, Moonlight cleaved through the storm with one slash and caught him as he fell.

• The group celebrated their reunion aboard the Going Merry, and Moonlight resolved to use his sword to prevent Ace’s regret from happening again.
• Vivi led the crew toward Yuba, explaining that the Rebel Army was led by her childhood friend Koza, while Luffy ran ahead on his own.
• At Erumea, Vivi found the once-green city reduced to ruins and explained how Crocodile’s arrival and the Dance Powder incident had fueled Alabasta’s civil conflict.
• A sudden sandstorm swept Luffy into its towering column, and Moonlight spotted him inside.
• Moonlight cut through the sand column with a powerful sword slash, then leaped into the air and caught Luffy as he fell.

Luffy and the others crossed the Alabasta Desert, where dangerous creatures repeatedly attacked them and their supplies. After Ace helped them survive, Chopper spotted that the strange camel they had rescued knew where to find water.

• Luffy told the group that Kung Fu Dugongs had acknowledged him as their master, amusing everyone.
• The group struggled through the scorching desert, and Luffy chased Desert Vultures that stole their luggage and water.
• Luffy returned with Desert Man-Eating Grass, which Zoro cut down, accidentally rescuing a strange camel.
• A giant desert lizard attacked the group, but Sanji defeated it; Ace killed a second lizard by bursting into flames inside its mouth.
• Ace roasted meat for the exhausted group, and Chopper realized the strange camel knew where water was.

The Straw Hats and Moonlight found Eyelashes, a camel who could lead them to water but would only carry beautiful women. As the group crossed the desert, heat-stricken Luffy chased after Eyelashes, leaving everyone—including Ace—to rush after them.

• Chopper explained that Eyelashes could understand animals and lead the group to water, while Nami named the camel and Vivi and Nami rode him.
• Eyelashes refused to carry Luffy and Usopp, so Nami and Vivi rode him as the others followed across the desert.
• Luffy, exhausted by the heat, ran after Eyelashes, and Chopper warned that he had gone mad from the heat.
• Eyelashes fled with Luffy, and Moonlight and the others hurried after them to avoid getting lost in the desert.
• Ace was left alone after everyone ran off, wondering where they had gone.

Luffy chased a camel and stumbled into the Sand Pirate Barbaro Group, who had captured Vivi, Nami, and Eyelashes. Moonlight rescued them, and after learning the Sand Pirates’ ship could no longer sail because Luffy had broken its mast, Luffy offered to find replacement wood.

• Luffy chased the camel and disappeared, while the others found a sand pirate ship with Vivi, Nami, Eyelashes, and Luffy tied to its mast.
• The Sand Pirate Barbaro Group gave Luffy water, and he only then noticed his captured friends and said he had come for water rather than to rescue them.
• Moonlight arrived on the ship and his Conqueror’s Haki terrified the Sand Pirates until he freed Vivi, Nami, and Eyelashes.
• Zoro, Sanji, and the others caught up, and the Sand Pirates explained that they sailed across the desert using quicksand.
• The Sand Pirates lamented that Luffy had broken their main mast and their ship could no longer sail, so Luffy offered to find replacement wood.

Luffy set off with the others for Merlias Oasis to fetch wood, while Lasha followed them across the desert. A Sand Bandit attack on the Sand Pirates was interrupted when a giant Desert Dung Beetle rolled its ball of dung down a dune, crushing the bandit leader and his camel.

• Luffy tried to ride a Sand Sled but could not operate it, so Lasha and Saba set off after him to guide the group to Merlias Oasis.
• The big man suggested killing Eyelashes for a feast, but Nami objected and the camel took refuge beside Moonlight.
• A lookout spotted Sand Bandits charging toward the Sand Pirate ship, and the big man ordered his crew to prepare for battle.
• The Sand Bandit leader charged ahead on a White Dragon Camel and declared that the bandits ruled the desert.
• A giant Desert Dung Beetle rolled its ball of dung down a dune and crushed the Sand Bandit leader and his camel.

The Straw Hats and the Sand Pirates survived a giant dung beetle’s attack, and Luffy returned with timber to repair the ship’s mast. They reached Well Village to resupply, but the villagers mistook them for enemies and called for the Rebel Army.

• A giant dung ball flattened the Sand Bandits and the burly man before Zoro sliced it apart and Moonlight destroyed its fragments with Sword Aura.
• The Sand Bandit leader escaped, while the Sand Pirates pulled the burly man from the sand and thanked the Straw Hats.
• Luffy, Vivi, and the others returned with a Sand Sled and timber, allowing the crew to repair the mast.
• The burly man gave the crew directions and a Sand Sled, and they set off toward Well Village to replenish their stolen food and water.
• The crew reached Well Village, where the villagers shut the gates, mistook them for Sand Pirates, and called for Lord Camu of the Rebel Army.

