The Everlasting One Piece Readalong: Vols. 19-21
Welcome back to the Everlasting One Piece Readlong! If you’re new to this project or to One Piece, you can catch up on previous installments in the official project tag. We’re reading from the big omnibus editions; this installment covers the seventh omnibus.
Volume 19-21 Overview
The Straw Hats and Vivi finally come face to face with Crocodile and his many agents in Alabasta. We see just how many of Crocodile’s minions have Devil Fruit powers (it’s a lot) and learn something very interesting about a character who, for all intents and purposes, is one of the bad guys! The Straw Hats stay aimed at their ultimate goal: helping Vivi prevent the civil war that Crocodile set into motion years before, while Baroque Works starts the clock on their ultimate plan and face down Luffy’s crew!
The Adventure Continues
As the Straw Hats and Vivi make their way to Rainbase, where Baroque Works are planning to launch the final stage of their plan, the rebels are preparing to attack the capital of Alabasta, which is in Alubarna. In the capital, King Nefeltari Cobra is determined not to attack the rebels, even though his advisors, Chaka and Pell, urge him to action. They’re all surprised when Karoo arrives, bearing a letter from Vivi, who explains that Crocodile is the man behind all their troubles. Cobra advises the army to head to Rainbase to take out Crocodile. Crocodile is an enemy he can at least target.
When the Straw Hats reach Rainbase, Luffy and Usopp unfortunately cross paths with Smoker and Tashigi, who have come to Alabasta on a tip about the Straw Hats. The group splits up to make it harder for the Navy to track them; they agree to meet at Crocodile’s headquarters, Rain Dinners. Their boisterous arrival, with the Navy on their tail, means that Crocodile is immediately told about their presence.
By causing such a commotion, it’s easy for Crocodile’s employees to lead Luffy, Usopp, Zoro, and Nami into the “VIP area” with Smoker on their tail—a cell. And not just any cell, but a cell made of sea stone, which mimics the properties of the ocean, sapping the strength of anyone with Devil Fruit powers. Crocodile reveals himself to them from the room beyond, and says they’re waiting on a special guest: Vivi. Ms. All-Sunday has been sent to bring her in from where she’s been cornered by Baroque Works agents outside in the city. But she has a protector: Pell has come from Alubarna.
Devil Fruit Alert!
Pell ate the Tweet-Tweet Fruit, Falcon type. He can fly! The Devil Fruit’s name belies the vicious skill Pell can use to engage his enemy from the sky, too.
Back to the Action!
Ms. All-Sunday isn’t a pushover. She has a mysterious power that hasn’t be explained from when she confronted the Straw Hats before they arrived at Little Garden. Pell is fooled when Ms. All-Sunday seemingly punches Vivi clean through with her arm. But it’s just a trick to make Pell panic; Vivi isn’t injured at all.
Devil Fruit Alert!
Ms. All-Sunday ate the Flower Flower fruit, which allows her to “blossom” parts of her body wherever she likes, including on her opponents, allowing her to control, restrain, or injure from a distance.
Back to the Action!
Pell isn’t as lucky as Vivi. His distraction gives Ms. All-Sunday the chance she needs to use her power to take Pell out of the game. He’s left in a heap and she takes Vivi to Crocodile. When Vivi arrives and attempts to attack Crocodile, though, he vanishes into a cloud!
Devil Fruit Alert!
Crocodile has the power of the Sand Sand Fruit. Crocodile can turn to sand and avoid physical attacks. Additionally, he can suck the moisture from people’s bodies, which we’ve watched him treat several characters to already.
Back to the Action!
Crocodile mocks Vivi and traps her in a chair. Now that he has the Straw Hats under control and his players in place, his plan, “Project Utopia”, has begun…
Back in Alubarna, Cobra has vanished. The army is prepared to leave, but without the king, Chaka can’t lead them to Rainbase, and Pell isn’t there to help him. Meanwhile, Koza is heading somewhere incredibly fast, furiously remembering the recent past and how Cobra wouldn’t use the rain powder to help dying cities survive while seeming to benefit from it himself.
