Arriving at Halfway Through the Grand Line! The Red Line

At Mary Geoise, Sengoku presses Kuma over why he let the Straw Hats escape, while Garp shrugs it off, certain no one will believe Luffy's account of beating Moria. Far away, the crew reach the Red Line on the world's opposite side from where they first entered the Grand Line, marveling at how far they have traveled and how much remains ahead. Boredom soon breaks when the Thousand Sunny is caught in a sea-snake current, and the crew slash and blast their way through the writhing columns before riding a wave and firing a Coup de Burst to escape.

Hoping to scout a route down to Fish-Man Island, Luffy, Robin, and Brook take the Shark Submerge III below the surface, but the pressure climbs past safe limits and they find no path before being forced back up. A massive Sea Rabbit lunges at the submarine and tries to swallow it. Luffy answers with a Gum-Gum Rifle, and the creature is knocked back, coughing up a mermaid named Camie and her talking starfish, Pappag. Camie lands squarely on the lovestruck Sanji, leaving the crew stunned to have a mermaid suddenly aboard their ship.

This episode launches the Sabaody Archipelago Arc and marks the anime debut of both Camie and Pappag. Several crew flashbacks color the journey, including Brook recalling the fifty years it took him to reach the Red Line, Franky remembering his entry through Reverse Mountain, and Robin recalling her own crossing from the West Blue. The chapter source is drawn from chapter 490.