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Chapter 345: Sleepers

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

Summary

The night of the assassination attempt continues inside the Galley-La mansion. A grievously wounded Iceberg, sprawled on the floor before four masked intruders, taunts them: their “big plan just fell apart,” and he claims not even to know what they were after. The masked figures conclude he was only a decoy / “fake” but “still knows too much” — and resolve to kill him (KABOOM!). Luffy — who climbed the building to find Robin — crashes onto the third floor, covered in blood, and recognizes one masked figure as “the rope guy”/“the guy from the bar.” Convinced these masks mean “it must be you guys” who took Robin, Luffy attacks; the masked agents answer with superhuman skill — one slices a wall apart with a kick (“Tempest Kick”), another clashes blade-to-blade with him (KLANG KLANG). Robin’s voice issues from a den-den mushi: orders come down — “do not shoot Iceberg yet… report to the bedroom… there’s been a hitch in the plan.” A long-coated agent with a pigeon announces “I have business elsewhere,” refuses to flee, and fells a Galley-La foreman (“Mr. Lulu”) with a single blow. A surviving wounded foreman vows to fight alongside Luffy — “Iceberg made me a proper shipwright… I want to beat those idiots to a pulp.” Regrouping in Iceberg’s room, the four intruders finally unmask themselves before the dying mayor: shipwright/dock-foreman Rob Lucci (“LUCCI!!”), foreman Kaku (“KAKU!!”), Iceberg’s secretary Kalifa (“KALIFA!!”), and bartender Blueno (“the guy from the bar… Blueno!!”). They declare themselves Cipher Pol No. 9 (CP9) — an undercover intelligence agency under the direct control of the World Government — and demand the one thing this entire operation has been about: “Where are the blueprints of… the Ancient Weapon Pluton?”

New reveals

• The four “masked” intruders are unmasked as trusted Water Seven insiders: Rob Lucci (a Galley-La shipwright/foreman, with his pigeon Hattori), Kaku (a Galley-La foreman, long-nosed), Kalifa (Iceberg’s secretary), and Blueno (the bartender — “the guy from the bar”) (pp. 16–17).
• All four are Cipher Pol No. 9 (CP9) — captioned on-page as “an undercover intelligence agency under the direct control of the World Government” (p. 18). First on-page naming of CP9 in the series.
• CP9’s true objective is the BLUEPRINTS OF THE ANCIENT WEAPON PLUTON — Lucci: “Where are the blueprints of… the Ancient Weapon Pluton?” (p. 18). First on-page mention that physical blueprints of Pluton exist and are sought in Water Seven (distinct from the Alabasta poneglyph location-record).
• Iceberg was the target / holder all along: CP9 says “None of this would have happened if you’d handed them over to the government when it asked nicely” (p. 16) — establishing the WG approached Iceberg for the blueprints and he refused.
• Iceberg dismisses himself as a “decoy”/“fake” the assassins underestimated, yet who “still knows too much” — i.e., he deliberately misled them and the real prize slipped away (pp. 2–3).
• CP9 demonstrate superhuman martial techniques (“Rokushiki”-style, though the system is unnamed here): Tempest Kick — a kick that fires a blade of air and cuts a wall (pp. 5–6); a foreman felled by Lucci with a single blow (p. 10); blade clashes that Luffy cannot break (pp. 7–8).
• Luffy came to recover Robin: “the masked guys took one of my crew” / “I came to get her back!” — confirms Robin was taken and that Luffy is mid-rescue (pp. 11–12).
• A Galley-La foreman owes his career to Iceberg (“He made me a proper shipwright… everything he taught me”) and fights on despite mortal wounds (pp. 12–13).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Straw Hats: Luffy (storms the mansion to recover Robin), Nico Robin (named p. 11; voice heard via den-den mushi pp. 8–9), Zoro (shown in another mansion room, p. 14) (Straw Hat Pirates)
• CP9 (revealed): Lucci (named p. 16; with his pigeon Hattori), Kaku (named p. 16), Kalifa (named p. 17), Blueno (named p. 17) (CP9)
• Galley-La / Water Seven: Iceberg (“Mayor Iceberg,” named p. 12; the interrogation target), Mr. Lulu (foreman felled by Lucci, named p. 10), an unnamed wounded foreman who fights alongside Luffy (pp. 12–13)
• Concepts: CP9 (Cipher Pol No. 9, named p. 18), the Pluton blueprints → Ancient Weapons (p. 18), Tempest Kick (Rankyaku, p. 6)
• Location: Water Seven (Galley-La mansion, third floor / Iceberg’s bedroom)
• Cover serial: Gedatsu — “Gedatsu’s Unexpected Life on the Blue Sea, Vol. 29: The Women’s Bath”

