Chapter 157

Worn down by days of going without, the crew at last nears the desert nation. Before they put in, they tie a token of friendship around each arm as a safeguard against Mr. 2's mimicry. Inside a restaurant at the Arabasta port of Nanohana, onlookers gather around a man who has dozed off mid-meal. He turns out to be Portgas D. Ace, the second division commander serving under Whitebeard. That fact is voiced by Smoker, a familiar adversary who has also come to town chasing the Straw Hats. Ace, meanwhile, is on the trail of his younger brother.

Smoker lands in Arabasta on the crew's heels. The Whitebeard Pirates earn their first mention here, and Ace is established as their second division commander, the tattoo across his back standing as a tribute to Whitebeard's emblem. Usopp spins one of his tall tales, boasting of clashes with sea monsters out on the Calm Belt.

The cover continues the Jango's Dance Paradise serial, volume 24, titled The Hostage Girl, in which the Tulip Pirates seize a female civilian to Fullbody's dismay. Set in the Arabasta arc, the chapter plants two looming pressures on the crew at once: a determined Marine pursuer and a powerful pirate searching for the very captain those Marines want.