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Chapter 338: Coup de Vent

Arc: Water Seven · Saga: Water Seven · Released:

Summary

The Dock 1 brawl reaches its peak. A strange, far-off wind (“Aqua Laguna high tide… is getting closer and closer!!”) opens the chapter — townsfolk flee for higher ground while the fight rages on. The Galley-La foremen and the Franky Family still treat the Straw Hats as Mayor Iceberg’s would-be assassins (“Don’t play dumb, assassin scum!! How dare you shoot the mayor!!”), and Luffy keeps insisting he has no reason to fight them (“We haven’t done anything!!” / “I don’t have a reason to fight you guys!! I keep telling you!!”). The foremen — a top-hat figure (Rob Lucci by silhouette) and a square-nosed figure (Kaku by silhouette) among them — open fire (“Fine. We get it. Pistols won’t work on you.”), then a cannon blasts at Luffy (“KA-BOOM!!!”), but he survives. Franky and the foremen squabble over who gets to finish Luffy (“That kid’s mine!!” / “Why are you taking my prey?!”), and the Franky Family cheer that Galley-La and Franky are the city’s “pride and joy.” Then Franky sets up his signature move: “Franky’s gonna attack, and it’s a nasty one!! Run for it, Galley-La!!” He braces his right arm — “This cannon doesn’t shoot shells. It fires air bullets… but they hit faster than a hurricane!” — and unleashes “COUP DE VENT!!!” The blast levels the entire Dock 1 shipbuilding yard, the bridge, and the half-built galleon (“He’s destroyed Dock One! Even the half-built galleon!”). In the chaos Luffy is freed and grabs Nami, marveling at Franky (“…a cyborg?! Where did he get the technology?!” / “You think something like that could finish me?!”). The Straw Hats flee. Franky, out of fuel (“…used up all my fuel. Just look at my limp pompadour.”), lets them go — “Those annoying foremen got in my way. I’ll erase him next time, once I’ve refueled.” — and praises Luffy: “Ha ha ha… Just what I’d expect of a 100 million bounty. He’s got guts.” The foremen regroup: with Aqua Laguna coming tonight and only the last two Sea Trains leaving today, the crew “will have no way to get off the island,” and they vow to “settle this before sundown” and “post all Galley-La personnel around the island.” The chapter closes near the Sea Train as Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbe turn up (“It’s Water Seven!!” / “Granny, granny!”).

