Chapter Summaries

Katakuri told Big Mom that Vic had overwhelmed the Big Mom Pirates, while a mysterious black-robed man had rescued them. Vic reported the attack to Marine headquarters and traveled toward Rebecca, whom he reached by evening.

• Katakuri called Big Mom and reported that Mora was dead and Vic had defeated the Big Mom Pirates.
• Katakuri explained that Vic had helped him master Future Sight before nearly killing him, but a black-robed man intervened and saved them.
• Big Mom said the black-robed man might be an old acquaintance and ordered Katakuri to return and tell her more.
• Vic called Marine headquarters, gave a brief account of the attack, and was told someone else would guard his base while he recuperated.
• Vic checked Rebecca's Vivre Card, rode the wind toward her, and arrived by evening.

Vic and his crew resumed their voyage after the Marines suppressed news of the clash with the Big Mom Pirates. As they approached the island where Shanks had been staying, Vic reflected on how the black-robed figure had exposed the gap in his strength and sought ways to accelerate his Haki training.

• Vic told Rebecca and the others about the recent events, and the Marines kept the clash with Big Mom out of the news except for Mora's death.
• Vic's crew returned to their routine voyage and training, with Rebecca beating Barnett while his Devil Fruit helped him recover.
• Barnett told Vic that they had reached the island where Shanks had been staying, and Vic decided they would dock there whether or not Shanks remained.
• Vic considered how intense pressure had rapidly improved his Armament Haki and wondered what powers could similarly strengthen his Observation Haki.
• Vic sensed people on the island with his Observation Haki and told Barnett that he would explain his current pressure once Barnett reached Vic's level.

Vic encouraged Barnett to believe he could eventually reach Admiral-level strength, then led Rebecca and the others to an island where Shanks and his crew were training. The Marines arrived without attacking, and Shanks calmly faced them as they appeared at his camp.

• Vic told Barnett that his talent and growth meant he could reach Vic's current level with time and training.
• Barnett took heart from Vic's reassurance, while Rebecca, Wendy, and the others listened with renewed confidence.
• Vic stopped the warship offshore and flew to the island with Ain, Rebecca, and the others.
• Vic scanned the island with Observation Haki and found it full of powerful beasts that Shanks's crew could use for training.
• A lookout reported the Marines' arrival to Shanks, then realized the figures behind him wore Marine justice coats.

Vic and Rebecca visited Shanks’s crew, where a tense greeting turned into a banquet and Vic explained his World Government assignment to recruit Shichibukai. He gave Shanks the contract and proposed sparring, leaving their business and potential match unresolved.

• Shanks greeted Vic with mock hostility before laughing, embracing him, and inviting him and Rebecca to the banquet.
• Vic and Shanks’s crews shared food and drinks, while Uta and Ain reunited and started chatting.
• Vic asked whether they would fight or discuss business, and Shanks said they could spar after the banquet.
• Vic explained that the World Government had assigned him to assess Shanks for the Shichibukai and handed him the contract.
• Vic said the proper procedure still required a fight, though his main goal was to test himself against Shanks.

Vic offered Shanks the Shichibukai position, but Shanks rejected it and refused to speak directly with the Five Elders. Vic contacted Saint Saturn instead and probed Shanks’s origins, concluding from Saturn’s response that Shanks was a Celestial Dragon.

• Shanks read the Shichibukai contract and returned it, rejecting the position because it clashed with his beliefs.
• Vic offered Shanks a special Den Den Mushi to speak with the Five Elders, but Shanks refused, so Vic called them himself.
• Saint Saturn answered and identified himself as the Five Elder in charge of the Shichibukai policy.
• Vic told Saturn that Shanks had refused and jokingly suggested killing him, while watching Shanks’s reaction.
• Saturn told Vic to leave Shanks alone, and Vic took his response as confirmation that Shanks was a Celestial Dragon.

After a feast, Vic and Shanks sparred on the island shore, opening with powerful sword attacks before clashing at close range. Their fight left Shanks on the defensive, while Vic recognized that Shanks’s speed exposed room for his own physical training to improve.