In Nanohana, Cobra appears to the citizens to apologize for stealing the rain of Alabasta: to atone, he’s going to destroy the port city! That doesn’t really seem like a great apology, dude. A young boy tries to stand up for the city, but Cobra kicks him away, which is just plain mean. Koza finally arrives—he was racing to Nanohana—and confronts Cobra. But Cobra’s guards shoot Koza as a huge ship crashes into the port, and Cobra smiles…strangely. Turns out, Cobra is actually Mr. 2, who has pretended to be the king to set off the revolution. Ms. Doublefinger and Mr. 1 stroll into the chaos at port, and the Baroque Works final plan is in motion.
The situation in Nanohana deteriorates as the royal army imposters set the city on fire. The kid who challenged Cobra witnesses him become….someone else! Mr. 2 has blown his cover. Unfortunately for this poor kid, who is having a supremely bad day, Mr. 1 and Ms. Doublefinger ensure his silence with violence. As Nanohana burns and the boy’s unconscious body is discovered, the rebels have had enough: they’re going to take the capital city.
In Alubarna, Chaka refuses to believe that Cobra would treat Nanohana and its citizens so cruelly, but because he’s missing it looks suspicious even to his advisors. Chaka decides to hold Alubarna against the rebels as long as possible.
Crocodile has been explaining his plans to Vivi even as they take shape elsewhere in Alabasta. Vivi is horrified, and refuses to give up on saving her country: she attempts to escape, because if she can get to Alubarna she can maybe prevent outright fighting. Crocodile offers her a choice: she can come with him to Alubarna or she can rescue her friends. He offers her a key so she can let the Straw Hats out and then throws it into the pen of his giant bananagators. They mistake it for food and eat it. Crocodile is a jerk.
Vivi has a choice to make: in eight hours there will be a showdown, but she would need to leave her friends behind to make it. She can stay and try to rescue them, but soon the room will flood, anyway, and take care of them all regardless. Crocodile mocks her, Alabasta, and the rebels. Crocodile and Ms. All-Sunday leave Vivi fighting the bananagators and the Straw Hats caged, but as they walk away their Baby Transponder Snail (local calls only) rings, and Crocodile recognizes the voice when he answers…it’s Sanji, but it doesn’t sound like he’s doing well.
Because Sanji has managed to stay mysterious, Crocodile doesn’t know what he looks like or that Chopper exists. How curious: Ms. All-Sunday does know what Sanji looks like and could alert other agents and Crocodile, but she’s not speaking up. Her motivation for protecting his identity is unclear. Crocodile leaves Vivi and the Straw Hats in the flooding room as he and Ms. All-Sunday go to the entrance of Rain Dinners, where Crocodile assumes that his agents have subdued Sanji. Vivi can’t help her friends escape on her own, so she plans to go find help and come back. Outside, Crocodile discovers he was fooled; his agents have all been beaten by Sanji. He sees someone running away and gives chase, against Ms. All-Sunday’s warning. As he leaves the scene, the bridge to Rain Dinners explodes!
Inside, Vivi is shocked, because now there’s no way out. But nearby, Sanji is smug; his plan is working perfectly; he pretended to get caught and beat up. He’s inside while Chopper, outside, leads Crocodile on a pointless chase.
While waiting for Vivi to return with help and amid the panic as the water rises, Smoker reveals that Ms. All-Sunday has a huge bounty, and that her teaming up with Crocodile is a huge deal. This is important, but Luffy doesn’t care. He’s got enough reasons to kick Crocodile’s butt. When Vivi returns with Sanji, he easily takes out the encroaching bananagators, and Smoker, using an excellent sense of hearing, tells him what bananagator which has the key to the door.
