Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Whole Cake Island

Chapter 850: A Ray of Light

Arc: Whole Cake Island · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2017-01-09

Summary

In the Mirro-World, Chopper and Carrot (Mink) drag an unconscious Brûlée (and a homie-cart, “Diesel”) from mirror to mirror trying to find a portal into Whole Cake Chateau. In the Prison Library, Luffy tries to tear his own hands off the seastone shackles to escape while Nami begs him to stop. In the Chateau’s third-floor courtyard, the mink Pedro fights Baron Tamago and a conflicted Pekoms; a flashback reveals Pedro and his partner Zepo once raided this “Isle of Nightmares” as the Nox Pirates — Big Mom’s lifespan game took 100 years from Zepo (killing him) and 50 from Pedro, and Tamago took Pedro’s eye. Pedro declares the Straw Hats will one day “guide the world to a new dawn” and vows to spend his remaining life in their service. Meanwhile Sanji, having cooked for and doted on Pudding, brings her a gift and overhears her true self: a sneering schemer with a hidden third eye who has been acting the whole time. Pudding reveals Big Mom’s plan — at tomorrow’s wedding the entire Vinsmoke Family (and Sanji) will be riddled with bullets so Big Mom can seize Germa 66’s army of clone soldiers. The shattered Sanji listens in the rain as his “only ray of light” turns out to be a lie.

New reveals

• Pudding is a deceiver with a hidden third eye. Her sweet, naïve bride persona was entirely an act; “only my family knows what I’m really like.” She brags she is Big Mom’s “favorite” for her acting (pp. 13-14).
• The wedding is an assassination trap. Pudding reveals the entire Vinsmoke Family — and Sanji — will “be put to death,” riddled with bullets during the ceremony, “courtesy of me” (pp. 15-17).
• Big Mom’s true objective is Germa’s army. “The only things Mama wants are your army of clone soldiers… and your scientific power.” The marriage was bait to lure the Germa Kingdom into Totto Land’s waters (pp. 16-17).
• The Germa Kingdom is moored inside Big Mom’s borders for the wedding (p. 17).
• Pedro’s backstory: as a former captain of the Nox Pirates he and his partner Zepo came to this “Isle of Nightmares”; Big Mom’s lifespan roulette took 100 years from Zepo (killing him) and 50 from Pedro, and Tamago took Pedro’s eye (pp. 8-10).
• Luffy and Nami are imprisoned in the Chateau’s Prison Library under seastone shackles (p. 5).
• Bounties shown: Tamago = 429,000,000 berries; Pedro = 382,000,000 berries (p. 7 data boxes).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Charlotte Pudding · Sanji · Vinsmoke Reiju · Luffy · Nami · Tony Tony Chopper · Carrot (Mink) · Charlotte Brulee · Pedro · Baron Tamago · Pekoms · Zepo (named, in flashback) · Big Mom (flashback + referenced as “Mama”) · Smoker (title-page request art only) · “Diesel” (a homie cart, unnamed note) · Germa 66 / Germa Kingdom · Vinsmoke · Big Mom Pirates · Nox Pirates · Whole Cake Chateau · Sweet City · Whole Cake Island · Mirro-World · “Isle of Nightmares” (Pedro’s nickname for Totto Land)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page request art (not a cover-story serial): “Heavy-Smoking Snake and Smoker Sitting in the Smoking Area,” requested by Michi Nakahara from Tottori. Smoker sits on a bench in a snowy “SMOKING AREA” beside a cigar-puffing snake. Decorative; no foreshadowing flagged.
• Page 2 — “Sweet City” panorama as a black ball (Brûlée being hauled) bounces through the streets terrifying citizens.
• Page 7 — Data-box clash: Tamago (Knight of the Big Mom Pirates, 429,000,000 berries) vs Pedro (former captain of the Nox Pirates, 382,000,000 berries).
• Page 11 — Pedro’s manifesto of faith in the Straw Hats (“a new dawn”); “I’m not dying yet!!!”
• Page 14 — Pudding’s third eye revealed, full-page maniacal grin: “Me, marry that stupid thug?!!”
• Page 17 — Pudding: “…the entire Vinsmoke Family… at tomorrow’s wedding… will be put to death!!!” / Sanji crushing his gift in the rain.

Open questions raised

• Who is the raving elderly prisoner in the Prison Library, and what does “the dawn of the world is nigh / I must return home” mean?
• What is the nature of Pudding’s third eye, and why has she hidden it?
• Can Sanji warn his estranged family — and will he still go through with the wedding now that he knows?
• How will Luffy and Nami escape the seastone-shackled Prison Library?
• Will Pedro survive the courtyard fight against Tamago and Pekoms?