Summary:
Luffy again goes to Zoro to invite him to his crew and Zoro refuses. Luffy decides that if he can get Zoro’s swords back from Helmepp, he can get Zoro to join before returning them, so he rushes to retrieve them. Meanwhile, Morgan, the captain of the naval base, has his men lift his giant statue, which Luffy inadvertently destroys as he tries to retrieve the swords. Enraged, Morgan orders his men to capture Luffy so he can kill him.
Helmeppo is angry at Luffy for hitting him. Koby can barely contain Luffy and the townspeople are in awe of Luffy’s actions. Helmeppo is dragged away by two marines and claims that Luffy will die for hitting him. Rika is pulled away by Ririka, her mother, but Rika defends Luffy and Zoro as the right men. Luffy tells Koby that he will talk to Zoro again.
Back at the naval base, one of the marines reports to Morgan that the casualty rate from the townspeople is dropping. Morgan can’t accept that they are poor, he sees it as a sign that the townspeople don’t respect him. At that moment, Helmeppo bursts in and tells his father that he wants to kill someone.
Luffy comes to talk to Zoro about joining his crew. He makes a deal with Zoro, without his consent, that if he gets his swords, he must join his crew.
A statue of Morgan rises on the roof. Helmeppo still demands that Morgan kill Luffy; however, he is hit for giving Morgan the order. Morgan mentions that he heard a little girl sneak into the base earlier. He orders Lieutenant Junior Rokkaku to go find and kill her for disrespecting him. When the Marine refuses, he is hit. Morgan then claims that he will do it himself, and gives the order to lift the statue.
At ground level, while Luffy is trying to find a marine to retrieve Zoro’s swords, he hears someone on the roof. On the roof, Marine Recruit Ukkari knocks the statue against part of the building on the roof. Luffy launches himself onto the roof using “Gomu Gomu no Rocket”. As the marine is about to be punished for knocking down the statue, Luffy flies by and grabs some of the ropes on the statue because he took to the air too fast. To the horror of everyone there, the statue cracks.
Morgan suddenly delivers Luffy’s death sentence, and Helmeppo points out that Luffy was the one his father wanted to kill in the first place. Luffy then drags Helmepp into the base building to find Zoro’s swords while one of the marines spots Koby untying Zoro. Morgan becomes paranoid as he thinks the townspeople are turning against him. Koby reveals to Zoro his desire to become a marine who is righteous, as well as Luffy’s dream of becoming a pirate king. As Zoro shows surprise at Luffy’s ambitions, Koby is suddenly shot. This causes Zoro to glare menacingly at the roof of the naval base.