Summary:
At Foosha Village and an unnamed island in the New World, Makino and Shanks each remember Luffy’s experiences with Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates 12 years ago when they read a newspaper story about Luffy’s invasion of Totto Land. In Ryugu Kingdom, Neptune and his family read the news as they prepare to travel to Levela and decide to place Fish-Man Island under Luffy’s protection.
On the Thousand Sunny, Luffy discovers a Raid Suit canister secretly given to him and Sanji by Niji, but Sanji refuses to use it. Carrot then shows the crew a newspaper, where they find that Luffy and Sanji’s rewards have increased, preventing Luffy from being considered the Fifth Sea Emperor.
As Shanks gazes out to the ocean, newspaper in hand, he reminisces about his time at East Blue 12 years ago. Seven-year-old Luffy, who wanted to be a pirate and join Shanks’ crew despite his inability to swim, tried to prove his toughness by stabbing him under the eye. Afterwards, Luffy continued to try to convince Shanks to let him board while the Red Hair Pirates were drinking at the Partys Bar. A group of mountain bandits led by Higuma then came and demanded alcohol, but Makino informed them that it was gone because the pirates had drunk it all. Higuma responded by hitting Shanks over the head with a bottle, and Shanks did nothing but apologize for the mess and clean up. After humiliating Shanks even more, Higuma and his group left. Luffy got mad at Shanks for not fighting back and started eating the fruit he found in the chest. When Shanks saw this, he panicked and revealed that Luffy had eaten the Gomu Gomu no Mi, a Devil Fruit that left him unable to swim at all. Shanks tried to shake Luffy to force the fruit out, only for Luffy’s body to stretch as the fruit’s powers began to take effect.
Later, Makino alerts Mayor Woop Slapa that Luffy is being attacked by Higum’s group. They were unable to stop the mountain bandits when Higuma was about to kill Luffy, but Shanks then arrived and greeted them. One of the bandits threatened Shanks with his pistol, but Lucky Roux shot him dead. Benn Beckman then went on the attack and quickly eliminated all of Higum’s men. Cornered, Higuma responded by releasing a smoke ball, allowing him to escape with Luffy in tow. Higuma took Luffy to the sea and threw him into the water to drown, but was then eaten by the Coast Lord. The Lord of the Coast tried to eat Luffy as well, but Luffy was saved by Shanks. Shanks scared the Sea King away, but Luffy was upset that he lost an arm in the process of saving him. Some time later, the Red-Haired Pirates were about to set sail, and Luffy decided to stay behind and create his own crew to surpass Shanks in the future. Shanks decided to give Luffy his straw hat and told him to return it when he overpowered him and Luffy watched with the citizens of Foosha Village as the Red Haired Pirates left. Ten years later, Luffy took to the seas on his own and used the Gomu Gomu no Pistol to take down the Lord of the Coast. In the present, Makino is with her young son when Woop Slap approaches her and she asks if he saw the paper.
As the Thousand Sunny sails, Luffy wakes up and a Raid Suit canister falls out of his pocket. Chopper reveals that the Germa 66 members are using them to transform, and he and Luffy beg Sanji to try. Sanji refuses, wanting no part of his family’s technology. Luffy and Chopper try unsuccessfully to activate the canister and plead with Sanji again. He expresses his distaste for such scientific devices, and Nami wonders if he feels the same way about her Clima-Tact. Zeus then emerges from her and Sanji gets mad at the cloud homie for being Nami’s servant. Carrot then gets the newspaper and goes down to show the crew. He doesn’t see any updates on Jinbe, but finds out that Luffy and Sanji have received new rewards. Sanji is happy that his bounty is now greater than Zoro’s and that he is once again wanted dead or alive, but becomes depressed when he sees that the name on his bounty poster is now “Vinsmoke Sanji”. Luffy is also horrified by what his new reward is.
It is revealed that due to Luffy’s newfound command of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, as well as his supposed leadership of the invasion of Totto Land, he is now considered the Fifth Sea Emperor. On Fish-Man Island, the members of the Ryugu Kingdom discuss the news as they prepare to travel to Levela. With the Sun Pirates becoming enemies of Big Mom, King Neptune decided that Fish-Man Island would now be placed under the protection of the Straw Hats. Princess Shirahoshi then approaches her father and brothers, intending to join them on the Levels. At Marine HQ, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki doesn’t care too much about Luffy’s new title, as he has no intention of the Marines allowing the pirates to gain ground. Meanwhile, back on Shanks Island, he reads the news and smiles.