Chapters · Skypiea › Jaya

Chapter 226: Shoujou, the Salvage

Arc: Jaya · Saga: Skypiea · Released:

Summary

This is the Volume 24 opener (color/title spread on pp. 1-2). On the Going Merry, a wounded Luffy and Zoro return from Mock Town; Usopp and Chopper panic over their injuries while Nami fumes that the two broke Luffy’s no-fighting promise and got the crew chased out before learning anything about Skypiea (pp. 4-6). Robin returns from shopping for clothes with a purchased map of Jaya Island and information about Skypiea (p. 7). Her map shows Mock Town on the western coast, Mouth Bay, “South Grave,” and an X on the opposite coast marking where “Jaya’s biggest weirdo” — Mont Blanc Cricket — lives; Cricket was “chased out of town for talking about dreams,” prompting Robin’s quip that Luffy “has something in common” with him (pp. 8). At sea, a giant salvage vessel (the Morinohito) crewed by black-furred giant ape “Utan divers” runs a sonar sweep and detects the Going Merry, mistaking it for a salvage target (pp. 9-11). Their captain, the “Salvage King of the Seafloor” Shoujou (Shoujou Pirate Big Boss, bounty 36,000,000 berries), confronts the crew, boasts that he is 25 years old, has never cut his hair, and intends to surpass Crocodile and become one of the Seven Warlords, then demands a toll to “pass through the tunnel of my anger” and his “territory” — “the sea here” (pp. 12-15). When the crew lets slip they “kicked the butt” of his brother Masira, the enraged Shoujou unleashes his own sound-wave attack, “Havoc Sonar!!”, which begins shaking the already-battered Going Merry apart; Nami orders a full reverse to escape his voice’s range (pp. 16-18). The chapter closes back in Mock Town: the Bellamy Pirates laugh about the beautiful, bold woman (Robin) who asked them how to find Cricket — confirming she is the one who got the crew their lead; Bellamy, learning gold bullion was recently discovered in Western Jaya near Cricket, grins, “Tell me more… I’d like to meet this Cricket” (pp. 19-20). Pages 21-23 are the Second One Piece Character Popularity Poll results.

New reveals

• “Salvage King of the Seafloor” Shoujou introduced (pp. 12-15). Captain of the Shoujou Pirates, bounty 36,000,000 berries. He runs a salvage operation crewed by giant black-furred apes (“Utan divers”) aboard the ship Morinohito. He claims to be 25 years old, has never cut his hair, and openly wants to surpass Crocodile and become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea (p. 14). (This translation renders the on-page salvager-brother as “Shoujou”; he has a brother Masira named pp. 16, 18.)
• The “Big Ape Brothers” (p. 18): Shoujou and Masira jointly control “the sea around” Cricket’s home as their salvage territory. Masira is the salvager the crew already drove off in the preceding chapters (referenced p. 16: “we kicked his butt”).
• Mont Blanc Cricket named on-page (p. 8) — “Jaya’s biggest weirdo,” who “was chased out of town for talking about dreams.” His home is marked by an X on Jaya’s eastern coast on Robin’s map. He is the Cricket the arc-context promised; this is the first time the name appears in the manga.
• Robin’s intel source. Robin bought an ordinary map of Jaya and obtained information about Skypiea and Cricket’s whereabouts (p. 7); pp. 19-20 reveal she got the Cricket lead by questioning the Bellamy Pirates directly.
• Bellamy’s new target. Hearing of a recently discovered cache of gold bullion in Western Jaya and that Robin sought Cricket, Bellamy resolves to “meet this Cricket” (pp. 19-20) — installing the Bellamy-vs-Cricket conflict.

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Luffy · Zoro · Nami · Sanji · Usopp · Tony Tony Chopper · Nico Robin · Shoujou (first on-page appearance; “Salvage King of the Seafloor,” 36M bounty) · Masira (named, off-panel; Shoujou’s brother) · Mont Blanc Cricket (named on-page, off-panel) · Bellamy · Sarquiss (with the Bellamy crew, p. 20) · Crocodile (referenced as the fallen Warlord) · Straw Hat Pirates · Shoujou Pirates · Bellamy Pirates · Seven Warlords of the Sea · Jaya · Mock Town · Mouth Bay

Notable panels

• Page 1: Volume 24 frontispiece-style image — Nami seated at a bar stool flashing a peace sign, a white cat beside her, gift boxes labeled “MOD,” surrounded by shopping; header “KING OF THE SEAFLOOR.” (Volume-opener art.)
• Page 2 (title + color spread): Chapter title “SHOUJOU, THE SALVAGE.” Color title spread — Robin seated at a dining table with a sleeping Chopper and Usopp; “ONE PIECE” logo with the French tagline “Il y a encore plein de choses que je veux” (“There are still so many things I want”). Decorative; noted here rather than as a standalone Color-Spread entry.
• Page 4: Wide shot of Mock Town from the Merry; “DOOM…!!” Luffy, Nami and a bloodied Zoro stand silhouetted; Usopp and Chopper rush in over their wounds.
• Page 5: Nami’s “GLARE!!” — “It may be over for you, but it’s not for me!” — she’s furious the two fought.
• Page 7: Robin returns (“I went shopping for clothes…”) with a map and Skypiea info; the crew blames her for putting “ideas about an island in the sky” into their heads.
• Page 8 (KEY): Robin’s hand-drawn-style map of Jaya Island — Mock Town, Mouth Bay, South Grave, and the X marking Cricket’s home; “His name is Mont Blanc Cricket… chased out of town for talking about dreams. It seems you have something in common.”
• Pages 9-11: The salvage ship Morinohito and its giant black ape “Utan divers” run “Search Sonar”/“WOO HOO” sound-sweeps underwater and detect the Going Merry.
• Page 13: Shoujou’s bounty card — “Salvage King of the Seafloor” Shoujou · Shoujou Pirate Big Boss · Bounty: 36,000,000 berries.
• Page 14: Shoujou boasts: “I’m 25 years old and I’ve never cut my hair… someone defeated Sir Crocodile… I’m probably going to take his place” — aspiring Warlord.
• Pages 16-18: Shoujou learns the crew kicked his brother Masira and unleashes “Havoc Sonar!!” (sound-wave attack), cracking the Going Merry; Nami orders “Reverse!! Get us out of range of his voice!!”
• Pages 19-20 (cliffhanger): Mock Town — Bellamy and Sarquiss laugh about the woman (Robin) who asked for Cricket; learning of recently discovered gold bullion in Western Jaya, Bellamy grins, “Tell me more… I’d like to meet this Cricket.” Big “DOOM!!” / “TO BE CONTINUED IN ONE PIECE, VOL. 25!”
• Pages 21-23: Second One Piece Character Popularity Poll results (51,873 votes). No. 1 Luffy (11,136), No. 2 Zoro (10,982), No. 3 Sanji (9,676), No. 4 Chopper (4,428), No. 5 Nami (2,360); Robin debuts at No. 11 (722). Back-matter, not story.

Open questions raised

• Who is Mont Blanc Cricket, why was he chased out for “talking about dreams,” and how is his home the key to reaching the sky island?
• What is the relationship between Shoujou, Masira, and Cricket — why do the “Big Ape Brothers” guard the sea around Cricket’s home?
• What is the gold bullion recently discovered in Western Jaya, and how does it connect to Cricket and Skypiea?
• Will Bellamy reach Cricket first, and what will he do there?
• Can the already-damaged Going Merry survive Shoujou’s Havoc Sonar?