Or, Shichibyekai if you prefer the Japanese name. In any case, it’s gone and with it a big hole in the Three Great Powers…for now.
Let’s save the replacement talk for later. There’s too much that happened in this chapter I want to discuss. Firstly, Sabo and Vivi. What went down? We know Im, the secret ruler of the World Government, has the Alabasta Princess on its radar. Did they follow through with an assassination attempt and blame it on Sabo? Is Sabo still alive? YES! I’m won’t even try drumming up tension with that one. No way is Oda off-paneling Sabo’s death. He’s alive, for now, but at the very least he’s in Marine custody.
Could the theorized assassination attempt be the news the World Government wanted taken out of the papers? Probably. I doubt the WG wanted info on Sabo’s status and the possible assassination attempt out in the open too soon. I’m sure they didn’t want to tip off Dragon and the other Revolutionaries this soon. But, the same could be said for them not wanting to tip off the Warlords. Ah, so much to cover up, and so little time.
So, what’s Blackbeard after now? It’s something the Marines are about to get or recently obtained. Could it be Pluton or Ploton’s plans that’s rumored to be hidden in Alabasta? Maybe. I got no clue what else it can be.
X Drake is still a Marine! Wow! Turnes out our “former” marine turned pirate is Captain of Sword, a top-secret special force within the Marines. Note, I said the Marines and NOT the World Government. Very interesting. By the way, Koby’s a member too! Who else could be part of Sword? Garp? Kuzan? Yeah, I said Kuzan. Or, did you really think someone like him would actually become a pirate? X Drake in the Animal Kingdom Pirates. Kuzan with the Blackbeard Pirates. I smell a pattern.
Drake’s feeding Koby all the info happening at Wano, including Big Mom and Kaido teaming up. That’s a huge problem the Marines are ill-equipped to handle at this point because they’re busy trying to round up the now-defunct Seven Warlords. Kings Cobra and Riku snitched on Sir Crocodile and Doflamingo’s involvement with messing with their kingdoms respectively and the Heads of State voted to oust the troublesome group. Good on them, but what’s gonna replace them? No way that vote could pass without an alternative in the works. Guess Vegapunk’s time to shine is drawing ever so closer. My guess: new and improved mass-produced cyborgs or Vegapunk’s built or recreated an ancient weapon. Either way, it’s bad news for pirates.
Awesome chapter! Worldbuilding chapters are some of the best in the series. The Marines going after all the Warlords at the same time is spreading their forces thin. Forces that may end up losing in the end. That’s bad news for the future. Again, Vegapunk better have a damn good replacement for the Warlords or the World Government has officially shot itself in the foot. Maybe that’s why CP0’s in Wano. Could they be tasked with acquiring the necessary amount of seastone needed for Vegapunk to finish his weapon(s)?
Or, maybe they’re just on vacation. I hear Wano’s lovey this time of year when the cherry blossoms are falling and you can barely notice the human rights violations. Happy travels!
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 