Mammoth Base Opera Castle

Will Vice Admiral Garp die?

Are we witnessing the galaxy expanding beginning of the end of our favorite fisting Navy officer? Well, I doubt anyone other than Kuzan or Blackbeard himself is powerful enough to take him down. So, unless Kuzan’s on Fullalead (Blackbeard’s still fighting Law, I assume.), Monkey D. Garp’s not dying today.

Also, Garp’s the Leader of Sword, right? It can’t be anyone else I suppose. Sure, let’s go with that.

Wowser! That was harsh, but deserved.

This chapter was so insane I need to post two chapter soundtracks. One for Captain Kid fans, and one for Emperor Shanks fans.

You tried, Eustass Kid. Here, have a cookie. Oh? You’re not well enough to eat solid food? Bummer. But, just think of the character development you’re gonna get from this lesson. Ever since you showed up, you’ve been a pompous ass thinking you could beat anyone who came across your path. You helped defeat Big Mom and thought you could take an Emperor solo, huh? Well, it’s okay. What’s important now is where you go from here.

And I’m not talking about Elbaph (Even though that’s where you’ll have to go given your ship is destroyed). What I mean is are you gonna serve Emperor Shanks from now on? You lost your Road Poneglyphs. What else can you do expect ask Luffy for a copy of his Poneglphs when he enviably arrives at Elbaph too? Nah! That won’t happen, I think. But whatever you decided to do from here on out, one thing is clear: You’re no longer in the running to become Pirate King. It’s now down to Luffy, Blackbeard, Shanks, and Law. And I’m being reeeal generous adding Law to the list.

You no-good bikini bottom bastard!

A greedy, apathetic doctor who doesn’t care about anyone but themself? Impossible! Well, not today because we now know which Dr. Vegapunk is the traitor: York The Greedy. She wants to become a Celestial Dragon. Hmm… I guess that makes sense with her being “greedy” and all. Honesty, it doesn’t really matter who the traitor was, as long as it moves the story forward. Props to Oda for not dragging the mystery out too long. Just long enough for us to learn the truth along with OG Dr. Vegapunk.

I don’t think the mystery itself matters much anyway. It was simply a tool to breakup our heroic cast of characters and give reason to why the World Government’s now Vegapunk’s enemy. The real fun comes from what York has in store for everyone. What? You think her whole plan is just turning the Seraphim on her fellow Vegapunks? Nah! Her goal is to keep all the other Vegapunks on Egghead Island until the Navy shows up. Everything from the Seraphim, to shutting down the dome barrier, to kidnapping Vegapunk Stella is to ensure that happens. Did she secretly complete more Seraphim in case she needed them? Can she override the Mk. III Pacifistas? There’s so much bullsh*t York can throw at Team Luffy I’m excited to know what’s next.

Welcome to the part of the arc where folks start “dying”.

Ghostface shot Shaka! Well, maybe not Ghostface but someone blew his brains out. I wonder if he’s really dead? It’s possible granted we’ve got more than enough Vegapunks still alive. But wouldn’t it be strange for Shaka to get 360 no scoped without us knowing what his face looks like under the helmet? That one reason is why I’ll say he’s 99% dead, not 100%.

Kid says the darndest things.

Captain Kid really thinks he can beat Red-Hair Shanks. Guess it makes sense given he’s fresh off his win against Big Mom. Shonen rules are in full effect. If Luffy gets stronger after every big fight, then so does Kid. Problem is if he and his Kid Pirates crew are strong enough to take down The Red-Haired Pirates AND the Giant Warrior Pirates, plus some other pirate crews loyal to Shanks. That’s one heck of a lop-sided battle. Makes me think something unexpected will happen. No way is this battle playing out in a straight-forward matter. Admirals? Blackbeard’s Titanic Captains who aren’t attacking Law? Rocks D. Xebec? Rihanna? There’s no telling who’s gonna show up at Elbaph!

Interesting tidbit about Benn Beckman cutting off Kid’s arm and not Shanks like I thought. Of course, Kid wouldn’t have been strong enough to even get to Shanks back then. I only wish it wasn’t Benn but the monkey, Monster, who stomped Kid back then. Oh, the disrespect that could’ve been.