Duval's Tragedy

The borrowed agony and weariness that Zoro took on for Luffy back at Thriller Bark starts to surface, leaving the captain in real discomfort. Still energetic, Brook presses his attack and links up with the swordsman; he spots Zoro suffering, but Zoro waves the worry off. Hatchan urges Zoro to stay sharp and blocks an incoming strike, briefly thrown by praise from Camie and Pappag, after which Zoro and Brook shield him in return. Aboard the ship, the remaining crewmates make quick work of their attackers, with Nami, Robin, Chopper, and Franky dispatching the Riders without trouble. Luffy then bolts into view fleeing poisoned harpoons, yelling for everyone on the dock to scatter as a masked figure and what he calls a "cow" bear down on him.

Erupting from the wreckage atop his bison Motobaro, Duval seethes at his crew's feeble effort and proclaims the long-awaited hour of vengeance has come against the man who cast him into hell: Sanji. His rage thickens his speech into a strange accent, confusing Sanji, who runs through the countless people he has angered over the years. Duval looses harpoons coated with scorpion venom, and when the strike threatens Nami and the others, Sanji's temper boils over. Luffy tells Zoro he has already seen the face behind the mask and pledges to expose it, hinting Zoro will know it too. With a single kick he sends the mask flying, baring a visage identical to the laughable likeness printed on Sanji's bounty notice. Unmoved by Duval's plea to have his old life restored, Sanji boots him squarely in the face.

The cover advances the CP9's Independent Report, with Blueno and Jabra finding other Cipher Pol units combing the ruins for them, since Spandam has apparently blamed the agency for the loss of Enies Lobby. In the main story, Luffy's recovery from Thriller Bark unravels as the suffering Zoro had absorbed returns to plague him, and Duval's true face is confirmed to be the exact likeness drawn on Sanji's bounty poster, which explains his bitter grudge.