Chapters · Summit War › Sabaody Archipelago

Chapter 495: Gaon Cannon

Arc: Sabaody Archipelago · Saga: Summit War · Released:

Summary

The Flying Fish Riders, led by the iron-masked Duval, assault the Straw Hats over a grudge: Duval’s bare face is identical to the botched sketch on Sanji’s wanted poster, so the Navy has been hunting him for Sanji’s crimes (pp. 2-4). The Riders net Sanji and drag him into the sea to drown him — but they also snare the mermaid Camie, and Sanji dives after her (pp. 5-6). Hatchan reminds them that mermaids are the fastest creatures in all the seas; Camie rockets down and rescues Sanji (pp. 7-8). Aboard, the Riders fire a giant anchor-harpoon at the Thousand Sunny, so Franky deploys the ship’s emergency reverse maneuver (“Chicken Voyage”) to dodge, then unleashes the ship’s main weapon, the Gaon Cannon, obliterating the Riders’ base and shooting down nearly all the flying fish (pp. 9-13). Camie returns Sanji, who is alive but suffering a massive nosebleed from being saved by a mermaid (p. 14). Duval charges on his bull Motobaro and its “Heart-Ripping Horns,” but Luffy stops the bull cold and it passes out without Luffy seeming to do anything — Nico Robin notes Luffy “wowed him into unconsciousness” (pp. 15-17). An enraged Duval shoots at Sanji, who answers with a face-rearranging kick combo, Parage Shot (pp. 18-19).

New reveals

• Duval (real name) leads the Flying Fish Riders; his unmasked face is an exact match for the crude hand-drawn sketch on Sanji’s wanted poster. The Navy (“superhigh-level navy types”) hunted Duval because of the poster, ruining his life — the source of his grudge (pp. 3-4).
• The Thousand Sunny’s main weapon is the Gaon Cannon: it fires three barrels of cola energy from the lion figurehead’s mouth, braced by a two-barrel Coup de Burst out the back so the recoil doesn’t blow the ship away; it costs so much cola it can rarely be used (pp. 12-13).
• The Sunny has an emergency-evacuation reverse maneuver (“Chicken Voyage”) — the lion-mane figurehead spins to back the ship up (pp. 10-11).
• Mermaids are the fastest swimmers in all the seas of the world — above fish-men, who are themselves above flying fish (pp. 7-8). Camie is fast enough to overtake the Riders underwater.
• Sanji’s named technique Parage Shot debuts — a rapid kick combo that “trims” the opponent’s face (callouts in French: Bouche/Dents/Menton/Nez/Joue/Oeil) (pp. 19); the editor glosses “parage” as a French butchery term for trimming meat.
• Duval’s mount Motobaro is a bull whose horns (“Heart-Ripping Horns”) let it punch air-holes in dams and break out of cages (p. 15).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Luffy, Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Tony Tony Chopper, Nico Robin, Franky, Brook, Camie, Hatchan, Duval (first appearance, named), Motobaro (first appearance, named)
• Groups: Flying Fish Riders (first named), Marines (referenced — hunted Duval)
• Ships: Thousand Sunny
• Cover story: Rob Lucci, Kaku, Kalifa, Blueno, Jabra, Fukuro, Kumadori — CP9’s Independent Report, Vol. 5: “The Path of Escape”

Notable panels

• p. 1 — Title page / cover-story art: CP9 survivors regroup on a beach (CP9’s Independent Report, Vol. 5: “The Path of Escape”).
• p. 8 — Camie’s mermaid speed-burst rescue (“Mermaids are unmatched for their speed!! In all the seas of the world…”).
• p. 12 — Full-tier splash: the GAON CANNON blast tearing through the Flying Fish Riders’ base.
• pp. 16-17 — Luffy halts and KOs Motobaro with no visible action (unconscious Conqueror’s Haki).
• p. 20 — Coloring/activity page: “Declaration of War” Straw Hat crew lineup art (decorative filler, not a story color spread).

Open questions raised

• What unseen force let Luffy knock out a charging bull without touching it? (Robin notes it; nobody, including Luffy, can explain it.)
• How far do mermaids’ speed and the “top of the top rank” sea-creature hierarchy go — and how does it tie to the world below the surface the Straw Hats are heading toward?