Molehill 4th St.

Shaken by the blast near the southeastern gate, the two pirates get their first clear look at the dog responsible. Studded with gun parts across its frame, Lassoo coughs up a fresh exploding ball, and a single swat from Mr. 4's bat redirects it toward Usopp, who drops beneath it only to have it detonate just above his head. Steadying his dazed friend, Chopper points out that each ball is a timer-driven charge weighing as much as a cannon shot, which makes the batter's hitting strength flatly inhuman. The bat proves the point on its own, crashing through a wall under its own weight when leaned against it.

Storming in, Miss Merry Christmas scolds her partner for letting the pair live, then explains that Lassoo is a manufactured weapon that gained its powers through special technology capable of letting objects feed on Devil Fruits. Naming their patch of ground Molehill 4th St., she shifts partway into a mole and sinks into the earth.

With the soil now their playground, the agents fire curving bombs that Mr. 4 launches in midair, while Lassoo keeps surfacing to add more. Chopper shifts to Walk Point to haul Usopp clear of one blast, then to his hybrid shape to lash out at both enemies, but they slip back below ground before he can spend the seconds a transformation pill would cost. The moment the two resurface to hunt Chopper, Usopp climbs out of a burrow of his own and drives a five-ton hammer down onto the batter's skull, announcing himself as Captain Usopp, the Lord of Destruction.

It is established here that the Model Dachshund variant of the Inu Inu no Mi was consumed by the gun-dog Lassoo, and that Marine researchers worked out how to make lifeless objects swallow Devil Fruits. Usopp connects on Mr. 4 with what looks like a five-ton hammer. The cover advances Hatchan's Sea-Floor Stroll, in which Hatchan rescues a Panda Shark by pulling a stuck fishhook from its snout.