Mammoth Base Opera Castle

Oda gets points for quickly showing how powerful Kid is by having him keep up with Luffy. Short and sweet.

Luffy and Kid are almost running the joint now. Time for the Warden, whoever he or she is, to make their debut. Vice Warden Dobon’s design is amazing. Oda’s having fun with the smile fruit designs. Also, I like Luffy and Kid’s rivalry. In a way, you can call Kid an Alternate Luffy, as in what would happen if Luffy was crueler and you’d get someone like Kid. A bit different than Blackbeard, the Anti-Luffy. If Kid is Luffy but meaner, Blackbeard is Luffy flipped. Still a pirate, but plays the long game and is already strong.

Wow! What a chapter!

Who would’ve thought Oda would throw in One Piece world current events between Wano’s acts? And, what surprises we learn.

First, Absalom is dead. Like, really dead. The type of dead that isn’t ambiguous. For someone to lose their devil fruit they have to die. Absalom is 100% dead. Let’s pour one out for the sexual assaulter. Hm, maybe not. Gecko Moria is back, but is he truly joining Team Blackbeard, or will he scamper off into the sunset? Well, considering the Warlord system might be kaput, he’s gonna need some allies. Even, if he’s an ex-Warlord. Gecko isn’t getting anything done on his own, he needs a crew. And, no, only having Perona won’t do much.

Ladies and gentlemen, Blackbeard makes his time skip debut. And, it’s glorious! The man loves a good party and at the same time, we see he’s keeping tabs on everyone important in the One Piece world. You can tell he’s taking a quick R&R before heading out to Wano to grab Kaido’s fruit in the final inning. Big hug to the folks thinking Shiryu was getting the diamond devil fruit. I’m not one of them, but I’m sure Oda will have some fun in the fated Shiryu VS Zoro fight. Cool appearance by Catarina Devon and her nine tails fruit and Pizarro and his lunch.

Buggy, Crocodile, Impel Down, Big Mom. Luffy’s been locked up more times than Martin Sheen.

Remember when Kaido got so angry we thought he’d kill Luffy and Law on sight? Amazing what a little time and a lot of alcohol can do. Luffy whips out some King’s haki and all of a sudden Kaido wants him on his team. I have a feeling everyone strong working from Kaido got their ass kicked by him. That’s his equivalent of a job interview.

We have the answer to what happened to everyone at Oden Castle: Shino’s ripe-ripe fruit. She rotted the ground. Sure, why not? Hawkings and Law had a scuffle, yet somehow Law got away. Hmm… Somone’s playing the long game. And, that someone is made of straw and doesn’t live in Oz.

“VS”. Yeah, right. Kaido has more trouble opening a bottle of mayonnaise.

We still don’t know how Nami and friends survived Kaido’s attack, but who cares right now? Poor Tama got beatdown. Don’t you just hate it when the best day of your life turns out the be the worst, or even your last?

Okay, let’s talk about the main part of the chapter: Luffy getting steamrolled. Kaido didn’t just one shot Luffy, he made sure to do so after he did his strongest attack! He allowed Luffy to go hog wild just to crush his spirit into pieces. Did I mention he tanked Luffy’s attacks without using armament haki? Yeah. Kaido’s just that freaking tough. And, that, ladies and gentlemen, is the problem.

That outta sober him up.

But, this is Kaido. Wouldn’t be surprised if he lost consciousness. Not from the punch, but from all that bourbon. There’s no reason for Kaido to stop attacking so Oda will have to put their real fight on hold somehow. Yep, Passed Out Kaido incoming.