Chapter Summaries

Roy restored Whitebeard’s health and arranged for Crocodile, Moria, and Nico Robin to pursue missions that would place them near the future Straw Hat Pirates. He also learned that Ace had joined Whitebeard’s crew as in the original course of events, leaving Roy to wait for Blackbeard’s defection.

• Roy gave Whitebeard medicine and a ring, hoping a healthy Whitebeard would make Marine Headquarters pay more during the Paramount War; Whitebeard took the medicine and regained his strength.
• Roy ordered Crocodile and Moria to stage defections from Hachinosu, seek positions as Shichibukai, and later challenge Luffy while secretly helping him grow.
• Roy assigned Nico Robin to work with Crocodile in Alabasta and later join Luffy’s crew to record information about any Poneglyphs they found.
• Roy reviewed how Ace challenged Whitebeard, lost repeatedly, joined the Whitebeard Pirates, and became Second Division Commander.
• Roy concluded that Ace’s fate remained unchanged and that he only had to wait for Blackbeard to defect.

Roy monitored Luffy’s journey from Foosha Village to Alabasta while preparing to ensure Ace was captured by Blackbeard, a necessary step in his long-term plan. The chapter ended with Roy watching Rainbase as Ace approached Luffy’s group.

• Luffy set sail from Foosha Village and recruited Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper as his crew traveled into the Grand Line.
• Marshall D. Teach murdered Thatch, stole the Dark-Dark Fruit, and deserted the Whitebeard Pirates, prompting Ace to defy Whitebeard and pursue him alone.
• Roy left Hachinosu and secretly tracked Ace, worrying that his training had made Ace too strong for Blackbeard to defeat.
• Roy followed Ace to Alabasta and reached Rainbase ahead of him, where he sensed Luffy’s group and waited for the brothers’ paths to cross.

Roy met with Crocodile and Robin in Rainbase to discuss Baroque Works and the Straw Hat Pirates’ arrival in Alabasta. He told Robin that Luffy could find Laugh Tale, and she agreed to join the Straw Hat Pirates before Roy invited her to explore Rainbase.

• Roy silently appeared in Crocodile’s office beneath the Rainbase casino and greeted Crocodile and Robin.
• Crocodile showed Roy Baroque Works’ officer list, which included Mr. 1 through Mr. 5 and their partners.
• Roy told Crocodile to stage his confrontation with Luffy the next day and hold back so Luffy could grow stronger.
• Roy said Robin should join the Straw Hat Pirates because Luffy could find Laugh Tale, and Robin agreed to go with them.
• Roy invited Robin to walk around Rainbase and try the casino’s roast lamb.

Luffy raced into a tavern in Alabasta for food while Ace confronted Smoker and Tashigi over their plan to arrest his little brother. Luffy crashed into Smoker and sent all three men through the tavern wall.

• Luffy raced toward a tavern after emerging from the desert, driven by hunger.
• Smoker and Tashigi discussed Luffy's pirate record and Smoker vowed to capture him.
• Ace revealed that Luffy was his little brother and warned Smoker not to touch him.
• Smoker prepared to fight Ace, ordering Tashigi to stay back.
• Luffy burst through the tavern door and slammed into Smoker, sending Smoker and Ace crashing through a wall into the next-door warehouse.

Luffy caused extensive damage to a tavern while colliding with Smoker and Ace, then fled before Smoker could catch him. Ace paid for Luffy’s meal and the repairs, and caught up with him in the streets of Alabasta, where he scolded him.

• Luffy smashed through the tavern wall with Smoker and Ace, then ignored the wreckage and ate a huge amount of food.
• Smoker confronted Luffy, who recognized him from Loguetown, stuffed the remaining food into his mouth, and ran away.
• Ace paid the tavern owner for the food and wall repairs, explaining to Tashigi that he had done so because he was Luffy’s big brother.
• Luffy ran toward the town square, remembering that Nami had told him to meet the others there.
• Ace blocked Smoker with a wall of fire, caught up to Luffy, and hit him on the head while reminding him that he had paid for the meal and repairs.

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.