In the streets of Rainbase, Crocodile has figured out he was tricked and rushes back to the scene. He’s not worried, because he reveals to Ms. All-Sunday that he didn’t even feed the right key to the bananagator, so even if the Straw Hats find it, they won’t be able to get free. But when he and Ms. All-Sunday walk in, they only find the cage empty and Mr. 3—who Crocodile had previously fed to his bananagators—floating in the water with a snarky, insulting note from Sanji.
Tripping back in time a bit: Sanji kicks the bananagator who swallowed the key, only for a ball of wax to pop out! Mr. 3 had used all his power to seal himself into a wax ball to avoid being digested. Devil Fruit users don’t go down easy. The key is stuck to the wax shell that saved him from the bananagator digestive system. He’s shocked to see the Straw Hats, and throws the key away, so the Straw Hats never discover it won’t work. Usopp tells Sanji that Mr. 3 can uses his Wax Wax powers to create a key for the lock. After some brutal convincing, the Straw Hats are free.
They also rescue Smoker on Luffy’s orders. Smoker decides, just this once, to not attempt to capture them. His agents are confused, but then he distracts them by requesting reinforcements. While Smoker barks out orders, the Straw Hats escape discover that a ride has been arranged for them so they can get across the desert: a giant crab! Chopper can talk to animals, so he asked a local camel for help finding a ride. It’s good to have furry friends. But as they start their journey, Crocodile finds them! Using his Devil Fruit powers, he tries to pull Vivi off the crab, but Luffy trades places with her and urges his friends to keep going.
Luffy and Crocodile face off, and although Crocodile tries some trash talk, Luffy’s not impressed. Ms. All-Sunday laughs at Crocodile, which annoys him, and he calls her by a new name: Nico Robin, which she doesn’t like. She leaves for Alubarna to rendezvous with the other Baroque Works agents, and Luffy and Crocodile are alone. Crocodile promises to beat Luffy in three minutes.
Remember: Luffy can’t fight Smoker because Smoker can turn himself intangible and so he runs away instead of engaging. He has the same problem with Crocodile, but here he can’t run away. It’s worse, too, because Smoker just wants to catch pirates, not kill them. Crocodile is out for blood, because Luffy has been such a thorn in his side. Also, Crocodile is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, so he’s the toughest opponent Luffy has faced so far.
Crocodile’s powers are immense. He toys with Luffy and drains all the moisture from one of Luffy’s arms before whipping up a sandstorm around them, visible even in the distance, to send to Yuba so he can kill the city once and for all; Luffy is furious on Toh-Toh’s behalf. Luffy is quick, he can avoid Crocodile’s attacks, and has a lot of determination, but it’s clear he’s outmatched. Not even Luffy can avoid the hook on Crocodile’s hand—Luffy gets skewered! Luffy not dead yet, though. Crocodile is disgusted by the lack of challenge Luffy offers, and tosses him into the sand to sink.
The Straw Hats are worried, but they have to focus on Alubarna and preventing the fight from escalating. In Alubarna, Cobra’s true whereabouts are revealed; Mr. 4 and Ms. Merry Christmas are holding him hostage after kidnapping him. Poor Cobra has a front row seat to the start of a civil war. Now everyone is racing to Alubarna for different reasons; to fight, to stop the fighting, or to simply watch the fight they caused play out.
And then, from the desert, a cry goes up: MEAT! Luffy’s still in the game!
As Luffy struggles to free himself, multiple arms spring from the sand and haul him up. For some reason, Ms. All-Sunday, or Nico Robin, has come back to save Luffy and ask him why he fights. She seems to know more about Luffy than he’s told her, but Luffy doesn’t have any answers for her. She returns his hat, as Pell, who has been trailing her, appears. She advises him to help Luffy instead of chasing her, since Luffy is the one who helped Vivi return to Alabasta. Pell considers this, because Robin is so strong, and his decision is made when Luffy begs him for some meat.
