Summary:
The chapter begins with the Straw Hats arguing in the palace. They successfully defeat and tie up Neptune, the Minister of the Right, the Minister of the Left, and all the palace guards, and argue about why things went wrong so quickly. During the argument, they realize that Luffy is nowhere to be seen. Nami goes to one of the bound guards and asks them not to be mean since they are in a hurry and to tell her something. Usopp asks him where Luffy is, but Nami asks him where the treasure room is, much to Usopp’s annoyance. Nami asks why Usopp is mad at her while trying to look innocent. Usopp yells at her to be a little discreet. Brook tries to cheer everyone up by starting to sing, but Usopp quickly tells him to shut up. The Minister of the Right asks Neptune if he is alright. The king replies that he is unfit to fight since he strained his back, realizing that he has grown old. He then apologizes for not being ready. The Minister of the Right then shouts at the Straw Hats that they won’t get off easily after the return of the princes. He then says that the castle was supposed to fill with water so the pirates wouldn’t stand a chance in battle, but unfortunately it was drained. The Straw Hats agree that they can no longer stay on Fish-Man Island. Zoro asks where the Thousand Sunny is, that they should get everyone on board and leave now. Usopp points out that the coating was taken off the ship when they went through the bubble, and Nami says that Log Pose is acting strange and has yet to lock herself on another island. The minister of the left then tells them that with such a simple Log Pose, they could never get to the New World. Nami asks him what he means and the Minister of the Left tells her that he would explain further if she untied him. Before she could answer him, a loud bell rang. The minister of the right realizes that it must be the princes.
The scene changes to outside a giant bubble containing the palace. The princes wait on their gondolas for the gate to open and find it strange that there are no guards. A voice comes over the intercom asking who it is, another voice tells us not to answer. Other voices call for help to the princes while another voice tells them to be quiet. Ryuboshi realizes that something must have happened in the palace. Manboshi agrees and wonders if their father and sister are okay. Fukaboshi tells the voice on the other end of the intercom who he is and asks him to go down to the connecting corridor and open the main gate and the royal gate to the palace. Zoro, using the Den Den Mushi to talk to the princes, asks what would happen if they did and he says sorry because he couldn’t let them in. Usopp can’t believe what Zoro is saying and yells at him to say it. truth.
Pappag asks that he and Camie be tied up with everyone else so they don’t look like accomplices. Camie tells Zoro that she is scared. Fukaboshi asks which straw hat he is talking to. Neptune yells at his son for being “Pirate Hunter” Zori, causing Zoro to angrily correct him. Zoro tells the princes that they have a lot of hostages on their side, including Neptune, and if they cared about the lives of the hostages, they would arrange for the Straw Hats to leave quickly. He also asked them to gather the remaining crew members: a dark girl (Robin), a robot (Franky), a raccoon (Chopper), and a twisted goblin (Sanji). Nami tells him to ask for one billion bellies as well, causing Usopp to yell at her to stop. Brook laughs at Sanji being called a perverted goblin and says it hit his funny bone (another bone joke).
Fukaboshi goes over the basics of requirements. They make all the Straw Hats leave as quickly as possible and the Straw Hats will not harm the hostages. One of his brothers objects, but Fukaboshi says they have no choice as the corridor is the only way into the palace as the layers of bubbles surrounding the palace make any other form of entry impossible. Fukaboshi asks Zoro if he could tell him something. He didn’t want to tell the pirates under such embarrassing circumstances, but he had a duty to Jinbe. He said he had two messages given to him directly by Jinbe to be given to the pirates upon their arrival. The hostages whisper Jinbe’s name among themselves in surprise. Usopp remembers Luffy saying he was friends with Jinbe. Pappag adds that even though he is a pirate, he is highly trusted on the island. Zoro tells Fukaboshi that Luffy isn’t with them, but gives him the messages. The messages are “Don’t Fight the Feast” and “I’m Waiting in the Sea Forest”. Zoro looked confused by the news.
In Coral Hill, people gather and talk about how the Straw Hats actually took over the Ryugu Palace. Someone wondered what they were planning to do. One mermaid can’t believe it because she thought they looked like nice people. Nika asked how they could do such a thing. One man said that they must be the ones to abduct the mermaids, and surely they must be the ones who appeared in Madame Shyarly’s vision, and that it was happening just as she had predicted. Someone says the two of them are in the back of the Mermaid Cafe and the police squad has just gone to arrest them. Just then, an explosion is heard from the back of the cafe.