New reveals

• “COUP DE VENT” named on-page — Franky’s wind cannon. Franky braces his right shoulder/arm: “This cannon doesn’t shoot shells. It fires air bullets… but they hit faster than a hurricane!” → “COUP DE VENT!!!” The single blast demolishes the entire Dock 1 yard, the bridge, and the half-built galleon (pp. 13–16). First on-page naming and demonstration of Franky’s signature air-cannon technique.
• Franky’s bounty is 100 million berries. After the fight, Franky says of Luffy: “Just what I’d expect of a 100 million bounty. He’s got guts” (p. 18). The line references Luffy’s 100M bounty, but also frames Franky as a heavy-hitter who measures himself against that tier. (VIZ phrasing — Oda is contrasting Luffy’s bounty against Franky’s monstrous strength.)
• Franky vastly outclasses Luffy here. Luffy lands nothing that matters, is blasted clear, and only escapes because the Coup de Vent’s collateral freed him (pp. 9–17). Franky tops both the Galley-La foremen and his own Family in raw power, leveling Dock 1 offhand.
• Franky runs on fuel. He stops chasing because he’s “used up all my fuel” — his “pompadour” goes limp when depleted — and will “erase [Luffy] next time, once I’ve refueled” (p. 18). First on-page tell that the cyborg’s power has a consumable resource (cola, later).
• Aqua Laguna comes TONIGHT. “Aqua Laguna will be here tonight”; the last two Sea Trains of the day are the only way off the island once the flood arrives (p. 19). The clock on the arc is set: flood + departure window.
• The crew can’t leave on their own ship. Galley-La states “They won’t be going anywhere on the boat they arrived in” — i.e., the battered Going Merry is no escape, herding the crew toward the Sea Train (p. 19).
• Island-wide manhunt declared. Galley-La: “We’ll settle this before sundown!! Post all Galley-La personnel around the island.” (p. 19). The frame-up escalates from town mob to organized dragnet.
• Kokoro, Chimney & Gonbe resurface by the Sea Train as the manhunt is announced (“It’s Water Seven!!” / “Granny, granny!” / “Meow meow!”, p. 19).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Straw Hats: Luffy (insists “I don’t have a reason to fight you guys”; out-muscled by Franky; grabs Nami and flees), Nami (caught in the brawl; “What IS he?! …a cyborg?!”; freed by the Coup de Vent collateral) (Straw Hat Pirates)
• Franky Family: Franky (named throughout; fires the Coup de Vent, revealed as a 100M-tier powerhouse, runs out of fuel) and his gang (“Crush them, Galley-La!! …Just what you’d expect of Galley-La, the city’s pride and joy!!”) (Franky Family)
• Galley-La Company: Paulie (“Run for it, Galley-La!!”; among the foremen), Tilestone (among the “five strongest”), silhouetted top-hat foreman = Rob Lucci and square-nosed foreman = Kaku (pp. 7–8, by silhouette — unnamed this chapter) (Galley-La Company)
• Sea Train trio: Kokoro, Chimney, Gonbe (resurface by the Sea Train, p. 19)
• Named-not-shown / referenced: Iceberg (Mayor — the “shot mayor” the crew is blamed for; referenced, not on-panel), Nico Robin (“Robin has no reason to go after Mr. Iceberg any more than we do!!”, p. 5 — referenced), CP9 (latent — true plot behind the frame)
• World concept: Aqua Laguna (the high tide arriving tonight; the Sea Train as the only escape)
• Location: Water Seven (Dock 1 shipbuilding yard — leveled; the Sea Train area)
• Cover serial: Gedatsu — “Gedatsu’s Unexpected Life on the Blue Sea, Vol. 22: ‘Goro, Koza’s Uncle and Toh-Toh’s Little Brother, Returns Home by Chance‘“

