Recaps

Luffy introduced Ace to the Straw Hat Pirates, and Ace explained that he was pursuing the traitor Marshall D. Teach in Alabasta. The brothers exchanged encouragement and a piece of Vivre Card before parting, with Ace’s search for Teach still underway.

• Luffy brought Ace to meet the Straw Hat Pirates, who learned that Ace was stronger than Luffy and had come to Alabasta looking for a traitor.
• Ace told the crew that Marshall D. Teach had killed a Whitebeard Pirates crewmate, stolen a Devil Fruit, and deserted, and that Ace intended to bring him back.
• Ace told Luffy that Shanks was proud of him and believed he would become Pirate King.
• Ace gave Luffy a piece of Vivre Card so the brothers could find each other again, and Luffy promised to grow strong enough to protect everyone.
• Luffy wished Ace well, and Ace assured him that he would take care of himself.

Ace stayed behind in Alabasta to protect Luffy from Smoker and let the Straw Hat crew escape. After stopping Smoker and Tashigi, Ace left Smoker to resume investigating Crocodile.

• Ace encouraged Luffy to become Pirate King, promised to hold off the Marine pursuing them, and watched Luffy and his companions set off.
• Smoker caught up with Luffy and attacked, but Ace blocked his Jitte with a wall of fire and introduced himself as Luffy’s big brother.
• Ace stopped Smoker from pursuing Luffy and froze Tashigi with the pressure of his gaze when she tried to go around him.
• Smoker attacked Ace with smoke tendrils, but Ace’s flames vaporized them and his Fire Pillar drove Smoker back.
• Ace told Smoker that Luffy had escaped and reminded him that his mission was to investigate Crocodile; Smoker withdrew and threatened to report the Whitebeard Pirates to Marine headquarters.

Smoker ordered Tashigi to report Ace and Crocodile’s presence in Alabasta to Marine Headquarters. Crocodile separated Luffy from the Straw Hat Pirates and lured him to desert ruins, where he weakened him with quicksand and dehydration before attacking with sand blades.

• Smoker told Tashigi to report Fire Fist Ace’s appearance and Crocodile’s activities to Marine Headquarters.
• Crocodile used his Sand-Sand Fruit to split the Straw Hat Pirates in the storm and drag Luffy toward the ruins.
• Luffy emerged alone at the abandoned temple and confronted Crocodile, who challenged him for meddling in Alabasta’s affairs.
• Crocodile trapped Luffy in quicksand and drained moisture from him, leaving him dehydrated and weakened.
• Luffy’s punches passed through Crocodile’s Logia body, and Crocodile cut at him with sand blades while secretly holding back under Roy’s observation.

Crocodile poisoned Luffy with venom from his Golden Hook and left him unconscious in the temple ruins, while secretly ensuring the Straw Hats could find him. As Chopper struggled to identify the fast-acting toxin, Nico Robin appeared and revealed that she knew what it was.

• Crocodile injected Luffy with scorpion venom, then left after confirming that Luffy was alive and the Straw Hats were approaching.
• Roy thanked Crocodile for his performance, and Crocodile reflected that the staged fight had exhausted him more than battles on Hachinosu.
• Zoro found Luffy in the temple ruins, and Sanji and Chopper arrived soon after; Chopper warned that the synthetic poison could kill Luffy within an hour.
• Nico Robin emerged from the ruins and identified the toxin as desert scorpion venom used in Crocodile's Golden Hook.
• Zoro held his sword to Robin's throat and called her an enemy, but Robin said she had come to explain the poison rather than harm them.

Robin saved Luffy from Crocodile’s poison, then revealed Crocodile’s plan to seize Alabasta and search for Pluton. She gave the Straw Hat Pirates a safe route and warned them that Crocodile was waiting in Rainbase.

• Robin gave Chopper an antidote, and Luffy recovered enough to wake up and demand food.
• Robin explained Crocodile’s scheme to take over Alabasta and search for the Ancient Weapon Pluton.
• Zoro questioned why Robin had betrayed Baroque Works, and she said the Straw Hats were more interesting than Crocodile.
• Luffy called Robin a good person because she had helped him, prompting her to smile genuinely.
• Robin gave Nami a detailed safe route to Rainbase and revealed that water was Crocodile’s weakness.
• Robin told Luffy that Crocodile awaited them at the Rainbase casino and underground royal tomb, and Luffy rallied the crew to go after him.

