Chapter 638

Shirahoshi's pull nudges Noah a touch off the island, yet she knows she must reach open water or the bubble will burst. Sanji measures the launch and fires Luffy off with Armee de l'Air Rubber Shoot, overshooting just enough that Luffy splashes down beside the chain and seizes it. Down below, the plaza's people grip the chain to drag against the colossal ship, a gesture that touches Shirahoshi but merely annoys Hody, who scatters them with Yabusame.

Spotting the palace entrance still open, Shirahoshi shoves through a corridor and out into the sea. The vessel climbs, and Luffy bubbles himself at the last instant, though he loses the chain and drifts off, prompting Hody to gloat that a man who cannot breathe underwater will never command the ocean. Decken gives Shirahoshi one final offer, marriage in exchange for her life, flinging knives as she refuses again, only for the blades to be turned aside. Ryuboshi, Manboshi, and Hoe have come to guard their sister, swearing she will never wed him. They pass along their father's instruction that Noah must rest undamaged on the seafloor and send Shirahoshi toward the trenches. Meanwhile, Luffy rides on Fukaboshi's back, Hody draws his scythe blade Kirisame and races ahead to the deck, and the moment he boards he runs his trident through Decken, asking what becomes of the ship should its caster die.

Shirahoshi bolts from Noah toward the surface, drawing Luffy, the princes, Hoe, Decken, and Hody all beyond Fish-Man Island. Hody introduces Kirisame, a large scythe blade that fixes to his back. Noah, now tilting upright, hangs squarely above the island as it trails Shirahoshi upward. In a sudden reversal, Hody runs his ally Decken through with the trident.

The cover returns to Arabasta, where Koza now holds the post of environmental minister alongside Farafra, Erik, Toto, and Kappa. Shirahoshi's renewed rejection of Decken, repeating that he simply is not her type, echoes the very line that set off his earlier collapse, while the princes' arrival pays off the bond she shares with her brothers.