Chapter Summaries

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.

• Xie Wen persuaded Klee Meow to let Sanji Meow take the fight, and Sanji Meow insisted he wanted to prove himself.
• Vito the Weird Gun tried to grab Sanji Meow, but Sanji Meow dodged, climbed onto him, and kicked him across the room.
• Sanji Meow continued landing powerful kicks, even after Vito drew his gun, leaving the onlookers stunned.
• Xie Wen judged Vito weaker than expected and watched Capone Bege, who stayed grim-faced and did not intervene.
• Xie Wen wondered whether Capone Bege was wary of him and Klee Meow or was watching 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.

• Sanji Meow defeated Vito with a series of kicks, leaving him unconscious.
• Xie Wen challenged Capone Bege after Bege tried to call off the conflict, and Klee Meow and Sanji Meow prepared to fight beside him.
• Capone Bege ordered his men to kill Xie Wen and the cats, while a large force poured out of Bege's body to join the attack.
• Xie Wen deflected incoming bullets with Foresight Slash and told Klee Meow and Sanji Meow to handle the other attackers, warning Klee not to use bombs.
• Klee Meow blasted many of the attackers with the Great Fireball Technique, while Sanji Meow charged the gangsters with kicks.
• Xie Wen lunged at Capone Bege and swung his blade at him.

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.

• Bege dodged Xie Wen’s slash, then attacked with gunfire, tank treads, and a saber while Xie Wen mocked his mobile castle.
• Xie Wen wounded Bege’s stone body with Spirit Blade, and Bege concealed the damage before firing bullets and cannonballs from openings in his suit, injuring bystanders.
• Bege enlarged and hardened his body into a castle form, shrugged off Xie Wen’s slashes, and offered to recruit him into the Capone Family.
• Xie Wen decided Bege’s castle form was not strong enough to interest him and concentrated his Qi Training Value into a Super Amped Elemental Discharge Thrust.

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 nearly killed Capone Bege, but Uncle Cody stopped him because wiping out the Capone Family would make Gures unstable.
• Xie Wen demanded a ship, a Famous Sword, and fifty million Beli, and Bege agreed to provide them.
• Xie Wen declined Cody’s renewed offer to join the Marines, explaining that he and the cats wanted freedom from other people’s rules.
• Xie Wen told Cody he might earn money through bounty hunting, hunting sea beasts, trading, opening a floating restaurant, or writing stories.

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.

• A Capone Family underling led Xie Wen, Klee Meow, and Sanji Meow to a harbor reserved for the Three Families, where they chose a ship.
• Klee Meow could not settle on a ship, so Sanji Meow picked a small single-masted vessel suited to their small crew.
• Xie Wen inspected the ship with the underling, Robbie, and asked him to teach them how to sail it.
• Xie Wen struggled to steer the ship, while Sanji Meow quickly mastered sailing and became their helmsman.
• Xie Wen told Robbie to have Capone Bege deliver the requested famous swords and money to the inn, then Sanji Meow sailed the ship toward Cody’s merchant vessel.
• Xie Wen named the ship Explorer One after Klee Meow and Sanji Meow suggested other names.

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.

• Bax woke Xie Wen and told him the Capone Family had delivered the sword and money.
• Vito gave Xie Wen Long Moon, a Skillful Grade Sword, and the case containing the payment; Sanji Meow threatened him.
• Xie Wen returned to his room and opened the Hunter's Notes, unlocking the weapon page for Long Moon.
• A white light produced an iron-gray summoning ticket fragment, which Xie Wen stored with the notes.
• Xie Wen packed away the case and his retired Nodachi, then went back 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.

• Xie Wen sailed away from Gures with Sanji Meow and Klee Meow after finishing the escort job and acquiring Explorer One, swords, and money.
• Xie Wen decided to map more of the West Blue before heading to Reverse Mountain, where he could reach the East Blue and Loguetown.
• Xie Wen chose the Shatterbone Islands as their next destination and turned Explorer One toward them.
• Klee Meow found a woman hiding in the storeroom, and Xie Wen and Sanji Meow rushed to investigate.
• The woman said she was hiding from the Capone Family, which 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.

• Ottilia introduced herself as a maid of the Buono Family and explained that she had stowed away to escape the Capone and Simter Families.
• Ottilia revealed that she had overheard a secret linking the Buono Family’s attack, Xie Wen’s former employer, and several factions.
• Ottilia said that Cody was a Cipher Pol 4 agent and that the Buono Family had wanted to make Gures an Affiliated Nation with his help.
• Xie Wen and the Palicos discussed Cody’s identity and decided it did not change their plans or their past relationship with him.
• Xie Wen accepted Ottilia into the Palico Research Commission temporarily and planned to drop her off at a suitable island.

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.