The Straw Hat Pirates headed for Rainbase while Robin went to the port to wait for a ship. Luffy confronted Crocodile in the casino, where Crocodile followed Roy’s instructions to stage a challenging fight and let Luffy land a few hits.

• The Straw Hat Pirates set off for Rainbase with Robin’s map, while Robin watched them leave and then headed for the port.
• Crocodile waited in the Rainbase casino and prepared to face Luffy when the Straw Hat Pirates attacked.
• Luffy charged Crocodile, who used sandstorms and sand blades to test him while Roy instructed Crocodile through their connection.
• Luffy countered Crocodile’s dehydration with water from his waterskin and blocked a sand spear with Gum-Gum Balloon.
• Crocodile let Luffy knock him down and land two punches before slipping away as sand.
• Crocodile gathered a stronger sandstorm as Roy told him to fight seriously but leave Luffy an opening.

Luffy used his emerging Observation Haki and his own blood to defeat Crocodile in the collapsing Alabasta Royal Tomb. As the Straw Hat Pirates escaped, Roy left to find Ace, whose pursuit of Blackbeard was approaching a turning point.

• Luffy sensed the shifting sand and dodged Crocodile’s attacks, while Roy urged Crocodile to push him toward an Observation Haki breakthrough.
• Crocodile trapped Luffy in a sandstorm, and Luffy closed his eyes to sense and evade the sand blades.
• Luffy used his bloodied palms to bypass Crocodile’s sand form and sent him crashing through pillars into a wall.
• The Straw Hat Pirates gathered around Luffy and fled as the casino and royal tomb began to collapse.
• Crocodile let the falling rubble turn to sand and disappeared beneath the dust as his role in the performance ended.
• Roy withdrew his Observation Haki and flew toward Ace, who was pursuing Blackbeard.

After leaving Alabasta, Luffy accepted Nico Robin into the Straw Hat Pirates, trusting her because she had helped him. Roy watched Robin join the crew, then flew after Ace, who was pursuing Blackbeard.

• The Straw Hat Pirates bid farewell to Vivi and King Cobra and sailed out of Alabasta, while Ace shielded the Going Merry from Marine cannon fire with a wall of flames.
• After the Going Merry left the coast, Zoro spotted Nico Robin emerging from the cabin, and she asked to join the crew.
• The crew objected to Robin joining, but Luffy agreed because she had helped him and he considered her a good person.
• Roy observed Luffy accept Robin, then flew after Ace to ensure his pursuit of Blackbeard stayed on course.

Roy stopped following Ace and waited in Mock Town for Blackbeard, where he watched Luffy and Blackbeard meet in a tavern. The chapter ended with the two men competing over meat and cherry pies, unaware of Roy observing them.

• After realizing he knew Luffy's route, Roy abandoned his pursuit of Ace and headed for Mock Town on Jaya Island.
• Roy concealed his presence in a tavern and waited three days for Luffy and Blackbeard to arrive.
• The Going Merry reached Mock Town, and Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji went ashore while Nami, Usopp, and Chopper stayed aboard.
• Luffy entered the tavern and ordered food, where he sat beside Blackbeard, who was eating cherry pies.
• Luffy complained that the cherry pie tasted bad, and Blackbeard argued that it was delicious.
• Luffy and Blackbeard began ordering meat and cherry pies in a contest while Roy watched from the corner.

Roy followed Blackbeard from Jaya to Banaro Island while Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates rode the Knock Up Stream to Sky Island. As Blackbeard reached the ruined island, Roy prepared to witness the coming confrontation between him and Ace.

• Luffy asked about Sky Island in Mock Town, and Bellamy mocked him before beating him while Luffy refused to fight back.
• Blackbeard praised Luffy for holding to his dream, then revealed he planned to capture him for a Shichibukai seat.
• Luffy knocked Bellamy unconscious with one punch, then the Straw Hat Pirates sailed with Mont Blanc Cricket’s help toward the Knock Up Stream.
• The Knock Up Stream carried the Going Merry and the Straw Hat Pirates into the clouds, while Blackbeard abandoned his pursuit and sailed away from Jaya Island.
• Roy followed Blackbeard to Banaro Island, where the ruined port town stood beneath the blood-red sunset.

Ace confronted Blackbeard on Banaro Island over Thatch’s death and launched a fierce assault that overwhelmed Blackbeard’s Dark-Dark Fruit defenses. The island was left engulfed in flames as the battle continued.

