Summary:
Luffy and Koby arrive at an island with a marine base where a man named Roronoa Zoro is imprisoned. Despite the fact that Zoro is considered a demon, Luffy insists on having him in his crew and goes to meet him. There, he and Koby encounter Rika, a young girl Zoro was protecting, causing him to be imprisoned.
At sea, Koby and Luffy discuss Luffy’s decision to recruit Zoro. Some time later, they arrive at the naval base where Zoro is being held. Luffy is surprised that they actually arrived, and Koby points out that it’s the basics of navigation. Koby points out that Luffy can’t just float on the sea and that they need to find a navigator soon. Luffy then says that they should go eat.
At the restaurant, when Koby and Luffy discuss the breakup, Luffy mentions Zoro’s name with shocking results from the other customers. When Koby mentions the name of the Marine in charge of the base, Morgan, the same effect occurs. In the street, Koby comments on the reactions of the villagers here in town, he understands why they reacted out of fear for Zoro because of his reputation, but not because of Morgan’s name.
At the Marine base, after Luffy climbs the wall to see Zoro, he climbs another part of the wall to get a better look at someone he saw at the base. Koby also climbs up, but falls down again out of fear after seeing Zoro. Zoro offers the two the bounty bearer’s head if they free him, as he will be without food for 9 days.
As they talk with Zoro, Rika suddenly appears next to them as she climbs the ladder and forces them to be quiet. Rika climbs the wall; Koby waves her back as she walks over to Zoro. She offers him some onigiri since he hasn’t eaten in days. Zoro refuses and tells her to leave.
Just then, Morgan’s son Helmeppo appears with some marines and starts taunting Zoro. Rice plucks out the rice balls and eats one of them. However, she soon spits it out because she made them out of sugar instead of salt. He knocks them to the ground and stomps on them, much to Koby’s surprise to see someone related to the Marines do such a cruel thing. She cries and laments how hard she worked to make them. Helmeppo then points out his father’s law, which states that anyone who helps a prisoner will also be found guilty of the crimes the prisoner committed. Helmeppo says that because she is a child, she will be left out. He then orders one of the marines to throw her over the wall. When she refuses, he reminds them who his father is, and the marine throws her over the wall, forcing Luffy to catch her. Helmeppo continues to taunt Zoro, but Zoro remains firm in his situation.
After Helmeppo is gone, Luffy talks to Zoro about joining his crew. Zoro states that he will not join a pirate crew and become a criminal because he has his own dream. After they talk, Zoro asks Luffy to give him the rice balls to eat despite their current state. He then tells Luffy to tell Rice that he ate them all and that they were delicious.
Later, Luffy explains to Rice how Zoro ate the rice balls and enjoyed them. Koby is surprised at how considerate Zoro has been, despite the reputation he has. He explains that Zoro is not a bad person and that he was arrested for killing Helmepp’s pet wolf, Soro, while defending her from him, as Soro was running around terrorizing the town at the time. As Rika finishes explaining the story, Helmeppo appears, boasting that he has fulfilled his promise to Zoro, and says that he plans to kill him in three days. Luffy punches him out of anger, and after Helmeppo escapes, Luffy decides to have Zoro join his crew.