Chopper fights several guards using a new technique: Kung Fu Point. Chopper, now much wider as a result of his transformation, tells the guards to move and not disturb Sanji as he is still recovering. He then questions what the guards meant by asking him to come to Ryugu Palace and if they were really there to arrest him and Sanji. Sanji walks through the rubble and says hello. Chopper tells him he can’t move yet. Sanji asks one of the guards if the mermaid princess is in Ryugu Palace. The guard says yes, but asks why Sanji wants to know. Sanji then stated that he was going to the palace even if it killed him. Chopper asked him if he understood that he would die instantly if the princess was beautiful.
Back at the palace, Luffy is talking to Shirahoshi. He tries to convince her to go out. He says he remembered he had somewhere to go and that he would go crazy if he was locked in a room for ten years. He tells her that this would be his way of thanking her for the meal. Shirahoshi claims that it would be selfish and cause trouble for the people in the palace. Luffy interrupts and asks her where she wants to go. At first he hesitates to answer, but after a few seconds he answers that he wants to go to the Sea Forest. Then she goes back to thinking it would be selfish and it’s just a dream and starts crying. Luffy asks her why she was crying when she told him where she wanted to go. She apologizes and says she took too much courage. Luffy calls her a pain, hurting her again but quickly apologizes. He then hears a loud noise coming from the tower. Luffy comments on how loud it was. Luffy asked if something was being thrown at them again and said that Vander Decken was the problem.
Neptune also hears the sound and is concerned. He thinks it might be one of Decken’s weapons and it came from the tower. He asked if there were guards at her door. He is told no, because they are all bound to him. He then tells the Straw Hats to go make sure Shirahoshi is safe. Zoro wonders what the king is talking about. One of the guards objects, but Neptune tells him that some problems don’t come without sacrifices. Neptune tells them that the tower is in the northeast part of the palace. When Zoro questions why they should take orders from hostages, Neptune snaps at him, saying that Shirahoshi is his only daughter, and due to extenuating circumstances, he is targeting her life.
If anything happened to her while he was incapacitated, he would chase them to the end of the ocean. Brook realizes that the daughter he is talking about must be a mermaid princess. He says he’s rushing over to her and asks if it’s okay to ask to see her panties. The minister of the left then fears for the safety of the princess from Brooke. The Minister of the Right asks Brook to take him with him and leave him tied up. Shirahoshi’s tower is in the palace under his jurisdiction and he wouldn’t be able to take it if something happened to it. Brook throws it over his shoulder and asks the minister if he’s a fan too (referring to the princess’s knickers), to which the minister of the right replies not to be ridiculous. The Minister of the Left is furious as Brook jokes that he will go before Sanji.
The scene changes back to Luffy and Shirahoshi, who tells the pirate how she’s always wanted to go to the Sea Forest for ten years, but was warned that it was dangerous to leave the tower, which scared her into staying. She then asks Luffy if he will actually take her out and protect her, to which he says yes. Then she starts crying. Luffy tells her that if she cries, he won’t take her out and she will have to take him since he can’t swim. She apologizes and says she is so happy. Luffy calls her a crybaby and a weakling. Luffy then says that she is too big to go out normally, but that he has a plan to smuggle her out. As Brook and the Minister of the Right approached the tower, they saw what was making the noise. The minister was surprised that it wasn’t guns hitting the wall. The sound came from the human pirates hitting the outer wall of the tower. He calls it insane and inhuman, calling Vander Decken IX.
He then sees the pirates starting to get up. The minister is aware of the serious consequences of pirates entering the supposedly impenetrable palace. Then he realizes that this is supposed to be a surprise attack and that the king is in danger as well as the princess. In Shirahoshi’s room, Luffy thinks it’s safe to go since he can’t hear anything outside and tells Shirahoshi, calling her a weakling again. He tells Megalo that he is counting on him. Megalo breaks through the tower’s double doors, revealing the princess hidden in Megalo’s mouth with Luffy riding on top in a fluttering coating as they shout that they are going to the Sea Forest, and as a result take out several attacking pirates. The chapter ends with Brook and the Minister of the Right completely shocked to see Megalo and Luffy.