• Blackbeard waited beneath the clock tower for Ace, confident that his Dark-Dark Fruit would counter Ace’s powers.
• Ace arrived and asked Blackbeard whether the ship’s iron rule had been not to kill crewmates.
• Blackbeard dismissed Thatch’s death as bad luck and claimed the Dark-Dark Fruit had chosen him, so Ace attacked with a Haki-coated Fire Fist.
• Ace followed with Firefly: Fire Daruma, blasting Doc Q and the other underlings while wounding Blackbeard with exploding fireflies.
• Ace trapped Blackbeard in a pillar of fire, beat him with Haki-coated punches, and deflected Blackbeard’s Dark Water with Mirror Flame.
• The ruins, forest, and harbor on Banaro Island burned as Ace’s attack turned the island into a sea of fire.

Ace fought Blackbeard on Banaro Island, but Roy secretly interfered with Ace’s Observation Haki and weakened Flame Emperor so Blackbeard could survive. Blackbeard escaped a direct hit, and Ace was left briefly off balance as Blackbeard prepared to act.

• Ace cornered the wounded Blackbeard and unleashed Flame Emperor against his Black Hole.
• Roy used Telekinesis from the clouds to disrupt Ace’s Observation Haki and weaken Flame Emperor’s impact.
• Blackbeard redirected Black Hole, causing Flame Emperor to graze his shoulder and explode against the ruins.
• Blackbeard survived with a badly burned shoulder while Ace’s arm stiffened after his attack missed its mark.
• Blackbeard seized the moment as Ace remained briefly off balance.

Blackbeard defeated Ace on Banaro Island and took him captive, while Roy watched and calculated that Ace’s capture would trigger the Paramount War. Aboard Blackbeard’s seized ship, Ace remained shackled with Seastone but continued to resist by standing on his toes.

• Blackbeard used Dark Water to suppress Ace’s Devil Fruit powers, then he and his subordinates beat Ace until he lost consciousness.
• Blackbeard celebrated his victory and carried Ace toward the harbor as Roy withdrew his Telekinesis and reflected that Ace’s capture was part of his ten-year plan.
• Blackbeard took Ace’s orange cowboy hat to the burning ruins and left Banaro Island with his captive and crew.
• Blackbeard seized a pirate ship and chained Ace in its hold with Seastone, where Ace endured his injuries and tried not to hang from the chains.

Blackbeard explained how he planned to trade Ace to the World Government for a Shichibukai seat and use Ace’s execution to provoke Whitebeard into a devastating war. Ace realized Blackbeard had lured him into becoming the spark for that conflict.

• Blackbeard told Doc Q that he expected the World Government to grant him a Shichibukai seat in exchange for handing over Ace.
• Blackbeard brought food to Ace and urged him to join forces, but Ace mocked his claims about strength and called him a traitor.
• Blackbeard slammed Ace’s face against the deck and threatened to kill him, but Ace declared that Whitebeard would avenge him.
• Blackbeard revealed that he intended to trade Ace to the World Government, provoke Whitebeard into attacking Marineford, and profit from the resulting destruction.
• Ace understood that Blackbeard had counted on him pursuing his crew so he could use him as the bargaining chip that would set the war in motion.

Ace regretted ignoring Whitebeard, Marco, and Shanks as Blackbeard captured him and prepared to deliver him to the Marines. Roy watched from above, intending to use Blackbeard for his own plans, while the Marine handover ended with Sengoku silent on the Den Den Mushi.

• Ace trembled in his Seastone chains, apologized to Whitebeard and the others, and begged them not to come for him.
• Blackbeard told Ace that his capture, Whitebeard’s death, and his own rise to power were fate, then left him in darkness.
• Roy listened from a platform above the clouds and planned to capture Blackbeard after he delivered Ace to the Marines.
• Blackbeard brought the unconscious Ace to a Marine branch port, where Rear Admiral Gasparde confirmed Ace’s identity and ordered him taken to a Seastone cell.
• Gasparde contacted Sengoku to report that Ace’s handover was complete and that Blackbeard awaited his appointment, but Sengoku remained silent for several seconds.

Blackbeard received his Shichibukai appointment and sailed toward Impel Down to recruit prisoners, while Roy secretly followed him. Roy stopped Blackbeard's ship in the open sea and appeared before the crew.