Notable panels

• p. 1 — Title page: “Chapter 338: COUP DE VENT.” Cover serial: “GEDATSU’S UNEXPECTED LIFE ON THE BLUE SEA, VOL. 22: ‘GORO, KOZA’S UNCLE AND TOH-TOH’S LITTLE BROTHER, RETURNS HOME BY CHANCE.’” Inset art: three Alabasta-flavored men at an oasis — a turbaned elder, a blond suited man, and a tall bare-chested man (t-shirt motif, hot-spring/onsen marks) chatting. (Side B-plot — Gedatsu cover serial; ties the Skypiean castaways into Alabasta faces.)
• p. 2 — Aqua Laguna warning panels: “…is getting closer and closer!!” / “Hey!! They’re saying the Aqua Laguna high tide…” / “Sometime tonight the town… will be flooded!! Even this beach will be underwater!!” / “Let’s evacuate quickly!!”
• p. 3 — Wide shot of Water Seven; townsfolk fleeing (“RUN AWAAAAY!!”); “Come to think of it, the wind’s pretty strong… Something about a high tide…?”
• p. 4 — Mob chases the crew: “Don’t let the assassins get away!! Catch them!!”; a citizen grapples Luffy (“How dare you shoot the mayor!! …Knock it off!! Let me go!!”); Luffy: “We haven’t done anything!!”
• p. 5 — Foremen: “When you attack our boss, you make enemies of the entire Galley-La Company… making an enemy of the entire city of Water Seven.” A voice: “Robin has no reason to go after Mr. Iceberg any more than we do!!” Luffy: “Just let us talk to Ice Guy!”
• pp. 6–7 — Luffy fights, dodging rope/saw attacks (“WOOSH!!!”, “TWANG”); “I don’t have a reason to fight you guys!! I keep telling you!!” A foreman: “What’s the matter? Are you just going to take it?”
• p. 8 — Foremen open fire: “Fine. We get it. Pistols won’t work on you.” A top-hat figure (Lucci silhouette) and others; then “KA-BOOM!!!” a cannon shot — “That was close!” / “No, he got away.” / “A direct hit!! …All right!! Yeah!!”
• p. 9 — Saws and chains (“SLASH!!”); Luffy dodges (“KRASH”, “KLATTA KLATTA”); a cannon (“FOO-SH”).
• p. 10 — Luffy pinned (“Aw, no! I can’t move!”); another “KABOOM!!!” blast catches him.
• p. 11 — Crowd: “All right!! They got him!!” / “Luffy!!” Franky Family vs. foremen squabble: “I was fighting with him first!” / “the little Straw Hat kid was the hated enemy of our Franky Family!” / “Then you butted in, even after I told you he was my quarry.”
• p. 12 — More squabbling; “Connector set…” (Franky bracing his arm); “Franky’s gonna attack, and it’s a nasty one!! Run for it, Galley-La!!” / “Paulie, look out!!” / “Why are you taking my prey?!”
• p. 13 — The reveal: “A crane, huh?… He just used that thing to knock down a huge crane!!” Big close-up of Franky’s arm/eye and the star-marked shoulder: “This cannon doesn’t shoot shells. It fires air bullets… but they hit faster than a hurricane!” → “COUP DE VENT!!!” (“FWOMP!!”) / “It’s dangerous! Run!! Air?!”
• pp. 14–15 — Full-bleed devastation: ”…O M!!!” the air-bullet tears through Dock 1 — the bridge and the half-built galleon shattered (“BO… BOOM!!!”), debris everywhere, Franky a small figure standing in the blast wake.
• p. 16 — Aftermath: “He’s destroyed Dock One! Even the half-built galleon!”; “…shipbuilding dock!! Crush this whole…!!” (“RUMBLE…!!”). A foreman: “Oh!! What in the—?! It’s like I was knocked aside by… wind pressure!!!”
• p. 17 — Luffy grabs Nami (“LUFFY!! / NAMI!! RUN!!”); Nami: “What IS he?! …a cyborg?! Where did he get the technology?! And what was that strange cannon?!”; Luffy: “You think something like that could finish me?!”
• p. 18 — Franky deflates: “…used up all my fuel. Just look at my limp pompadour.” / “That Coup de Vent…” / “They got away. Aren’t you going after them?” / “Nope.” / “Those annoying foremen got in my way. I’ll erase him next time, once I’ve refueled.” / “Ha ha ha… Just what I’d expect of a 100 million bounty. He’s got guts.”
• p. 19 — Foremen regroup: “That Franky… he really did it this time.” / “We can’t let them get away. Aqua Laguna will be here tonight. Other than on the last two Sea Trains leaving today, they’ll have no way to get off the island.” / “They won’t be going anywhere on the boat they arrived in.” / “We’ll settle this before sundown!! Post all Galley-La personnel around the island.” Final panels by the Sea Train: “It’s Water Seven!!” / “Granny, granny!” / “Meow meow!! Nga ga ga!!” (Kokoro, Chimney, Gonbe).
• p. 20 — SBS “Question Corner”: Oda answers what a cutlass is (a short broad sword), and a question about Hercules/Atlas beetles being sold as pets. Not story content.

Open questions raised

• Where is Robin, and what is she actually doing while the crew is hunted? (She’s referenced — “Robin has no reason to go after Mr. Iceberg,” p. 5 — but absent from the page.) (Continues the apparent-betrayal hook of the arc.)
• What fuels Franky’s body — and how does he refuel? (“once I’ve refueled,” p. 18.) (Seeds the cola mechanic.)
• Who are the silhouetted top-hat and square-nosed foremen among Galley-La’s “strongest,” and why so formidable? (pp. 7–8.) (Seeds the CP9-foremen reveal — [[Crews/CP9]].)
• How will the crew (and Robin) escape the island once Aqua Laguna floods it tonight, with only the Sea Train as an exit and the Going Merry ruled out? (p. 19.)
• Will Luffy ever reach Iceberg to “just talk to Ice Guy”? (p. 5.)