Chapter 278

Aboard Maxim, Enel senses the upheaval Conis is stirring on Angel Island. When Nami asks how Mantra functions, he explains that his Goro Goro no Mi lets him overhear conversations by reading their electrical signals, then states his intent to level Skypiea, leaving her trembling. He grows quiet on sensing yet another presence but keeps that to himself.

On Angel Island, the White Berets open fire to stop Conis. She drives her waver into Captain McKinley's face, slamming him against a building before leaping clear as the craft crashes into him. Her plea to the gathered civilians is rebuffed as the words of a criminal, and when a Beret moves on her she raises her Burn Bazooka in defense. She urges everyone to make for Cloud End and escape to the Blue Sea, exposing Enel's design to wipe out the country, but they refuse to believe her, and a child hurls a stone that splits her head, drawing blood before he realizes his act and apologizes. Conis lowers her weapon, and as the Berets close in she cries out that to her Enel is no god at all.

Remembering her father Pagaya's sacrifice, Conis kneels in silence, and the crowd, expecting divine wrath, is stunned when none comes. She reveals that a single Divine Squad soldier slipped out of Upper Yard to expose the plan, and that this man, like her own father, paid for it with his life, insisting the people must choose to save themselves rather than wait on a miracle. Meanwhile Luffy, Aisa, and Pierre rush toward the cave holding Maxim. Robin and the others wake heavily wounded as Luffy plants himself before the ship and demands to know what Enel did to his crew, the tyrant sneering back as both ready for battle.

Enel lays out how Mantra and his abilities let him track conversations across Skypiea. Conis openly warns Angel Island that Enel means to destroy it and declares she does not recognize him as a god. Luffy confronts the tyrant before Maxim, demanding answers about his crew as the two square off.

The cover advances "Ace's Great Blackbeard Search," in which a farmgirl named Moda happens upon Ace and drags him from the river before he can drown. The chapter was adapted in Episode 182, and the source treats Mantra as a form of Observation Haki. This installment falls within the Skypiea Arc.