• Sengoku approved Blackbeard's appointment as a Shichibukai, and Gasparde handed him the letter while warning that Marine Headquarters would revoke it if he crossed the line.
• Blackbeard left the Marine Base and announced that he would enter Impel Down to recruit prisoners from its sixth underground level.
• Blackbeard revealed his ambition to surpass Whitebeard, Kaido, Red Hair, and Roy, while Roy followed his ship under cover of Telekinesis: Barrier.
• After confirming that no witnesses or Marine ships were nearby, Roy used Telekinesis to stop Blackbeard's ship in the open sea.
• Roy descended from the clouds and hovered before Blackbeard and his crew.

Roy confronted Blackbeard at sea and overwhelmed him, killing two of his subordinates while sparing Doc Q. He cornered Blackbeard and announced that he wanted to investigate the secret of his body, leaving Blackbeard trapped and terrified.

• Blackbeard recognized Roy, panicked, and attacked him with the Dark-Dark Fruit’s Dark Water, but Roy’s Telekinesis: Barrier stopped the darkness.
• Roy unleashed his Conqueror’s Haki, knocking out Doc Q and two other subordinates, then killed the two unconscious men with Telekinesis blades.
• Roy descended onto the deck and approached Blackbeard, who realized he could neither fight nor escape.
• Roy told Blackbeard he wanted to discuss the secret of his body and reached toward him, calling the encounter a little experiment.

Roy defeated Blackbeard after testing how the Dark-Dark Fruit blocked his Devil Fruit powers, then carried the unconscious pirate back toward Hachinosu. Blackbeard's ship and its remaining traces vanished beneath the sea.

• Blackbeard begged Roy for mercy and offered to join Hachinosu and help defeat the Whitebeard Pirates, but Roy revealed that Blackbeard had been Hachinosu's prey from the start.
• Blackbeard grabbed Roy and used the Dark-Dark Fruit to seal off his Devil Fruit powers, then punched him in the face.
• Roy discovered the darkness only blocked Fruit powers, leaving physical strength and Haki unaffected, and forced Blackbeard to release his wrist.
• Roy struck Blackbeard with a Telekinesis shock wave that crushed his consciousness and left him unconscious.
• Roy flew toward Hachinosu carrying Blackbeard and controlling Doc Q, then used his power to make the abandoned ship disappear beneath the calm sea.

Roy had Dr. Gracia examine the captured Blackbeard to discover how his body could hold multiple Devil Fruit powers. Gracia found that Blackbeard had three hearts, unusual mixed-blood genes, and a physique that required no sleep, while Blackbeard lay restrained and watched his secrets exposed.

• Roy brought the unconscious Blackbeard to Gracia's laboratory and ordered an investigation into his special physique.
• Blackbeard awoke restrained by Seastone chains as Gracia drew his blood and ran tests.
• Gracia found that Blackbeard's cells were unusually active, that he had three hearts, and that his genes contained segments from three different organisms.
• Gracia explained that Blackbeard's unusual body allowed multiple Devil Fruit powers to coexist and might let him recover without sleeping.
• Roy connected Blackbeard's lack of sleep to how he had secretly spent over twenty years aboard Whitebeard's ship.

Roy confirmed that Blackbeard’s unusual genetics and three hearts allowed him to contain multiple Devil Fruits, then killed him and recreated the Dark-Dark Fruit. With Blackbeard’s physique research underway and Hachinosu holding the Soul-Soul Fruit, the Dark-Dark Fruit, and Roy’s Telekinesis Fruit, Roy prepared to take on Imu as a great war approached.

• Gracia explained that Blackbeard’s genetic structure and three hearts could be replicated to let others wield multiple Devil Fruits, and Roy decided Blackbeard was no longer useful.
• Roy killed Marshall D. Teach with a strike of Armament Haki to the forehead.
• Roy used telekinesis to recreate the Dark-Dark Fruit from an apple and sealed it in a seastone box.
• Roy ordered Gracia to replicate Blackbeard’s physique and placed the Dark-Dark Fruit beside the Soul-Soul Fruit in Hachinosu’s vault.
• Roy declared that he was ready to take the final step against Imu and reviewed plans for the coming great war as Hachinosu’s officers returned from Alabasta.

Roy gathered Hachinosu’s fighters to announce Blackbeard’s death and reveal that his three-heart constitution could let them wield multiple Devil Fruits. He then told them Ace had been captured and would be publicly executed in a month, setting up a conflict with Whitebeard.

