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Chapters · Alabasta › Alabasta

Chapter 187: Stalemate

This chapter's foreshadowing ledger — what it plants, what it pays off, and what debuts here. Locked seeds pay off beyond your ⚓ progress; tap one to reveal it anyway.

Plants
16 seeds🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 location-debut🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 cover-story-payoff🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 chekhov-explicit+4 more
Pays off
2 chainsBon Clay Oh Come My Way Karate Named Combat-Style DebutVivi Take Me To Chaka Royal-Guard-Linkup Order
Firsts
  • **LOAD-BEARING — Sanji-vs-Bon Clay officer-pair fight begins at Alubarna's Polka Boulevard (South Block)** (p. 6 strategic-map caption: *MR. 2 BON CLAY VS. SANJI*). First named officer-pair matchup of the Alubarna battle-stretch is canonized on a city-block strategic-map. The map (p. 6) **canonizes the five-block schema of Alubarna**: *Alubarna Palace* (centered) / *North Block* / *South Block* (with *Polka Blvd*) / *East Block* / *West Block* — the city's interior-architecture is now structurally established for the multi-pair officer-fight composition.
  • **LOAD-BEARING — *Oh Come My Way Karate* canonized as Bon Clay's combat-style name** (pp. 7, 9, 10). Bon Clay: *'He countered my Oh Come My Way Karate!'* (p. 7) / *'PARDON MY OH COME MY WAY KNUCKLE!! That's how I perfected my Oh Come My Way Karate, and it will never be surpassed by the likes of you!!'* (p. 8) / *'You don't stand a chance!! I've trained relentlessly, day after day, year after year!'* (p. 8) / *'OH COME MY WAY KARATE!!'* (p. 9, 11). **First on-page canonization of Bon Clay's combat-style under his own coat-slogan name.** The Ch. 156 *Oh Come My Way* okama-道 self-coding now operates as a **named-martial-art-style** — the okama-coded *way* is operationally a karate-tier kicks-and-punches school. Pairs structurally with Sanji's *Black Leg* style — two kicks-based fighters at officer-tier.
  • **LOAD-BEARING — Bon Clay deploys the Mane Mane no Mi *Clone-Clone Montage* — face/parts-mosaic mode** (pp. 13-14). After being matched move-for-move, Bon Clay announces: *'What's so amazing about it is the scope of my memory! For example, I can use it... to create a montage of parts!! Maybe you don't know of my clone-clone powers! And once I've crippled you with laughter, you'll be at my mercy!!'* — then cycles through *THE WORLD'S WEIRDEST EYES!! THE WORLD'S WEIRDEST NOSE!! THE WORLD'S WEIRDEST MOUTH!! THE WORLD'S WEIRDEST HEAD!!* (p. 13) and assembles them into the *CLONE-CLONE MONTAGE!!* (p. 14) — caption: *'FOR THE FIRST TIME ANYWHERE-- THE CLONE-CLONE MONTAGE!!'*. **First on-page extension of the Mane Mane no Mi from full-face-copy (Ch. 156) into part-mosaic combinatorics** — the fruit can copy not just whole faces but individual face-parts, mixed-and-matched from the user's permanent face-library. Sanji deadpans: *'That was 90 percent you, dude.'* (p. 14) — comic-grammar punctures the power-demonstration.
  • **LOAD-BEARING — Bon Clay uses Nami's face as Sanji's chivalry-trap** (pp. 16-17). Cycles through friend-faces; when Sanji vows *'NOW IT'S MY TURN!! PLAYTIME'S OVER, CLOWN!!'* and lunges in for the kill, Bon Clay morphs into Nami's face (p. 16): *'So that's your game. You would stoop that low.'* Sanji freezes mid-strike: *'H-how could you?! This is the face of your friend! How could you?! What's wrong with you!!'* / *'...What's inside that counts!! It's...'* — the chivalry-toward-women axiom (Ch. 0046 *for you it's free* → Ch. 0076 *what kind of swordsman attacks a young lady* → Ch. 0137 *Nami comes first through fifth*) **collides directly with the Mane Mane infiltration-mechanic** at the highest possible stakes. **First on-page Mane-Mane-deployed-against-Sanji's-chivalry-line** — the fruit's identity-warfare-grade application is exactly the inverse of the X-mark counter (Ch. 0157): Bon Clay copies a Strawhat *face* and Sanji can't bring himself to strike. The Ch. 0157 forward-canon X-mark counter is here **tested at its first real chivalric stress-point** — and Sanji **fails** the in-the-moment test. Bon Clay: *'No matter how you change your face, you're still you. You're an idiot if you think I'd fall for your goofy illusions.'* (p. 16, said by Bon Clay-as-Nami; the inversion is the chapter's tactical-pivot).
  • **LOAD-BEARING — *...What's inside that counts!!* Sanji counter-doctrine** (p. 16). Sanji recovers from the chivalry-freeze with the doctrine-articulation: *'...What's inside that counts!! It's...'* — but is then immediately re-tricked when Bon Clay morphs into Nami's face a second time and Sanji's heart-eyes engage (*'SO COOL!! He's... the inside?!'*, p. 17). Bon Clay smug-smile, Nami-face: *'You're so obvious.'* / *'FOOL.'* (p. 17 final panel) — the chapter ends with Bon Clay having **won the deception-cycle test against Sanji's chivalry**. The *what's inside that counts* doctrine is structurally correct but Sanji's heart-eyed register can't operationalize it against an attractive female face. **First on-page Sanji-chivalry-as-tactical-liability beat** — the otherwise-virtuous register is here weaponized by the enemy. Pre-loads forward-canon Sanji-as-Mr. Prince counter (Ch. ~173+) and the Sanji-vs-Bon-Clay resolution forward-canon.
