Chapter 676: The Perfect Weapon of Mass Murder

Arc: Punk Hazard · Saga: Dressrosa · Released:

Summary

Caesar Clown’s masterwork is unleashed. Before his captive audience and the underworld brokers watching by video Den Den Mushi, the gas-creature Smiley devours the candy “bait,” swells open into a vast maw, and is reborn at Caesar’s command — “be reborn!! As the weapon of mass murder, Land of the Dead!!!” — detonating into a gas that engulfs the island. Unlike the poison that killed Punk Hazard four years ago, this gas covers victims like ash, seeps into the skin, and instantly petrifies them into statues where they stand; the fleeing “warriors of this island” and Caesar’s own gas-suited men are turned to stone mid-stride. Caesar, ecstatic (“Show me more!! I want to see hell on Earth!!”), declares the whole island will become a Land of the Dead where “not a single soul outside this lab will be left alive,” and gloats that even a captured Warlord (Law), a naval Vice Admiral (Smoker), and a 400-million-berry pirate (Luffy) are helpless before it. Outside the lab, locked-out onlookers realize the horror they were watching on-screen is happening to them; a fleeing group spots a small Vegapunk dragon overhead, while the captive Luffy spots Zoro and the others being chased by the gas. Among the captives — a now-whole Kin’emon, Robin, Brownbeard strained silent by sea-prism cuffs, a panicking Chopper — Law seizes the moment: a piece of paper is thrown to them, and Law declares it is “time for the counterattack,” telling Luffy to stick to the plan even as he admits he “wasn’t accounting for Vergo’s appearance.”

New reveals

• “Land of the Dead” deployed (pp. 7–11): Caesar reforms and detonates Smiley into the finished gas weapon. Its lethal mechanic: the gas “covers the body like ash, seeping into the skin and instantly paralyzing its victim” — turning the fleeing into petrified, ash-covered statues (pp. 10–11).
• The upgrade over the four-years-ago poison (p. 11): Caesar: “The poison worked, but it left them mobile enough to find safety! I should have immobilized them like this from the start!!” — the old gas let victims evacuate; this one does not.
• Total-kill design (pp. 16–17): “In mere minutes the island will be a true Land of the Dead in which nothing can survive!!! Not a single soul outside this lab will be left alive!!!” Only Caesar’s lab is gas-safe.
• Caesar’s hostage board (p. 17): he gloats that “even a Warlord of the Sea… and a naval Vice Admiral… are helpless… before my Land of the Dead,” and that “a pirate worth 400 million berries” (Luffy) will prove it to the world.
• Clients/onlookers sacrificed (p. 13): people locked outside the lab — who had been watching the demonstration broadcast — realize “that was happening HERE?!!”, that the gas shrouds the whole island, and that “only the lab is safe.”
• Law’s counterattack begins (pp. 18–19): Law calls it — “Time for the counterattack… stick to the plan and don’t screw it up this time, Straw Hat” — but flags a complication: “I wasn’t accounting for Vergo’s appearance.” A mysterious piece of paper is thrown to the captives, who are told “Don’t do anything.”
• Vegapunk dragon recurs (pp. 14–15): a small flying dragon is again seen on the island; the fleeing group debates catching it to fly out, noting “there ARE dragons on the island!!”

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Notable panels

• pp. 1–2 — Title spread: the Straw Hats (Luffy, Nico Robin, Brook) lounge amid crowns and treasure while Usopp surveys a whimsical clock-tower kingdom; decorative color-spread art, royalty/plunder motif (no clear foreshadow — kept as a panel note).
• pp. 3–4 — Smiley devours the candy “bait” (“He ate it!! …the bait!!!”); Caesar: “Show everyone, Smiley!! …And now he will be reborn!!” — the captives (Zoro, Robin, Law, Luffy, et al.) watch the giant gas-frog.
• pp. 6–7 — Smiley opens an enormous maw and is reborn at Caesar’s command: “…the weapon of mass murder, Land of the Dead!!! Transform this island entirely!!!”
• p. 8 — Full-page detonation (“OOOF!!”) as the gas erupts over the island.
• pp. 10–11 — A fleeing man touched by the gas is petrified mid-run (“BAM!!”); Caesar exults — “Show me more!! I want to see hell on Earth!!” — and explains the ash-like instant-paralysis mechanic.
• p. 13 — “Outside Caesar’s Lab”: locked-out onlookers realize the broadcast horror is happening to them; “Open the damn door, Caesar!!!”
• pp. 14–15 — The fleeing group spots a small Vegapunk dragon and debates riding it; Luffy sees “Zolo and the others!!”
• p. 17 — Caesar gloats over his captured Warlord + Vice Admiral + 400-million-berry pirate as the gas seals the island.
• pp. 18–20 — A piece of paper is thrown to the captives (“Who threw that?!” / “Don’t do anything”); Law: “Time for the counterattack”; final panel — Chopper: “A piece of paper?!” (vol. p. 180).

Open questions raised

• Who threw the piece of paper, and what does it say? (It launches Law’s counterattack into Ch. 677.)
• What is Vergo’s role that Law “wasn’t accounting for” — and why does his presence threaten the plan?
• Is the petrification permanent, and can anyone caught by the Land of the Dead gas be restored?
• How will the captives (Luffy, Law, Smoker, Tashigi, Robin, Brownbeard) and the gas-chased group outside survive a weapon designed to leave “not a single soul” alive?