Arc 2Chapters 26–50
No recap yet.
No recap yet.
Xie Wen and the cats watched Bax fight off rival gangs until reinforcements arrived, then Klee Meow defeated the attackers with a barrage of bombs. Xie Wen began searching the fallen gang members for money to help cover the damage, while Bax stared in shock.
After Klee Meow’s excessive bombing wrecked a gang of thugs, Xie Wen arranged an escort job with Cody in exchange for the town’s compensation being covered. He spent most of his money on supplies for himself and the cats, then opened a West Blue map and was shocked by what he saw.
Xie Wen learned more about the West Blue and Bax’s past before challenging him to a sword fight. As the sailors gathered to watch, Xie Wen activated Demon Mode and prepared to fight with two cutlasses.
Xie Wen sparred with Bax using dual blades, improving his technique as Bax quietly helped him identify openings. After Klee Meow won money betting on Xie Wen, the sailors explained that Cody had recruited them to attend a Gang-organized trade fair and hoped to use Klee Meow’s bombs to escape if its organizers plotted against them; with Xie Wen’s strength, they now felt safer.
Xie Wen learned that studying accurate nautical charts expanded the Hunter’s Notes map and its scouting range, easing his worries about mapping the world. As Cody’s ship left Paper Lantern Town, Xie Wen realized he had forgotten to unlock the map there, then began considering an idea involving Devil Fruit powers.
Xie Wen considered whether his Carving Knife could extract Devil Fruits from the corpses of their users, then arrived with Cody's fleet at Cody's hometown. He accepted Cody's cutlasses and asked him to find a Nodachi, leaving Bax newly determined to train harder.
Xie Wen took Klee Meow and Sanji Meow into the Marine Base to uncover the last dark patch on his map, despite having no official reason to enter. The Marines let them tour the entire base, and a talkative guide even revealed its personnel, weapons, and strongest fighters’ specialties.
Xie Wen trained with Bax, learned the basics of his swordsmanship, and received the nodachi Cody had promised him before the fleet departed. He celebrated Klee Meow’s apparent good behavior, but Sanji Meow revealed she had been experimenting with explosive tags and had started a few small fires.
Xie Wen let Klee Meow test her bombs from a skiff towed behind the fleet, and her experiments caused several blasts without sinking the ships. The voyage remained peaceful, though one explosion sent Xie Wen into the sea and struck a Sea King, while Klee Meow stayed unharmed.
Xie Wen and the cats arrived at Gures, where Cody allowed Xie Wen to take Klee Meow and Sanji Meow into the city to test the Gangs’ intentions. The trio left the inn after Bax warned them to avoid provoking the island’s powerful families and reminded Klee not to use bombs.
Xie Wen used himself and the two Palicoes as bait to draw out the Gang on Gless Island, hoping to encounter Capone’s people. When Capone Family members finally blocked his way and demanded the cats, Xie Wen vanished and struck from behind.
Xie Wen fought off Capone Family gangsters who tried to buy Klee Meow and Sanji Meow, then returned to the inn as Cody judged the incident unlikely to escalate. When the trade fair arrived, Cody took Xie Wen and the two cats to attend, leaving the other guards with the caravan.
Xie Wen attended Gures’s trade fair and learned that the three mafia families wanted to bind merchants to their territories and build lasting businesses on the island. Capone Bege confronted him over the Mink Tribe companions, then warned that Gures would become dangerous after the fair.
At the trade fair, Buono John approached Cody with a deal that hinted at Cody’s hidden influence, while Xie Wen kept watch for Capone Bege. As the fair ended, Bege remained nowhere to be seen, and someone shot John dead during his speech.
Capone Bege betrayed the Buono Family and then turned on the Shimento Family, revealing the hidden strength of his Devil Fruit and concealed troops. He challenged Xie Wen to fight Vito the Weird Gun, but Klee Meow eagerly claimed the chance to fight instead.
Sanji Meow fought Vito the Weird Gun in Xie Wen's place and steadily overwhelmed him, while Capone Bege watched without intervening. Xie Wen suspected Bege was holding back because of his strength, Klee Meow, or Cody's mysterious background.
After Sanji Meow defeated Vito, Xie Wen refused to let Capone Bege end their dispute and challenged the Capone Family. Bege ordered his men to attack, and Xie Wen and the cats fought back as Xie Wen confronted Bege.
Xie Wen fought Capone Bege, who used the Castle-Castle Fruit to turn himself into a mobile, stone-bodied fortress. After testing Bege’s defenses and dismissing his current form as a weaker version of his ultimate one, Xie Wen gathered his strength for a decisive attack.
Xie Wen defeated Capone Bege but spared him after Uncle Cody intervened, accepting a ship, a Famous Sword, and fifty million Beli as compensation. He declined Cody’s offer to join the Marines and discussed plans to travel with the cats and earn money through bounty hunting and other work.
Xie Wen and the cats chose a small ship from the Capone Family’s harbor and learned how to sail it. They named their first ship Explorer One and headed toward Cody’s merchant ship.
Xie Wen received the famous sword Long Moon and fifty million Beli from the Capone Family, then unlocked the weapon page in his Hunter's Notes and obtained a new summoning ticket fragment. He put away the fragment and his belongings before returning to sleep.
After leaving Gures, Xie Wen planned a route through the West Blue before heading toward Reverse Mountain and the East Blue. His plans were interrupted when Klee Meow found a frightened woman hiding in Explorer One’s storeroom, and she said the Capone Family was trying to kill her.
Ottilia joined Xie Wen’s ship temporarily after fleeing the attack on the Buono Family, and revealed that Cody was a Cipher Pol 4 agent tied to the family’s plan to make Gures an Affiliated Nation. Xie Wen agreed to let her stay until they reached a suitable island, while remaining wary of her identity and the secrets she might uncover.
Xie Wen explained why the Palico Research Commission was heading to the dangerous Shatterbone Islands, and he and the cats set out to explore them while Ottilia stayed aboard Explorer One. Ottilia hinted at her uncertain loyalties and reaffirmed that she needed Xie Wen’s help escaping the Capone Family.
Xie Wen and the cats sailed onward with Ottilia, who revealed she was Buono Ottilia, the former Buono Family’s third daughter, and said she would leave when the time was right. When the group finally encountered pirates, Klee Meow eagerly prepared to fight them while Xie Wen urged her to spare their ship and treasure.