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Chapter 343: Cipher Pol No. 9

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

Summary

The masked intruders who attacked Galley-La HQ are surrounded — citizens and shipwrights shout “You can’t escape this time! Give yourselves up!!” and “Show your true faces!!” — but the figures simply vanish in a flash (Robin, in a domino eye-mask, and a bear-masked companion) and reappear inside the mansion, leaving the guards bewildered (“They’re gone!”). One intruder leaps and walks across thin air (“MOON WALK”, “THORNY ROAD” lacerating the guards on the way) to land in the courtyard, where a shipwright demands “Where did you come from?! Who are you?!” The masked agents answer: “We come from the shadows… agents of justice… though we are… CIPHER POL NO. 9 — undercover intelligence agency” (pp. 7–8). Confronting the bedridden Mayor Iceberg at gunpoint, they demand he “hand over” his “precious item.” Iceberg plays dumb (“I don’t recall saying anything of the sort”), so they spell it out: they are after the blueprints for a certain ship that Iceberg has hidden — plans “passed down secretly from master to apprentice, from shipwright to shipwright, for generations.” The bear-masked agent breaches the room using the Door-Door Fruit (“as long as there’s a wall, I can get in and out of anything… wherever I touch it becomes a door”, p. 11), shooting Iceberg’s leg to restrain him (“just as famous chefs prepare their ingredients in advance… and keep him from acting against us before the signal”). CP9 lay out the whole plot: they let Iceberg live the night before so the Straw Hats would take the blame, and so a threatened Iceberg would hand the plans to someone he trusted — that man is Paulie, foreman of Dock One, whom their comrades are moving to seize “right now.” Robin is ordered: “…you will take Iceberg’s life,” finishing him once the blueprints are secured, after which CP9 will erase Paulie too — and “the best part is, the Straw Hat Pirates will take the blame for everything!” Outside, the rest of the crew (Nami, Chopper, Zoro, Sanji) scheme to slip into the mansion by riding the chaos around Luffy, who they expect the shipwrights to swarm; they vault the fence “right behind Luffy” only to find the courtyard packed with guards (“What part of this is ‘thinned out’?!”). Then a shipwright spots disaster: “Aren’t Kaku and Lucci up here?!” — the guards on the third floor have been wiped out, and Tilestone finds the embedded agents collapsed, screaming “LUCCI!!! KAKU!!!” The bear-masked agent, watching its Den Den Mushi, mutters “No signal yet?… If we don’t complete our mission soon, there’ll be no end to this.”

New reveals

• “CIPHER POL NO. 9” (CP9) is named on-page for the first time. The masked intruders identify themselves as a World Government “undercover intelligence agency… agents of justice… we come from the shadows” (pp. 7–8). This is the on-page debut of the organization’s name. ([[Crews/CP9]])
• The Door-Door Fruit (Doa Doa no Mi) is named. The bear-masked CP9 agent’s power: “It’s the power of the Door-Door Fruit. However thick the wall, wherever I touch it becomes a door… as long as there’s a wall, I can get in and out of anything” (p. 11). This is how the agents breached Galley-La HQ both nights — and how they vanished from the surrounded courtyard (pp. 3, 11). (The agent is masked; the directional hint identifies this Door-Door user as Blueno. On-page he is bear-masked and unnamed — recorded as inference, not naming.)
• The CP9 objective is the hidden ship blueprints. They are after “Mayor Iceberg’s precious item” — the blueprints for a certain ship Iceberg has hidden, which “for generations… have been passed down from shipwright to shipwright… handed down secretly from master to apprentice” (pp. 9, 14). (Inference: this is the Pluton blueprint motive; “Pluton” is NOT spoken on-page this chapter — only “blueprints for a certain ship.”)
• The frame-up was deliberate strategy. CP9 state they “let you live yesterday so the blame would fall on the pirates,” and that a life-threatened Iceberg “would undoubtedly have tried to entrust the plans to someone” — so they could find who he chose (pp. 13–14). The Straw Hat frame was engineered to that end.
• Paulie is Iceberg’s chosen heir to the plans. “The man you chose was Paulie… the foreman of Dock One. Our comrades are on their way to take care of him right now” (p. 14). CP9 intend to seize the blueprints from Paulie, then “erase Paulie, since he knows the truth” (p. 15).
• Robin is ordered to kill Iceberg. Working under coercion (domino eye-mask), Robin is told “…you will take Iceberg’s life… to finish him” once the comrades secure the plans (p. 15). She visibly anguishes — “I’ve done something terrible… to the Straw Hat boy” (p. 13) — confirming she regrets implicating Luffy’s crew but is acting under CP9’s hold.
• Two embedded CP9 agents are named: LUCCI and KAKU. Tilestone finds them collapsed on the third floor (“the guards on the third floor have been wiped out!!”, “Aren’t Kaku and Lucci up here?!”) and screams “LUCCI!!! KAKU!!!” (pp. 18–19). First on-page utterance of both names in this chapter’s reveal sequence — confirming Lucci and Kaku are CP9 operating inside Galley-La. (Whether they are “defeated” or feigning is left ambiguous; they appear slumped/unconscious.)
• CP9 operate by a “signal” relay. The bear-masked agent watches a Den Den Mushi for a “signal” from the comrades seizing Paulie (“No signal yet?”, “before the signal”, pp. 12, 19) — establishing a coordinated multi-team operation.

