Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Whole Cake Island

Chapter 897: Pekoms's Cacao Island Escape Plan

Arc: Whole Cake Island · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2018-02-04

Summary

Four minutes remain before the Thousand Sunny is to meet the rest of the crew at Cacao Island, but the Sunny (Chopper, Nami, Brook) is boxed in at sea between Smoothie’s fleet and Whole Cake Island, while the island itself is held by Oven’s forces at Mirror Square. Inside the chaos, Pekoms — having gone Sulong under the full moon — bursts out of a mirror clutching Brulee as a human shield, buying Luffy (who has escaped Brulee’s Mirro-World past Katakuri) a window to flee. Pekoms reveals that his Sulong form makes him an uncontrollable monster that only Pedro’s voice could ever calm — and Pedro is dead, so he urges Luffy not to let that sacrifice go to waste. Oven scorches Pekoms, has him beaten, and orders his eyes crushed so he can never see the full moon again. Sanji Sky-Walks in to catch the exhausted Luffy and the two flee across the rooftops under fire from Raisin and Snack’s forces — until an explosion rips through the harbor: the Germa 66 fleet has arrived, firing on the Big Mom Pirates to collect its own payback for the tea party.

New reveals

• Sulong is a berserk state with a single “off switch.” Pekoms says going Sulong turns him into “an unthinking, rampaging monster” he could never control, and that only one man’s voice could break into his subconscious and calm him — Pedro’s (p. 4). With Pedro dead, “there ain’t no one left in the world who can stop my rampage.”
• Sulong is keyed to seeing the full moon. Oven orders, “Crush his eyes, so he can never see the full moon again!!” (p. 12), establishing that the transformation depends on the mink’s sight of the moon.
• Pekoms repays his debt to Luffy. He deliberately bursts out at Cacao Island to keep “the man Pedro placed his bet on” alive (p. 8), using a Brulee-hostage ruse as cover before his transformation breaks it.
• Charlotte Oven is the field commander of the Cacao Island defense, wields a heat/burning power (scorches Pekoms, p. 9), and is Brulee’s older brother (“at my dear little sister?!!”).
• Charlotte Raisin (a Charlotte brother) attacks Luffy with a katana (p. 11); Charlotte Snack commands forces at the harbor (p. 15).
• Germa 66 returns — the Vinsmoke army’s fleet, thought “annihilated just hours ago,” sails into Cacao Island’s harbor and bombards the Big Mom Pirates “to enact some payback of our own” (pp. 16–17). A Vinsmoke brother addresses Sanji: “What a coincidence, Sanji…”

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters (shown): Pekoms (Sulong / lion-mink), Luffy, Sanji, Charlotte Brulee, Charlotte Oven, Charlotte Snack, Charlotte Smoothie, Charlotte Mont-d’Or, Charlotte Raisin, Tony Tony Chopper, Nami, Brook, a Vinsmoke brother (p. 17).
• Characters (referenced, not shown): Pedro (dead — his sacrifice/voice), Charlotte Katakuri (Luffy “escaped” him in the mirror), Big Mom.
• Groups / ships: Big Mom Pirates, Germa 66, Thousand Sunny, Minks (Sulong).
• Locations: Cacao Island, Totto Land, Whole Cake Island, Germa Kingdom (via Germa 66), Mirror Square (Cacao Island plaza).

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title splash. Cover serial caption: “The Saga of the Self-Proclaimed Straw Hat-Fleet, Vol. 29, Hajrudin: ‘Buggy’s Delivery Escapee List: Shipwright Stansen of the New Giant Pirates.’” .
• Pages 2–3 — Map panels: “Totto Land Fleet” / “Smoothie’s Fleet” boxing in the Thousand Sunny; “Mirror Square — Oven’s Forces” labeled on Cacao Island.
• Page 4 — Pekoms in Sulong form; the Pedro-voice revelation.
• Pages 6–7 — Pekoms erupts from a Cacao Island mirror with Brulee as hostage.
• Page 9 — Oven scorches Pekoms with heat.
• Page 11 — Charlotte Raisin’s katana strike at Luffy.
• Page 12 — Oven: “Crush his eyes, so he can never see the full moon again!!”
• Pages 16–17 — The Germa 66 fleet arrives, fires on the Big Mom Pirates, and a Vinsmoke brother greets Sanji. To be continued.

Open questions raised

• Will blinding actually prevent a mink from going Sulong, and does this rule generalize to all minks (e.g., Carrot, Nekomamushi)?
• Will Pekoms survive Oven’s order, and is his Sun-Pirates / pre-Big-Mom past relevant to his choice to defy the crew?
• Why has Germa 66 chosen to back the Straw Hats’ escape — pure payback, or something more strategic for Sanji?
• What happened in the Mirro-World between Luffy and Katakuri, and is Katakuri still pursuing?