Summary:
As CP0 and Luffy’s group face off, at Marine HQ, Sakazuki learns of the situation and orders CP0 not to engage them until backup arrives, while Rob Lucci reveals his new awakened form. Vegapunk joins Sanji’s group in Labophase. As they watch the battle between Lucci and Luffy, who is using Gear 5, Vegapunk reveals to Sanji’s group some truths about Devil Fruits in general and Luffy’s Devil Fruit – Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika – in particular. Sentomaru arrives to command the Seraphim against CP0 and forces Lucci to take him out so that CP0 can regain control of the Seraphim.
All the researchers begin to flee after witnessing the Atlas fall on Rob Lucci, whom Chopper remembers. Lucci’s attack makes Jinbe realize that CP0 has come to kill Dr. Vegapunk, but Luffy asks Lucci why he’s here. Lucci points out that Egghead is still under the jurisdiction of the World Government, and Chopper tells Luffy that he has to go. Kaku expresses his displeasure at meeting the Straw Hat Pirates and Jewelry Bonney again, but tells Lucci that since Luffy is now considered the Emperor, he cannot fight him without permission, to which Stussy agrees, and Luffy instead has him report his presence headquarters.
After leaving Bonney in Jinbe’s care, Luffy runs to the downed Atlas in shock and asks Chopper to take care of her, which he does, but later states that Franky might be better suited to handling people like her. Lucci tells Luffy to stay out of government business, but Luffy tells him that Atlas was kind to him and his group.
At Marine HQ, Sakazuki is told that the Straw Pirates are on Egghead, causing him to wonder if Vegapunk called them because he assumed they had come for him. He learns that Kizaru is already on his way to Egghead and orders Lucci not to engage with the straw pirates at all costs. Unfortunately for him, Lucci, who had grown to fear Luffy’s power, actually started fighting Luffy. Everyone tries to hide from their duel while the rest of Vegapunk’s satellites and the straw pirates watch the fight from Labophase. Noticing that Lucci looks different now, Shaka says that Lucci awakened his Devil Fruit and sometimes it can drastically rob the user of their personality, which is why Lucci refused to wait for permission to involve Luffy.
Dr. Vegapunk then appears behind his satellites and straw hats and asks the crew if they know what Luffy’s new form is called, as he too has transitioned into his awakened form. Nami says she doesn’t know and assumes it’s just part of Gomu Gomu no Mi, but Vegapunk tells her that name doesn’t exist in the Ancient Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, much to her shock. As they watch, Vegapunk tells the crew that Luffy’s appearance resembles an ancient god, to which Sanji believes in disbelief. However, Vegapunk goes on to say that the god is a “Warrior of Liberation”, the one who is always playful and who makes others laugh: Sun God Nika. Nami admits that she has never heard the name before, which Vegapunk says is because it has been erased from history, but he says that as long as people desire it, its existence will never disappear.
Vegapunk says that “the desires of all things are born in the world” and that the Devil Fruits are in the same boat. He tells the group that the Devil Fruits are the embodiment of what humans wish they could become, and the reason why the sea, which he calls “the mother of all nature”, prevents Devil Fruit users from swimming is because he sees these wishes as transcending the world , in which people wish to live as “abnormalities”. His theory leaves the Straw Hat crew completely stunned.
During Vegapunk’s speech, Luffy and Lucci battled each other in their awakened states, the fight being very similar to Luffy’s fight with Kaida. While they are fighting, Sentomaru arrives and asks Vegapunk what he should do as he believes that CP0 is supposed to be their allies. Vegapunk explains that they came to kill him and asks if he can drive them away from Egghead, which Sentomaru doesn’t like as it would make him a traitor as well. Vegapunk then reminds Sentomaru that he saved Sentomaru from poverty in the past, so he should decide what to do for himself. In the end, Sentomaru agrees to fight against CP0.
When Sentomaru arrives with S-Shark, S-Snake, and S-Hawk, CP0 sees him and Kaku tries to order S-Bear to take him down, but Stussy says it’s impossible. He is proven right when Sentomaru takes control of S-Bear and has him attack CP0. Stussy says that the level of authority the Seraphs follow is very different from the Pacifists: The Five Elders have the highest authority chip, Vegapunk and his Satellites have second, Sentomaru third, and anyone else below. Furthermore, even the Five Elders cannot command the Seraphim over the Den Den Mushi. Kaku adds that the Seraphim are a huge asset to the world government, meaning they can’t destroy the cyborgs, and berates Lucca for seemingly not thinking it through.
Luffy uses an attack called Gomu Gomu no Mogura Pistol, which makes him extend his fist into the ground and redirect it all the way to Luccia’s chest to injure him. Sentomaru orders S-Snake to use the “Vacuum Missile” to guide the Straw Hat Pirates to the Frontier Dome and orders S-Hawk and S-Shark to hold off CP0. Chopper and Jinbe notice the Seraphim and Jinbe is surprised to see that the former Seven Sea Warriors have been cloned. Luffy sees Sentomaru, who asks him if he is seriously going to take Vegapunk off the island, to which Luffy confirms that he is. Just then, Lucci stabs Sentomaru with the Shugan and he falls, with Lucci saying that all they need to do is take down the “control tower” to bring the Seraphim under their control.