  • Cobra People-Are-The-Kingdom Doctrine
  • **LOAD-BEARING — Vivi commits Chaka to the *RAAAAH... You can leave the rest to me!* execution-pact** (p. 19). Chaka, having articulated the *You can't be serious* horror-reaction (p. 18 — *'YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS, PRINCESS VIVI!! If we do that...'*), commits to the plan: *'RAAAAH... You can leave the rest to me!'* (p. 19). **First on-page Chaka-personally-commits-to-Vivi's-plan beat** — the Royal Guard Acting Commander commits to physically destroying the royal seat on the princess's order. Chaka's transformation into a giant black jackal-form is the visual cliffhanger of the chapter (the *RAAAAH* shadow-thicken on p. 19). **First on-page hint of Chaka's Inu Inu no Mi Model Jackal awakening into combat-form** — the Ch. 0164 jackal-mask visual-tell + Ch. 0167 captioned Royal-Guard-Lieutenant-Acting-Commander rank now operate as a **Zoan-pre-tell**: the *RAAAAH* growl + the shadow-thicken are the chapter's pre-transformation beat.
  • **Koza shot-by-the-bullet-he-took-at-Nanohana wounds-revealed** (p. 3). Koza (wounded, bandaged, riding the chaos): *'I'M GOING TO GIVE COBRA ONE LAST CHANCE TO SURRENDER.'* — rebel-leader as diplomatic-emissary in his own war. *'I HAVE TO GET THROUGH THE CENTER OF THE CITY AND OVER TO NORTH BLOCK WHERE THE PALACE STANDS.'* / Officer (urging): *'That bullet you took in Nanohana...'* / *'Forget that, this is a battle-ground!!'* / *'I NEED A HORSE!'* — first on-page Koza-as-wounded-emissary register. **Pre-loads forward-canon Koza-shot-down-on-the-rebel-army-front-line beat** at the arc-end (Crocodile-engineered double-shooting).
  • **Koza's *one last chance to surrender* diplomatic-mission** (p. 3). The rebel-leader, mid-war, is personally riding to the palace to attempt last-ditch diplomacy with the king — *'I'M GOING TO GIVE COBRA ONE LAST CHANCE TO SURRENDER.'* — **first on-page Koza-personally-attempts-king-side-diplomacy beat** at the rebellion-leader tier. Officer: *'That's suicide!! The north block will be guarded by the main body of the royal army under Chaka and Pell!!'* / Koza: *'It may already be too late.'* / *'There's no need for you to rush in there alone!'* / *'Our own force isn't at full strength yet, and reinforcements will be here soon!'* Koza chooses the diplomatic-mission anyway. **Mirrors Vivi's *give-peace-one-more-chance* arc-mandate from the king-side** — both childhood-friends are simultaneously running palace-bound from opposite axes to interrupt the same war.
  • **Royal Army not at full strength — reinforcements still incoming** (p. 3). Rebel-officer to Koza: *'Our own force isn't at full strength yet, and reinforcements will be here soon!'* — first on-page indication that the rebel army's mobilization is incomplete at the Alubarna engagement moment. Pre-loads the arc-finale composition where Crocodile's plan-architecture is undermined by the timing-asymmetry: the rebellion he engineered is fighting at less than full strength.
  • **Vivi reaches Alubarna's North Block at the palace gateway** (pp. 4-5). Royal guards (turban-and-spear-armored) stop her: *'YOU THERE! HALT!!'* / *'ARE YOU A REBEL?!'* / *'ALL CIVILIANS MUST LEAVE THE CITY AT ONCE!!'* / *'WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! This is North Block, the gateway to the palace!!'* / *'I KNOW THAT.'* / *'THIS ISN'T A PLAYGROUND!!'* / *'DO YOU HEAR ME, WOMAN?!'* — Vivi (close-up, sweat-pearled): *'PRINCESS VIVI?!'* / *'TAKE ME TO CHAKA! There's something I need him to do!'* (p. 5). **First on-page Vivi-arrives-at-Alubarna-palace-gateway beat** — the princess has crossed the kingdom and reached the royal-guard perimeter. The *take me to Chaka* line establishes she has a specific operational plan, not just a return-to-the-palace mandate.
  • **Hachi's Walk on the Seafloor Vol. 5 — Hachi Encounters a Hungry Man cover story** (p. 1). Cover-art: Hachi (multi-arm fish-man with sun-marking on forehead) buried up to his neck in the sand-beach, smiling, hand raised — facing a large bearded scruffy hungry man who holds a fish skeleton with longing-eyes. Three small black silhouette-creatures stand in the foreground. The seafloor-walk cover-story continues installing Hachi's post-Arlong rehabilitation arc-grammar — the fish-man who beat the Strawhats is now a roving non-villain. **Pre-loads forward-canon Hachi-helps-the-Strawhats arc-beats** (Sabaody Archipelago Ch. 0489+). The hungry-man cover-meeting is the first on-page Hachi-encounters-a-human beat since Arlong-arc's defeat.

