Two Years Later

Aided by Hancock, Luffy departs Rusukaina. On Sabaody the locals swap talk of the past two years, of the Supernovas stirring the New World, and above all of the Straw Hats' rumored comeback, said to be blanketing the island with recruitment flyers ahead of a New World push. Brook, now a famed musician managed by the three Longarm men who once caged him, books a farewell run he bills as his greatest concert yet. Sanji lands on the beach thrilled to see real women once more and races off to hunt for Nami and Robin.

In a bar, a long-haired woman in a bikini top rebuffs the false Luffy twice over, stunning locals wary of his name. When the counterfeit Nami tries to strong-arm her, a stranger seated beside her looses plant creatures that snare the impostors. The woman embraces him, and the two prove to be Nami and a now-bulked-up Usopp, who dash off as a thundercloud fries the frauds, Nami crediting her fresh tech. Enraged, the false Luffy orders his gang to hunt the pair down and finish them off.

At Shakky's, Sanji learns Zoro and Franky arrived first and wait aboard the Sunny, with the rest trickling in after, and Rayleigh marvels that the crew reconverged unaided. A disguised Robin evades men sent to grab her and puzzles over the impostors' flyers. Chopper, following the impostor trio of Robin along with the false Zoro and Sanji, sees the counterfeit Robin seized by men who took her for the real one. Chaos erupts at the base standing on the old marine grounds when word of the crew's return spreads, and the government moves to gather a force against them. Back on Sabaody, the false Luffy guns down a couple he mistakes for Usopp and Nami; moments later a skinny figure in animal hide bumps him, apologizes, and turns to reveal the true Luffy.

Reunited with his hat, Luffy flatly says he has no plans to marry Hancock. Marguerite has become one of the Kuja Pirates. Tone Dials turn out to be a means of selling music, akin to cassettes. Headquarters has relocated far away, and the base branded G-1 now sits on the former site under Vice Admiral Momonga. A fresh crop of rookies has assembled at the archipelago, with the Caribou brothers among the first named, and the counterfeit crew debuts. Brook, it is shown, rose to worldwide fame as a soul artist who made his Longarm captors into managers.

This chapter begins the second half of the series, kicking off the Return to Sabaody storyline as well as the larger saga set around Fish-Man Island. Its color spread honors the opening chapter, with the crew standing in for the Red Hair Pirates. In the first printing Oda slipped twice, later correcting both: he placed Zoro's new scar on the wrong eye and dropped a letter from Monkey on the impostors' poster, and neither error made it into the anime.