Chapter 698

Aboard the Thousand Sunny, headed for Dressrosa with allies and captive in tow, the Straw Hats absorb the scope of Luffy's ambition to bring down every Emperor. Law explains the opening move: cripple Kaidou's strength by wrecking the factory in Dressrosa that churns out Doflamingo's Smile fruits. Even with the threat of hundreds of artificial Zoan users and Kaidou himself, Kin'emon and his son insist on joining, since a comrade of theirs sits imprisoned on that very island.

Back on the frozen island, Smoker permits the G-5 men and Brownbeard to thaw their petrified allies. When a soldier wonders whether the headless bodies should be detained, the heads rocket back into place and Doflamingo descends in a fury. He pins Smoker down and demands the Straw Hats' heading; Smoker feigns ignorance and uses the name "Joker", exposing the alias. The Warlord smashes his face and moves to finish him, only for the former admiral Kuzan to step in.

The Marines learn Vegapunk's protective suits resist the toxic gas that Kaesar swore was useless, buying them time to free their comrades since the poison takes half a day to kill. Smoker lets Brownbeard go temporarily to rescue his crew. Doflamingo reaches Punk Hazard hunting Law and the Straw Hats, unleashing his Supreme King Haki, Armament Haki, and string powers on the soldiers before nearly killing Smoker. Kuzan, the silhouette teased earlier, arrives to defend his friend.

Law shares his full plan with the crew, revealing that Kaidou fields over five hundred Smile users despite the fruits' instability. He credits Kaesar with engineering SAD by applying the lineage factors Vegapunk uncovered. The fleet sets course to destroy the Smile factory. Sanji warns Law that his notion of an alliance and Luffy's are nothing alike.

The voyage features lighter beats: Luffy delights in a sea slope Law calls common, Franky shows Brook the Mini Merry II, and Usopp is glimpsed tuning Nami's Sorcery Clima-Tact. Kaesar berates the crew for goading Doflamingo and Kaidou and gets kicked quiet by Sanji. The cover advances the Caribou serial as the old woman sends him off to the harbor. Kuzan is confirmed as the figure whose outline appeared three chapters earlier.