Chapter 437

On Scrap Island, the crowd of Water 7 residents covers their eyes and yells at Franky to put his underwear back on. He keeps refusing Luffy's terms, insisting a man can stand tall even stripped bare, until Robin uses her Hana Hana no Mi to clamp down on him and force the issue. Iceburg cuts through the bluster, reminding Franky of a childhood promise: that the dream ship would only become real once it braved the open sea, and that Franky himself would ride it as a shipwright. He tells Franky that Tom already forgave him, that the work he poured into the city was guilt dressed up as charity, and that the one person still withholding forgiveness is Franky himself.

Franky breaks down sobbing, the Franky Family begs him to claim the happiness he earned, and Zambai reminds him how much the crew owes him. Luffy senses that Robin's grip is not the real source of the tears. A flashback recalls how Zambai, the Square Sisters, and the rest first gathered around Franky to form the Franky Family. The deciding push comes when Zoro and Sanji sprint back warning that Vice Admiral Garp, Luffy's grandfather, is closing in. Luffy tosses Franky his underwear, and Franky, admitting the battered ship needs a true shipwright, accepts and joins the Straw Hat Pirates.

This chapter marks Franky's official entry into the crew and sets up the Straw Hats' imminent departure from Water 7 just as Garp prepares to strike. The cover continues the Enel's Great Space Operations serial, with Spacey weeping over his fallen comrades on the old lunar battlefield while Enel looks on.