Adventure on the Archipelago of Dancing Soap Bubbles

Most of the crew heads out to take in the sights while Franky and Usopp stay behind on repairs and Sanji guards the ship at Nami's request. Zoro sets off solo, and although he plans to simply note his grove number and ask his way back, a drifting bubble causes him to misread it, mistaking Grove 41 for Grove 1. Elsewhere, Hatchan coaches the others on the World Nobles: he explains that they don their masks to keep from breathing the same air as commoners, that defying them is unthinkable, and that he and Camie must never be openly treated as a fish-man or mermaid given the strong Marines and bounty hunters stationed near Marine Headquarters. Luffy discovers he can slip inside a floating bubble, and a vendor offers a steering device that rents for 500 Berries or sells for 10,000.

Hatchan dissuades Luffy from buying the bubble gadget, noting the spheres burst once they leave Sabaody, though Camie adds that they work on Fish-Man Island as well. As the group races and browses the shops, Robin notices Camie has gone quiet and suspects a painful past tied to the place. Near Grove 31, Luffy spots a runaway slave begging for someone to cut off his collar, mentioning an infant son waiting at home. Hatchan recognizes him as an escapee, and the collar explodes the moment the man tries to pry it loose, while a figure wielding a broadaxe names him as the pirate Devil Dias. A small dog urinates on the fallen man, and Hatchan orders Luffy to kneel since Celestial Dragons trail behind their pet. Two World Nobles arrive, and the woman, repulsed by her now-useless slave, shoots him. Luffy is furious but Hatchan holds him back before he can act.

The cover continues the CP9's Independent Report, with Kumadori staging a solo kabuki performance for street tips to help fund Lucci's treatment. The Mermaid Princess is referenced for the first time, and the World Nobles, also called Celestial Dragons, make their debut. Pappag explains that harming a World Noble draws the wrath of a Marine admiral. As for their privilege, the Nobles trace their bloodline back eight centuries to the founding of the World Government by twenty kings, an ancestry they have steadily abused to act however they please, murder and slavery included.