The Straw Hats are trying to reach Alubarna and manage it with the help of their crab friend and other wildlife Luffy befriended earlier, but they’re facing a long walk across the desert. That’s when Karoo returns, and with him the Supersonic Duck Squadron, the fastest unit in Alabasta.
At Alubarna’s west gate, the remaining Baroque Works agents are debating on who gets to take out the Straw Hats. They’re under previous orders to make sure Koza and Vivi never meet. As they figure out who will be responsible for what a former ally of Vivi appears, far away, in the burnt out Nanohana…Igaram is alive. Yes, even after that explosion…welcome to the tough nature of people on the Grand Line. The agents decide it’s best to take out Vivi, because once the rebels start fighting there will be no stopping the violence. As long as they can keep her away from the rebels long enough, she’ll be powerless. But once they see the Straw Hats on approach, riding on Karoo and his squadron, they can’t tell who is who, and they have to split up to follow each group, because Alubarna has several gates. Meanwhile, Vivi is waiting with Karoo in the desert as the Straw Hats try to confuse Baroque Works, and once the trick is in play and successful, they take off for the rebel force unmolested.
Sidestory Alert!
Our last single panel series, following Django, wrapped up, and now it’s time to follow Hachi, one of Arlong’s crew, as he escapes from the Navy (their security is terrible). Where will he go?
IMG: onepiece_images_071_sidestory0182.png
Back to the Action!
Vivi and Karoo stand between Alubarna and the rebels bearing down on the city, but a stray canon from the royal guard sends up a cloud of sand and hides her from view. The rebels surge past her, and only Karoo covering Vivi with his body prevents her from getting hurt. As she’s hovering over an injured Karoo, Usopp appears on a horse to help her get away and back to the city.
But in Alubarna, Sanji discovers Usopp beaten up in an alley with his goggles missing. Wait…if Usopp is still in Alubarna, who’s with Vivi? Sanji realizes Vivi’s in danger, as it means Mr. 2 has gotten away.
In the desert, fake-Usopp is begging Vivi to come with him, and insults Karoo. Vivi is immediately suspicious, even though fake-Usopp holds up his arm with his bandage. But there’s more to the secret signal than that, because Zoro is crafty. When they made them, they also drew the letter “X” on their skin and covered it with the bandage. Someone only displaying the bandage is an imposter! Vivi and Karoo make a run for it. Fake-Usopp reveals himself as Mr. 2 officially and chases her.
Vivi and Karoo escape into Alubarna and shove their way through the fighting in the streets, but Mr. 2 shoots Karoo. Before Mr. 2 can take Vivi, two of Karoo’s squadron attack Mr. 2. Sanji formally faces off against Mr. 2.
Usopp—real this time—has found Chopper in the desert. He’s badly beaten up, because he’s been fighting Ms. Merry Christmas and Mr. 4, and Ms. Merry Christmas is underground!
Devil Fruit Alert!
Ms. Merry Christmas has the power of the Diggy Diggy fruit; she has the skills of a mole. She can operate under the ground, create tunnels, and hector people from below. She also has a powerful partner: Mr. 4 is incredibly strong and can lift and hit heavy objects. He has a companion dog an as ally, Lassoo, who is a gun who ate the Mutt-Mutt fruit, and transformed into a half dog, half gun. He shoots exploding balls into the air from his mouth and Mr. 4 hits them toward his enemies. In the Grand Line, even inanimate objects can eat Devil Fruits.
Back to the Action!
Usopp and Chopper have to dodge the balls that Mr. 4 hits toward them, because they’re timed and they explode. Usopp barely has the speed and Chopper is constantly helping them both avoid the explosions. But Ms. Merry Christmas has created a lot of tunnels underground, and Usopp takes advantage of them to sneak up and hit Mr. 4 with with five ton hammer! He tries to take out Ms. Merry Christmas with the hammer next, but it turns into a giant game of whack-a-mole, and Usopp’s not very good. When Mr. 4 begins to recover, she gets suspicious, and Lassoo shoots a ball at the hammer, revealing it to be a fake! As Usopp tries to avoid further attack, Chopper risks using a Rumble Ball so he can discover their weakness: the tunnels. He aims Lassoo’s snout down one of the holes, and because they’re all connected, the explosion perfectly targets both Ms. Merry Christmas and Mr. 4!