• Ottilia explained that hidden currents, reefs, and aggressive sea beasts made the Shatterbone Islands dangerous for ships and unsuitable for towns.
• Xie Wen said the crew wanted to search for Palicoes and explore the islands, then teased Klee Meow about staying behind because she could not swim after eating a Devil Fruit.
• Xie Wen reassured Klee Meow that she could join the expedition, and she forgave him after biting and licking his arm.
• The crew anchored outside the Shatterbone Islands, and Xie Wen left Ottilia aboard Explorer One while he and Sanji Meow prepared to swim ashore with Klee Meow on his back.
• Ottilia asked whether Xie Wen feared she would steal the ship, and she said she still needed his help evading the Capone Family's pursuit.

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.

• Xie Wen explored the uninhabited Shatterbone Islands with the cats, revealed the map, and collected sea beast entries, ingredients, a ruby, and explosive-making materials.
• Ottilia explained that the Capone Family’s influence reached beyond Gures, then confessed she was Buono Ottilia, the family’s third daughter, and declined Xie Wen’s offer to take her to Cody’s hometown.
• Xie Wen and the cats continued sailing between islands, and Sanji Meow spotted a pirate ship approaching.
• Ottilia identified the approaching crew as the Head-Hunting Pirates, led by Condit the Head-Hunter, whose bounty was twenty-seven million Beli.
• Klee Meow claimed the fight for herself, and Xie Wen warned her not to destroy the pirates’ ship or treasure.
• Klee Meow proposed using Whoosh-Whoosh Bombs to knock the pirates unconscious.

Klee Meow used her Whoosh-Whoosh Bombs to incapacitate the Head-Hunting Pirates while Xie Wen protected Explorer One from their cannon fire. After the crew boarded the pirate ship to collect spoils, Xie Wen saw the bombs had badly damaged both the pirates and their ship.

• The Head-Hunting Pirates fired cannonballs at Explorer One, and Klee Meow retaliated by launching several Whoosh-Whoosh Bombs.
• Xie Wen cut incoming cannonballs apart with Flying Slashes while Klee Meow’s bombs stunned the pirates and silenced their ship.
• Xie Wen promised Klee Meow a bigger ship once they had more companions, and she hurried aboard the pirate ship to look for treasure.
• Sanji Meow followed Klee Meow and lowered a rope ladder so Xie Wen and Ottilia could board.
• Xie Wen found unconscious pirates with bleeding ears and saw that the Whoosh-Whoosh Bombs had warped and cracked parts of the ship.

Xie Wen and the cats subdued the Head-Hunting Pirates, but an ambush revealed that Ottilia was Nico Robin. The chapter ended with Robin’s identity exposed after she used her powers to stop a pirate attacking Klee Meow.

• Xie Wen tied up the unconscious pirates and warned Klee Meow and Sanji Meow to watch for anyone pretending to be unconscious.
• A pirate sprang up and fired repeatedly at Xie Wen, who deflected the bullets and killed him with Long Moon.
• Klee Meow rushed out of the cabin as another pirate lunged at her with a bomb in her hand.
• Ottilia used her power to sprout arms from the attacker and incapacitate him, revealing herself as Nico Robin.

Xie Wen recognized Ottilia as Nico Robin after she revealed her Flower-Flower Fruit power, then decided to help her rather than turn her in. After they dealt with the pirates and escaped aboard the Explorer One, Xie Wen destroyed their ship, leaving Robin with the group.

• Nico Robin used her Flower-Flower Fruit to save Klee Meow, and Xie Wen recognized her identity.
• Robin tried to take Klee Meow and Sanji Meow hostage but only pulled dried fish from Klee Meow’s schoolbag.
• Xie Wen told Robin he would not turn her in, and she reluctantly joined him and the cats in tying up the pirates and taking their treasure.
• Xie Wen and the others returned to the Explorer One, and he cut the pirate ship apart with Long Moon.
• Xie Wen let the ship sink with the pirates aboard, abandoning their bounty rather than carry a severed head.

Robin explained how she manipulated the Buono, Shimento, and Capone families to escape Gures, while Xie Wen assured her he would not turn her in. He wanted to help her find safety but worried she would endanger the ship’s young passengers, until Klee Meow and Sanji Meow objected to sending her away.

• Klee Meow asked whether Robin was a bad person, and Xie Wen explained that she was being hunted by the Marines and other dangerous people, including Cody.
• Robin recounted how she had used the Buono Family to lure Cody to Gures and planned to pit the Shimento and Capone families against the Buono Family so she could escape.
• Robin explained that Capone Bege’s hidden Devil Fruit ability and Xie Wen’s defeat of Bege had disrupted her plan, though Xie Wen’s early departure from Gures gave her a chance to hide aboard Explorer One.
• Xie Wen told Robin he would not turn her in, but said she could not stay aboard forever because her presence put the little ones at risk.
• Klee Meow and Sanji Meow objected to making Robin leave, and Klee Meow insisted she was not afraid of the people hunting Robin.