Arc: Alabasta · Saga: Alabasta · Volume: 21

Summary

Cover (p. 1) — Hachi’s Walk on the Seafloor, Vol. 5: Hachi Encounters a Hungry Man — Hachi (sun-marking forehead, multi-armed fish-man octopus) buried up to neck in the sand of a tropical palm-beach, hand raised in friendly greeting toward a scruffy bearded muscular hungry man clutching a fish skeleton.

In-story (pp. 2-3) — Battle-opener montage: a tall caped figure (cropped to silhouette, GRAAH!!) strikes downward in a sword-raised pose; a wide-shot of Alubarna street-chaos with multiple figures running and a Strawhat-leg foregrounded (RAAAH BOOM!!); transition to TMP TMP feet running into p. 3, where wounded rebel-leader Koza (bandaged, riding the chaos) demands a horse — ‘I’M GOING TO GIVE COBRA ONE LAST CHANCE TO SURRENDER.’ / ‘I HAVE TO GET THROUGH THE CENTER OF THE CITY AND OVER TO NORTH BLOCK WHERE THE PALACE STANDS.’ His rebel-officer urges restraint: ‘That bullet you took in Nanohana…’ / ‘That’s suicide!! The north block will be guarded by the main body of the royal army under Chaka and Pell!!’ / ‘There’s no need for you to rush in there alone!’ / ‘Our own force isn’t at full strength yet, and reinforcements will be here soon!’ Koza: ‘It may already be too late.’ / ‘GIMME A HAND!!’ — boards a horse.