Of course, they’re not done yet. They make a comeback, and this time, they’re bringing trash talk: they tell Usopp that Crocodile killed Luffy and then laugh when Usopp refuses to believe them. Usopp is caught in their vicious attack, but even after he stands up and tells Chopper to fight! They have to defend Luffy’s dream against anyone who would mock it. Chopper engages a special attack, and Usopp uses a smoke bomb to cloud the field. By double-teaming the agents, Chopper and Usopp win the battle!
In Alubarna, both Koza and Vivi are trying to cut through their opponents and get to the palace: Koza so he can claim Alabasta and Vivi so she can hopefully stop the violence. Vivi makes it and asks Chaka for help: she wants him to destroy the palace to cause a distraction that will interrupt the battle. Chaka, honoring his oath to Alabasta and Vivi’s family, agrees.
Meanwhile, Mr. 2 and Sanji are locked in a fight, each pitted against someone of a similar strength. Unfortunately for Sanji, Mr. 2 quickly realizes that Sanji’s weakness is women when he transforms into Nami…watch out, Sanji!
Sanji can’t attack Mr. 2 when he transforms into Nami (he seems, in fact, incapable of remembering it’s not Nami when he looks directly at Mr. 2 when he’s transformed). But he finally notices that Mr. 2 can only attack while he’s not transformed, so in that small window of time Sanji has a chance, if he can use Mr. 2’s speed against him and avoid his first attack. Relying on the chance for a counter-attack is risky, but it pays off. Sanji manages to avoid all Mr. 2’s trickery, but they’re still evenly matched in skill. After a long, drawn out fight, Sanji manages to win, and instead of killing Mr. 2, thanks him for the fight. Sanji’s honor will pay off later, so remember Mr. 2! Of course, he still knocks Mr. 2 out and steals back the goggles Mr. 2 stole from Usopp in order to fool everyone. That’s battle in the Grand Line!
In the city, Zoro is lost and Nami is on the run from Mr. 1 and Ms. Doublefinger. When Nami and Zoro finally meet up, it’s in a direct clash with Mr. 1, who slices an entire column: vertically!
Devil Fruit Alert!
Mr. 1 ate the Dice Dice Fruit and is now a human sword. He can use any part of his body as a weapon and harden it against attack, as well. Mr. 1 is still annoyed about Zoro’s past refusal to join Baroque Works and the reason he gave: Zoro wanted to be the boss. When they refused his request Zoro declined their invite. As far as Mr. 1 is concerned, it’s time for a showdown so he can show Zoro he’s not boss material.
Back to the Action
Ms. Doublefinger goes after Nami; in a brief flashback, we see Nami confiding to Usopp and worrying about her status on the crew. She’s worried about her lack of battle skills and knowledge of fighting. She asks Usopp to back her a weapon she can use and he agrees.
Back in the present, Nami pulls out the three rods Usopp gave her: together they form the climate baton. Before she can use them, though, she’s stabbed through the shoulder from behind, even leaning against the wall!
Devil Fruit Alert!
Ms. Doublefinger has the power of the Spike Spike Fruit, allowing her to turn any part of her body into vicious, deadly spikes that can even cut through stone! She can also turn herself into a giant spiked ball, as well as use the spikes to cling to surfaces. Watch out, Nami!
Back to the Action!
