The Everlasting One Piece Readalong: Vols. 40-42

Welcome back to the Everlasting One Piece Readalong! We’re fast approaching the 20th anniversary of One Piece in July with a thorough exploration of the greatest pirate manga of all time. We’re reading from the big omnibus editions; you can follow all the installments in the project tag.

Volumes 40-42 Overview

The Straw Hats make a stand on Enies Lobby and declare war against the government on Robin’s behalf. We learn the heartbreaking truth about Robin’s past, her rotten self-worth, and her reasons for often aligning with dubious characters. The Straw Hats finally face the CP9, but also the biggest threat of firepower they’ve come across yet: the Buster Call.

The Adventure Continues!

The battle for the upper hand on Enies Lobby gets more tense as the Franky Family and Galley-La take on the giant guarding the second gate, Kaashii and Oimo. The giants are powerful and the Franky Family loses some tough fighters, but they finally manage to trick Oimo into taking Kaashii down for them.
Spandam demands an update from his guards, but Luffy is taking them out, one hundred guards at a time. Even the guard giving the updates can’t stand against Luffy. Spandam believes the news couldn’t be correct—there’s no way anyone could stand up to the massive force of Enies Lobby.
Out at sea, Kokoro and the rest of the Straw Hats on Rocketman gear up and prepare for collision. They’re prepared to aim the train toward Enies Lobby and through the second gate.
As Luffy’s one man battle rages on on the outskirts of the island, the Water Seven CP9 meet up with the rest of the team and Spandam after five long years. The other members of CP9—Jabra, Kumadori, and Fukurô—don’t get along with the others very well, and they all compete to see which of them is the most powerful. No surprise, really—Lucci is the strongest of them all by far. Spandam, however, has no power whatsoever even though he’s the director, and Fukurô makes fun of him for it. Spandam has sure failed upward since his CP5 days.

He promises to give some of the members of CP9 something special later—in the scene we can see what look like Devil Fruits—but before that he demands to meet Franky and Robin. If the people who control the World Government are callous and uncaring enough to let the world operate like we’ve seen it so far, Spandam goes even farther. He doesn’t feel like the World Government reacts harshly enough. He wants a world where he can dispose of people at will whenever they inconvenience him and his goals. Spandam is a textbook evil villain with the face mask to match.
While Spandam crows over CP9’s successful capture of the fugitives he’s wanted for so long, his transponder snail is off the hook—the guards at the second gate can’t reach him for orders as Luffy kicks their butts. Luffy’s not even fighting seriously; he’s just having fun. Desperate, the guards asks one of the chief justices of Enies Lobby what to do, since Luffy is destroying their forces—Three-Headed Baskerville! The chief justice is a extremely large man with three heads who all have their own conflicting opinions. The World Government is a mess.

Baskerville deploys the courthouse guards to the gate, where the combined forces of Galley-La and Franky family are wearing Oimo down. With only one giant to contend with, getting the gate open is a snap. Meanwhile, out at sea the Rocketman is bearing down on the island, but the iron gate isn’t open. Instead of cutting through it, they force it back and the train is launched into the air. It sails over the first gate—so much for the folks who fought to open it—and into the air. Oimo, having been shamed into a second wind by the government guards, rises up, only to be smacked down by the flying train. He’s down for the count, and now the rest of the Straw Hats are on the island to help push forward.
Nami’s climate baton comes in handy as they face the forces in their way. She has a new devastating lightning attack, but it doesn’t discriminate friend from foe, so Zoro and Sanji accidentally get caught in the lightning strike. Nami holds Usopp responsible, and Usopp, as Sniper King, defends his work. Poor Usopp! Only two people so far have been fooled by his disguise.
Luffy has stalled in his forward momentum; he can’t get ahead due to the number of people after him. When a guard shoots at him, the Straw Hats see the explosion and follow it, guessing rightly that they’re on Luffy’s trail. Galley-La stays behind, but Paulie gives the Straw Hats a message to pass on: he wants Lucci and the others to know that they’re fired. (It’s the least they deserve.)
The Straw Hats and the Franky Family fight their way deeper into the island as Luffy manages to give the island guards the slip. In the last building, unaware that Enies Lobby is under siege, Spandam is crowing about his victory, the fact that he has the power of the Buster Call, and that he managed to capture Franky and Robin. He’s very physically abusive to both Franky and Robin, especially when Robin asks why Admiral Aokiji approved the Buster Call. Spandam isn’t giving her any answers, though, and after he knocks her around he reneges on their deal to let the Straw Hats go if Robin turned herself in. He absolves himself of guilt by telling Robin they were free to leave Water Seven, but they won’t be free to leave Enies Lobby. All Robin’s sacrifices to save the Straw Hats from the World Government were for nothing, because the whole institution is rife with corruption. Spandam orders both Franky and Robin to be trapped in chains. Franky is going to Impel Down, and Robin is going to the Navy Headquarters—the insinuation is she’s in for more torture.