Vivi arrives at Alubarna’s North Block (pp. 4-5). BU-BU-BOOM!! — explosions in the distance; TMP TMP TMP TMP — Vivi sprints in through the palace-gate arches. Royal Guards (turbaned, spear-armed, robed) stop her: ‘YOU THERE! HALT!!’ / ‘ARE YOU A REBEL?!’ / ‘ALL CIVILIANS MUST LEAVE THE CITY AT ONCE!!’ / ‘WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?! This is North Block, the gateway to the palace!!’ / ‘THIS ISN’T A PLAYGROUND!!’ / ‘DO YOU HEAR ME, WOMAN?!’ Vivi (close-up, sweat-pearled, eyes intense): ‘PRINCESS VIVI?!’ / ‘TAKE ME TO CHAKA! There’s something I need him to do!’

Strategic-map cut (p. 6) — caption-box: MR. 2 BON CLAY VS. SANJI on a stylized aerial-map of Alubarna with five labeled blocks: Alubarna Palace (centered) / North Block / South Block / Polka Blvd / East Block / West Block. An X marks the Sanji-vs-Bon Clay fight location at South Block / Polka Boulevard. Cut to a close-up of a footprint (TU… p…) and a side-by-side Bon Clay-foot / Sanji-foot panel-pair (…!!! / …!!!) — the two combatants face off.

The Sanji vs. Bon Clay duel (pp. 7-17). Bon Clay opens with a kick-counter (KRASH!! / GWAH!! / HUGU-GUH!!) — Bon Clay (recovering, hands on knees, in his swan-cape): ‘Whew, what a kick!! He countered my Oh Come My Way Karate!! / Darn that creep!’ (p. 7). Sanji takes a forward stance: ‘GET OUT OF MY WAY, YOU!!’ / ‘If you want to get past, it’ll be over my dead body.’ (p. 8). Bon Clay: ‘PARDON MY OH COME MY WAY KNUCKLE!!’ (WIP!!) / ‘That’s how I perfected my Oh Come My Way Karate, and it will never be surpassed by the likes of you!!’ / ‘You don’t stand a chance!! I’ve trained relentlessly, day after day, year after year!’ (p. 8). The combatants engage in a kicks-only fight:

Bon Clay pivots to identity-warfare (pp. 13-14). Sanji: ‘Bring it on.’ / Bon Clay: ‘OOOH… ALL RIGHT, THAT DOES IT!’ (TOMP!!) / ‘Now I’m serious!!’ Then the doctrine-articulation: ‘What’s so amazing about it is the scope of my memory! For example, I can use it… to create a montage of parts!! Maybe you don’t know of my clone-clone powers! And once I’ve crippled you with laughter, you’ll be at my mercy!!’ — touches own face, cycles through: THE WORLD’S WEIRDEST EYES!! / THE WORLD’S WEIRDEST NOSE!! / THE WORLD’S WEIRDEST MOUTH!! / THE WORLD’S WEIRDEST HEAD!! (KLIK!!) — assembles them into TA-DR… HA HA HA HA HA HA (p. 14) — the CLONE-CLONE MONTAGE!! FOR THE FIRST TIME ANYWHERE— THE CLONE-CLONE MONTAGE!! Sanji deadpan, totally unfazed: ‘That was 90 percent you, dude.’ (p. 14) — GLOOM — the KRAK! of the deflated Bon Clay’s hopes.

