Chapters · Dressrosa › Punk Hazard

Chapter 696: Alignment of Interests

Arc: Punk Hazard · Saga: Dressrosa · Released: 2013-02-04

Summary

The G-5 Marines draw a literal “boundary between justice and evil” line in the snow and order the Straw Hats not to cross it (the tanker being the pirates’ “territory”), while medical experts are exempted — Zoro has radioed the G-5 base for a pickup ship. Brownbeard and Caesar’s other defectors, all dosed with trace poison, choose to surrender to the Navy rather than remain Caesar’s test subjects. Amid the chaos the G-5 men mistake Law for a “murderer” — confused that Kin’emon, reported dead and “cracked to pieces,” is alive and well. Then Sanji delivers Kin’emon’s child: the little dragon reverts to a naked human boy — Momonosuke, “Boy of Wano (Kin’emon’s son)” — and father and son reunite. At the sub, Chopper (the “raccoon man”) and the children confirm Law has surgically removed the addictive drugs from their bodies (“cutting their bodies to pieces”) for a painful but real rehab; only Mocha, who fought to keep the candy from the others until she coughed up blood, remains unconscious. The kids beg to thank the “orange lady” (Nami); Nami refuses to abandon them (“These are children crying to us for help!!”) but, with Tashigi striking a deal with the Navy and personally pleading to keep the children, agrees the “good guys” should take them home. Sanji cooks his New Kama Karate “99 Vital Recipes” feast; proud Momonosuke first refuses food, then — urged by his father, “Let us choose to live, Momonosuke!!!” — breaks down and eats. The line dissolves into a joint G-5/Straw-Hat/children party, and the marines resolve to head back onto the island to rescue the others now that they’ve wrung the gas-antidote out of Caesar. Law warns Luffy they must leave before pursuit arrives — and that he won’t necessarily keep an oath to a pirate. Luffy presses on the alliance’s true target: “Kaido, the King of the Beasts” — one of the Four Emperors — adding “okay, as long as Shanks isn’t the first.” Asked what he’s really starting, Luffy grins and declares his plan: “…to crush all Four Emperors!!!”

New reveals

• Momonosuke = the dragon = Kin’emon’s son. Sanji carries the little dragon to Kin’emon; it reverts to a naked human boy (pp. 6–7). Caption box: “Boy of Wano (Kin’emon’s son) MOMONOSUKE” (p. 7). Kin’emon: “Momonosuke!!! You are alive and well!!!”; Momonosuke: “But father… how did you know I was…?” — confirming Momonosuke was originally a human who became the dragon (“you DID say you were originally a human! …But you’re naked!”, p. 7).
• Law cured the children. The kids testify the “raccoon”/Law “took all the bad drugs out of our bodies” by “cutting their bodies to pieces” — “those were heavy drugs… painful long-term rehab is unavoidable” (pp. 8–9). “It was scary at first, but now I feel better!!” Only Mocha “still won’t wake up” after coughing up blood and fainting while keeping the candy from the others (p. 9).
• The children go home with the Navy. Tashigi strikes a deal with the Navy and pleads, “PLEASE!! PLEASE LEAVE THE CHILDREN WITH ME!!!” (p. 11). Nami concedes “Let the good guys do what they do” — pirates would just be blamed for kidnapping (p. 11).
• G-5 will re-enter the island. The marines report they “managed to dry the gas’s weakness outta Caesar” and can “go back and rescue the others” — “We’re goin’ back onto the island!! Vice Admiral Smokey!!” (p. 18), confirming Smoker survived Vergo.
• Kaido named “the King of the Beasts.” Luffy names the alliance’s target: “Kaido, the King of the Beasts” — and Law clarifies “Which one of the Four Emperors do you mean?” (p. 19). First time Kaido carries the “King of the Beasts” epithet and is fixed as the specific Yonko the alliance is after.
• Luffy’s plan: crush all Four Emperors. Asked what he’s “starting,” Luffy declares: “My plan is to… crush all Four Emperors!!!” (p. 19) — adding the caveat “okay, as long as Shanks isn’t the first” (p. 19). The chapter’s cliffhanger.

