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Chapter 352: There's an Open Road

Arc: Water Seven · Saga: Water Seven · Released: 2005-04-25

Summary

At the Franky House, Franky and Usopp argue over the Going Merry — Franky insisting the ship can’t sail again and Usopp refusing to accept it. Their quarrel is cut short when four visitors barge in through the ocean-side entrance, beat down the Square Sisters Mozu and Kiwi, and reveal themselves: Kalifa, Blueno, Kaku and Rob Lucci. Franky recognizes all four as Galley-La’s “Secretary,” “the barkeep,” “the bumpkin (square-nose)” and “the pigeon freak.” Lucci tells Franky their identities in Water Seven were only a cover — they are secret agents of the World Government. They already know everything: that “Franky” is really Cutty Flam, Tom’s other apprentice who was supposed to have died eight years ago, and that Iceberg (“We killed him”) passed down the long-running strategy that ends at Franky. They demand the blueprints for the Ancient Weapon Pluton — “the world’s most terrible battleship.” Franky refuses and lashes out; Lucci counters with a single blow too fast for Usopp to follow, leveling Franky and the building. As CP9 begins searching the ruins for the hidden blueprint, they pass the old Tom’s Workers warehouse nameplates — “Cutty Flam,” “Iceberg,” “Tom” — and Franky, in fury, recalls the company where he was raised by “the best shipbuilder in the world.”

New reveals

• CP9’s Water Seven covers are a front; the four are secret agents for the World Government (Lucci, p. 13).
• CP9 already know Franky = Cutty Flam, “Tom’s other apprentice… supposed to have died eight years ago” (Lucci, p. 13).
• “We killed him” — CP9 state they killed Iceberg (p. 14).
• The inheritance chain of the long strategy: “From Tom to Iceberg, from Iceberg to you… you passed that thing down” — the Pluton blueprints, “the world’s most terrible battleship,” now in Franky’s keeping; “our long strategy has finally reached checkmate” (CP9, p. 15).
• Franky refuses outright: “I’ve got nothing to give you people!!” (p. 16).
• Lucci’s speed is reaffirmed — he strikes Franky and demolishes the building too fast for Usopp to see (“He was too fast!!!”, p. 18).
• First on-page depiction of Tom himself, large central figure in Franky’s flashback to Tom’s Workers (title splash p. 1; memory panel p. 20).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Franky (= Cutty Flam) — at the Franky House; central
• Usopp — arguing the Going Merry’s fate
• Rob Lucci — CP9; speaks (not via Hattori) for the first time at length; demolishes Franky
• Kaku — CP9
• Kalifa — CP9
• Blueno — CP9
• Iceberg — referenced; CP9 claim to have killed him
• Tom — first on-page depiction (memory/flashback)
• Kiwi, Mozu — Square Sisters, beaten down by CP9 (pp. 7–8)
• CP9, Galley-La Company, Franky Family, Tom’s Workers
• Water Seven
• Ancient Weapons

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title splash “TOM’S WORKERS”: Franky riding a wheel-headed creature, flanked by the silhouetted members of Tom’s Workers (a trident-bearer, a tall figure, a horned/animal-headed figure). Chapter caption “There’s an open road.”
• Pages 7–8 — CP9 storm in via the ocean-side entrance; Mozu (“MOZU!!”) and Kiwi (“KIWI!!”) are floored (“KRAK!!”, “WHUMP”). The four step out of the smoke (“Sorry to barge in…”).
• Page 13 — Lucci: “Our identities in this city are only a cover. We are actually employed… as secret agents for the World Government!”
• Page 13 (lower) — “Your real name is Cutty Flam. You are Tom’s other apprentice, the one who’s supposed to have died eight years ago.”
• Page 14 — “Is Iceberg… that idiot… doing well?” / “We killed him.”
• Page 15 — ”…The Ancient Weapon, Pluton… the blueprints for the world’s most terrible battleship… Hand them over, Franky!!!”
• Page 16 — Franky: “I’ve got nothing to give you people!!!”
• Page 18 — Lucci’s blow lands; “He was too fast!!!” — Usopp couldn’t see it.
• Pages 19–20 — CP9 search the ruins; nameplates “Cutty Flam,” “Iceberg,” “Tom”; Franky’s memory of Tom’s Workers — “the best shipbuilder in the world.”

Open questions raised

• Is Iceberg actually dead, or is “We killed him” a bluff/incomplete? (CP9 claim it; not shown.)
• Where exactly are the real Pluton blueprints hidden — and does Franky still have them?
• How did CP9 confirm Franky is Cutty Flam, and what happened “eight years ago” to Tom and his apprentices?