Chapter 693: Die For Me

Arc: Punk Hazard · Saga: Dressrosa · Released:

Summary

Outside the collapsing lab, Franky — piloting a Pacifista-resembling battle mech he salvaged from Vegapunk’s facility — duels Doflamingo’s retrieval agents Baby 5 and Buffalo, who have come to recover Caesar. His “General” weapon systems are no match: Buffalo’s spinning propeller body (“Spin-Spin,” “das-yan”) and Baby 5’s weapon-morphing body (a sword “Espada Girl,” a “Missile Girl” launched as a “Spin-Spin Projectile Cannon”) blast the mech apart, and Buffalo seizes the downed Caesar and flies off the island with him. Inside the third lab, a gravely wounded Vergo clutches Smoker’s carved-out heart as a “gift” and vows to crush it to take someone down with him. Law marshals the mass escape: the Straw Hats, G-5 Marines and the giant children pile onto a rail cart and reunite with Luffy as the gas gate seals — Kin’emon left in critical condition. Monet, alive, reports to Joker (Doflamingo) over the Den Den Mushi. Doflamingo reveals a second island-killing gas weapon hidden in the third lab — the same type that destroyed the first two labs four years ago, survivable only by Caesar — and orders Monet to detonate it, sacrificing herself to wipe out everyone left behind. The chapter ends on his command “Die for me,” with Monet — “Understood… young master” — moving to press the ignition switch beside the tanker.

New reveals

• Franky pilots a salvaged battle mech (mistaken for a Pacifista by the enemy) with named “General” weapon systems; the mech is destroyed (pp. 3-10).
• Baby 5’s Devil Fruit turns her body/limbs into weapons — sword, missile, cannon (“Arms-Morphosis,” “Espada Girl,” “Missile Girl”); fruit unnamed on-page (pp. 6-9).
• Buffalo’s Devil Fruit spins his body like a propeller for flight and projectile attacks (“Spin-Spin,” “Spin-Spin Projectile Cannon”); fruit unnamed on-page; verbal tic “das-yan” (pp. 3-9).
• Buffalo retrieves the unconscious Caesar and escapes with him (pp. 9-10).
• Vergo, mortally wounded, still holds Smoker’s heart and means to crush it (p. 11).
• A second poison-gas WMD (same type as the four-years-ago weapon) is hidden in the third lab, triggered by an ignition switch; only Caesar survives the gas (pp. 16-17).
• Doflamingo orders Monet to suicide-detonate it (“Die for me”); Monet, loyal, accepts and calls him “young master” (pp. 15-17).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Mentions / appearances

Franky · Baby 5 · Buffalo · Caesar Clown (unconscious, retrieved) · Vergo (mortally wounded) · Smoker (heart only, held by Vergo) · Monet · Doflamingo (as “Joker,” via Den Den Mushi) · Trafalgar Law · Luffy · Nami · Usopp · Sanji · Nico Robin · Brook · Tony Tony Chopper · Mocha · Kin’emon (critical) · the Punk Hazard giant children · Straw Hat Pirates · Heart Pirates · Marines (G-5) · Punk Hazard

Notable panels

• Pages 1-2 — Double-page title spread: a black-and-white “NEW AGE / ONE PIECE” character montage of New-World pirates and silhouettes (Heart Pirates jolly roger, Chopper, Nami, Robin, Luffy riding a dragon). Celebratory/recap spread; thematically echoes Doflamingo’s “new age” rhetoric.
• Pages 3-7 — Franky’s mech vs. Baby 5 & Buffalo; “GENERAL LEFT!!!,” “GENERAL SHIELD!!!,” “GENERAL SHIELD BOOMERANG!!!”; enemies ask “Is it a Pacifista?! It can’t be!!”
• Page 8-9 — Buffalo’s full propeller-spin (“Spin-Spin… das-yan”); Baby 5 becomes “Missile Girl,” fired as a “Spin-Spin Projectile Cannon.”
• Page 11 — Wounded Vergo, alone in the smoke, holding the cube containing Smoker’s heart: “I can take someone down with me!!!”
• Pages 12-13 — Facility escape diagram (Structures D/R/B, escape route); Law coordinating; the rail cart filling with the Straw Hats, G-5 and children.
• Page 17 — The ignition-switch control panel beside the gas tanker; Doflamingo’s command “DIE FOR ME…” over Monet’s “Understood… young master.”
• Page 18 — SBS Question Corner (volume SBS; “Start the SBS in this volume” — Nami opens it). [SBS specialist.]
• Page 19 — Bleed-over: title page of Chapter 694 “The Most Dangerous Man” carrying the cover serial “Caribou’s New World Kee Hee Hee, Vol. 16” (belongs to ch 694, not 693). [Cover-tracker → route to 694.]

Open questions raised

• Will Monet actually detonate the second gas weapon, and can the escaping cast clear the third lab before it fires? (See Punk Hazard’s Captive Children — the children’s rescue is still in progress.)
• What does Vergo do with Smoker’s heart in his final moments?
• Where is Buffalo taking the recaptured Caesar, and does Law’s plan survive Caesar’s escape?
• What is Doflamingo’s organization that commands “young master”-level feudal loyalty unto death?