Chapters · Alabasta Saga › Alabasta

Chapter 210: ZERO

Arc: Alabasta · Saga: Alabasta Saga · Released:

Summary

Alubarna’s plaza is a battlefield frozen in the moment after Crocodile’s defeat. A massive FWOOM erupts from the ground and Luffy — having beaten Crocodile in their underground rematch (resolved Ch. 209) — comes rocketing up through the bedrock and into the sky, screaming, carrying Crocodile’s unconscious body with him. The watching Strawhats (Nami, Chopper, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp) and the soldiers below register the impossible eruption (“LUFFY WON!!”), but the fighting does not stop — blood is still being shed, and Vivi screams for it to end. Underground, King Cobra, dying, presses his hand to Koza and delivers his prophecy: “You feel it? It will rain… Trust in the King, Koza. The fighting… will end.” The first raindrops fall — real rain, the first in three years — and as it spreads across Alubarna, soldiers on both sides lower their weapons. Luffy crashes back down onto Crocodile (THWAM / KRASH). Vivi’s voice carries over the rain (“DON’T FIGHT… ANYMORE!!!”), reaching the armies; the rain clears the smoke and reveals her to the troops (“PRINCESS VIVI?!”). The nightmare ends. Crocodile, defeated and crumpled in the rubble, thanks Luffy (“You have my thanks.”); Luffy grins and answers, “It was nothing.” The chapter closes on the rain washing over the ruined, finally-quiet city.

New reveals

• Cobra’s rain-prophecy resolves: dying underground, Cobra tells Koza “It will rain… the fighting will end” (pp. 10-11) — and it does. The King’s foreknowledge is presented as faith/intuition, not engineering.
• Luffy is alive and has won: he erupts from deep bedrock (the soldier remark, p. 6: “does he realize how much bedrock there is to get to the surface?”) carrying Crocodile’s body — the off-page resolution of the Ch. 209 underground rematch.
• Real rain falls on Alubarna for the first time in the arc (pp. 10-15) — visually distinguished from Dance Powder rain; it is the natural end of the engineered drought-and-war.
• The civil war ends by de-escalation, not victory: the rain + Vivi’s amplified plea (“STOP FIGHTING!!! DON’T FIGHT ANYMORE!!!”) make both armies lower their weapons (pp. 8, 12-13).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Luffy · Crocodile · Vivi · Nefertari Cobra · Koza · Zoro · Sanji · Nami · Tony Tony Chopper · Usopp · Pell · Chaka · Tashigi (rain-cleared crowd, p. 13 — dark-haired sword-bearing officer; inferential) · Hatchan (cover only) · Alubarna · Alabasta

Notable panels

• p. 1 — Cover (Hachi’s Walk on the Seafloor, Vol. 25): “The Legendary Sauce Is Found Inside the Top of a Grade-A Ingredient” — Hachi (X-eyes, hearts) embraces a giant octopus-pot/takoyaki tableau; an octopus-pot, a mermaid figure, a sun-marked figure. Cover-arc installment.
• pp. 2-3 — Two-page FWOOM eruption over Alubarna; Chopper and the Strawhats in the foreground crowd; the city sprawls below. Silhouette of Luffy hurled skyward carrying Crocodile’s body (“WHOM” / “CROCODILE?!!”).
• pp. 4-5 — Alubarna clock-tower; flashback-tinted Strawhat resolve panels (“Then we’ll get this Crocodile guy!!!” / “Oh yeah?!!” / “We’ll kick his butt!!!” — Luffy grin). Vivi’s wide-eyed close-up: “Luffy…”
• pp. 6-7 — Luffy and Crocodile arc skyward; soldier marvels at the bedrock he punched through; “LUFFY WON!!” caption over the Strawhats’ faces. Blood still being shed; “why is there blood still being shed?!”
• p. 8 — Vivi’s full-throated scream: “STOP… FIGHTING!!! …DON’T…” over the chaos; WOOOO sound of wind/rain incoming.
• p. 9 — Wide aerial panels of the dust/smoke clouds over Alubarna; the cloud begins to gather/dissipate.
• pp. 10-11 — Cobra’s dying hand; PLIP / TINK of first drops; “You feel it? … It will rain… Trust in the King, Koza. …The fighting… will end.” — SPLAT on his open palm.
• p. 12 — Rain falls (“Rain…”); soldiers begin lowering weapons (“They’re lowering their weapons! The madness has subsided.”); KRASH — Luffy plummets back to earth.
• pp. 12-13 — THWAM — Luffy crashes down onto Crocodile (“BOY!! YOU!!”); rain clears the smoke; Vivi’s plea reaches the troops; “…reached them. Vivi’s voice…”
• p. 14 — Soldiers recognize her: “VIVI!! / It’s Princess Vivi… / I thought she wasn’t here.” A wounded soldier wants to tell her what Crocodile did.
• p. 15 — “…once again. Rain will fall…”; Vivi, rain-soaked, smiling through tears: “The nightmare… is finally over!!”
• p. 16 — Crocodile crumpled in rubble: “You have my thanks.” Luffy, eyes shut, huge grin (GRIN!!): “It was nothing.”
• p. 17 — Full-page RRMMM — collapsing/settling rubble across Alubarna in the rain (KROOSH).
• p. 18 — SBS (Question Corner) — see Open questions / specialist note.

Open questions raised

• Is Cobra’s rain-prophecy mere intuition, divine, or tied to the Nefertari royal-line’s deeper knowledge? (Forward-canon: he carries the Pluton secret; the “trust in the king” register accrues weight in hindsight.)
• Crocodile is defeated but alive — what becomes of him and Baroque Works now? (Resolved in the immediate following chapters; arc denouement.)
• The aftermath of the war, casualties, and Vivi’s decision about staying with the kingdom vs. the crew remain open.

SBS / specialist note

• p. 18 — SBS (Question Corner) is printed as the chapter’s final page. Three Q&As: (1) what Mr. 7 would look like if promoted to Mr. 6; (2) why Vivi calls Zoro “Mr. Bushido” (Oda: a nickname that stuck — “I think Vivi will be calling Zolo Mr. Bushido forever”); (3) Dr. Kureha’s drink is homemade plum wine (ume). The Mr. Bushido answer is a confirmed-canon datum for Mr Bushido Nickname Origin Doctrine.