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• CP9 (named pp. 7–8): CP9 — masked agents; the bear-masked Door-Door Fruit user (pp. 3, 8, 11, 13, 19) (inferred Blueno, masked/unnamed on-page); an ox/bull-masked speaking agent (p. 8); a checkered-cloaked figure (the “ox/bull head” mask sequence, pp. 8–16); Rob Lucci and Kaku (named pp. 18–19, shown collapsed inside the mansion)
• Nico Robin: Nico Robin — domino eye-masked, acting under CP9 coercion; ordered to take Iceberg’s life (pp. 13, 15); anguishes over implicating “the Straw Hat boy” (p. 13)
• Galley-La / townsfolk: Paulie (named p. 14 — Iceberg’s chosen heir to the plans, being seized off-panel; not shown this chapter), Tilestone (named p. 18; finds Lucci & Kaku, p. 19), the shipwright guards & town mob (Galley-La Company)
• Iceberg: Iceberg — bedridden, leg shot to restrain him; refuses to admit he holds the plans; the assassination target (pp. 8–15). (VIZ on-page spelling “Iceberg”; vault wikilink convention [[Characters/Iceberg]].)
• Straw Hats (outside the mansion): Nami, Chopper, Zoro, Sanji plan to use Luffy as a diversion to slip inside (pp. 16–17) (Straw Hat Pirates)
• Devil Fruits / techniques: Doa Doa no Mi (Door-Door Fruit, named p. 11); “Moon Walk” (Geppo, air-walk, p. 5); “Thorny Road” (Robin Hana-Hana technique, p. 6)
• Location: Water Seven (Galley-La Headquarters / the mayor’s mansion; Dock One referenced)
• Cover serial: Gedatsu — “Gedatsu’s Unexpected Life on the Blue Sea, Vol. 27: ‘The Princess and Her Entourage Pay a Visit‘“