• Saturn accepted Shanks’s refusal without pursuing him, and Vic invited Shanks to feast before challenging him to a rematch.
• Shanks and Vic agreed to settle their spar in a few dozen moves, and the gathered Marines and Red Hair Pirates watched from a safe distance.
• Vic and Shanks opened with Divine Departure and Dragon Slayer, whose slashes collided evenly before they rushed into close combat.
• Vic used Ryuo to knock Shanks several meters back, and Shanks realized Vic had surpassed him in strength and speed.
• Vic used some of the Speed-Speed Fruit’s power to keep pace with Shanks and saw that improving his base speed would make him faster still.

Vic and Shanks fought at extreme speed, but Vic’s strength and two-sword style steadily wore Shanks down. The chapter ended with Vic breaking through Shanks’s Armament Haki and bringing a powerful Ryuo strike down on his chest.

• Vic revealed that his immense strength and stamina came from years of training, while Shanks praised how quickly he had improved.
• Shanks resumed the fight with a sudden slash, and Vic blocked it with both swords before charging back at him.
• Vic used Gryphon and Blood Wither together to batter Shanks with rapid attacks, while Shanks relied on Armament Haki to block each blow.
• The prolonged exchange drained Shanks’s stamina and Armament Haki more than Vic’s, as Vic’s Geppo and wind conception reduced his exertion.
• Vic knocked Gryphon aside and struck Shanks’s chest with a dense Ryuo attack that shattered its Armament Haki Hardening.

After Vic defeated Shanks in a spar, both men reflected on what they had gained from the fight. Vic asked Shanks to teach him Divine Departure, leaving their exchange poised to continue.

• Shanks conceded defeat after Vic's attack left him with internal injuries, and the Red Hair Pirates held back from rushing to help him.
• Shanks admitted the loss had changed his mindset and made him realize he needed to train harder.
• Vic explained that Shanks's speed had shown him there was still room to improve his own movement.
• Shanks offered Vic gold, treasure, or a Devil Fruit as compensation for the spar.
• Vic declined the Devil Fruit and asked Shanks to teach him Divine Departure.

Vic asked Shanks to teach him Divine Departure, and Shanks took him and the others to a volcanic hot spring on the island. While bathing, Vic noticed a mysterious tattoo across Shanks's back and learned Roger and Oden had put it there, leaving him suspicious that it held a secret.

• Shanks agreed to explain Divine Departure and led Vic and the others to a hot spring in the crater of the island's volcano.
• Shanks arranged a private bathing shelter for Rebecca and Wendy, who went to the hot spring with Ain and Uta.
• Vic said he was training to overcome Devil Fruit weaknesses and began undressing to bathe with Shanks.
• Vic noticed the strange red tattoo covering Shanks's back and asked what it was.
• Shanks told Vic that Roger and Oden had tattooed him, though he did not know what the markings meant.
• Vic considered the tattoo suspicious because Roger and Oden had reached Laugh Tale and uncovered the truth recorded in the Poneglyphs.

Vic investigated the tattoo on Shanks’s back and considered whether it recorded information from Laugh Tale, then exchanged combat insights with Shanks. After leaving the wild island, Vic ordered the warship to sail for Alabasta to find the Logia user who had fought Bullet to a draw.

• Vic questioned Shanks about his tattoo and learned Roger’s crew had given it to him after returning from Laugh Tale.
• Vic suspected the tattoo might preserve secrets about the world and resolved to memorize its design and investigate Oden’s logbook.
• Vic and Shanks discussed Divine Departure, Haki, and cultivation while the others listened.
• Vic memorized the tattoo, joined another banquet, and left the wild island with Shanks and the others.
• Vic returned to the warship, reassured the waiting crew, and ordered them to sail for Alabasta to seek the Logia user who had fought Bullet to a draw.

Vic learned that Fisher Tiger had attacked Mary Geoise and freed slaves, though the World Government falsely reported the incident as happening in Sabaody. As Fisher Tiger fled with rescued Fish-Men while others escaped or remained missing, Vic grew suspicious that the Marines were hiding the truth about the mission and the events at Mary Geoise.

