The Secret Bond! Franky and Iceburg

Lucci, now unmasked, walks Iceburg through a careful chain of reasoning while Kaku monitors the mayor's pulse to test each claim. Their conclusion is that Iceburg's old companion Cutty Flam is none other than the cyborg Franky, and the quickening heartbeat confirms it. That means Franky is the one carrying the genuine schematics for the ancient weapon. Far from the building, Franky himself ambushes Usopp at the Going Merry, declaring he intends to seize both the boy and his ship. As the episode closes, Luffy, Zoro and the others smash their way into the chamber holding Iceburg and CP9.

Franky observes Usopp stubbornly patching the Merry, recalls the boy's drive to earn the repair money, and announces he will take him hostage with a storm rolling in. Inside Galley-La, Zoro mows down the protective shipwright mob with reversed blades and keeps getting lost, to Nami's exasperation. Luffy frees himself from his metal bindings, dazzling Paulie, then starts loosening Paulie's restraints too. Lucci explains the Cipher Pol structure, the supposedly nonexistent CP9, and the Government's new plan to claim the weapon rather than fear it. He then unspools his theory about the fake blueprints, Tom's Workers, and the surviving disciple Cutty Flam.

A flashback shows Iceburg secretly handing Franky the Pluton plans and urging him to bury the Cutty Flam name for both their safety. Kaku admits he never would have made the connection himself. A side scene follows Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbe wandering Water 7, with the drunkard joking she sobers up by drinking. The anime adds Franky's confrontation with Usopp and the Kokoro street walk, neither present in the manga. Zoro and Nami also receive their second eyecatchers in this installment, which belongs to the Water 7 storyline.