Chapters · Summit War › Post-War

Chapter 587: I Will Never Run Away

Arc: Post-War · Saga: Summit War · Released: 2010-05-17 (est.)

Summary

The Gray Terminal holocaust burns on. In the inferno the pirate Bluejam realizes the Goa monarchy that hired him has betrayed him: the king promised to ennoble Bluejam and his crew for helping torch Trash Mountain, then sealed them inside it to die with the evidence — “You tricked me!!” — as their ship goes up in flames (pp. 1–2). In High Town, aristocrats complain only that the fire makes the southern sky too bright, telling their children the Terminal’s people are “not human” and “just getting their just desserts” (pp. 3–4). Trapped in the blaze, Ace and Luffy are cornered by a despairing, vengeful Bluejam, who demands the location of the boys’ hidden treasure to fund his revenge on the aristocrats and slanders the absent Sabo as a slumming rich-boy; Ace defends Sabo and Bluejam slashes him (pp. 5–8). Dadan and her bandits crash in to save them — Dadan recognizes Bluejam as the “boss monkey from Mt. Corvo” — and her man Dogura tells Luffy that Sabo is safe and not here (pp. 9–11). When Dadan orders a retreat, Ace refuses: “I WILL NEVER RUN AWAY!!” Dadan sends the others ahead with Luffy and stays to fight Bluejam alongside Ace (pp. 11–13). As the flames close in, a sudden explosion blasts an escape path to the shore — opened by Dragon, hooded and watching over Goa, whose Revolutionaries offer a ship to “those with the will to fight for freedom” (pp. 14–15). In High Town, Sabo watches the smoke; Ace and Dadan do not come back (p. 16). Recovering, Luffy is told the survivors of Gray Terminal are being hunted and “exterminated” by the cleanup; he wants to find Ace and Dadan anyway (p. 17). Sabo, caged by a father who insists he’ll always be dragged home, decides he can no longer live in this country — and on the day the World Aristocrats are to arrive at Goa, he sets sail alone to be free, only for a Celestial Dragon’s ship to open fire on his little boat (pp. 18–19).

New reveals

• The Goa monarchy ordered the genocide. Bluejam’s couriers and the king conspired to burn Gray Terminal as a “great hiding place” / disposal of the kingdom’s unwanted before the World Aristocrats’ visit; the king promised to “ennoble” Bluejam (“you’ll be an aristocrat”) then betrayed him, trapping his crew to burn with the trash so no witnesses survive — “You tricked me!! …I’ll remember this, you traitor!!” (pp. 1–2).
• The aristocracy’s casual cruelty. A High Town noble tells his child the Gray Terminal people are “not human” and are “just getting their just desserts”; the nobles’ only complaint about the fire is that it makes “the southern sky too bright” (pp. 3–4).
• Bluejam’s motive and Sabo-slander. Bluejam meant to use the boys’ treasure to “make a comeback and exact revenge on those blasted aristocrats,” and tells Ace that Sabo “is one of them” — a rich-boy slumming for a cheap thrill. Ace rejects it: “Stop talking about Sabo like that!! …Sabo doesn’t think like that!” Luffy: “Sabo just wants to be free!!” (pp. 6–8).
• Dadan’s rescue + “I will never run away.” Dadan and her bandits charge the fire; Dadan recognizes Bluejam (“you’re that boss monkey from Mt. Corvo”). Ordered to flee, Ace declares “I WILL NEVER RUN AWAY!!”; Dadan sends Luffy and the bandits ahead and stays behind to fight Bluejam with Ace (pp. 9–13).
• Dragon on-page in the East Blue. A hooded figure — unmistakably Dragon by cloak-silhouette and Revolutionary rhetoric, though unnamed on-page — keeps watch over Goa. A companion asks, “Does this place have some special meaning for you?” Dragon answers that “even in this place… children will continue to be born,” that “this nation is the future of the world in miniature,” and that “a world where unwanted things are discarded can never be truly happy” before his people open an escape path and offer a ship to “those with the will to fight for freedom” (pp. 14–15).
• The ruins of Gray Terminal. After the holocaust, the cleanup “sweeps up the burned trash… and exterminates the survivors”; the kingdom finds far fewer bodies than expected (pp. 16–17).
• Sabo’s caged life + setting sail. Sabo’s aristocrat father vows to always bring him back; his obedient brother Stelly gloats that “those rogues got burned up.” Sabo resolves: “There’s no way I can live in this country. The people here stink. I feel like a bird in a cage.” On the day the World Aristocrats arrive, he sets sail alone — and a Celestial Dragon’s ship fires a cannon on his boat (pp. 18–19).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Luffy (child), Ace (child; “I will never run away”; stays to fight Bluejam), Sabo (child; sets sail, fired on by a Celestial Dragon), Dadan (leads the rescue; stays behind with Ace), Bluejam (betrayed by the monarchy; ship burned; corners then attacks the boys), Dogura (Dadan-Family bandit; tells Luffy Sabo is safe), Dragon (on-page in the East Blue, hooded/unnamed; his Revolutionaries open the escape), Stelly (debut — Sabo’s noble household brother), Sabo’s father (unnamed Goa aristocrat), the Goa king (“Your Majesty,” unseen face), assorted High Town nobles.
• Crews / groups: Bluejam Pirates, Dadan Family (mountain bandits), Revolutionary Army (Dragon’s followers, unnamed as an org on-page), Goa aristocracy.
• Locations: Goa Kingdom, Gray Terminal (Trash Mountain → “the ruins of Gray Terminal”), Mt. Corvo (Dadan = “boss monkey from Mt. Corvo”), East Blue (Goa = “a remote kingdom of the East Blue”).
• World-Building: Celestial Dragons / World Aristocrats (visit drives the genocide; one fires on Sabo’s boat).

Notable panels

• Page 1 — B&W chapter-title gag splash: Luffy in costume running past a giant whale-shark shape beneath rainbow arcs, watched by mushroom-like figures; a slogan-word on his shirt (Oda’s running gag-slogan style). Not a cover serial; no color spread.
• Page 2 — “You tricked me!! …I’ll remember this, you traitor!!” — Bluejam realizes the monarchy has doomed him; his burning ship (“our way to the sea is gone”).
• Pages 3–4 — High Town nobles dismiss the fire and dehumanize the Gray Terminal dead to their own children (“not human… just getting their just desserts”).
• Page 8 — Bluejam slashes Ace for defending Sabo; “DON’T YOU HURT LUFFY!!”
• Page 11 — Title drop: “I WILL NEVER RUN AWAY!!” (Ace).
• Pages 14–15 — The explosion opens a path to the shore; Dragon (hooded) watches over Goa, voices his world-in-miniature thesis, and his people offer a ship to “those with the will to fight for freedom.”
• Page 16 — Sabo on a High Town balcony watching the smoke; “Ace and Dadan… didn’t come back.”
• Page 18 — Sabo’s caged-bird monologue: “What is freedom? Where can I find it?… I feel like a bird in a cage. Ace, Luffy, I hope you two are safe.”
• Page 19 — Sabo sets sail under his own flag (“Today’s a good day!”); a Celestial Dragon’s ship fires the cannon (“DOOM!!”).

Open questions raised

• Will Ace and Dadan survive their stand against Bluejam in the fire?
• What becomes of Sabo after a Celestial Dragon fires on his boat?
• Why is Dragon keeping watch over Goa specifically — does the East Blue kingdom hold “special meaning” for him?
• Will Luffy find Ace and Dadan before the kingdom’s “cleanup” reaches the survivors?