Chapters · Alabasta › Alabasta

Chapter 193: Utopia

Arc: Alabasta · Saga: Alabasta · Volume: 21

Summary

Cover (p. 1) — HACHI’S WALK ON THE SEAFLOOR, VOL. 11: “IN THE MOUTH OF THE SEA BOAR” — Hatchan (octopus-fishman) is dwarfed by an enormous scaled boar-snouted sea creature on the ocean floor, drifting toward its open maw. Continues the Hatchan undersea cover-serial (Vol. 8 ran on the Ch. 0190 cover).

The chapter cuts between three Alubarna combat/confrontation tracks:

Track A — Nami vs. Ms. Doublefinger; the Climate Baton finally works (Tornado Tempo) (pp. 2-9). Nami (panting, BA-BUMP… BA-BUMP…) braces the Climate Baton: ‘Tornado Tempo… however, it is absolutely a weapon of last resort. You only have one shot! If you miss, it’s all over.’ Ms. Doublefinger advances with spike-attacks (SH-INK!! / Sea urchin… Stinger!!) that pierce Nami’s left foot (‘Your left foot… looks pretty bad. …Do you have any idea of the pain Vivi has suffered?!’ Nami fires back, hopping on the wounded foot). Doublefinger, taunting (‘It doesn’t hurt… a bit. …A foot, or two, or three…’) keeps closing. Nami waits for the one shot and triggers it: ‘Take that!! …Tempo!! …Tornado!!’ — DOOM!! / BA-BOOM!! — a real tornado erupts, catching Doublefinger (?!!!). The chapter intercuts the earlier pigeons/flowers gags (PEEP PEEP, ‘those pigeons are tangling…’) as the baton’s mixed payload, but the tornado lands — Doublefinger is hurled through the air (WOOOO…) and slammed into the Medi Assembly Hall wall (KRASH!! / KLUNK!! KLUNK!!). Caption (p. 9): WINNER: NAMI / ‘ALUBARNA NORTH BLOCK / MEDI ASSEMBLY HALL / THE BATTLE OF THE BACKSTREETS.’ Nami (sheepish, exhausted, baton smoking): ‘Ooo…’ — first Strawhat-side win of the Alubarna officer-fight set.

Track B — Crocodile interrogates Cobra at the palace; Pluton is named; the cannonball plot is detailed (pp. 10-15). Crocodile (cigar, stitched-face grin) faces King Nefertari Cobra, with Vivi and the comatose Pell on the palace lawn (jackal-statue / onion-dome palace in background). Crocodile names his prize: ‘One shot of it can vaporize an entire island to smithereens. …Pluton. …And it’s sleeping somewhere in this kingdom. Named for the god of death, it was the most terrible weapon of the ancient world.’ He lays out the goal: ‘I can forge the most powerful military nation in the region!! …When I become king… it will be a simple matter to recruit pirates to serve under me! I will increase my political power until it surpasses that of the World Government! Mine will be a kingdom of legend!!’ Cobra: ‘A secret passed down with the crown…’ Vivi: ‘A super weapon?! In this kingdom?!!’ Cobra admits he feared as much but doesn’t know its whereabouts, or whether such a thing even exists. Crocodile then reveals the timeline: ‘At four thirty, or 30 minutes from now, a powerful cannon will fire a projectile into the palace square where the royal army is now gathered. …It is a special cannonball that will blast a crater three miles in diameter.’ He chose this over palace-demolition: ‘It’s much faster just to blow the rebels up. Destroying the palace was such an indirect method.’ Vivi (anguished): ‘What did they ever do to you?!! How can you do such a thing?!!’ Crocodile: ‘They’re inconsequential.’ Then the certain question (p. 14): ‘Now then, King Cobra… Where is the poneglyph recorded?’ Vivi: ‘Why would you need that record of history?! The poneglyph?!’ Cobra refuses (‘No…’) but breaks at the sight of Vivi: ‘I’ll take you there. …I can’t… stand this anymore!!’ Crocodile: ‘You’re a wise man!!’