Xie Wen tried to persuade Nico Robin to prioritize her safety, but she refused to abandon her mission to decipher the Poneglyphs. Robin decided not to join the crew, while Klee Meow offered to make her protective bombs before she left.

• Xie Wen explained to the cats that Robin wanted to pursue a goal beyond escaping the Navy and Cipher Pol.
• Robin said she intended to find and decipher every Poneglyph to carry on Ohara's will, and refused to postpone her mission or stay aboard the ship.
• Xie Wen criticized Robin and Ohara's scholars for pursuing their research without first securing their safety, but Robin remained resolute.
• Klee Meow accepted that Robin would leave and offered to make her more bombs for protection.

Xie Wen and the cats gave Nico Robin gifts and advice before she left their ship. Robin departed after Xie Wen suggested she seek refuge with the Revolutionary Army.

• Klee Meow gave Robin basic, enhanced, and sonic Boom-Boom bombs and explained how they worked.
• Sanji Meow gave Robin sausages and smoked meat for her journey.
• Xie Wen gave Robin money and advised her to learn Observation Haki, explaining that intense pressure or concentration might help awaken it.
• Robin thanked Xie Wen and the cats, while Klee Meow begged her to stay before reluctantly letting her go.
• Xie Wen suggested that Robin seek refuge with the Revolutionary Army.

Xie Wen tried to awaken Observation Haki through his improvised Sword Meditation, but only managed to focus on sensations he could already perceive. Klee Meow then revealed that she could sense things over a wider range and read emotions, leading Xie Wen to realize she had already awakened Observation Haki.

• Xie Wen attempted Sword Meditation on Explorer One while Klee Meow and Sanji Meow watched him.
• Xie Wen entered a focused state and noticed the ship's sounds, smells, and breeze, but concluded that he had not awakened Observation Haki.
• Xie Wen explained Observation Haki to Klee Meow, who struggled to understand his description.
• Klee Meow said she could sense things beyond her normal hearing and smell, as well as other people's emotions.
• Xie Wen recognized Klee Meow's ability as Observation Haki and felt defeated that she had awakened it before him.

Klee Meow revealed that she had awakened Observation Haki and explained how it worked to Xie Wen and Sanji Meow. Xie Wen encouraged her to practice the ability, and she agreed to train.

• Klee Meow sensed Observation Haki in Xie Wen and described how she had awakened her own ability.
• Xie Wen and Sanji Meow teased each other about their lack of Observation Haki before Klee Meow joined their playful wrestling.
• Klee Meow recalled that her Observation Haki awakened when she sensed an experiment on Uncle Cody's ship was about to explode.
• Klee Meow explained that her Observation Haki let her sense emotions, inanimate things, and changes that would happen, but using it for long made her tired.
• Klee Meow said she had also sensed the bad intentions of the men who tried to buy her and Sanji Meow at the Gures Auction.
• Xie Wen encouraged Klee Meow to practice Observation Haki, and she promised to work hard.

Xie Wen and Sanji Meow trained with Klee Meow’s bombs on a remote island, trying to awaken Observation Haki, before returning to Explorer One to resupply. Xie Wen checked their next destination and discovered it was Flower Country.

• Xie Wen took Klee Meow and Sanji Meow to an isolated black reef island so they could train their perception while Klee Meow tested bombs.
• Xie Wen and Sanji Meow struggled to sense the explosions at first, and Xie Wen repeatedly shielded them from blasts.
• After three days, Xie Wen and Sanji Meow became better at spotting signs that bombs were about to detonate, while the explosions reduced the island to less than ten square meters.
• Klee Meow ran out of bomb-making inspiration, so Xie Wen and his companions returned to Explorer One to seek fresh water and new clothes.
• Xie Wen checked the map for their next destination and saw that it was Flower Country.

Xie Wen arrived in Flower Country, hoping to meet Chinjao, Sai, and Boo and learn from their Haki training. He explored the prosperous city with Klee Meow and Sanji Meow and ended the chapter heading toward its food shops.

• Xie Wen questioned why Flower Country had suffered defeats despite the strength of Chinjao and the Happo Navy, then decided to seek out its fighters for advice.
• Klee Meow admired the bustling city, and an old man proudly credited Flower Country's navy for keeping pirates and gangs away.
• Xie Wen explored the city with Klee Meow and Sanji Meow and noticed that its architecture looked more Chinese than its residents' clothing.
• Sanji Meow led Xie Wen to a steamed bun shop, where Klee Meow chose a kelp-and-tuna bun and Sanji Meow picked an octopus-and-scallop bun.
• Xie Wen tried a sea beast meat bun, found it tasty, and headed toward nearby noodle, dumpling, and flatbread shops.