Luffy and his crew encountered Camu and two villagers who pretended to be Rebel Army leaders, but their courage in defending Well Village changed Luffy’s mind. After the crew left without supplies, Ace reunited with them carrying food and water.

• Camu claimed to lead eighty thousand Rebel Army soldiers, but the villagers revealed that only he and two companions belonged to his group.
• Luffy accused the three men of posing as the Rebel Army to scam villagers, while the villagers praised Camu for protecting them from Sand Bandits.
• Vivi asked Luffy to help, and Camu drew his sword and charged despite being swiftly defeated with his companions.
• Luffy spared the village after seeing the three men refuse to abandon its entrance, then led his crew away without supplies.
• Ace appeared outside Well Village with food and water, reunited with Luffy and the others, and praised Luffy for maturing.

The Straw Hats learned that Ace had come to Alabasta to pursue Blackbeard, while a bounty hunter named Hubbard Luxia had lured him there to show his sons what ambition meant. Ace challenged Luxia to fight, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Moonlight sensed two children and an armed man approaching, and Ace explained that he was hunting Blackbeard to avenge his murdered crewmates.
• Zoro brought back Kib and Dib, who revealed that they had offered Ace one million Beli to defeat Scorpion, whom they believed their father could not beat.
• Moonlight cut down a flaming cannonball before it reached the group, while Luffy arrived riding with the bearded gunman who had fired it.
• Kib and Dib called the gunman their father, Hubbard Luxia, who explained that he had spread a false story about defeating Blackbeard to draw Ace into a challenge and teach his sons about ambition.
• Ace asked Kib and Dib whether they had hired him to defeat their father, then invited Luxia to try fighting him.

After meeting Ace and seeing the devastation caused by Alabasta’s civil war, Luffy convinced Vivi to stop trying to save everyone alone and lead the crew against Crocodile in Rainbase. A sandstorm scattered the group, while Baroque Works agents gathered at Spider Bar after receiving a call from their boss.

• Luxia challenged Ace with his Super Fire Extinguisher Gun, lost, and earned Ace’s acknowledgment before Ace departed to pursue Blackbeard.
• Luxia reconciled with his sons and brought Luffy’s group through the ruined Badlands, where they later found Yuba deserted and met Toto digging for water.
• Toto told Vivi that Koza had left for Cattlaya, and Vivi vowed to stop him; Luffy argued that they needed to defeat Crocodile to save Alabasta.
• Luffy and the crew agreed to go after Crocodile at Rainbase, while Vivi sent Karoo ahead with a letter for her father.
• A sandstorm separated Moonlight from the others as they traveled toward Rainbase.
• At Spider Bar, Mr. 2 and Miss Merry Christmas nearly fought before Miss Doublefinger answered a call from the boss.

Luffy and his crew reached Rainbase and fled Baroque Works agents and the Marines into Rain Dinners, where they fell into a trap. Separated in the desert, Moonlight discovered a Poneglyph, made a rubbing, and set off for Rainbase to find Nico Robin.

• Miss Doublefinger summoned Baroque Works' agents to Rain Dinners, and Mr. 1, Mr. 2, Mr. 4, and Miss Merry Christmas headed there to meet Mr. 0.
• Luffy's crew reached Rainbase without Moonlight, and Luffy rushed ahead to confront Crocodile despite the others' concerns.
• Baroque Works' Millions surrounded Luffy's crew, who fled and then encountered Smoker and Tashigi and were chased by both the agents and Marines.
• Vivi led the crew into Rain Dinners, where an attendant guided them to a VIP room and they fell into a trap.
• Moonlight found a Poneglyph in an underground space in the desert, made a rubbing, and headed for Rainbase determined to find Nico Robin.

Crocodile revealed himself as Baroque Works’ mastermind and captured the Straw Hat Crew, Vivi, and Smoker in a Seastone cage. He explained his Utopia Plan and left them facing a flood and starving Banana Crocodiles.

• Crocodile met with Baroque Works’ officers in Rainbase and finalized the organization’s plan.
• Robin reported that the Straw Hat Crew had arrived, and the group fell into Crocodile’s Seastone trap.
• Luffy lost his strength after touching the cage, and Smoker explained that Seastone weakened Devil Fruit users.
• Crocodile taunted the captives, including Vivi and Smoker, and revealed that his Utopia Plan was already underway.
• Crocodile said the chamber would flood in an hour and pointed out the starving Banana Crocodiles below.

