Chapters · Dressrosa › Punk Hazard

Chapter 665: Candy

Arc: Punk Hazard · Saga: Dressrosa · Released:

Summary

On the fire-side beach outside the lab, the body-swapped Straw Hats regroup with the rescued giant children while Brook frets over having lost the torso-only samurai (Kin’emon), who ran off to find his missing midsection. Zoro, Sanji (mind in Nami’s body) and Brook head into the snowy mountains to find the samurai; the rest stay with the kids. Suddenly the largest children begin collapsing one after another — Synd, Dolan, Mocha, and others — crying out in agony. Chopper (mind in Sanji’s body) examines them and finds trace amounts of NHC10, a powerful, addictive stimulant whose legal medical use he knows from Doctorine (Dr. Kureha). He realizes the “candy” the children are fed by their “merciful Master” is the drug itself: they have been dosed to addiction so that withdrawal keeps them docile and unwilling to escape. Brownbeard — who only does outdoor patrol and didn’t know — defends the Master as “a scientist of LOVE,” but the truth horrifies the crew. Worse, the kids reveal they all arrived normal-sized and have grown to giant proportions on the island: their pituitary activity is artificial, proving they are being experimented on. Withdrawal sends Synd into a violent rage (he flattens Luffy with one punch when promised candy then refused), and the other big children turn violent too, until Usopp knocks them all out with a Sleep Star Pop Green. The crew resolves to send the children home and destroy the Master. Meanwhile, deep in the snow, Law stands over a beating heart and recites the players in play — “Heart… Vice Admiral Smoker’s… Naval Base G-5… Caesar Clown’s Laboratory” — and inside the lab the Master, named on-page as Caesar Clown, gloats that he has sent soldiers against the Navy, received a “very thoughtful gift,” and dispatched his dynamic duo after the intruders. The chapter closes on Team Zoro’s mountain path as the Snowy Mountain Assassins — the Yeti Cool Brothers — loom in silhouette. (Cover: “Decks of the World, Vol. 45 — Impel Down: The Most Trustworthy Man in Hell, New Vice Warden Magellan.”)

New reveals

• The “candy” is the addictive stimulant NHC10. Chopper finds trace amounts of NHC10 in the children’s bodies (p. 8): “It’s a STIMULANT!!! Its original purpose is to treat illness, yes… but not up to the point that it becomes addictive!! Only select doctors in select countries are allowed to handle it, by law!! I know this because Doctorine had some.” The kids are dosed to addiction; withdrawal causes the collapses and rages (pp. 9, 11).
• The children are being artificially gigantified. “We were ALL normal size!! None of the big kids are! When we came to this island…” / “The longer you’re here, the bigger you get!!” Robin: “Their abnormal pituitary gland activity isn’t a natural occurrence… No! There’s no disease that makes normal humans grow to the size of giants!!” — proof of human experimentation (pp. 12).
• The Master is named: Caesar Clown. First on-page printing of the name, as the caption “Caesar Clown’s Laboratory” (p. 16); the Master is shown gloating in the lab (p. 17).
• Law’s “thoughtful gift” to Caesar. Law stands over a beating heart in the snow and recites “Heart… Vice Admiral Smoker’s… Naval Base G-5… Caesar Clown’s Laboratory” (p. 16); Caesar speaks of “a very thoughtful gift” that “should seal the deal” (p. 17) — implying Smoker’s extracted heart is leverage Law handed Caesar.
• The Yeti Cool Brothers. Caesar’s “dynamic duo,” the Snowy Mountain Assassins, are sent after Team Zoro and revealed in silhouette on the mountain path (p. 17).
• Monet urged caution. Caesar: “Monet has been urging caution with these pirates… though it seems like overkill to me” (p. 17). He believes the runaway kids will return on their own once withdrawal hits.
• Body-swap status. Sanji’s mind is in Nami’s body, Nami’s in Franky’s, Franky’s in Chopper’s, Chopper’s in Sanji’s; “I’m guessing the four of us… need to find Trafalgar together in order to be changed back” (p. 15).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Straw Hats (appear, body-swapped): Luffy (punched flat by Synd), Zoro (with Team Zoro, off-panel for most of chapter), Sanji (mind in Nami’s body; vows to destroy the Master), Nami (mind in Franky’s body), Tony Tony Chopper (mind in Sanji’s body; identifies NHC10), Franky (mind in Chopper’s body; called “Mr. Raccoon” by the kids), Nico Robin (diagnoses the abnormal pituitary activity), Usopp (“Sleep Star” Pop Green knocks out the raging kids), Brook (lost track of the torso samurai)
• Antagonists / others: Brownbeard (outdoor-patrol centaur; defends the “Master”), Caesar Clown (the Master — named on-page; gloating in the lab), Trafalgar Law (in the snow with the beating heart), Monet , Smoker (named; his extracted heart is the “gift”), Yeti Cool Brothers (silhouette debut)
• Giant children: Synd (rages, punches Luffy), Dolan, Mocha, “Ally” (named, p. 7 — uncertain)
• Referenced: Kin’emon ; Dr. Kureha (“Doctorine”, source of Chopper’s NHC10 knowledge); Naval Base G-5 (Smoker’s base, named)
• Locations / world: Punk Hazard (snowy mountains, the lab, the fire-side beach), NHC10
• Crews: Straw Hat Pirates, Marines (G-5), Heart Pirates (Law)
• Cover (Decks of the World, Vol. 45): “Impel Down: The Most Trustworthy Man in Hell, New Vice Warden Magellan” — post-timeskip Impel Down reorganization; Magellan now Vice Warden. Cover-tracker material.

Notable panels

• p. 1 — Title page splash: Magellan in his vice-warden coat, arms crossed, with a small figure (Sadi-chan) and a jailer beast at his feet. Cover-story art (Decks of the World, Vol. 45).
• p. 8 — Chopper, in Sanji’s body, holds up the test tube: “It’s a STIMULANT!!!” The NHC10 reveal.
• p. 11 — “KAPOW!!!” Synd, mid-withdrawal, flattens Luffy with a single punch — visual proof of the children’s engineered giant strength.
• p. 13 — “Sleep Star!!!” Usopp’s Pop Green puts the raging children to sleep (“BO—ON!! Zzz…”).
• p. 16 — Law in silhouette over a beating heart (“B-BMP B-BMP”), reciting the board state; the caption “Caesar Clown’s Laboratory” prints the Master’s name for the first time.
• p. 17 — Final-page silhouette reveal: the Snowy Mountain Assassins, the Yeti Cool Brothers, looming over Team Zoro’s mountain path (“BO—OM!!”).

Open questions raised

• Why is Caesar Clown growing children into giants? What is the gigantification research for?
• Who exactly are the Yeti Cool Brothers, and can Team Zoro survive an ambush by Caesar’s elite assassins?
• What is Law’s true game — handing Caesar Smoker’s heart as a “gift” while plotting something the Master can’t see (cf. Law’s Concealed Agenda Behind The Warlord Mask)?
• Will the addicted children survive being cut off from the candy, and can they be cured?