Chapter 585

Oblivious to the approaching World Nobles, the boys keep training and grow stronger by the day. The land's layout comes into focus: past Gray Terminal lies the Great Gate in the wall around Goa, the kingdom that also quietly contains the half-forgotten Foosha Village. Goa is split by class into Edge Town near the dump, the middle-class Town Center, and the walled High Town where royalty and nobles dwell. Hailed as the loveliest country in the East Blue, it is nonetheless rigidly segregated.

Slipping past the wall during a trash dump, the trio pull a dine-and-dash in the Town Center, and a citizen recognizes Sabo and calls his name, which Sabo flatly denies hearing. Pressed by Ace and Luffy back in the forest, he confesses he is a runaway noble whose parents cared only for their status and made him feel like a burden, fueling his wish to sail free and write a book about his travels. Ace vows to become famous enough to prove his life has worth, Luffy declares a goal so startling it leaves the other two stunned, and Ace pours sake into three cups to seal them as brothers. They live wild and happy until Sabo's father, aided by the Bluejam Pirates, seizes all three. To spare Ace and Luffy a beating, Sabo reluctantly agrees to return home as the brothers beg him to stay.

Luffy performs an early, imperfect Gomu Gomu no Pistol as a child here, and has lost to Ace and Sabo fifty times each. Sabo is confirmed to be a noble's son. The three become sworn brothers, each sharing a life goal: Sabo to chronicle the world, Ace to prove his worth as a famous pirate, and Luffy's left unrevealed but apparently unbelievable. Sabo surrenders his freedom to protect the others. The cover shows Magellan and Hannyabal fishing on a dock as a Sea King watches.