Notable panels

• p. 1 — Title splash: “Chapter 345: SLEEPERS.” Cover serial illustration: “GEDATSU’S UNEXPECTED LIFE ON THE BLUE SEA, VOL. 29: ‘THE WOMEN’S BATH’” — Gedatsu (and a long-tongued companion) at an outdoor bath/spa beneath a sign reading “UKKARI.”
• pp. 2–3 — A wounded Iceberg on the floor taunts four masked intruders: “Serves you right… your big plan just fell apart.” The intruders register “FAKE?!” / “even if you were just a decoy… you still know too much. We can’t let you live.” → KABOOM!!
• p. 4 — Luffy crashes onto the third floor (“Darn! I’m stuck!”), covered in blood. He recognizes a figure: “Hey! It’s the rope guy!”
• p. 5 — Luffy: “You’re the ones who told Robin to do stuff!! Give Robin back, you jerks!! …Masks?! Are they masks? Then it must be you guys!” A masked agent: “Tempest Kick.”
• p. 6 — The Tempest Kick fires; “KRAK!!” — “You cut the wall with a kick!”
• pp. 7–8 — Blade clash with a masked agent: “KLANG KLANG KLANG!!” Luffy “can’t move”; a den-den mushi rings (“BRIIIING”).
• p. 9 — Orders via den-den mushi: “Whatever you do, do not shoot Iceberg yet. All members, report to the bedroom at once. There’s been a hitch in the plan. It’s me.” A long-coated agent with a pigeon: “I must be going. I have business elsewhere.”
• p. 10 — “…so this ends now.” A single strike — “VOOM!!” — fells a foreman: “With one blow?!” / “No way!! Mr. Lulu just—!!”
• pp. 11–12 — A surviving wounded foreman; Luffy: “the masked guys took one of my crew.” “That must be Nico Robin.” “I came to get her back!” / “You think I’m gonna let Mayor Iceberg get killed… by idiots nobody knows, from who-knows-where?!”
• p. 13 — The foreman: “He [Iceberg] made me a proper shipwright!! …everything he taught me… I want to beat those idiots to a pulp!!” — and joins Luffy’s fight.
• p. 14 — A clock (“TIK TOK”); Zoro shown elsewhere in the mansion; the four intruders regroup (“DOOM!!”).
• p. 15 — Iceberg: “There’s nothing to hand over!! Go home!!” An intruder: “Then we have a problem… to a dying man? …should I tell first…”
• p. 16 — THE UNMASKING. “You’ve let me down.” → “LUCCI!!” (top hat, pigeon). “You’re the one in the wrong.” → “KAKU!!” — “None of this would have happened if you’d handed them over to the government when it asked nicely.”
• p. 17 — “We wanted… to leave town without hurting you… if we could.” → “KALIFA!!” (blonde, glasses). And the bull-masked one removes his cover: “It’s the guy from the bar… Blueno!!” — “You were all working for the government?!”
• p. 18 — Lucci: “Correct. For us, going undercover is the easiest thing in the world. But…” Caption box: “CIPHER POL NO. 9 — Undercover intelligence agency under the direct control of the World Government.” Lucci, leaning in: “…the Ancient Weapon Pluton? Where are the blueprints of…”
• p. 19 — Blueno: “You just had to go and make things difficult!!” / “…before more innocent people are harmed. Tell us now…”
• p. 20 — Volume bonus: “ONE PIECE STORYBOARD PREVIEW!! #22 — ‘There Was No Scene Like This’” (rough Oda sketches: a Sanji/Robin gag scene; not a story page).

Open questions raised

• Where are the Pluton blueprints, and who actually holds them? (Lucci demands them, p. 18; Iceberg claims there’s “nothing to hand over,” p. 15, and earlier calls himself a “decoy,” p. 2.)
• Why does Iceberg have Pluton blueprints at all? What is the connection between Water Seven’s shipwrights and an Ancient Weapon? (Implied lineage — “he made me a proper shipwright,” p. 13.)
• What is Robin’s role with CP9? Luffy says “you’re the ones who told Robin to do stuff” (p. 5); Robin’s voice gives CP9 orders via den-den mushi (p. 9). Why is she cooperating?
• What is the martial-art system behind Tempest Kick / one-blow KOs? (Demonstrated, unnamed here — pp. 6, 10.)
• Will Iceberg survive the interrogation? (Repeatedly called a “dying man,” pp. 15, 19.)