Nami’s climate baton seems ill-suited to fighting Ms. Doublefinger: it creates birds, flowers, and even her opponent feels bad for her. Ms. Doublefinger attacks multiple times before Nami can get away to keep reading the directions (although one wonders why she didn’t take the time earlier), and she realizes she’s been reading the “party trick” side. The weapon instructions are on the opposite side. Usopp’s in trouble for sure.
But now, armed with the proper guidelines, Nami is ready to stop running and fight! She manages to figure out that the climate baton uses basic weather and atmospheric knowledge to operate, and if there’s one thing Nami knows a lot about, it’s the weather. She demands that Ms. Doublefinger surrender.
But Ms. Doublefinger isn’t swayed and keeps attacking. Nami struggles to make the climate baton work. When she does, she unleashes a huge lightning bolt that hits Ms. Doublefinger directly! Ms. Doublefinger tries to take Nami down once and for all, but Nami, with her new weapon, unleashes the final attack and wins the battle! She’s as surprised as anyone by her victory; this section of the manga uses some great visual storytelling.
Outside the palace, Vivi and Chaka look out over Alubarna as the army prepares to destroy the whole building. Unfortunately, Crocodile has finally arrived, and he’s not every excited that Vivi’s trying to explode his future home. Also, his entrance is incredibly over the top: since he can turn into sandstorms, technically he can also “fly”.
Crocodile brings out Cobra and pins him to the wall with knives in order to grill him about the location of the Pluton as Robin keeps the army at bay. Vivi is confused, Chaka shocked, and Cobra demands to know how Crocodile knows about the Pluton. Crocodile explains that it’s a weapon hidden in Alabasta, and he needs it so he can set himself up as king and recruit pirates. To maintain power against the World Government, which would never allow a pirate, even a government approved one, to amass such power, he would need a weapon strong enough to defend himself with. His plans have always been to rule uncontested, even against the government! Cobra denies knowledge of such a weapon, so Cobra changes tactics and asks about the Ponegliff, which is another new piece of worldbuilding. It’s a piece of history, and Vivi doesn’t understand why Crocodile would be interested, but Cobra agrees to take Crocodile to it.
In the alleys of Alubarna, Zoro and Mr. 1 are still fighting. Mr. 1 is a tough customer, and the battle is intense because they’re evenly matched due to Mr. 1’s Devil Fruit skills. Zoro can’t seem to catch a break, and when he makes one wrong move, Mr. 1 slashes him open and sends him careening into a building. Poor Zoro; he wants to be stronger, to be able to cut through steel, but he’s not sure what skill he’s missing to be able to achieve that goal. Even crushed under a building, he still gets up, lifting part of the building over himself, and throws it at Mr. 1. Mr. 1 cuts it into tiny pieces and then sends Zoro flying: Zoro may finally be outmatched!
As Mr. 1 walks away, Zoro finds the strength to stand somehow. He’s been beaten by Mr. 1, but suddenly he’s gained an awareness of the world around himself. Whether it’s from being close to death, or something else, suddenly Zoro senses even more about the rocks, the trees, his swords, and even the makeup of Mr. 1’s body. Mr. 1 is determined to put Zoro down, and mocks him for defending himself with one sword: he attacks.
But Zoro, who can now gained the ability to listen, cuts Mr. 1 down in one, definitive stroke—he wins!
Takeaways
We’re finally reaching the culmination of the Baroque Works arc. Even as questions are answered, they only seem to raise more questions. Obviously Crocodile wants power, but what in the world are these weapons and historical documents? Why has Ms. All-Sunday, or Nico Robin, kept important information from Crocodile and helped saved Luffy from certain death in the desert? How does she seem to know about Luffy’s family? Why is she partnered with Crocodile? Will Alabasta be saved? And what’s up with Smoker letting the Straw Hats go? Is it really just him paying them back for the save, or something else? Just how hard is Luffy going to punch Crocodile when he arrives on the scene? (My vote: super hard.)
Next Time!
We’ll be diving into the climax and resolution of the current story arc in the eighth omnibus, containing volumes 22, 23, and 24.