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Chapter 355: Spandam

Arc: Water Seven · Saga: Water Seven · Released: 2005

Summary

A flashback set roughly 14 years before the present, on Water Seven during the legendary shipwright Tom’s ten-year stay of execution. Tom’s Workers have completed three more Sea-Train tracks and are receiving a lumber delivery from St. Poplar; in three days Tom’s verdict — execution or acquittal — will be decided by the Judicial Ship. Franky (young, hot-headed) is building armed “Battle Franky” warships and accidentally bags a Neptunian sea-monster with a stray shot, drawing the wrath of the government man Spandam, Chief Officer of Cipher Pol No. 5, who storms the workshop demanding Tom answer for two crimes: building dangerous weapons, and — the real charge — building Gold Roger’s pirate ship. Spandam reveals the government’s deeper motive: the Five Elders declare they must possess the Ancient Weapon and end the age of piracy, and put Spandam in charge of finding the blueprints. Knowing the government is closing in, Tom secretly hands the Pluton blueprints to his two apprentices, Iceberg and Franky, calling it “the most dangerous beast in the history of shipbuilding,” and shows them Nico Robin’s 79,000,000-berry wanted poster as another of his worries. Three days later, as the Judicial Ship arrives for the trial, a fleet of Franky’s own Battle Franky warships out of Scrap Heap Island opens fire on the ship — a catastrophe that frames Tom’s Workers just as the trial is set to begin.

New reveals

• Spandam (CP5 Chief Officer) debuts — caption “SPANDAM — Cipher Pol No. 5, Chief Officer.” (This is the original/elder Spandam; the later CP9 Spandam is his son — forward-canon, not stated here.)
• Tom built Gold Roger’s ship — “You built Gold Roger’s ship!!” — the “high crime” his ten-year stay of execution traces to (“He was mixed up with Roger”).
• Tom’s Workers built and expanded the Sea Train — completed the remaining three tracks; “It’s been 14 years” since the idea became reality.
• The Five Elders appear — declare “We must have the strongest weapons in the world at our disposal!! …We will possess the Ancient Weapon… and bring this age of piracy to a crashing halt!!” and put Spandam “in charge of this matter.”
• Tom entrusts the Pluton blueprints to Franky and Iceberg — “the most dangerous beast in the history of shipbuilding”; “if something like this were brought into the world… the world would be destroyed.”
• Nico Robin’s 79,000,000-berry wanted poster is shown by Tom as “one more of my worries.”
• Franky’s Battle Franky warships (from Scrap Heap Island) bombard the Judicial Ship as the trial begins — a fleet of armed ships using Franky’s designs.

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Tom — first on-page appearance
• Spandam (CP5 Chief Officer) — first appearance (no character note yet)
• Iceberg — young, as Tom’s apprentice
• Franky — young, as Tom’s apprentice (building Battle Franky warships)
• Nico Robin — referenced via wanted poster only (not present)
• Roger — referenced (“Gold Roger’s ship”); not shown
• Five Elders — appear in shadow, declaring the Ancient-Weapon doctrine
• Tom’s Workers · CP9 (institutional ancestor CP5) · Sea Train
• Water Seven · St. Poplar (lumber-delivery origin) · Scrap Heap Island (named)
• Ancient Weapons (Pluton blueprints)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page “Chapter 355: SPANDAM”; decorative cover splash (two hat-and-furs archer figures in a snowy forest).
• Page 4 — Spandam bursts in amid an explosion; caption box “SPANDAM — Cipher Pol No. 5, Chief Officer.”
• Pages 5–6 — Battle Franky 35 returns to base after bagging a Neptunian; Spandam confronts young Franky over the warships.
• Pages 9–10 — The Five Elders in shadow articulate the Ancient-Weapon-possession doctrine and put Spandam in charge.
• Pages 12–13 — Tom unrolls the Pluton blueprints for Iceberg and Franky (“the most dangerous beast in the history of shipbuilding”); the chapter closes the beat on Nico Robin’s 79,000,000 poster.
• Pages 15–19 — Judicial Ship arrival; “It’s been 14 years already”; the Battle Franky fleet from Scrap Heap Island bombards the ship as the trial opens.
• Page 20 — SBS “Question Corner” (Kiwi & Mozu “Squ-hair”; homework gag).

Open questions raised

• Who is firing the Battle Franky fleet at the Judicial Ship — pirates, or a CP5 false-flag? (p. 19: “Pirates?! Or the government?!”)
• What is the relationship between this CP5 Spandam and the present-day CP9 Spandam?
• What becomes of Tom at the trial, and how does the framing seal his fate?