The members of CP9 watch Spandam without comment, until the end when Lucci refuses Spandam’s offer of celebration. Lucci isn’t in CP9 for Spandam’s idea of justice. Lucci’s in CP9 because he a brutal killer who enjoys the hunt—he even alarms Spandam a little bit. CP9, seeing that they’re unaware of what’s happening on the island due to a disconnected transponder snail, leave.
Outside, guards try to locate Luffy, but he’s on the roof overlooking the last building on the island when Blueno appears using his Devil Fruit power. Blueno is surprised that Luffy made it so far, but is curious when he’ll quit. Sucks to be you, Blueno—Luffy’s going to fight until he dies, and Luffy doesn’t go down easy.
Blueno warns Luffy that he’s committing a criminal act against a symbol of the World Government, 170 nations united together under one banner. By attacking Enies Lobby, he’s revolting against the world and he should give up. Luffy never gives up. As he prepares to fight Blueno warns him that he’s not strong enough. Blueno’s powers are greater than Luffy’s, as proven by their showdown in Water Seven. Blueno isn’t worried about Luffy’s attack, so when he attempts to use his powers, they don’t work. Luffy manages to land multiple hits on him, to Blueno’s confusion. Luffy disregards Blueno’s warnings about the government—he came for Robin and he doesn’t plan to leave without her.
While Luffy and Blueno fight, the Straw Hats are making their way into the island on one of the Franky Family’s king bulls, Sodomu when they notice that Usopp never made it on. Nami is worried because of Usopp’s strength level, but Zoro assures her that Usopp wouldn’t have made it that far with them if he was too weak to survive on his own.

While Zoro and Nami talk through Usopp’s absence Chopper is using his skill at conversing with animals to learn about Sodomu and his brother Gomora, who Franky saved from the belly of a giant sea creature when they were younger. They pledged to follow Franky no matter way to thank him for saving them. The king bulls are tough for sure, but not even they are immune to giant guns, which the guards shoot into Sodomu’s neck. Although Sodomu can’t go on, through Chopper he urges everyone else to continue, and the Straw Hats join the Franky Family on Gomora.
Usopp, just as Zoro thought, is fine. He missed getting on Sodomu and he’s plotting ways to move forward when he realizes one of the giants, Oimo, is crying. He encourages Oimo to explain why he’s so upset, and Oimo tells him that he and Kaashii were once part of a group led by two strong giants of Elbaph. One day they decided to hold a duel and the winner would return home, but after a long time no one did. So Oimo and Kaashii set sail to find them. When they were captured by the government, they were told that their leaders had been captured, as well, and if they would agree to work for the government guarding Enies Lobby for 100 years, they and their leaders could go home.
Usopp, of course, is dubious about this story because he knows about the giants of Elbaph. When he drops Dorry and Brogy’s names, Oimo is shocked. But Usopp knows they’re not captured—they’ve been dueling for decades on Little Garden. The government lied to Oimo and Kaashii to benefit themselves.
As Usopp learns yet another vile fact about the World Government, the Straw Hats are making their way with help from Kokoro and Chimney, who have a great position to view the island and a transponder snail for communication. But the guards are ready, as Baskerville has demanded the release of the more forces and Gomora falls from a vicious attack. Now the Straw Hats and their allies are surrounded! It seems dire, especially because then Oimo and Kaashi appear, as well, boosting the government forces.
Except! It’s too bad the giants are on the Straw Hats side now after Usopp told them the truth—they’re on a rampage of fury!

