Summary:
On Hachinos, Koby is freed with the help of Perona, as it is also revealed that Blackbeard originally captured him in a plot to have their island recognized as a country by the World Government. The Blackbeard Pirates, led by the Commander, are still on the island, attempting to conquer it, only for the SWORD to arrive, where they demonstrate the power of their Devil Fruits and Garp’s Haki abilities.
On Hachinos, several pirates report that Koby has escaped from prison and is now free. A few of them are excited by this revelation, as Koby has a fairly high reward listed for him by the Cross Guild as a Marine-ranked “Captain”: five stars; one star equals one loot chest. Suddenly a rock face starts talking saying that he feels a tickle on the left side of his chest where everyone is holding their slaves. The pirates realize that all of their slaves are trying to escape, but are told that they must be kept alive or Blackbeard will be informed. The voice, it turns out, belongs to Aval Pizarro, who consumed the Shima Shima no Mi, meaning that he can now merge with the island itself, allowing him to see, feel, and hear everything that happens on the island.
Koby quickly realizes that his and the other slaves’ position has been exposed, and in order to protect everyone, Koby offers himself as bait to take the heat away from the others. Shiryu, who was with Pizarro, points out that he could have caught Koby and the slaves all by himself since he teamed up with Hachinosu, but Pizarro refuses, telling Shiryu that Blackbeard is angry at him for causing too much damage. Vasco Shot questions if he would be able to handle the situation then since he also ate the Devil Fruit – Gabu Gabu no Mi – which allows him to manipulate alcohol. However, because of this, Shoto’s idea is to set the town on fire so they have nowhere to run, leading to Pizarro scolding him, telling him that it would upset Blackbeard as well, especially since they had just finished repairing the damage from Rocky Port. Incident. At least Shot points out that he would be more careful than Sanjuan Wolf due to his size, since he consumed Deka Deka no Mi, which allows him to enlarge his already giant body.
Koby’s plan works and he is chased by pirates, although he realizes that escaping on foot will not be possible, but thinks it is worth it for the sake of the others. In flashback, it is revealed that the reason Blackbeard kidnapped Koby was so he could use him as a bargaining chip. He came up with a plan where he would have Hachinosa recognized as a full-fledged nation with the blessing of the world government and become its king; and in return, Blackbeard returns Koby to them unharmed and gracefully. Koby calls his plan crazy and that he is wasting his time with him because he is a member of SWORD. When Blackbeard asks what it is, Kuzan, who is with him, tells him what the SWORD really is.
According to Kuzan, Marines affiliated with SWORD are not recognized as such on paper; Koby and the other members have given up their “naval codes”, and since they have resigned their credentials, they can work without being held back by certain protocols, such as being able to start a fight with the Emperor without permission. He also reveals that the World Government can disassociate themselves from SWORD members at any time, meaning that trying to use Koby as leverage would be a point of contention for the Marines that could very easily sever all responsibilities and ties they have with Koby. Although Blackbeard understands and is even stunned by this new knowledge, he refuses to change his mind about his plan, believing that Koby’s status as a hero would mean that the world government would not deprive him of his freedom, or the public would be enraged. He even says that if things go south for him, he will greatly damage the reputation of the World Government; and as insurance, he has Koby’s capture publicly revealed so that neither the Marines nor the government can deny the fact. Until then, he wanted to lock Koby up.
As Koby is being chased, he remembers that Perona freed him in exchange for his help freeing Gecko Moria, who was also imprisoned. He then hears an explosion and learns that there are marines on the island, though he humbly believes they didn’t just come for him. The attacking marines prove to be very powerful, with one of them beheaded to reveal that he is made of clay and therefore impervious. Additionally, some buildings begin to move, which several pirates see as the result of a woman named Kujaku, a naval rear admiral and granddaughter of “Grand Staff Officer” Tsuru, eating the Muchi Muchi no Mi, which allows her to tame anything she whips, including inanimate objects.
Koby is eventually cornered, but when the pirates try to shoot him, their gunpowder explodes into flowers. Several of them realize they are Dr. Vegapunk’s GP Flowers, and Hibari, the sniper, was responsible. She contacts Prince Grus, who has eaten the Gunyo Gunyo no Mi, allowing him to manipulate clay, thus clay soldiers, and he informs her that he and Kujaku have the situation under control.
At this point, several pirates were trapped by Kujak’s buildings, which they were forced to move around and surround. With no escape possible, a naval ship under the command of Monkey D. Garp is launched high into the air. Garp jumps off the ship and completely decimates the pirates with his Galaxy Impact attack, calling it payback for kidnapping his irreplaceable protégé, whom he considers the future of the Marines.