Chapters · Dressrosa › Dressrosa

Chapter 700: His Momentum

Arc: Dressrosa · Saga: Dressrosa · Released: 2013-03-04

Summary

The news that Don Quixote Doflamingo has quit the Seven Warlords spreads like a tidal wave through the underworld — his weapons-buyers panic (“WITHOUT OUR WEAPONS, THE WAR IS LOST!!!”), and at the Kid Pirates’ New World hideout Eustass Kid rages that the leak (an exclusive by the freelance writer “Absa”) and the Straw Hat–Law alliance are “clearly after one of the Four Emperors, just like us.” On the Thousand Sunny, the alliance calls Doflamingo by Den Den Mushi: Luffy offers to return Caesar Clown per the deal but threatens retaliation, while Doflamingo — whom Law pointedly addresses by his underworld alias “Joker” — tries repeatedly to lure Luffy with talk of a thing he’ll be “desperate to get his hands on,” a verbal “His Momentum” trap Luffy keeps falling for over meat. The deal is set: hand over Caesar at Greenbit, the lone island north of Dressrosa, at 3 PM. The alliance’s true plan is to use the handover as a decoy and destroy Doflamingo’s hidden SMILE factory — whose location and secret are the one thing Law could not learn. Kin’emon reveals he chased the kidnapped Momonosuke (who calls him “Father”) aboard a ship to Punk Hazard; he and two fellow samurai — including the captured Kanjuro — were bound for a land called Zou, which startles Law: “My people are there.” The crew resolves to help. At the relocated Naval Headquarters near the Red Line, Commodore Brannew lectures recruits on the Warlords and runs the post-timeskip roster — Kuma, Doflamingo, Mihawk, Buggy, Trafalgar Law, Boa Hancock + a seventh — when Fleet Admiral Sakazuki announces he’s put a new admiral, Fujitora, on the case. At Dressrosa, Doflamingo’s officers — Trebol, Diamante, Baby 5 — fret over the master’s plan as Doflamingo entrusts Diamante with a prize for his Coliseum: it is the reborn Flame-Flame Fruit, Ace’s own power, deliberate bait so “there’s no way [Luffy] won’t come after it.” The Sunny reaches Dressrosa.

New reveals

• The Mera Mera no Mi has come back as a physical fruit — and Doflamingo has it. Doflamingo entrusts Diamante with the prize for his Coliseum: “IT’S THE FLAME-FLAME FRUIT, HIS OWN BROTHER’S POWER!!” (p. 18). On-page proof that a Devil Fruit’s power reincarnates into a new fruit after its user’s death — Ace died at Marineford, yet the Mera Mera no Mi physically exists again.
• Doflamingo’s “abdication” is a trap. He spells it out: “that alliance will turn out to be a set of shackles!! …Straw Hat Luffy will be desperate to get his hands on it… If he learns that I have THIS…” (pp. 17–18). The Warlord resignation is bait engineered around Ace’s reborn fruit.
• Trafalgar Law is one of the Seven Warlords. Brannew’s roster: “Member of the Worst Generation and Mastermind of the Rocky Port Incident — the Surgeon of Death, Trafalgar Law” (p. 13). First on-page confirmation of how/that Law obtained the Warlord seat, and the first naming of the Rocky Port Incident.
• Buggy is a Warlord too. “Chief Commander of the Pirate Temp Agency, the Living Legend — the Genius Jester, Buggy” (p. 13). Buggy’s timeskip rise to Warlord (and his dispatch-agency business) is revealed.
• Post-timeskip Warlord roster (p. 13): Bartholomew Kuma (“the Navy’s human weapon, the Tyrant”), Doflamingo (King of Dressrosa, just resigned), Dracule Mihawk (“greatest swordsman in the world”), Buggy, Trafalgar Law, Boa Hancock (“reigning sovereign of Amazon Lily, Pirate Empress”), “…makes seven, plus the man I previously described” (seventh kept off-panel).
• A new admiral: Fujitora. Fleet Admiral Sakazuki: “I’ve got Fujitora on the case… I’m not having Law or Straw Hat get into any funny business under my nose” (p. 14). Named, not shown.
• Zou — and Law’s “people” are there. Kin’emon and his group were sailing to a land called Zou (p. 10); Law reacts, “My people are there” (p. 10). The Wano samurai’s voyage and Law’s hidden destination converge on the same unseen place.
• Kin’emon’s quest / Momonosuke. Momonosuke cries “Father!!” to Kin’emon in flashback (p. 11). Four set out for Zou — “three samurai and Momonosuke”; only three washed up on Dressrosa. Kin’emon’s comrade Kanjuro was captured covering his escape; Kin’emon is “bound by honor” to return and rescue both (pp. 10–12).
• The handover & the real plan. Caesar is to be left at Greenbit, the lone island north of Dressrosa, at 3 PM (p. 7); the handover is a decoy so the alliance can find and destroy Doflamingo’s SMILE factory (p. 8) — whose location and “secret” are the one piece of intel Law couldn’t glean.
• Dressrosa’s Coliseum & officers. Doflamingo’s executives Trebol (“Master Trebol”), Diamante (“Hero of the Coliseum”), and Baby 5 (arm transforms into a weapon) are introduced at the palace; the Coliseum “is booming as always” (pp. 15–18).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Straw Hats / allies: Monkey D. Luffy (works the Den Den Mushi; falls for Doflamingo’s meat-bait), Trafalgar Law (negotiates as alliance brain; reveals his people are at Zou; revealed a Warlord), Nami, Sanji, Robin, Franky (“one laser beam and POOF!!”), Zoro, Brook, Chopper, Usopp, Kin’emon (backstory; Momonosuke’s “father”; bound to rescue Kanjuro), Momonosuke (referenced; calls Kin’emon “Father”)
• Don Quixote Family: Doflamingo (as “Joker”; sets the Flame-Flame bait), Trebol (NEW — “Master Trebol”), Diamante (NEW — “Hero of the Coliseum,” entrusted the prize), Baby 5 (NEW — weapon-transformation), Donquixote Pirates (NEW — the “Don Quixote Family”)
• Marines: Commodore Brannew (NEW — Warlord lecture), Sakazuki (Fleet Admiral; dispatches Fujitora), Fujitora (NEW — named, not shown), Smoker (referenced — G-5 report)
• Other pirates (referenced): Eustass Kid (New World hideout), Scratchmen Apoo, Basil Hawkins, Caesar Clown (the captive being traded), Kanjuro (NEW — captured samurai), Kuma, Mihawk, Buggy (Warlord roster), Hancock, Ace (his reborn fruit; “your brother’s tragic death”), Brownbeard
• Groups / lore: Straw Hat Pirates, Heart Pirates, Kid Pirates, Marines, Seven Warlords of the Sea, Three Great Powers, Four Emperors (Yonko), Eleven Supernovas, SMILE (NEW), Rocky Port Incident (NEW)
• Locations: Punk Hazard (departure), Dressrosa (palace; arrival), Greenbit (NEW — handover site), Zou (NEW — named, not shown), Wano Country (referenced)
• Devil Fruits: Mera Mera no Mi (reborn; the Coliseum prize)
• Cover: Caribou — “Caribou’s New World Kee Hee Hee, Vol. 21”