Sanji’s turn — chivalry trap (pp. 15-17). Sanji ‘NOW IT’S MY TURN!! PLAYTIME’S OVER, CLOWN!!’ (THWOK!! — kicks Bon Clay across the boulevard). Bon Clay (offended): ‘ACT?!’ / ‘I don’t have time for your act!!’ / ‘Have you no feelings?! Are you made of stone?!’ / ‘In the past, I’ve fought against one such foe who couldn’t bring himself to harm a friend!!’ / ‘THIS AIN’T NO ACT!!’ (p. 15). Sanji charges in to finish; Bon Clay morphs his face mid-flight (SWIP!! / THWAM!!) into Nami’s face: ‘HA HA HA!! Now just try and attack—MOOF!!’ (p. 16). Sanji freezes, fist mid-air, on top of Nami-face Bon Clay: ‘So that’s your game. You would stoop that low.’ (Bon Clay-as-Nami) / Sanji (recoiling, devastated): ‘H-how could you?! This is the face of your friend! How could you?! What’s wrong with you!!’ (p. 16). Bon Clay (smug, Nami-face): ‘No matter how you change your face, you’re still you. You’re an idiot if you think I’d fall for your goofy illusions.’ — re-applies the X-mark fellowship-sign logic against Sanji as a verbal taunt. Sanji recovers with the doctrine-counter: ’…What’s inside that counts!! It’s…’ (p. 16, DOOM register-shift).

But Bon Clay smug-cycles (p. 17): ‘Won’t work on you. Fine. I see that using your friends’ faces…’ (KLIK!) → morphs again (Sanji turns away dismissively: ‘You’re so obvious.’) → morphs into Nami-face one more time (KLIK!! / AAAAH!!) → Sanji’s heart-eyes engage: ’…COOL!!’ / ‘He’s… the inside?!’ / Bon Clay (Nami-face close-up, smug-eyed): ‘FOOL.’ / ’?!!!’ — chapter pivot: Bon Clay has won the deception-cycle test. The Sanji-vs-Bon Clay fight is structurally a stalemate at the combat-tier and a defeat at the identity-warfare-tier.

Vivi at Alubarna Palace (pp. 18-19). Captions: ALUBARNA PALACE. Royal Guard exclaim ‘IT’S PRINCESS VIVI!!’ / ‘It is!! The princess has returned!’ / ‘She picked a fine time for it.’ Vivi confronts Chaka in the throne-hall (close-up of Chaka aghast: ‘YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS, PRINCESS VIVI!! If we do that…’, p. 18). Vivi (close-up, intense, hairband-pulled-back): ‘If we do this thing, what? Will this kingdom come to an end?’ / Chaka: ‘Of course not!’ / Vivi: ‘THIS IS NOT ALABASTA, CHAKA!’ (p. 18). The exchange escalates (p. 19): Vivi: ‘As long as they live, the kingdom will live on!! We have to stop the fighting—if only for a moment!’ / ‘If we can get everyone’s attention for only a few seconds…’ Chaka commits: ‘RAAAAH… You can leave the rest to me!’ — and his silhouette begins to thicken/transform (jackal-pre-tell). Vivi finishes the order across a wide-shot of the gleaming-domed palace: ‘DESTROY… THIS PALACE!!’ (WOOOO — palace exterior wide-shot, p. 19). End of chapter.

SBS (p. 20) — Question Corner — reader asks about a Mr. 4-style Question Corner; Oda: ‘I can’t allow it. It would take too long.’ / Reader asks about replacing ‘Let’s begin’ with ‘S!’ takeoff on ‘Oha!’ (the Japanese broadcast greeting craze); Oda refuses (‘Show a little more originality’). Reader requests left-handed sketches of Sanji, Chopper, Usopp (after Vol. 19 only got Luffy, Zolo, Nami) — Oda complies with rough sketches.

New reveals

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Sanji (Polka Boulevard duel with Bon Clay; Mouton Mallet; chivalry-trap victim; what’s-inside-counts doctrine articulator; heart-eye-failure final panel), Bon Clay (Oh Come My Way Karate combat-style debut; Drunken Swan Soiree; White Swan Arabesque; Clone-Clone Montage; Nami-face chivalry-trap deployer; FOOL. chapter-tail), Vivi (Alubarna palace-gate arrival; Take me to Chaka; THIS IS NOT ALABASTA, CHAKA!; DESTROY… THIS PALACE!! plan-articulation), Koza (wounded by Nanohana-bullet; one last chance to surrender diplomatic-mission; rides for the palace), Chaka (throne-hall; You can’t be serious; commits to Vivi’s plan; RAAAAH Zoan-pre-tell), Pell (off-page; named by rebel-officer as joint-defender of North Block with Chaka), Nefertari Cobra (off-page; named by Koza as the king-side-surrender-target), Nami (off-page; her face is used by Bon Clay as the chivalry-trap), Hatchan (cover-art only).