Moonlight found Luffy and the others trapped in a rising flood beneath Rain Dinners and cut open their Seastone cage with his Phantom Sword Dance. The group set off for the royal capital to stop Crocodile’s plan, but a chain of sand seized Vivi as they ran.

• Crocodile left Luffy and the others trapped in a Seastone cage as seawater poured in and Banana Crocodiles waited outside.
• Moonlight used Observation Haki to locate the captives, fell through a trap in Rain Dinners, and landed inside their cage.
• Moonlight used his Kusanagi Sword and Advanced Armament Haki to cut through the cage, the walls, and the surrounding Banana Crocodiles.
• The group escaped the flooded chamber, and Zoro explained to Smoker that he had saved him because Luffy ordered it.
• Luffy led everyone toward the royal capital to stop Crocodile, while Smoker struggled over his sense of justice and the pirates’ actions.
• A chain of yellow sand seized Vivi as she ran toward the royal capital.

Crocodile ambushed the Straw Hat Crew and tried to stop them from reaching the royal capital, but Moonlight held him back. Moonlight wounded Crocodile with Haki and invited Robin to join the crew again, while Crocodile escaped with her.

• Crocodile seized Vivi, but Luffy struck his sand arm and freed her.
• Moonlight intercepted Crocodile and defeated his Desert Spada with Three-Stage Slash, though Crocodile quickly reformed.
• Moonlight invited Robin to join the Straw Hat Crew, and Crocodile unleashed a Sandstorm in response.
• Moonlight used Haki in an Iai Slash to cut Crocodile and injure him, revealing that his attacks could hurt the Logia user.
• Crocodile trapped Moonlight in quicksand, but Moonlight broke free and wounded him again.
• Crocodile swept Robin up and fled, while Moonlight chose not to pursue.

Moonlight reached Alabasta during the war, rescued Nami from Miss Doublefinger, and used his Haki to knock out the fighting soldiers as he led Nami toward the royal capital. The Straw Hat Pirates reunited beneath the palace walls while Luffy remained face-to-face with Crocodile.

• Moonlight used Observation Haki to locate the Straw Hat Pirates and discovered Nami was on the verge of defeat.
• Nami struck Miss Doublefinger with lightning from the Clima-Tact, but Miss Doublefinger survived and prepared to kill her.
• Moonlight killed Miss Doublefinger with a Sword Aura and caught the exhausted Nami as she collapsed.
• Moonlight told Nami to follow behind him and knocked out everyone fighting within his path as they headed toward the royal capital.
• Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, Nami, and Moonlight gathered beneath the city walls, and Chopper rescued Vivi while Luffy faced Crocodile above them.

After Crocodile fled, Vivi warned the Straw Hats that a bomb threatened the plaza, while Robin led King Nefertari Cobra to Alabasta’s Poneglyph. Crocodile found Robin, stabbed her after learning she had withheld Pluton’s location, and Luffy arrived as she lay near death.

• Crocodile escaped after discovering Moonlight had Conqueror’s Haki, and Luffy and Moonlight pursued him, with Chopper joining Moonlight.
• Vivi revealed that Crocodile had hidden a bomb capable of destroying the plaza, so Nami sent the others to search for it.
• Robin brought King Nefertari Cobra to the Poneglyph in the Royal Mausoleum and read its account of Alabasta’s history while concealing what she had learned about Pluton.
• Crocodile stabbed Robin and declared that he trusted only himself, then said he would search the desert for Pluton after taking control of the country.
• Luffy reached the Tomb Temple, saw Robin gravely wounded, and angrily confronted Crocodile.

Luffy defeated Crocodile but was left badly injured and poisoned, while Robin was wounded and ready to give up on life. Moonlight invited Robin to join the Straw Hat Crew and explore the truth of history together, and she accepted before Luffy woke up asking for meat.

• Luffy used water to defeat Crocodile, but arrived at the aftermath covered in blood and suffering from poison as King Cobra tried to save him.
• Chopper examined Luffy while Moonlight spoke with the gravely wounded Robin, who said she was too exhausted to keep living.
• King Cobra revealed that he had triggered the underground palace’s collapse, and Moonlight destroyed the falling rubble and opened a way to the sunlight with a powerful sword strike.
• Moonlight invited Robin to join the crew and showed her a Poneglyph rubbing, promising they would seek the truth of history together.
• Robin accepted Moonlight’s offer, and Luffy woke up asking whether there was any meat.

After the Marines ended the war in Alabasta, Luffy and his crew recovered in the palace and received new bounties while Tashigi questioned her sense of justice. As the crew prepared to leave, they asked Vivi to join them, but she struggled to choose between her friends and her duty to Alabasta.

