Curtain-up on a New Adventure - Arriving at the Phantom Island, Zou!

The episode begins with a flashback in which the sea king takes Shanks' arm, after which Shanks challenges the young Luffy to grow into a pirate and seek him out again someday. Bartolomeo then relates to his crew the story of how the Straw Hats first came together, every piece of it gathered from interviewing the members traveling with him. At Marine Headquarters, Admiral Kizaru listens to a briefing on Edward Weevil, a freshly appointed Warlord who claims to be Whitebeard's son and whom Kizaru rates nearly as strong as Whitebeard in his prime.

A week passes, and the Barto Club's ship drifts through heavy fog when a massive moving shadow looms ahead. Since the vivre card points straight toward what looks like a mountain, the crew steers for it. To their astonishment it is no mountain at all but a sky-piercing elephant named Zou, its back inhabited by the Mink Tribe, a people who detest humans. Bartolomeo's retelling spans the founding members and their origins across the East Blue and beyond, all sourced from his interviews, while the headquarters briefing presents Weevil as a new Warlord of the Sea and Whitebeard's self-proclaimed heir.

This opens the Zou Arc and is largely a flashback piece carried by Bartolomeo's narration. It conflicts with the manga, where, having no idea of any link to Luffy, Bartolomeo sets the Red Hair Pirates' flag alight. The adaptation also lists further defeated Whitebeard allies, naming Elmy, Ramba, Bizarre, Whitey Bay, Palms, and the Decalvan Brothers, whereas the manga noted only A O. Although Edward Weevil is set to be properly introduced next time, he is left out of the following episode's preview.