Chapters · Water Seven › Enies Lobby

Chapter 428: Let's Go Back

Arc: Enies Lobby · Saga: Water Seven · Released:

Summary

The aftermath of Luffy’s victory over Rob Lucci ripples across the Bridge of Hesitation. The defeated Lucci lies face-down in were-leopard form while the gate-pirates and onlookers erupt — “Way to go, Straw Hat Luffy!!” Hearing the celebration broadcast over a transponder snail, the Buster Call marines realize in shock that the pirates they thought finished at the Main Gate are alive. The Galley-La Company and Franky Family survived too — the giants Oimo and Kashii took the full brunt of the bombs and Galley-La’s ropes held — and they reunite with a tearfully-relieved Franky. But the crew is far from safe: the marine fleet shells the Straw Hats’ escape ship, their only way out, blowing it apart. Chopper, Kokoro (Mermaid Kick), Chimney and Gonbe survive, and Sanji arrives late (“Sorry! I had some business to attend to”), but the marines then bomb the bridge supports, severing them and trapping the spent, immobile Luffy and the crew on the first support, ringed by warships. As the fleet counts down to shell the support with Luffy on it, a voice keeps telling Chopper to “look down,” promising “one more shipmate” is coming. Robin uses Cien Fleurs: Delphinium to shove Luffy and the whole crew off the support and into the sea just as the bombs fire — and out of the smoke the Going Merry arrives, sailing itself with no one aboard, the ship’s own spirit calling out “I came for you!!”

New reveals

• Lucci is down, broadcast fleet-wide. The principal CP9 antagonist lies motionless in leopard form (“Koo!”, p. 3); the marines relay across the fleet that a pirate beat the strongest CP9 leader in Cipher Pol history (pp. 2-4).
• The Galley-La Company and Franky Family survived the Main Gate bombing. They dangle from Galley-La ropes off the bridge (“the Galley-La ropes don’t break!”, p. 5); the giants Oimo & Kashii “took the full brunt of the bombs” (p. 5). Galley-La have their own escape ship and split off (“We’ve got our own means of escape, bro”, p. 6).
• The Marine fleet destroys the Straw Hats’ escape ship — their only way out — with a point-blank salvo (“FIRE!”, KA-BOOM, p. 10). Chopper, Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbe survive the blast (p. 11).
• Sanji rejoins, having been off on “some business” (p. 11); Kokoro lands a “Mermaid Kick” on a marine taunting her (p. 11) — her mermaid nature in combat use.
• The crew is trapped on the first support. The marines bomb the bridge connections, leaving no bridge and the crew surrounded by sea and warships (pp. 12-13).
• A rescuer is heralded. A voice the crew keeps hearing tells Chopper to “look down” — “one more shipmate,” “she came to help us” (pp. 14-16).
• Robin’s Cien Fleurs: Delphinium sprouts giant arms that push Luffy and the crew off the doomed support and into the sea, one beat ahead of the bombardment (pp. 16-17).
• CLIFFHANGER — the Going Merry returns by herself. The condemned ship, left behind at Water Seven, sails into Enies Lobby self-steering with no one aboard, and the ship’s spirit speaks aloud: “Jump on board…” / “I came for you!!” (pp. 18-19).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Luffy · Rob Lucci · Nico Robin · Nami · Usopp · Sanji · Zoro · Tony Tony Chopper · Franky · Kokoro · Chimney · Gonbe · Oimo · Kashii · Straw Hat Pirates · CP9 · Galley-La Company · Franky Family · Marines · Buster Call · Going Merry · Hana Hana no Mi (Robin — Cien Fleurs: Delphinium) · Gomu Gomu no Mi (Luffy — referenced)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Cover: Limited Cover Series, No. 9: “Endless Varse” — a piloted spacecraft cruising past a cratered moon against a starfield (the cover-serial art; route to the cover-tracker).
• Page 3 — Lucci defeated, sprawled face-down in leopard form (“Koo!”) as the crowd cheers Luffy.
• Page 4 — The Buster Call marines hear the celebration carried over a transponder snail and realize the “finished” pirates are alive.
• Page 5 — The Galley-La crew and giants Oimo & Kashii hang from unbreakable Galley-La ropes off the bridge; the giants “took the full brunt of the bombs.”
• Page 10 — KA-BOOM: the marine fleet blows apart the Straw Hats’ escape ship, their only way out.
• Page 11 — Sanji returns; Kokoro’s “Mermaid Kick.”
• Pages 16-17 — Robin’s Cien Fleurs: Delphinium pushes Luffy and the crew off the doomed support into the sea.
• Pages 18-19 — Splash: the Going Merry sails out of the smoke by herself — “Jump on board…” / “Merry!!” / “I came for you!!” The chapter’s iconic ship-spirit rescue.

Open questions raised

• How does the condemned, keel-broken Going Merry — abandoned at Water Seven — sail herself across the sea to Enies Lobby and speak to the crew? (The ship-spirit / Klabautermann dramatized in full.)
• Can the crew actually escape now, ringed on all sides by the Buster Call fleet, with their dedicated escape ship destroyed?
• What “business” did Sanji attend to before rejoining (p. 11)?