• Roy announced that he had killed Blackbeard and kept the Dark-Dark Fruit for Dr. Gracia’s research.
• Roy revealed that Blackbeard had three hearts, and Dr. Gracia was trying to replicate his constitution so Hachinosu’s fighters could each eat two additional Devil Fruits.
• Roy ordered the fighters to capture Devil Fruit users whose powers they wanted, while Bullet and Tesoro discussed fruits they hoped to obtain.
• Roy said he still wanted Golden Lion’s awakened ability and would capture him if he refused to cooperate.
• Roy announced that the Marines had captured Ace and scheduled his public execution for one month later, which Tesoro called a declaration of war against Whitebeard.

Roy planned for Hachinosu to join the coming Paramount War, targeting Marine officers while staying out of the main fight between the Marines and Whitebeard. He also revealed to Crocodile that he intended to offer some of Whitebeard’s crews a place to go if Whitebeard died, though he had not decided whether to take them all in.

• Roy announced that Hachinosu would join the Paramount War and target the Marines’ middle- and upper-ranking fighters rather than aid either side directly.
• Roy ordered Moria to challenge Luffy after he came down from Sky Island and assigned Redfield to defend Hachinosu while Bonney stayed behind.
• Roy told his allies to prepare to seize territory after the war and instructed Kuina to support Kuma from the rear rather than fight on the front lines.
• Lucci asked to test himself against an Admiral, and Roy agreed on the condition that Lucci did not fight to the death.
• Crocodile confronted Roy about his plans for Whitebeard, and Roy explained that he wanted to give some of Whitebeard’s crews a place to go if their captain died.

One month before Ace’s public execution, Roy prepared for the coming war and offered places in his crew to Whitebeard’s commanders, while the Marines announced the execution and ordered maximum readiness. Whitebeard set sail to rescue Ace, and Rouge sought Garp’s help but learned he could do nothing.

• Roy told Crocodile he would welcome Marco, Jozu, and Vista at Hachinosu, explaining that he wanted to preserve Whitebeard’s crew after Whitebeard’s death.
• Sengoku signed the order scheduling Ace’s public execution in Marineford one month later and put the Marines on maximum combat readiness.
• News of Ace’s capture and parentage spread worldwide, prompting reactions from people including Vivi and Cobra in Alabasta.
• Whitebeard gathered his commanders and ordered the fleet to set sail for Marineford to bring Ace home.
• Rouge saw Ace’s photograph in the newspaper, called Garp for help, and heard him say he could do nothing.

As the world prepared for Ace’s execution, Roy reassured Rouge and directed several Shichibukai to obey the Marine summons for now. Garp accepted his duty despite his anguish, while Roy and the Red Count discussed how Hachinosu would exploit the coming war and whether it could spiral out of control.

• Rouge called Roy about Ace, and Roy promised he would save him with help from the Whitebeard Pirates and other New World pirates; Shanks told Rouge he was already on his way.
• Hancock, Moria, and Jinbe received Marine summons and called Roy, who told each of them to comply for now and wait for further instructions at Marineford.
• Garp struggled with the news of Ace’s execution, but told Sengoku he would fulfill his duty as a Marine Vice Admiral and went to train.
• Roy studied the factions moving toward Marineford and told the Red Count that Hachinosu intended to make the Marines pay the greatest possible price.
• The Red Count warned Roy that the war might spiral beyond anyone’s control.

Roy monitored the Straw Hat Pirates’ journey from Sky Island to Water 7 and the Florian Triangle while preparing for the coming Paramount War. After Luffy’s crew defeated Moria under Roy’s arranged conditions, Roy told Moria to stand by as the war approached.

• Roy told Redfield that he had spent ten years preparing to control the reshuffling of power before the forces of the sea converged on Marineford in a month.
• Roy read Robin’s report that Luffy’s crew had reached Sky Island, defeated Nola, and exchanged their gold for Beli in Water 7.
• Cipher Pol agents targeted Franky over the Pluton Blueprints, but Zoro and Sanji drove them off, and Franky joined the crew after completing the Thousand Sunny.
• Roy instructed Robin to stay out of the fight as Moria attacked the Straw Hat Pirates in the Florian Triangle, and Robin followed his orders while the crew fought through the zombie army.
• Luffy defeated Moria after Moria began holding back, and Roy told the battered Moria to stand by because the Paramount War was about to begin.