Baroque Works (Mr. 2 Bon Clay vs Sanji officer-pair fight), Straw Hat Pirates (Sanji solo officer-pair-fight participant), Sand-Sand Band (Koza + rebel-officers).

Mane Mane no Mi (Clone-Clone Montage extension; Nami-face chivalry-trap deployment), implicit Inu Inu no Mi, Model Jackal (Chaka RAAAAH pre-tell).

Alubarna (five-block strategic-map canonization; North Block palace-gateway; South Block / Polka Boulevard fight-site; throne-hall), Nanohana (off-page; named by rebel-officer as Koza’s wound-site).

Notable panels

  • p. 1 — Cover-art Hachi’s Walk on the Seafloor, Vol. 5: Hachi Encounters a Hungry Man — Hachi (sun-marking forehead, hand raised friendly-greeting) buried up to neck in beach-sand; bearded scruffy hungry man clutching fish-skeleton with longing-eyes; three small black-silhouette creatures in foreground; palm-tree backdrop.
  • p. 2 — Battle-opener montage: tall caped figure mid-downward-strike (GRAAH!!); wide-shot of Alubarna street-chaos (RAAAH BOOM!!) with multiple figures running + Strawhat-leg foregrounded; TMP TMP… transition-foot panel.
  • p. 3 — Wounded Koza on horseback flashback to bullet-at-Nanohana (BOOM SHF SHF); demands a horse; rebel-officer urges restraint; ‘I’M GOING TO GIVE COBRA ONE LAST CHANCE TO SURRENDER.’ / ‘KOZA!!’
  • p. 4 — BU-BU-BOOM!! — explosions distant; Royal Guards (turban + spear-armed) stop Vivi at the palace-gate arches: ‘YOU THERE! HALT!! ARE YOU A REBEL?!’
  • p. 5 — Vivi close-up (sweat-pearled, intense, DO O-N zoom): ‘PRINCESS VIVI?!’ / ‘TAKE ME TO CHAKA! There’s something I need him to do!’
  • p. 6 — Strategic-map caption-box MR. 2 BON CLAY VS. SANJI on stylized aerial-map of Alubarna with five labeled blocks (Alubarna Palace / North Block / South Block / Polka Blvd / East Block / West Block); X-marks the fight at South Block / Polka Boulevard. Followed by Bon-Clay-foot / Sanji-foot side-by-side stand-off panels.
  • p. 7 — KRASH!! — opening kick-counter; Bon Clay (panting, hands on knees in swan-cape): ‘Whew, what a kick!! He countered my Oh Come My Way Karate!! Darn that creep!’
  • p. 8 — Sanji stance: ‘GET OUT OF MY WAY, YOU!! If you want to get past, it’ll be over my dead body.’ / Bon Clay: ‘PARDON MY OH COME MY WAY KNUCKLE!! That’s how I perfected my Oh Come My Way Karate, and it will never be surpassed by the likes of you!! You don’t stand a chance!!’
  • p. 9 — Bon Clay: ‘YOU CAN’T ESCAPE MY FISTS!! DRUNKEN SWAN SOIREE!! OH COME MY WAY KARATE!!’ / Sanji: ‘COLLIER!!’ (kick-deflect); Sanji deadpan: ‘I’d better settle this right now, this guy could go on posing forever.’
  • p. 10 — Sanji French-culinary attack-trade: ‘ÉPAULE!! CÔTELETTE KABOSH!! GIGOT CHARLIE-HORSE!! POITRINE TREADER!! SELLE DE OUCH!!’ countered move-for-move by Bon Clay’s ‘UN!! DEUX!! AK—!!’ — balanced exchange.
  • p. 11 — WOOSH / THWAK: Bon Clay ‘WHITE SWAN ARABESQUE!!’ / Sanji ‘MOUTON MALLET!!’ (WAK WAK WAK).
