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Chapter 768: The Trigger That Day

Arc: Dressrosa · Saga: Dressrosa · Released: 2014-10-13

Summary

Present-day Dressrosa, atop the New Palace Plateau. Carried forward from the just-concluded Corazon flashback, the chapter opens on Cora’s dying plea (“He is free!! Just let him go!!”) bleeding into Law’s resolve: to free himself he must stop Doflamingo — fulfilling Cora’s hope. Law needles Doflamingo over having only “today” learned Doflamingo was a Celestial Dragon, and over Monkey D. Luffy and “the D.” Doflamingo retorts that fate is nonsense and that “one with the blood of the gods in his veins” cannot be challenged — then delivers the doctrine: “In one area… the people of the D are known as… the enemies of the gods.” Law answers, “I’m a D too,” and Doflamingo smashes him down. A wide status-board sequence narrates the three simultaneous battles raging across the country, rolling out the full Donquixote officer deployment by floor/step with their epithets, while King Riku (via Viola’s clairvoyance) commands the citizen resistance and resolves to “put the fate of our land in the hands of pirates.” Sabo shields fleeing civilians; the Tontatta dwarves storm the palace interior to rescue Princess Mansherry; Nico Robin is urged onward. Doflamingo scoffs that “enemies of the gods” is mere superstition and asks what nonsense Corazon filled Law’s head with. As Law charges an “Injection Shot,” Doflamingo shoots him, and Law reveals the title’s meaning: Cora was too kindhearted to pull the trigger that day — so Law has come to do it for him.

New reveals

• Present-day “enemies of the gods” doctrine: Doflamingo states “in one area, the people of the D are known as… the enemies of the gods” (p.5) — the present-day restatement of the lore Corazon taught Law in the flashback (Ch. 764).
• Law openly claims the D: “I’m a D too” (p.5); Doflamingo realizes “A hidden name, then!! So you’re a D?!” (p.14).
• Celestial Dragon = “blood of the gods”: Doflamingo frames himself as “one with the blood of the gods in his veins” (pp.4–5), positioning Celestial Dragons as the “gods” the D oppose.
• Doflamingo knows Corazon shaped Law’s beliefs: “What nonsense did Corazon fill your head with?!” (p.14); he dismisses the doctrine as “superstition, nothing more.”
• Full Donquixote officer order-of-battle across the New Palace Plateau (pp.8–10), with on-page epithets — see Notable panels.
• Three simultaneous battles named: the New Palace Plateau (the stepped tiers) and the Pica Statue (p.6), and the SMILE Factory (named p.7; Señor Pink guarding it p.8).
• King Riku’s resolve: the deposed king commands the citizen resistance through Viola’s sight and concludes the country must trust pirates to break the Birdcage (pp.7, 14).
• Title payoff: “Cora was too kindhearted to pull the trigger that day… so I’ve come to do it for him” — Law’s mission is to finish Corazon’s failed attempt to kill Doflamingo (p.15).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Trafalgar Law · Doflamingo · Trebol · Diamante · Pica · Gladius · Lao G · Dellinger · Machvise · Pink · Baby 5 · Nico Robin · Sabo · Violet · Rebecca · King Riku · Mansherry (named; dwarves coming to rescue her) · Luffy (referenced) · Corazon (flashback echo + referenced) · Jinbei (cover story) · Donquixote Pirates · Dressrosa · Birdcage · D

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page combined with the cover story: “The Solitary Journey of Jimbei, First Son of the Sea, Vol. 15: ‘I Definitely Saw That Ruin Fall Just Now’” — Jinbei watches a colossal sea-stair ruin collapse into the sea.
• Page 2 — Cora’s dying plea “He is free!! Just let him go!!” bleeds into Law’s present-day “Room!” — flashback-to-present bridge.
• Page 3 — Law: “Today, for the first time, I finally learned you were a Celestial Dragon!! What do you make of Monkey D. Luffy?!” / “What do you make of the D?!!”; Law’s “Chambres!!” room-swap.
• Page 5 — The doctrine panel: “…the people of the D are known as… the enemies of the gods.” Law: “I’m a D too.” Doflamingo strikes him down (“BAAASH!!”).
• Page 6 — Three-battles status board: New Palace Plateau, Pica Statue; townsfolk controlled.
• Pages 8–10 — Donquixote officer roll-call / order-of-battle. Epithets given on-page: Doflamingo “the String-Man” (current king of Dressrosa, top floor); Trebol “the Mucus-Man” (chief of staff, with Doflamingo); Diamante “the Flag-Man / hero of the Coliseum” (Fourth Step, Flower Hill); Pica “the Stone-Assimilation Man” (Supreme Officer, the Pica Statue); Gladius “the Rupture-Man” (Third Floor); Lao G “Geo-Fist martial arts”; Dellinger “the fighting fish–fish-man hybrid” (Second Floor); Machvise “the Super-Weight-Man” (Second Floor); Señor Pink “the Free-Swimmer” (guarding the SMILE Factory); Baby 5 “the Full-Body Weapon.” Narration: “that makes ten officers rank or higher.” Step labels: Palace, Third Step, Second Step.
• Page 11 — Gladius fight (“these weak attacks of yours are putting me to sleep!!”); Fourth-Step combat.
• Page 12 — Diamante’s “Army Bandera” (ground ripples like cloth); Rebecca reacts; Tontatta dwarves at the Palace Interior — “Princess Mansherry!! We’re coming for you!!”; Sabo shields fleeing civilians (“Before the Palace Plateau”).
• Page 13 — Second-Step melee: Machvise “Tenton!!” press; Dellinger “Kya ha ha! Can’t hit me!”
• Page 14 — King Riku: “We must put the fate of our land in the hands of pirates!! …our fate within the Birdcage will never change… however, if we don’t defeat Doflamingo…”; Doflamingo: “So you’re a D?!” / “What nonsense did Corazon fill your head with?!”; Trebol warns “you’re inside Law’s power range!!”
• Page 15 — Doflamingo “Shot!!” guns Law down as Law charges “Injection…”; the title line lands.
• Page 16 — SBS Question Corner (Vol 76, p.98): Sabo’s facial scar is NOT from the questioner; the “corazon” on the back of Law’s jacket is Spanish for “heart,” Cora’s Donquixote code name, fits the Heart Pirates / “Surgeon of Death” who removes hearts, and is custom-made in tribute to Cora; the name Rocinante is taken from Don Quixote’s horse (“I just felt like it”).

Open questions raised

• What does “the people of the D = the enemies of the gods” literally mean, and are the Celestial Dragons the “gods” being opposed? (Will of D)
• Will Law actually “pull the trigger” Corazon could not — and at what cost?
• Can the Tontatta reach Princess Mansherry inside the palace before the officers regroup?