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Luffy (declares his plan to crush all Four Emperors; feeds Momonosuke), Trafalgar Law (cured the children; conspires with Luffy; warns of pursuit), Kin’emon (reunited with his son; “Let us choose to live, Momonosuke!!!”), Momonosuke (reverts to human; “Boy of Wano (Kin’emon’s son)”), Chopper (the “raccoon”/“reindeer” tending the children), Nami (the “orange lady”; “These are children crying to us for help!!”), Sanji (New Kama Karate “99 Vital Recipes” feast), Zoro (radioes the G-5 base; hauls liquor from the tanker), Franky (gripes about repairing the tanker), Robin (with the crew/children), Tashigi (deal with the Navy; “PLEASE LEAVE THE CHILDREN WITH ME!!!”), Brownbeard (surrenders to the Navy; later partying), Mocha (unconscious after protecting the kids), Smoker (shown p2 — chastises his G-5 men over the boundary-line stunt, “All I said was not to fraternize with the pirates”; survival of Vergo reconfirmed p18, “Vice Admiral Smokey”), Caesar (referenced — arrested; gas-antidote wrung out of him), Kaido , Shanks (referenced — Luffy reserves him), Caribou (cover serial only)
• Groups: Marines (G-5), Straw Hat Pirates
• Locations: Punk Hazard; Wano Country (referenced — “a true son of Wano looks best in a kimono”)
• Devil Fruits / powers: Ope Ope no Mi (Law’s drug-removal surgery, “cutting their bodies to pieces”)
• World-Building: Four Emperors (Yonko)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page “Chapter 696: Alignment of Interests” with the cover serial “Caribou’s New World Kee Hee Hee, Vol. 18: ‘On the road to port, a voice calls out, “Captain Gobble!!!”’” (Caribou’s silhouette over a port-town scene with a “MEAT-PIE” stall). (Cover-tracker: 1 cover-story page, serial Vol. 18; continues the Caribou serial from Ch. 690’s Vol. 15.)
• Page 2 — The G-5 Marines literally chalk a “boundary between justice and evil” across the snow (“Don’t you dare cross over the line!!”) — the title’s comedic premise; by p. 16 the line is gone and everyone is partying (“What happened to the boundary between justice and evil?!”).
• Page 7 — Reveal panel + caption box: the dragon reverts to Momonosuke, “Boy of Wano (Kin’emon’s son),” naked, reunited with Kin’emon.
• Pages 12–15 — Sanji’s feast: New Kama Karate Secret Art “99 Vital Recipes!!! — Offal soup with sea-pig meat”; proud Momonosuke refuses, then (“Let us choose to live, Momonosuke!!!”) tearfully eats.
• Page 17 — Double-page party splash (“It’s PARTY TIME!!”): G-5 Marines, the rescued children, and the Straw Hats feast together while Law stands apart, arms folded, watching.
• Page 19 — Luffy’s wide grin over the cliffhanger declaration “My plan is to… crush all Four Emperors!!!” — Law’s ”?!” reaction.
• Page 20 — Appended SBS Question Corner page (Vol. 70 SBS: the Kansai-dialect gag, the haircut-on-voyages Q [Usopp or Robin cut the crew’s hair], the Nami-bathwater gag).

Open questions raised

• Will Mocha wake up, and will the children make it home safely with the Navy?
• How was Momonosuke turned into a dragon (and back) — an artificial Devil Fruit, Caesar’s experiments, or something from Wano?
• Will Law actually honor the alliance, given he openly disclaims keeping “an oath to a pirate”?
• Can the rookie alliance really “crush all Four Emperors” — and why start with Kaido rather than Shanks?
• What is Kaido, “the King of the Beasts,” and where does the Punk Hazard “key” (Caesar) fit into taking him down?