A Ship Waiting for Wind

With Luffy and Lucci squared off at the first pillar of the Bridge of Hesitation, the surrounding warships radio in the duel and ring the structure with vessels. A Marine aboard marvels at the crew who toppled an institution that had stood unbroken for eight centuries. When the prop's wall collapses, the rest of the Straw Hats glimpse their captain still trading blows, and they shout encouragement down to him. Zoro frames the whole standoff as a test of stamina.

The fleet calls every officer ranked from Lieutenant Commander up to Captain to the front line, and the soldiers leap aboard the bridge to swarm the pirates. The clash exposes several Devil Fruit users among the attackers, one shrugging off Franky's blow by turning into spheres, another corroding Zoro's blade Yubashiri into rust. Robin, Nami, and the rest hold the line while Kokoro and Chimney loudly claim hostage status.

Lucci notes that Luffy's Gear 2 is fading and vows to chase Robin worldwide under Absolute Justice. Luffy answers that freeing her from exactly that pursuit is why they came. After a Jet Stamp misses, Lucci slips aside with Soru and lands Rokuogan, dropping Luffy motionless to the floor. Zoro arms himself with a borrowed cutlass and urges everyone to last until their captain rejoins them. From his perch, Sogeking removes the mask and calls out as a Marine bears down on the fallen Luffy.

The Marines mobilize their mid to upper officer ranks against the crew. Two new fruit users surface among them: Shu, eater of the Sabi Sabi no Mi, and Very Good, eater of the Beri Beri no Mi. Zoro's sword Yubashiri is ruined in the fighting. The color cover spread shows the crew relaxing at the Sky Pine, a cloud-top resort stocked with seagulls, leis, and pineapples.