Track C — Zoro vs. Mr. 1; the cut steel thesis (pp. 16-19). Zoro (three-sword-style) and Mr. 1 (壱/ONE jacket) trade strikes on the Medi Assembly Hall main streets. Mr. 1 Iron Guard!! / Bull… needles!! — Zoro’s blades ring off him (KLANG! KLANG!). Mr. 1: ‘Slashing and hacking have no effect on me. …So your body is as hard as sword metal. …I can’t defeat you.’ Zoro: ‘That’s too bad. I can’t cut steel yet, so… I’ve been waiting to be driven into a corner like this… so that I could take it up a notch in strength. …That means I’ll be able to cut through steel. When I defeat you…’ — the cornered-swordsman reframes the Supa Supa no Mi’s body-steel as the training-whetstone for learning to cut steel.

New reveals

• LOAD-BEARING — Pluton is named on-page for the first time in One Piece (p. 10). ’…Pluton. …Named for the god of death, it was the most terrible weapon of the ancient world.’ The first Ancient Weapon ever named in the series.
• LOAD-BEARING — Pluton sleeps somewhere in Alabasta; its location is a secret passed down with the crown (pp. 10-11). First on-page localization of an Ancient Weapon + first reveal the Alabasta monarchy is a hereditary keeper of a weapon-location secret.
• LOAD-BEARING — Crocodile’s certain question (Ch. 0172) is disclosed: Where is the poneglyph recorded? (p. 14). The poneglyph is named as a record of history and linked to the Pluton-location. Pays off the Crocodile Certain Question To Cobra Pluton-Setup Seed black-box.
• LOAD-BEARING — Crocodile’s full conquest-confession: Pluton → most powerful military nation → king → recruit pirates → surpass the World Government → a kingdom of legend (pp. 10-11). Cashes Baroque Works Utopia Goal Doctrine into the boss’s own voice + first Crocodile-vs-WG-ambition articulation.
• Crocodile’s 4
  cannonball plot detailed (pp. 12-13). A special cannonball fired into the packed palace square will blast a crater three miles in diameter, killing both the royal army and the converging rebels. He abandons palace-demolition (the Ch. 0189 method) for a direct dual-army massacre.
• Cobra refuses then concedes the poneglyph location to save Vivi (pp. 14-15). The king breaks at the sight of his daughter, not the cannonball-threat. ‘I’ll take you there.’
• Nami’s Climate Baton lands its first real hit: Tornado Tempo!! (pp. 2-9). After the Ch. 0190 misfires, the baton produces a genuine tornado that defeats Ms. Doublefinger — caption WINNER: NAMI. First on-page successful weather-attack from the Clima-Tact prototype.
• Mr. 1’s combat thesis: Slashing and hacking have no effect on me… my body is as hard as sword metal. To cut me you have to be able to cut steel (pp. 17-18). Zoro: ‘I can’t cut steel yet… that means I’ll be able to cut through steel. When I defeat you…’ — first on-page cut steel swordsman-thesis.

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Notable panels

• p. 1 (cover) — HACHI’S WALK ON THE SEAFLOOR, VOL. 11: “IN THE MOUTH OF THE SEA BOAR” — Hatchan dwarfed by a scaled boar-snouted sea creature, drifting toward its maw.
• p. 9 — WINNER: NAMI caption over the Medi Assembly Hall; Doublefinger downed, Nami exhausted with the smoking baton. First Strawhat-side officer-fight win of the Alubarna set.
• p. 10 — Crocodile cigar-grin close-up naming Pluton — the most terrible weapon of the ancient world. The first Ancient Weapon named in the series.
• pp. 10-11 — Crocodile’s full conquest-confession in the palace colonnade; the jackal-statue / onion-dome Alabasta palace in the background. Cobra and Vivi facing him; a kingdom of legend.
• pp. 12-13 — The 4
  cannonball plot; KA-BOOM!! demonstration panel of a three-mile crater; the palace square packed with the assembled royal army.
• p. 14 — Where is the poneglyph recorded? — Crocodile’s certain question finally voiced.
• p. 15 — Cobra breaks at Papa! — I’ll take you there. …I can’t stand this anymore!!
• pp. 17-18 — Zoro vs. Mr. 1 cut steel exchange; KLANG! KLANG! off Mr. 1’s body; my body is as hard as sword metal.

Open questions raised