• Vic explained why Crocodile was secretly searching Alabasta for information about Pluton without moving against the royal family.
• Vic called Garp to ask about recent events, and Garp returned to Marine Headquarters to demand an explanation after hearing about Vic’s mission.
• After half a month of searching the newspapers, Vic found a report claiming Fisher Tiger had injured a Celestial Dragon in Sabaody and freed slaves.
• Shakky and Rayleigh helped the Hancock sisters return to Amazon Lily, while Gild Tesoro entered Sabaody’s lawless zone and Koala hid aboard a ship.
• Fisher Tiger led rescued Fish-Men away from Fish-Man Island to avoid bringing trouble there, and Vic wondered why the Marines had not summoned him to support Mary Geoise.

After learning that the Celestial Dragons’ abuse of slaves had occurred despite his efforts to avoid it, Vic disappeared for a week and vented his fury by killing criminals and slave traders. He returned changed, then reached Alabasta and sent Rebecca to find Crocodile while he headed for the royal palace.

• The Five Elders secretly kept Vic out of the operation to capture Fisher Tiger because they feared he would gain credit for the capture.
• Vic read about the incident involving the Celestial Dragons and Fisher Tiger, burned the newspaper with his fury, and vanished from the warship.
• For a week, Vic traveled in disguise and killed underworld figures, pirates, and slave traders with wind blades.
• Vic returned to the warship and sat in silence until it reached Alabasta, while Rebecca and the others worried about him.
• Vic explained that Crocodile was hiding somewhere in Alabasta and told Rebecca to search for him alone while he went to the royal palace to see the Poneglyph.

Vic traveled through Alabasta toward Alubarna while Rebecca searched the island for Crocodile. After a week, Rebecca encountered Pell, who recognized her and asked about the pirate and Vic.

• Vic carried Ain inland and began a leisurely journey toward Alubarna while Rebecca stayed behind to search for Crocodile using Observation Haki.
• Rebecca gave food to the Kung Fu Dugongs, then flew inland on her sword to seek powerful auras.
• Vic stopped in towns and trained as he traveled, while Rebecca endured harsh nights in the desert and was swallowed by a giant lizard before cutting her way out and killing nearby beasts.
• After a week, Vic reached Alubarna, while Rebecca's repeated flights had drawn the attention of the Royal Guard and King Cobra.
• Pell confronted Rebecca in the air, and she identified herself as a Marine searching for a pirate but refused to reveal details.
• Pell asked whether Vice Admiral Dark Dragon had come to Alabasta and where he was, offering an invitation from King Cobra.

Vic and his companions went to Alubarna’s palace, where King Cobra welcomed the Marine Vice Admiral. Vic praised the Nefertari family’s rule, but Cobra mistook his words as a demand for money, leaving Vic unaware of the king’s suspicion.

• Rebecca told Pell to stop following her and headed off alone, while Pell flew toward Alubarna to report the pirates and meet Vic.
• Vic and his companions changed into Marine uniforms, drew attention on Alubarna’s streets, and walked to the palace.
• Vic waited at the palace gates until King Cobra came out to welcome him and invite him inside.
• Vic praised Alabasta’s rulers for sustaining their people despite the desert climate and Heavenly Tribute, and Cobra wrongly assumed Vic was seeking a bribe.
• Cobra led Vic and his companions through the palace while he and Igaram explained its buildings and history.

Vic learned that Alabasta’s falcon and jackal guardian deities were chosen from people who ate Devil Fruits reborn in the kingdom, then met Cobra, Chaka, and the young Princess Vivi. He asked Cobra to let his group stay at the palace while they searched for a pirate.

• Cobra explained that Pell and Chaka served as Alabasta’s guardian deities and that their Devil Fruits were reborn somewhere in the country after each user died.
• Vic asked whether the guardian deities had always protected the royal family, and Cobra confirmed that the kingdom searched for the reborn Devil Fruits and trained their users.
• Cobra introduced Princess Vivi and Chaka to Vic’s group, and Vic encouraged Ain to take Vivi away to play.
• Cobra discreetly asked whether Vic had come to collect the Heavenly Tribute, but Vic said he was searching for a vicious pirate hiding in Alabasta and requested a stay at the palace.