Notable panels

• p. 1 — Title page: “Chapter 343: CIPHER POL NO. 9.” Cover serial inset: “GEDATSU’S UNEXPECTED LIFE ON THE BLUE SEA, VOL. 27: ‘THE PRINCESS AND HER ENTOURAGE PAY A VISIT.’” Bathhouse setting with kanji signage — 男 (men) / 湯 (baths, per ed. note) / 女 (women); Gedatsu and an entourage of three figures (one a curly-haired “princess”).
• p. 2 — “DOOM!! DOOM!!” — the surrounded intruders shown: a woman in a domino eye-mask (Robin) and a grinning bear-masked figure. Citizens: “You can’t escape this time! Give yourselves up!!” / “We’ve got you surrounded, pirates!!” / “Show your true faces!!” / “Don’t move, pirate scum!” A “4 DOCK” jacket visible.
• p. 3 — “FWAP!!! / FSSHH…” — the intruders vanish in a flash; “They’re gone!” The guards are left ”?!!” (Door-Door escape.)
• p. 4 — “WOOOOO” / “KRA-SH!!” — destruction across the courtyard; a shipwright: “What was that?! The whip user… ran through the air… so strong!” (foremen reacting).
• p. 5 — ”…I didn’t warn you.” / “Ran… through the air?!” / “He jumped!!” / “MOON WALK” (air-walk, “BO’NG!!”). An intruder bounding through empty air.
• p. 6 — “How in the world…?! There’s nothing but air, but he’s jumping around!” / “SLASH… THORNY ROAD!! …SLASH!!” (Robin’s Hana-Hana technique lacerating the guards) / “AARGH!!”
• p. 7 — “The intruder landed in the courtyard!! Follow me!!” A foreman: “Where did you come from?! Who are you?!” Reply begins: “We come from the shadows… agents of justice… though we are…”
• p. 8 — Big ox/bull-masked panel: ”…CIPHER POL NO. 9. Undercover intelligence agency…” / “There may have been casualties… or maybe not. You had to have run into some of our men, no matter how you got in.” / “It’s hard to remember such trivial details.”
• p. 9 — “…as genteel as an assassination, is it.” / “So this is no longer… Furthermore… Hand it over.” / “We’re here for Mayor Iceberg’s precious item.” Iceberg: “I don’t recall saying anything of the sort.”
• p. 10 — ”…I’m afraid we’ll have to kill you now!! Since you know what it is we’re after…” (eyes in shadow). The team relays positions: “Look out for the whip user!!” / “It’s on the other side of this wall.” / “Now push.”
• p. 11 — “It’s the power of the Door-Door Fruit. However thick the wall, wherever I touch it becomes a door… as long as there’s a wall, I can get in and out of anything.” The bear-masked agent points a gun through a freshly made door (“CHAK”).
• p. 12 — “BLAM!!” — Iceberg shot (“ARGH!!! Squeak squeak!!”). “What are you—?! There hasn’t been a signal yet.” / “…so it is only professional of us to restrain him… and keep him from acting unexpectedly before the signal.” / “He isn’t harmless if he has the energy to talk.”
• p. 13 — “…the CP9 way?!! Is that…?” / Bear-masked: “You’re right. Good guess.” / Robin: ”…I’ve done something terrible… to the Straw Hat boy. He wasn’t part of this, was he?” / CP9: “It’s nothing to concern yourself over. You just said you saw me last night, which was true. That was… part of your strategy too?”
• p. 14 — The blueprint motive, laid out: “We let you live yesterday so the blame would fall on the pirates… if we had killed you sooner… you would undoubtedly have tried to entrust the plans to someone… where you had hidden the blueprints for a certain ship. For generations, they have been passed down from shipwright to shipwright… handed down secretly from master to apprentice. And the man you chose was Paulie… the foreman of Dock One. Our comrades are on their way to take care of him right now.”
• p. 15 — “I’ll leave you, Nico Robin… to finish him.” / “I’ll take care of the shipwrights outside the door… so that we can finish this without a hitch.” / “…you will take Iceberg’s life!!” / “Once our comrades have the blueprints from Paulie… they will contact us. And when they do… then we’ll erase Paulie, since he knows the truth about this… Our mission will be accomplished.” / “The best part is, the Straw Hat Pirates will take the blame for everything!”
• pp. 16–17 — Outside: the crew (Nami, Chopper, Zoro, Sanji) reason that they can use Luffy’s expected rampage as cover — “To the shipwrights, Luffy is the criminal ringleader… once he shows up, all eyes will be on him… we’ll grab the chance to blend in.” They vault the fence “right behind Luffy.”
• p. 17 — “TA-DAH!!” — the courtyard is wall-to-wall with guards. “What part of this is ‘thinned out’?!”
• p. 18 — Sanji/Zoro stuck mid-vault (“I’m stuck! I can’t move!!”). A shipwright: “Oh! Mr. Tilestone, look there!” / “What’re you talking about?! Aren’t Kaku and Lucci up here?!” / “The guards on the third floor have been wiped out!! I need backup in the mayor’s bedroom and office!!”
• p. 19 — “KOO KOO…” (Den Den Mushi) / “DOOM!!” — Tilestone discovers the collapsed agents and screams “LUCCI!!! KAKU!!!” Bear-masked agent (Den Den Mushi in hand): “No signal yet?… Well, well… If we don’t complete our mission soon, there’ll be no end to this.”
• p. 20 — Final small panel: Tilestone’s stunned reaction shot (no SBS this chapter).

Open questions raised

• Who is the bear-masked Door-Door Fruit user? Named only by power (Doa Doa no Mi, p. 11), face hidden behind a bear/dog mask. (Inference: Blueno — masked/unnamed on-page.)
• Are Lucci and Kaku genuinely defeated, or feigning? They are found collapsed among the wiped-out third-floor guards (pp. 18–19), but they are themselves CP9 — the chapter leaves whether they’re casualties or staging it ambiguous. (Seeds the next chapter’s twist.)
• What exactly is the “certain ship” whose blueprints CP9 want? Named only as ship blueprints passed master-to-apprentice (pp. 9, 14). (Inference toward the Ancient Weapon Pluton — not named on-page.)
• Will Robin actually kill Iceberg? She is ordered to (p. 15) and clearly acts under coercion while regretting harming the Straw Hats (p. 13) — the chapter does not resolve whether she goes through with it.
• Can the comrades seize the blueprints from Paulie before the crew interferes? CP9 are moving on Paulie “right now” (p. 14); the Straw Hats are simultaneously breaching the mansion (pp. 16–18).
• Why is Robin cooperating with CP9 at all? The coercion is shown (she calls it “part of your strategy,” p. 13) but the leverage CP9 holds over her is not yet stated.