Chapters · Dressrosa › Punk Hazard

Chapter 698: Enter Doflamingo

Arc: Punk Hazard · Saga: Dressrosa · Released: 2013-02-11

Summary

On the burning side of Punk Hazard, Brownbeard begs to return to the island to break his petrified followers out of their gas-induced paralysis before the poison kills them. The sky tears open as Doflamingo — “Joker” — flies in on his strings and flattens the whole G-5 unit with a single pulse of Conqueror’s Haki, looking for the pirates who already slipped away with Caesar. He confronts Smoker, drops the name “Vergo,” and senses Smoker knows too much. Meanwhile, aboard the Thousand Sunny escaping through the seafloor passage, Luffy finally lays the plan out for the crew: the Straw Hats and Law’s Heart Pirates have formed an alliance to bring down one of the Four Emperors — Kaido, “King of the Beasts” — by cutting off his supply of SMILE, the man-made Zoan Devil Fruit that Joker brokers to him. Law explains the New World underworld and Doflamingo’s role as its top broker; Caesar, captive, sneers that the S.A.D. he produces is only “an application of Bloodline Elements” first discovered by Vegapunk. The next target is a hidden SMILE factory in Dressrosa, where Kin’emon says one of his people is held. Back on Punk Hazard, Doflamingo stands on the unconscious Smoker and vows to kill them all — until a bespectacled newcomer arrives, tells him to step off, and calls Smoker “an old friend.”

New reveals

• Doflamingo enters the arc in person, flying in on his strings and demonstrating Conqueror’s Haki (“Haki of the Supreme King”) strong enough to drop an entire Marine unit at once (p. 6-7).
• The New World underworld is mapped out: the greatest New World pirates hold syndicate-like territories and conduct all dealings “in the underground” to dodge the Navy; the most trusted/powerful broker is Doflamingo, whose underground alias is Joker (p. 14).
• Kaido is Joker’s largest client — “King of the Beasts,” one of the Four Emperors — and buys SMILE (man-made Zoan-type Devil Fruit) in great quantities; Kaido’s crew already has at least 500 Devil-Fruit users (p. 14-16).
• S.A.D. is named as the chemical Caesar produces — the foundation for SMILE — and is “just an application of Bloodline Elements, which were first discovered by Vegapunk” (p. 13, 16-17).
• The alliance’s purpose is finally told to the Straw Hats as a group: form an alliance to take down an Emperor (Kaido) by capturing Caesar and choking off the SMILE supply (p. 12-17).
• A SMILE production factory hides somewhere in Dressrosa; the next step is to find and destroy it. Kin’emon reveals “one of my people is being held there” (p. 17).
• Cliffhanger newcomer: a tall, bespectacled man arrives, tells Doflamingo to get off the downed Smoker, and calls Smoker “an old friend” — identity withheld (p. 19).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Luffy · Trafalgar Law · Doflamingo (“Joker”) · Caesar Clown · Smoker · Tashigi · Kin’emon · Momonosuke (dragon form) · Brownbeard · Brook · Nami · Sanji · Zoro · Tony Tony Chopper · Nico Robin · Kaido (named, not shown) · Vergo (named, not shown) · Vegapunk (named) · Caribou (cover story) · unidentified bespectacled newcomer (p. 19) · Straw Hat Pirates · Heart Pirates · Marines / G-5 · Punk Hazard · Dressrosa · Greenbit (named, not shown — p. 9) · Four Emperors (Yonko) · Seven Warlords of the Sea · SMILE · S.A.D. · Underworld · Haki · the Mini Merry II (Going Merry lineage)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page “ENTER DOFLAMINGO” with the cover-story header “Caribou’s New World Kee Hee Hee, Vol. 20: ‘To the Port’” (cover-story installment; an old woman waves to an approaching figure).
• Page 5-6 — Doflamingo’s BOOM entrance: he descends out of the sky on flapping strings; G-5 marines cry “Doflamingo?!”
• Page 7 — A single pulse of Conqueror’s Haki flattens the entire G-5 unit; “That was Haki of the Supreme King!!”
• Page 9 — Doflamingo drops the name “Commander Vergo” and warns Smoker “I’m getting the sense that you know too much.”
• Page 14-15 — Law’s underworld lecture: New World syndicates, deals done “in the underground,” Doflamingo as top broker “Joker,” and Joker’s biggest client Kaido (an Emperor).
• Page 15-16 — SMILE named as the man-made Zoan Devil Fruit; Momonosuke appears in dragon form (“Where has Momonosuke gone?!”).
• Page 17 — S.A.D. / Bloodline Elements reveal; the Dressrosa SMILE factory target; Kin’emon’s “One of my people is being held there!!!”
• Page 18-19 — Doflamingo stands on the unconscious Smoker, vowing to kill them all; the bespectacled newcomer arrives — “He’s an old friend.”

Open questions raised

• Who is the bespectacled newcomer who calls Smoker “an old friend” and orders Doflamingo off him?
• What exactly are the “Bloodline Elements” Vegapunk discovered, and how do they make artificial Devil Fruits possible?
• Where in Dressrosa is the SMILE factory, and who is Kin’emon’s captive comrade?
• Now that Caesar is captured, how fast will the Joker→Kaido SMILE pipeline collapse, and how will Kaido react?