Vic and his Marines settled into the palace while searching for Crocodile, and Vic continued training his Armament Haki by letting his companions strike him. When Chaka tried the same exercise, Vic remained unmoved.

• Cobra agreed to provide Vic and his Marines with accommodations while they searched for the pirate, but Vic withheld details about Crocodile because of the Shichibukai’s involvement.
• Pell returned to the palace, learned that Vic and his group had arrived, and found them training in an open space behind the palace.
• Barnett struck Vic with Armament Haki to help him strengthen his own Haki, while Vic also gave Barnett training in return.
• After Barnett tired, Wendy and Frodeku took turns striking Vic with Iron Body Fist, and Chaka and Pell later asked to try the exercise themselves.
• Chaka punched Vic in the chest, but Vic did not move or change expression.

Vic and his companions demonstrated their strength to Chaka and Pell, winning the guardians’ respect and leaving Vivi astonished by Frodeku’s abilities. They settled into the royal palace, where their desert hunts supplied Cobra’s household with fresh meat.

• Chaka hurt his fist punching Vic, then persuaded Pell to take his turn; Pell injured his hand against Vic’s Tekkai as well.
• Vic redirected Chaka and Pell’s anger toward Frodeku, who dodged their attacks and quickly knocked them out of their Zoan forms.
• Chaka and Pell stopped underestimating Vic’s group, while Vivi watched Frodeku’s speed with amazement.
• Igaram called everyone to a lavish meal, and Vic asked Cobra to keep future meals simple before explaining that Rebecca was safely testing herself outside.
• Vic and his companions settled into the palace, and Barnett and the others hunted desert beasts whose meat fed Cobra’s household.

Vic entered Alabasta’s underground chamber and memorized the Ancient Script on the Poneglyph about Pluton, then endured a period of gloom before returning to training. When he sensed a distant clash between powerful fighters, he suspected Rebecca had finally found Crocodile and rushed to protect her.

• Vic searched the palace with Observation Haki, found the underground entrance, and later slipped inside to illuminate and memorize the Poneglyph’s Ancient Script.
• Vic learned that another year had passed and turned eighteen, while Rebecca remained away as she pursued Crocodile.
• Dwelling on the world’s cruelty and the approaching Reverie, Vic grew gloomy, then resolved to keep training and survive to fight for the future.
• Vivi grew close to Ain, while Chaka and Pell watched Vic’s demanding training.
• Vic sensed the aftermath of a distant battle during Haki training with Barnett, guessed Rebecca had found Crocodile, and rushed off to protect her.

Vic sensed Rebecca fighting Crocodile and arrived nearby to watch without interrupting, while Rebecca and Crocodile traded blows without either gaining an advantage. The chapter ended with Rebecca’s punch passing through Crocodile’s chest as his body turned to sand.

• Vic vanished from the palace, and Barnett told Pell, Chaka, Wendy, and Frodeku to wait and trust him.
• Vic reached the area near Rainbase and watched Rebecca confront Crocodile in the desert.
• Rebecca blamed Crocodile for the hardships of her month-long search and threw off her covering robe to fight seriously.
• Rebecca and Crocodile exchanged powerful blows and matched each other’s strength.
• Rebecca used Soru to strike Crocodile in the chest, but his body scattered into sand through passive elemental transformation.

Rebecca fought Crocodile in Alabasta, revealing that she was a Marine Headquarters Colonel and using Armament Haki to hurt him. The battle continued as Crocodile relied on his Sand-Sand Fruit to evade her Haki-clad attacks, leaving neither fighter able to gain the upper hand.

• Rebecca struck Crocodile with an Armament Haki-coated punch, sending him flying and making him cough up blood.
• Rebecca identified herself as a Marine Headquarters Colonel who had come to Alabasta to find Crocodile, and he realized Dark Dragon was also there.
• Crocodile attacked Rebecca with Sables, but she cut the sandstorm apart with Aizen and followed with Flying Slashes.
• Crocodile used his Logia powers to recover from Rebecca’s unimbued slashes, while she began coating Aizen with Haki.
• Rebecca and Crocodile traded attacks and evasions without either hurting the other, and Rebecca abandoned Observation Haki to rely on her instincts.