• Vivi told Cobra that Pell had carried the bomb into the clouds, and Nami explained that the Marines had ended the fighting.
• Luffy and his crew encountered Tashigi, who let them pass while she wondered what justice truly meant.
• The crew rested at the palace, recovered over a week, and learned that the Marines had sealed off Alabasta's exits.
• The crew received updated bounties, with Luffy at one hundred million Beli and Moonlight at two hundred million Beli, while Sanji, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper reacted to their own notices.
• Luffy and the others asked Vivi to sail with them, but she hesitated because Alabasta and its people needed her.

After reuniting with Mr. 2 at the Sandora River, the Straw Hat Crew came under attack by Marine Captain Hina and a large fleet. Moonlight split Hina’s warship with his Sword Aura, then stayed behind with Mr. 2 to hold off the Marines while Luffy and the others escaped.

• Nami received Mr. 2’s call and the crew hurried to the Sandora River, where he explained that he had protected the Going Merry from the Marines.
• Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper happily reunited with Mr. 2, while Moonlight noticed spears flying toward their ship and cut them down.
• Hina attacked the crew with her Black Spear Formation, but Moonlight’s Sword Aura destroyed the spears and split her warship in two.
• Smoker arrived with more Marine vessels, and Moonlight jumped into the sea to hold off the fleet while Luffy and the others sailed away.
• Mr. 2 chose to stay and help Moonlight face the Marines.

Moonlight fought off the Marines while Vivi said goodbye to the Straw Hat Crew from East Port, choosing to remain in Alabasta. After the crew answered her farewell with their X-marked arms, Moonlight destroyed the nearby Marine warships and vanished into the distance.

• Moonlight teamed up with Bon Clay as Hina ordered the Marine warships to fire at them, but Moonlight split the cannonballs apart with Sword Aura.
• The Straw Hat Crew reached East Port and waited for Vivi while Igaram appeared at the palace in her place.
• Vivi delivered her farewell speech from East Port, explaining that she would stay in Alabasta, and asked the Straw Hat Crew to call her their companion if they met again.
• Luffy and the others silently raised their arms to show Vivi their X marks, and Vivi and Karoo wept.
• Moonlight used Extreme Ghost Sword Style: Storm Style to cut apart the Marine warships and send the Marines into the sea, then vanished using Dragon Severing Void.

Moonlight escaped Smoker and Hina and returned to the Going Merry, where he introduced Robin as the crew’s new archaeologist. After the crew’s initial suspicions faded, Nico Robin joined the Straw Hat Crew as its eighth member.

• Smoker and Hina watched Moonlight escape, then turned their attention to the captured Mr. 2 Bon Clay.
• Moonlight rejoined Luffy and the others aboard the Going Merry, and they sailed away without Marine pursuit.
• The crew celebrated defeating Crocodile until Robin appeared, prompting everyone except Moonlight and Luffy to become wary.
• Moonlight and Luffy said Robin would be their companion, and Robin explained that she had survived twenty years on the run and had nowhere else to go.
• Robin quickly won over the crew, and Nico Robin came aboard as the Straw Hat Crew’s eighth member.

Robin gradually earned the crew’s trust as the Straw Hats sailed deeper into the Grand Line and grew stronger. When the legendary Seven-Colored Mist blocked their route, the crew tried to flee, but it cleared at sunrise to reveal an island.

• Robin won over Usopp, Nami, Zoro, and Chopper, while Sanji quickly became captivated by her.
• The crew enjoyed several peaceful days at sea as Moonlight trained and Zoro practiced swordsmanship with him.
• The Straw Hats visited islands, improved their skills, and helped the elderly Cheney drive off pursuing Marines.
• Robin warned the crew that the Seven-Colored Mist was called the Ship’s Graveyard and that no one who entered it had returned.
• Moonlight’s sword aura vanished into the mist, and the crew turned away, but the mist dispersed at sunrise and revealed an island.

The Straw Hats arrived at Ruluka Island, where Mayor Wetton’s forces imposed taxes on everything and threatened people with forced labor in Rainbow Tower. Moonlight defeated Wetton’s grandson Rick, and Nami shared the money she took from him with the villagers before the Rainbow Mist appeared again.

• The Straw Hats landed on Ruluka Island and learned that they had to pay a port entry tax.
• The crew split up to explore and gather supplies while Usopp, Robin, and Sanji went to find Luffy and Zoro watched the ship.
• Nami, Moonlight, and Chopper encountered Rick, who attacked them with lightning from his mechanical armor.
• Moonlight cut through Rick’s lightning and armor, and Nami collected two million Beli from him as a time-wasting tax.
• Nami gave Rick’s money to the villagers, who warned the crew about Mayor Wetton and Rainbow Tower.
• The Rainbow Mist appeared over the sea again, frightening the island’s residents.