Summary:
During the operation to rescue Koby, Garp’s team comes under attack from their former comrade Kuzan, now one of the titanic captains of the Blackbeard Pirates, forcing Garp to deal with him when a flashback occurs, revealing how Kuzan joined their group. Meanwhile, the Heart Pirates were defeated by Blackbeard himself, forcing Bep to use a drug developed by Chopper to change into Sulong’s form to get Law to safety.
Garp lands on the island and Prince Grus uses his devil fruit powers to soften the fall of Garp’s ship. He tells the pirates that if they just blink he will hurt them badly, only to see that they were all already unconscious. He notes that he feels like he’s lost touch, leaving the other pirates in disbelief after all the damage he’s caused. He sees Koby and Hibari running towards him as Helmeppo cries tears of joy that Koby is okay. However, Hibari is suddenly frozen, courtesy of Kuzan, who is revealed to be the tenth Titanic Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates.
Koby begs Kuzan to unfreeze Hibari, but Hibari refuses, saying that it would look bad for them if Koby escaped while Blackbeard was gone. As it turns out, about a year after Kuzan’s battle with Sakazuki for the fleet admiral position at Punk Hazard, the Blackbeard Pirates cross paths with Kuzan drinking at a bar. Blackbeard asks Kuzan why he froze his crew, including the huge Sanjuan Wolf, before demanding that he call it off, but Kuzan tells him to calm down and warns him not to use Gura Gura no Mi and risk breaking his frozen crew. Kuzan says his crew decided to fight him. Eventually, the former admiral thaws everyone out and ends up having a drink with Blackbeard and his crew as he talks about his battle against Akainu and shows off the loss of his left leg, which he has to regularly replace with the Hie Hie no Mi. while noting that while Akainu wasn’t that badly injured, he wasn’t completely unscathed either.
At one point, Catarina Devon asks Kuzan if he knows anything about the “flame-marked man”. When Kuzan asks what he means, Jesus Burgess tells him about the Road Poneglyphs and how Kaidou and Big Mom are each known to have one, but they don’t know the location of the other two, but they heard a rumor that the “flame-marked man” has one . Kuzan jokingly says that he is the one she is talking about. However, neither of them believe him, and Laffitte says that this man sails in a pitch-black ship and anyone who sails near him will be swallowed up by the vortex. Shiryu believes the man is working for the World Government, reasoning that they would want to hide one of the Poneglyphs on the road to prevent other pirates from finding the One Piece.
Kuzan tells the Blackbeard Pirates that the Poneglyphs only give him bitter memories; although he says he didn’t see the red Poneglyph on Ohara, he mostly remembers his friend and Nico Robin and how he decided to take his fate into his own hands. The others are unmoved by Kuzan’s sob story as Laffitte asks Blackbeard if they should kill him and take his Devil Fruit for themselves. Kuzan hears this and gets angry, but Blackbeard tells him he doesn’t mean to. In fact, he wants Kuzan to join his crew. Kuzan at first refuses to join, but Blackbeard points out that he sees his pirate crew as a gang of people looking out for their own interests. Besides, he no longer works for the world government, so he can do whatever he wants.
Back in the present, Garp demands that Kuzan unfreeze Hibari, but Hibari tells him that he’s always admired how direct Garp is, so he wants to do things his way. He asks if Garp can seriously kill his former number one protégé to save his new favorite by freezing him with an ice ball, but Garp brushes himself off, reminding Kuzan that he taught him to live in the present. He then tells Kuzan that only weaklings lose their way as he grabs his face and slams him to the ground with a move called the Blue Hole.
Meanwhile, on Victor Island, Blackbeard defeated Trafalgar Law and destroyed the Polar Tang. He tells Law that the pirates whose hearts he stole in Rocky Port to join the Seven Warlords are still on Hachinos and he should probably kill him and bring his heart there as a trophy. While Teach debates what to do once he has Ope Ope no Mi, Bepo attacks him in his Sulong form, which he was able to acquire outside of the full moon thanks to a special drug given to him by Chopper. He buys enough time to grab Law and jump into the ocean, but Law tells him to go back for the crew. Bepo tells him he can’t do it, but he believes they will survive as he desperately pleads with his captain not to die.
The narration then states that the Heart Pirates were soundly defeated on Victory Island.