  • p. 12 — KROOSH!!! — collision; dust-cloud aftermath; Bon Clay (panting): ‘Countered my White Swan Arabesque!! That petty cook… this ain’t no joke!!’ / Sanji (panting): ‘Countered my Mouton Mallet. That swan…’
  • p. 13 — Sanji: ‘Bring it on.’ / Bon Clay: ‘Oooh… all right, that does it! Now I’m serious!! What’s so amazing about it is the scope of my memory! …to create a montage of parts!! Maybe you don’t know of my clone-clone powers!’ — cycles EYES!! NOSE!! MOUTH!! HEAD!!
  • p. 14 — TA-DR… — THE CLONE-CLONE MONTAGE!! FOR THE FIRST TIME ANYWHERE— THE CLONE-CLONE MONTAGE!! (face-parts-mosaic body); Sanji deadpan: ‘That was 90 percent you, dude.’ — GLOOM over Bon Clay.
  • p. 15 — Sanji ‘NOW IT’S MY TURN!! PLAYTIME’S OVER, CLOWN!!’ (THWOK) → Bon Clay (offended): ‘ACT?! I don’t have time for your act!! Have you no feelings?! In the past, I’ve fought against one such foe who couldn’t bring himself to harm a friend!! THIS AIN’T NO ACT!!’
  • p. 16 — Bon Clay morphs into Nami’s face mid-strike (SWIP!! THWAM!!) — ‘HA HA HA!! Now just try and attack—MOOF!!’ Sanji freezes mid-fist over Nami-face Bon Clay: ‘H-how could you?! This is the face of your friend! How could you?! What’s wrong with you!!’ Bon Clay-as-Nami: ‘No matter how you change your face, you’re still you. You’re an idiot if you think I’d fall for your goofy illusions.’ Sanji recovers (DOOM): ’…What’s inside that counts!! It’s…’
  • p. 17 — Bon Clay smug-cycle: ‘Won’t work on you. Fine. I see that using your friends’ faces…’ (KLIK!) → Sanji turns away: ‘You’re so obvious.’ → Bon Clay morphs Nami-face again (KLIK!! AAAH!!) → Sanji heart-eyes: ‘SO COOL!! He’s… the inside?!’ → final panel — Bon Clay-as-Nami close-up smirk: ‘FOOL.’ Chapter pivot: Bon Clay has won the identity-warfare-tier round.
  • p. 18 — Caption ALUBARNA PALACE; Royal Guard ‘IT’S PRINCESS VIVI!! It is!! The princess has returned!! She picked a fine time for it.’ Chaka close-up (aghast): ‘YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS, PRINCESS VIVI!! If we do that…’ Vivi (close-up, intense, hairband-pulled-back): ‘If we do this thing, what? Will this kingdom come to an end?’ / Chaka: ‘Of course not!’ / Vivi: ‘THIS IS NOT ALABASTA, CHAKA!’
  • p. 19 — Vivi (continuing, throne-hall wide-shot): ‘As long as they live, the kingdom will live on!! We have to stop the fighting—if only for a moment! If we can get everyone’s attention for only a few seconds…’ Chaka (silhouette thickens / jaw-shadow widens): ‘RAAAAH… You can leave the rest to me!’ → Vivi (over a wide-shot of the gleaming-domed Alubarna palace exterior, WOOOO wind-howl): ‘DESTROY… THIS PALACE!!’ — end of chapter.
  • p. 20 — SBS Question Corner — Mr. 4-style refused (‘I can’t allow it’); S! takeoff-on-Oha! refused (‘Show a little more originality’); left-handed sketches of Sanji + Chopper + Usopp delivered (after Vol. 19’s left-handed Luffy / Zolo / Nami).

Open questions raised

Message in a bottle

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