What an interesting revelation conveyed through Who’s Who’s circumstances at the end of the chapter. A former CP-9 agent that existed as a rival to Rob Lucci until the incident that led to the loss of the Gomu Gomu no Mi 12 years ago. Seemingly as Who’s Who was guarding the ship the Gomu Gomu no Mi was kept on, a pirate crew attacked (Red Haired Pirates) and made off with the fruit. Why did the Gomu Gomu no Mi need to be protected by the World Government and why was it so important that the failure to protect it led to Who’s Who’s imprisonment? It’s odd. Wasn’t the Gomu Gomu no Mi just a random Devil Fruit with seemingly no apparent overwhelming qualities? If that is not the case, does the true powers of the Gomu Gomu no Mi reveal itself when the fruit is awakened? Or was the fruit being guarded merely because Im had a vision or feeling that the Gomu Gomu no Mi would eventually lead to the World Governments downfall?
I am honestly fascinated by the development surrounding the Gomu Gomu no Mi. Was the Devil Fruit the only one on the ship Who’s Who guarded or were there other Devil Fruits? Based on Who’s Who’s story and his disdain over the Gomu Gomu no Mi which now extends to the Straw Hat Pirates, it appears the Gomu Gomu no Mi was the only Devil Fruit contained on the ship or at least the only Devil Fruit that was stolen. Did Shanks intentionally attack the Government ship to retrieve the Gomu Gomu no Mi or was that act an expression of their piracy and the Gomu Gomu no Mi the booty of their piracy? Was it Shanks that attacked the ship? Or did Shanks attack the party that attacked the World Government Ship (unless Shanks engaged in a trade)? The Vivre Card One Piece Visual Dictionary reveals that it was Lucky Roux who took the Gomu Gomu no Mi from an enemy crew. It fails to specify is that enemy crew was a World Government ship or another Pirate ship. Could Shanks have retrieved the Gomu Gomu no Mi for the World Government but on a certain Island in a certain bar during a certain altercation with a certain bandit, a certain boy watching the conflict relieved his frustration by consuming the Gomu Gomu no Mi? Rather than the Red-Haired Pirates stealing the Devil Fruit from the World Government, they were in the process of making his way back to returning the Devil Fruit. It could have been after Shanks’s encounter with Luffy that everything changed for him. A purpose non-existent before that moment was birthed.
So if it wasn’t Shanks and the Red Haired Pirates that attacked the World Government ship, who could have performed such a crime? Were they eliminated by Shanks? Imprisoned by the World Government? Or currently still sailing the Grand Line? Did Giants steal the Gomu Gomu no Mi? I am so curious. I want to know! Who was it that attacked the World Government ship and made off with the Gomu Gomu no Mi. I would expect Who’s Who to despise the Red-Haired Pirates if they were the ones who caused him to fail at defending the World Government ship.
The Zou senzu bean was an amusing yet expected development. They had to be element introduced that prevents characters from crossing the line from life to death. In One Piece, death for present time characters isn’t handled haphazardly but extremely purposeful by Oda-sensei. Such as how the drugs the New Fish-Man Pirates consumed like candy didn’t result in their deaths. How the Shinokuni gas on Punk Hazard had a weakness. How the damage caused by Doflamingo’s bird card was nullified by Princess Mansherry’s Chiyu Chiyu no Mi. How the Totto Land Arc had no one die from Big Mom’s soul stripping power. How Caesar used Roko to nullify his Koro gas on Zou after Jack set off the gas bomb he made. How Chopper found the cure for Queen’s Mummy and Ice Oni Viruses. The injuries Ashura Doji, Kiku, Kin’emon and Kanjuro have suffered will be healed with the use of the super recovery drug from Zou. Zoro will be back in action and King will likely be his target once Marco succumbs to his exhaustion.
Tama’s moment was cool but it does feel quite odd to have the will of people twisted to follow a certain direction. Tama is practically enslaving her targets and forcing them to do something against their will? What happens if a SMILE user attacks a Beast Pirate members that is a family member of theirs because Tama ordered the SMILE users to attack Kaido’s men? For an arc that is centered around liberating a nation from twenty years of imprisonment, Tama’s actions can be seen as running counter to that by imprisoning the SMILE users who consumed her kibi dango. The SMILE users do not want to help the Straw Hat Pirates, which is precisely why Tama has to use her power to influence them to perform such acts.
I am excited for the Sanji VS Queen battle. Sanji has had a rough showing for the past while but hopefully with this upcoming battle, he gets plenty moments to shine. So far, the battle is started off excellently with Sanji interrupting Queen from attacking Tama and drawing Queen’s complete attention to him. It is confirmed that Queen was part of the same rogue research group with Judge, Vegapunk and Caesar. The group was called Mads. Queen confirmed he is a cyborg and has transformed into his Hybrid form to take down Sanji. How thrilling it will be when Queen witnesses Sanji’s Stealth Black transformation. Through the Raid Suit, Judge’s scientific advancements can be pitted against Queen’s. Looking forward to the next chapter.
12Dimension 