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Chapter 364: KOKORO

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

Summary

Watching from Shipbuilding Island, the townspeople see the Straw Hats swallowed up by the Aqua Laguna flood-wave (“THOOOM”); Paulie — “Mr. Paulie” — snags them out of the surge with his rigging rope (“FWOINNG!”) and hauls them clear as the great bridge crumbles and a second wave roars in (pp. 4-9). The soaked crew reconvenes on the elevated town with Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbe; Zoro, who’d been stuck head-first in a smokestack, is reunited, and Nami tells him everything that’s happened with Robin (pp. 10-11). Luffy instantly resolves to get a ship and chase CP9, but Paulie and the townspeople refuse: no ship — not even the biggest galleon — survives Aqua Laguna, and Robin’s destination is the World Government’s judicial island, Enies Lobby (pp. 12-14). They lay out the “Gates of Justice”: Enies Lobby’s courthouse is a court in name only, beyond which lie only two destinations — the Navy Headquarters and the underwater prison Impel Down — and chasing Robin there means picking a fight with the very heart of the World Government (pp. 14-17). Luffy refuses to wait until morning; he charges to steal a ship and set sail into the killing waves anyway, with Zoro covering him against Paulie (“Fine. I’ll take you on”) (pp. 17-19). At the cliffhanger Kokoro stops them: there IS one vessel that can ride out Aqua Laguna — the Sea Train, built by those legendary men — and she will send one out for them. “Come with me.” (pp. 20-21).

New reveals

• Gates of Justice explained: Enies Lobby’s “courthouse” condemns everyone walked through its steel door; merely being taken there marks one a criminal (pp. 14-16).
• The two destinations beyond the Gates: the Navy Headquarters and Impel Down, “the great underwater prison” of torture chambers and execution blocks — first on-page naming of Impel Down (pp. 15-16).
• Enies Lobby = “the entryway to the World Government’s hub”; chasing Robin there = “pick a fight with the very heart of the World Government” (pp. 16-17).
• Aqua Laguna lethality: no ship survives even a normal one; the biggest galleon would be “shattered to smithereens in one blow”; multiple successive waves (pp. 6-13).
• The Puffing Tom reaffirmed as “the only sea train in the world,” built by “a legendary shipbuilding team that used to live here” (in-text reference to Tom / Tom’s Workers before they’re named) (p. 12).
• Kokoro offers the sole survivable vessel: “I’ll send a sea train out for you… come with me.” (pp. 20-21).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters shown: Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Chopper, Paulie (“Mr. Paulie”), Kokoro (“the old monster lady” / “Ms. Kokoro”), Chimney, Gonbe.
• Referenced / discussed but not shown on-page: Nico Robin (the crewmate being chased), Sanji and Usopp (Luffy asks “where’s Sanji?”; the crew is still scattered).
• Groups/orgs: CP9, Galley-La Company, Straw Hat Pirates, Marines (Navy HQ named), Tom’s Workers (“a legendary shipbuilding team”).
• Locations: Water Seven (Shipbuilding Island / back streets / canal), Enies Lobby (named, not shown — the Gates of Justice, courthouse, and beyond).
• Lore named: the Navy Headquarters and Impel Down (the underwater prison) — both named, neither shown; Sea Train (Puffing Tom), Aqua Laguna.

Notable panels

• pp. 1-2 — Chapter title color spread “KOKORO”: Luffy, Usopp (on a bicycle, mid-air), Zoro, Nami and Sanji riding/firing a mounted gun amid water and a shark-mouthed train-engine, captioned “ONE PIECE — Let me see what you can do.” (decorative color art).
• p. 3 — Cover-story panel (the running “Ms. Golden Week’s Big Plan, A Baroque Reunion” serial): a small rough-sketch frame of three figures walking (one with a beret) — minimal cover-comic art this installment.
• pp. 4-5 — Townspeople: “THE STRAW HATS!! … They were swallowed up by Aqua Laguna!!” (“THOOOM”).
• p. 5 — Paulie’s rope rescue: “It’s Mr. Paulie!” (“FWOINNG!!!”).
• pp. 6-9 — Successive Aqua Laguna waves batter even the elevated Shipbuilding Island (“KABOOSH!!!”, “HYOOOO”); “a second wave, and a third, just like that last one.”
• pp. 10-11 — The crew regroups with Kokoro (“the old monster lady”), Chimney and Gonbe; Zoro had been “stuck in a smokestack”; Nami: “Zolo, we’ve got a lot to tell you.”
• p. 12 — Paulie: “The Puffing Tom is the only sea train in the world… made possible only through the skills of a legendary shipbuilding team that used to live here.”
• pp. 14-16 — The Gates of Justice exposition: “the location of the Gates of Justice… a court in name only,” leading to “the NAVY HEADQUARTERS” and “the great underwater prison… IMPEL DOWN.”
• p. 17 — “Do you want to pick a fight with the VERY HEART of the World Government?!”
• pp. 18-19 — Luffy sets sail anyway: “Then we’ll have to… STEAL A SHIP! … We’re setting sail NOW!” — Zoro covers him against Paulie (“Mr. Paulie!” / “Fine. I’ll take you on.”).
• pp. 20-21 — Kokoro intervenes: “If there’s any ship in the world able to ride out this Aqua Laguna… it’s the SEA TRAIN, built by those legendary men. That’s the only one. … I’ll send a sea train out for you… come with me.”
• p. 21 (vol. back-matter) — SBS Question Corner: Oda confirms Paulie was the snot-nosed foreman riding the lower sea-train deck in Ch. 354; that the little girls who rode the train in Vol. 37 were Mozu & Kiwi (the Square Sisters); and that Kiwi, Mozu and Zambai are former Galley-La hopefuls / “delinquents” Franky took in — “the Franky Family is comprised of a collection of Water Seven’s failures and baddies. Franky is a benefactor to these people.”

Open questions raised

• Will Kokoro actually be able to launch and run a Sea Train through the peak of Aqua Laguna — and can she pilot it (she is the Shift-Station stationmaster, not the regular engineer)?
• How do the still-scattered crew (Sanji, Usopp, and the swept-away Going Merry) rejoin before the train leaves?
• Will the crew board Kokoro’s improvised train in time to catch the CP9 sea train carrying Robin to Enies Lobby?
• Given that “battle lines are drawn around” Enies Lobby, what defenses (CP9, Marines, the judicial-island garrison) await the crew there?