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page “Chapter 700: His Momentum.” Cover story “Caribou’s New World Kee Hee Hee, Vol. 21: ‘Got Curious and Returned to Town, Where I’m a Wanted Man’” — Caribou hauls a “MEAT” bag through a smoke-filled town.
• Page 2 — Narration: the resignation news spreads “as a tiny ripple… [into] a great tidal wave”; underworld buyers panic over the Don Quixote Family weapons deal — “WITHOUT OUR WEAPONS, THE WAR IS LOST!!!”
• Page 3 — Kid Pirates’ New World hideout: Eustass Kid rages over the leaked alliance scoop (freelance writer “Absa”) — “They’re clearly after one of the Four Emperors, just like us!!!”
• Pages 5–7 — The Den Den Mushi call: Doflamingo’s “His Momentum” verbal trap; Luffy distracted by meat; the Greenbit/3 PM handover set; “Hang up! Don’t listen!!”
• Page 8 — The alliance plan: handover as decoy; destroy the hidden SMILE factory; “that was the only piece of information I couldn’t glean.”
• Pages 10–12 — Kin’emon’s flashback: Momonosuke’s kidnapping, “Father!!,” the road to Zou, Kanjuro’s capture; Law: “My people are there.”
• Page 12 — Near the Red Line, in the New World — Naval Headquarters; “Commodore Brannew” introduced lecturing on the Warlords.
• Page 13 — Warlord roster gallery: Kuma, Doflamingo, Mihawk, Buggy, Law (“Mastermind of the Rocky Port Incident”), Hancock — “…makes seven.”
• Page 14 — Fleet Admiral Sakazuki: “I’ve got Fujitora on the case.”
• Pages 15–17 — Dressrosa palace: Trebol, Diamante, Baby 5; the Coliseum “is booming”; card-suit display cabinets revealed.
• Page 18 — The reveal: the prize is “THE FLAME-FLAME FRUIT, HIS OWN BROTHER’S POWER!!”
• Page 19 — The Sunny observes Dressrosa’s “brawny-lookin’ island” silhouette and arrives — “This is the land of love and passion… Dressrosa.”

Open questions raised

• How did the Flame-Flame Fruit regenerate, and who recovered it for Doflamingo — what is the exact mechanic of Devil-Fruit reincarnation?
• What is the secret of the SMILE factory, and why is it crucial to Doflamingo’s operation?
• What was the Rocky Port Incident, and how did it earn Law his Warlord seat?
• Who is Fujitora, and what will the new admiral do at Dressrosa?
• What/where is Zou — why are both Law’s “people” and the Wano samurai bound for it?
• Who is the unnamed seventh Warlord Brannew “previously described”?
• Will Luffy take Doflamingo’s bait and enter the Coliseum for Ace’s fruit?