Limited-Cover-Series-No-18-Zolos-Where-Are-They-What-a-Pain

The 18th numbered Limited Cover (Page) Series, opening on the chapter title pages during the Marineford / Summit War run. Like the No. 11 Sanji, No. 12 Robin, No. 13 Franky, No. 14 Usopp, No. 15 Chopper, No. 16 Nami, and No. 17 Brook serials that precede it, this strip arrives fully formed as a narrative serial: the Ch. 559 title page carries both a descriptive title (“Zolo’s ‘Where Are They? What a Pain’”) and a “Vol. 1” installment counter (“The Giant Tombstone on the Outskirts of the Ruins”), so the recurring-lead / recurring-counter test was met on page 1. The serial then closes on the very next chapter: Ch. 560 carries the “FINAL VOLUME” caption (“Creeping Shadow”), making this a tight two-installment strip (Vol. 1 → FINAL VOLUME) — status: concluded, exactly like the No. 17 Brook closer one chapter earlier.

The serial picks up Zoro after the Sabaody dispersal (his Kuma-scatter landing), the same Kuma-scatter run dramatized for each Straw Hat — see Kuma’s Scatter Sends Each Straw Hat To A Place That Forges Them. The opener places him amid overgrown ruins before a colossal cross-shaped tombstone (“The Giant Tombstone on the Outskirts of the Ruins”), with a small figure drifting in the air at the upper-left. Record only what each installment shows on-page; do not import where the main story will later place him.

Per-chapter log

Captions recorded verbatim from the printed strip.

• Ch. 559 — Limited Cover Series No. 18: “Zolo’s ‘Where Are They? What a Pain,’ Vol. 1: ‘The Giant Tombstone on the Outskirts of the Ruins’” (opener): establishes the serial’s banner, title, and “Vol. 1” counter. 1-page B&W cover — Zoro stands amid overgrown ruins before a colossal cross-shaped tombstone, a small figure drifting in the air at the upper-left — his Kuma-scatter landing. (p. 1, title-page caption)
• Ch. 560 — Limited Cover Series No. 18: “Zolo’s ‘Where Are They? What a Pain,’ FINAL VOLUME: ‘Creeping Shadow’” (closer): the “FINAL VOLUME” caption ends the serial. 1-page B&W cover — a ruined castle and a graveyard with a cross, and a shadowed figure holding a long-handled blade (“Creeping Shadow”), deepening the desolate, haunted-ruins setting of the Kuma-scatter landing. The chapter title page doubles as both this final cover installment and the chapter’s own B&W title page (no color spread @0560). (p. 1, title-page caption)

Forward-payoff watches

• Strip closed (@0559→@0560): the “FINAL VOLUME” caption landed @0560 (“Creeping Shadow”), so the serial is now concluded — a tight two-installment strip (Vol. 1 → FINAL VOLUME). This was a Kuma-scatter dramatization in the same mold as the No. 11 Sanji, No. 12 Robin, No. 13 Franky, No. 14 Usopp, No. 15 Chopper, No. 16 Nami, and No. 17 Brook serials — see Kuma’s Scatter Sends Each Straw Hat To A Place That Forges Them.
• Cover→main bridge (still pending): concluded ≠ merged-into-main-plot. The strip’s events (Zoro’s two-year-gap whereabouts feeding back into main canon) have not landed at the read frontier (Marineford / Summit War), so there is no cover→main payoff yet — payoff_chapter stays empty and no technique/cover-story-payoff Foreshadowing entry is minted here. Only when a later chapter shows the strip’s events bridging into canon do you flip status: merged-into-main-plot, fill payoff_chapter, and mint that Foreshadowing entry. Do not pre-fill the destination or import any outside identification (§Forward guards) — record only the on-page caption and what the strip draws.