Chapters · Alabasta › Alabasta

Chapter 199: Hope!!

Arc: Alabasta · Saga: Alabasta · Released:

Summary

At Alubarna, Luffy is flown into the city square at the last second (carried in by the falcon-airlift, with Vivi alongside) just as a massive explosion goes off (DOOM!!!) — the warlord’s cannon-strike on the plaza. Luffy, badly injured but alive, declares he can hear Vivi’s voice and that he cannot lose. The scattered Strawhats — Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Zoro — reunite around him in disbelief that he survived the desert (“That guy beat me out in the desert”), and hand the fight back to him: “If you can’t beat him, who can?! Go get him, Luffy.” Luffy faces Crocodile for round two. Crocodile, contemptuous (“You’ll never hit me!!” / “Must I skewer you again?!”), expects another one-sided Logia mismatch — but Luffy lands a clean punch on his stitched face (?!!!). Crocodile is stunned (“Impossible!!!” / “Did that kid…?!”); his Buzz-Saw hook-spin and follow-ups can’t stop Luffy from toppling him. On the ground, Luffy reveals the deduction: when the water from Yuba soaked Crocodile’s arm in their last fight he could grab it — “You can’t turn into sand if water touches you… You’re afraid of water!! That’s why you stole the rain.” Wetting his fist, Luffy declares: “Now I can hit you!! Get ready for a real fight, Sandman!!” (DOOM!!!).

New reveals

• Crocodile’s Logia sand-body is neutralized by water — articulated on-page for the first time by Luffy: water on contact lets him physically grab/strike the sand-body (p. 19).
• Crocodile “stole the rain” because he is afraid of water — Luffy reframes the engineered Alabasta drought as motivated (in part) by Crocodile’s own elemental vulnerability (p. 19). (Luffy’s framing; cause-of-drought remains the Dance-Powder coup plot.)
• Luffy’s first solid on-page hit on Crocodile — wetting his fist, he punches through the intangibility and topples the warlord (pp. 13, 16-17).
• Whole Strawhat crew reconverges at Alubarna — Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Zoro all present and accounted for around Luffy (pp. 5-10), each having survived their own fight; they collectively defer the Crocodile fight to Luffy.

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Luffy · Crocodile · Vivi · Sanji · Nami · Usopp · Tony Tony Chopper · Zoro
• Pell / Karoo (falcon-airlift carrier delivering Luffy + Vivi to the square — carrier identity per established Pell-airlift role; see Open questions)
• Referenced: Yuba (source of the water), Suna Suna no Mi, Gomu Gomu no Mi (Gum-Gum attacks)
• Cover (Hachi’s Walk on the Seafloor, Vol. 15 — “A Reunion with Old Comrades”): Hatchan

Notable panels

• p. 1 — Cover: Hachi’s Walk on the Seafloor, Vol. 15: “A Reunion with Old Comrades.” Hachi (Hatchan) on the seafloor reuniting with old fishman comrades; “alowana” / kanji 深 (“deep”) on his garb.
• p. 2 — Luffy delivered into the square at the last second (“I MADE IT IN TIME!! PHEW!!”) as a huge explosion lands (DOOM!!!).
• pp. 3-4 — Vivi’s despair (“No one can hear my pleas!! Everyone will be killed!”) → Luffy’s grin: “I can hear… your voice!” (full-page GRIN!!).
• p. 5 — Luffy carried by ally, complaining/joking: “I ate a lot of meat!” / ”…I can lose.” (i.e. he won’t).
• pp. 6-9 — Crew reunion: “LUFFY’S ALIVE!!”; “How did you get out of the quicksand?”; Sanji, Nami (with weapon staff), Usopp, Chopper, Zoro all converge. “If you can’t beat him, who can?! Go get him, Luffy.” / “Let’s end this… once and for all!!”
• p. 10 — “That’s right! I’m not fighting alone anymore!” — Crocodile present (“Hey, Croc!!”).
• p. 13 — Luffy’s punch connects with Crocodile’s stitched face (?!!!) — first solid hit.
• pp. 16-17 — Crocodile’s Buzz-Saw hook-spin counter; Luffy lands a flurry (THUMP THUMP THUMP!!) and topples him (“He toppled Crocodile!!”).
• p. 19 — The water-weakness reveal: “You can’t turn into sand if water touches you… You’re afraid of water!! That’s why you stole the rain. Now I can hit you!! Get ready for a real fight, Sandman!!” (wet fist, DOOM!!!).
• p. 20 — SBS “Question Corner”: Mr. 2 Bon Clay ballet-critique reader letter + Oda’s answer; reader “Enari” on why Vivi pulls Usopp’s nose.

Open questions raised

• Exact identity of the figure carrying Luffy into the Alubarna square (p. 2). Per established canon Pell airlifts Luffy/Vivi from the desert; the carrier here is drawn human-form mid-landing. Logged as Pell-airlift per prior chapters but flagged as inferred, not stated on-page this chapter.
• Whether wetting his own fists is a sustainable counter or a one-time gambit — Crocodile’s reaction (“Impossible!!!”) implies he has no immediate answer.