Chapters · Dressrosa › Punk Hazard

Chapter 681: Luffy vs. Master

Arc: Punk Hazard · Saga: Dressrosa · Released: 2012-09-24

Summary

The Luffy–vs–Caesar Clown (“the Master”) brawl rages through Caesar’s lab: Caesar cycles through oxygen-removal (“Land of Nothing”), combustible “Immolation Gas,” a “Blue Sword,” a “Burning Slash,” and a hardened “Igloo” gas-wall, while Luffy answers with Gear-Second jet attacks and Armament Hardening (Busoshoku Haki), breaking the wall and landing hits. Cornered, Caesar reveals he already has “a plan for the experiment,” boasts that “Joker will get rid of me” if he is harmed, and flees as Monet snares Luffy to cover his escape — prompting Luffy to connect “Joker” to “that flamingo guy I saw in the war” (Doflamingo). In a parallel hallway, Sanji battles Vice Admiral Vergo — a corrupt Marine whose body no-sells Sanji’s kicks (“you’re probably made of metal”) — while the lab’s gates seal and poison gas floods in, trapping fleeing G-5 marines. A facility broadcast then reveals Law has infiltrated the “S.A.D. manufacturing room”; Vergo realizes Law “likely became one of the Seven Warlords… just to get into that room,” using the Straw Hat alliance as a diversion — and that the boy is “going to unleash hell on the New World.”

New reveals

• Law’s true objective is the S.A.D. manufacturing room. Vergo deduces Law “likely became one of the Seven Warlords… just to get into that room” and “joined forces with Straw Hat in order to keep us busy” (pp. 18–19).
• The “S.A.D. manufacturing room” exists on Punk Hazard and is the linchpin of Caesar’s operation; what S.A.D. is remains unstated (pp. 18–19).
• Joker tied to Doflamingo. Caesar: “Joker will get rid of me”; Luffy immediately associates Joker with “that flamingo guy I saw in the war” (p. 13). Identity not confirmed on-page — implication only.
• Vergo is a corrupt Marine Vice Admiral allied with Caesar’s operation; the G-5 marines refuse to believe their own VA is attacking them (“the real Vergo wouldn’t try to kill us”). His body is so hardened that Sanji’s kicks do nothing (“you’re probably made of metal”) — strongly implies full-body Busoshoku Haki (pp. 16–17).
• Caesar’s combat arsenal beyond poison gas: “Land of Nothing” (removes all oxygen in a set radius — “within it, you cannot breathe”), “Immolation Gas” (combustible), “Blue Sword,” “Burning Slash,” and a hardened “Igloo” defensive wall (pp. 5–12).
• Luffy uses Armament Hardening (Busoshoku Haki) plus Gear-Second jet attacks (Jet Pistol, Jet Gatling) to counter a Logia opponent and shatter the gas-wall (pp. 8–12).
• A heart-hostage standoff governs the island: Caesar warns against crushing hearts (“if we start crushing each other’s hearts… it does me more harm than good”) and says he must reclaim “my heart” from Vergo before pulling any stunts (p. 3).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Luffy · Caesar Clown (the “Master”) · Monet · Sanji · Vergo (first appearance in this read) · Trafalgar Law · Smoker (“White Chase,” flashback) · Tashigi (among the trapped G-5 marines) · Doflamingo (referenced as “that flamingo guy”/“Joker”) · Marines (G-5 unit) · Punk Hazard · G-5 · S.A.D. · Gasu Gasu no Mi · Gomu Gomu no Mi · Seven Warlords of the Sea · Caribou (cover story)

Threads

• Punk Hazard’s Captive Children — as Caesar flees he seals the lab gates and floods the structures with “killer gas,” trapping the fleeing G-5 marines and lab personnel (pp. 14–18); the children’s rescue stakes stay live.

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Cover (B&W) + cover-story splash: an establishing shot of the ramshackle, demon-flagged G-5 naval base, with a tiny diving-bell submersible approaching. Cover story: “Caribou’s New World Kee Hee Hee, Vol. 7: Arriving at Ramshackle Naval Base G-5.”
• Page 6 — Caesar’s “Land of Nothing” — oxygen vanishes from a set radius; Luffy starts suffocating mid-air.
• Page 11 — “Jet Gatling” hammers Caesar’s hardened “Igloo” gas-wall.
• Page 13 — Caesar flees behind Monet: “Joker will get rid of me”; Luffy recognizes “that flamingo guy I saw in the war.”
• Page 15 — The lab gates seal and “killer gas” floods the hallway, trapping the panicking G-5 marines and Tashigi.
• Pages 18–19 — Broadcast: “Trafalgar Law… has infiltrated the S.A.D. manufacturing room”; Vergo realizes Law’s whole Warlord career was a means to reach that room.
• Page 20 — SBS Question Corner: post-timeskip Straw Hat profiles (birthday / age / height / Devil Fruit / first-appearance volume), listed in crew-join order — Luffy, Zolo, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook. (SBS material — cross-link to the volume’s archived SBS note.)

Open questions raised

• What is S.A.D., and why does Law want it badly enough to become a Warlord for it?
• Is “Joker” actually Doflamingo? The chapter implies it but stops short of confirming.
• Whose heart does Vergo hold, and how does the heart-hostage standoff resolve?
• What is Law’s “nightmare scenario” that will “unleash hell on the New World”?
• Why is a Marine Vice Admiral (Vergo) acting as Caesar’s enforcer against his own G-5 unit?