Aggravated Island

A hush of disbelief grips the hall after Luffy hurls the knocked-out Charlos across a stretch of empty seating. Bystanders, Camie among them, stand frozen, while only Kid and Law smile at the sheer nerve of it. Luffy offers a quick apology, knowing full well that hitting a noble will summon an Admiral, yet Zoro admits he had been ready to throw the same punch. The remainder of the crew turns instead to springing Camie from her bowl. The two remaining Dragons, Rosward and Shalria, are aghast; Rosward reaches for a pistol, only for Sanji to boot it away and take down the guard at his side.

Fresh guards pour in to defend the mermaid, but Franky and Zoro dispatch them without trouble. While Rosward screams that he will call for an Admiral, the hall clears out around him. Zoro cuts Camie's tank open, and she voices her gratitude for the save. The Rosy Life Riders show up with extra crewmen, Disco scrambles to guard the slave he means to auction, and Usopp drops squarely onto Rosward's skull and floors him. Robin and Brook lend their hands against the guards.

When Luffy remarks that Marine forces are on their way, Law sets the record straight: the soldiers have already ringed the building. Enraged, Shalria wrenches Camie out of Disco's grip and threatens her life, then crumples to the floor without a sound. Silvers Rayleigh has at last broken into view beside his towering cellmate, offhandedly mentioning the gambling losses he managed to win back. Hatchan instantly knows him as both a friend and the coating engineer. Reading the danger taking shape, Rayleigh lets loose a baffling energy that knocks out almost everyone inside, leaving standing only the Heart Pirates, Kid Pirates, Straw Hats, and the people allied with them. He then singles out Luffy by the straw hat and tells him he had been wanting to make his acquaintance.

The color spread pictures the Straw Hats reveling in a mushroom realm next to three grasshoppers sawing away on violins, probably a wink at the Aesop tale of the ant and the grasshopper. Here Luffy and Law cross paths for the first time, as do the crew and Rayleigh. Rayleigh's mass knockout serves as an early, still-unnamed showing of Haki, later identified as the Conqueror's variety. The chapter aligns with anime Episode 397.