Even with giants helping with the guards behind the Straw Hats, they still have to push forward. Gomora, who was attacked with giant steel balls, seemed down, but he promised Sodomu that he would carry people forward. He uses the last of his strength to crash through the wall and deliver the Straw Hats to the courthouse, right after Zoro and Sanji realize that Luffy is fighting CP9 already. Unfortunately for Luffy, Blueno’s Door Door Devil Fruit skills are causing him some problems, as Blueno can alter Luffy’s body with his powers.
As the fight continues outside, inside Spandam has given Kalifa and Kaku their own Devil Fruits, but he doesn’t know what type of Devil Fruits they are. We learn a little about Devil Fruits here, specifically what happens when you eat two of them. The results are often deadly, because the body can’t hold to powers at once. Lucci convinces both of his colleagues to eat the Devil Fruit—they taste awful—but it’s not clear immediately what powers they acquired.
As Kalifa and Kaku try to figure out what power their Devil Fruits might give them, Spandam is congratulating himself on having a golden transponder snail from Admiral Aokiji. The golden snail allows him to request a Buster Call, which will bring down ten warships to destroy whatever island Spandam wants to wipe off the map. While he’s admiring the golden snail, a guard interrupts him with a regular transponder snail from someone with an update on the Enies Lobby invasion.
Spandam, of course, goes to gloat in front of Robin and Franky about how the Straw Hats only took out five guards and were likely crushed by the giants guarding the gate. Unfortunately for Spandam, because he decided to brag and get the update on front of his prisoners, they learn that Enies Lobby defenses have failed: the Straw Hats and their allies have carved a path through the island and turned the giants to their cause.
As Spandam reels from the news that the pirates are inside the courthouse, Baskerville attempts to stop the Straw Hats with the help of a handful of guards. But the Straw Hats and the Franky Family are too powerful; in the end Baskerville is left alone to fight the Franky Family. They need to lower a drawbridge in order to cross the abyss to the final building, but they have to cut through all the defensive forces.
Luffy and Blueno are still at it; once Luffy recovers from Blueno’s Door Door attacks he manages to avoid the vicious kick that can cut rock with the force of air from the movement. Luffy’s not strong enough to beat Blueno as he is, but he’s been developing a new technique. Blueno’s not sure what’s happening except that something is going on inside Luffy’s body to make him steam. Luffy’s going to use his new skill: gear two.
Gear two allows Luffy’s attacks to have more force and speed; it also increases his mobility and allows him to learn and use Blueno’s own skill of quick movements, called Shave. CP9 uses Shave to move quickly and add force behind their attacks. Because Luffy met Blueno so early, he was able to pick up that technique. Combined with his increased attack strength, Luffy finally defeats Blueno, which is good, because gear two takes a lot out of him.
Spandam, panicked that Enies Lobby is under attack and failing to hold the pirates back, decides to send Franky and Robin through the Gates of Justice early, even if they have to wait. Once they’re through the gate there will be nothing Luffy or anyone else can do to save them. But as they leave, Luffy, on the roof of the courthouse, calls for Robin—and everyone, including Robin, hears him.
Spandam realizes that Blueno has been defeated and Luffy is responsible, so he calls for CP9 and prepares to have Robin taken away. He forbids the guards to let the pirates lower the drawbridge, which is definitely wishful thinking on his part.
Franky isn’t done fighting back; he uses his cyborg skills to swell his butt up—surprise, you’re reading a manga targeted at young kids—and threatens to blow everyone up. Once everyone runs away, though, he grabs Robin and uses his powers to launch them out of the window. Yes: Franky has a fart attack because he runs on soda. His move puts Robin and Luffy near each other once again while Franky holds off the guards so they can talk. But Robin furiously tells Luffy that she never wants to see the Straw Hats again. Worse, she’s ready to die, as well.
As the Straw Hats make their way to the roof of the courthouse where Luffy is confronting Robin, he tells her that she can do what she wants, after they save her. Once they all arrive, Usopp literally flying in at the last moment with help from the giants, Luffy tells her he wants to hear what she wants to his face, not under duress. The Straw Hats spread out and wait for Robin’s answer.
Spandam can’t help himself; he butts into the conversation to brag about his golden transponder snail that will launch the Buster Call. He also taunts Robin about Ohara and how it was destroyed. It’s not the first time we’ve heard someone mention it to Robin. It turns out Ohara was Robin’s original home and where she grew up; we finally get to see where Robin came from as we drop into flashback.
Ohara, twenty-two years before, was an island in the West Blue. We meet an eight-year-old Robin who already has her Devil Fruit powers. The other kids treat her like a monster instead of being her friend, and it’s made worse by the fact that Robin’s aunt and uncle aren’t emotionally available. They treat her like a servant, which is a shame because Robin desperately wants a family and is lonely since her mom left on a research expedition years and years before. After doing chores while the rest of her family is out celebrating her cousin’s birthday without her, Robin heads to the Tree of Knowledge, a library and archaeology center, to return some books. This is the place where Robin is loved; she opens the door to a massive surprise party congratulating her on passing her archaeologist exam.

Professor Clover, Robin’s teacher and the head librarian, gives Robin a medal to wear as an official archaeologist. Ohara is the best place in the world to study, and for hundreds of years people have brought documents to the Tree of Knowledge in order to save them and let people study the past. Of course, Robin is still Robin, so she asks if she can research the missing history—one hundred years long—by studying the ponegliff. Clover is shocked and says it’s forbidden to study that time in history and has been law since 800 years years ago. But Robin has been sneaking into their super secret ponegliff meetings (of course the librarians are studying the forbidden past…they’re librarians).
Robin thought if she became an archaeologist, she would be allowed to attend instead of sneaking around. But instead Clover tells her if she tries to study the ponegliff again, she’ll be banned from the library. It’s a huge blow to Robin and she runs away. The librarians are resigned; Robin is becoming just like her absent mother.

When she stops at the coast, she finds a giant washed up on shore: Jaguar D. Saul. Robin befriends him and ends up staying with him, knowing that there’s no one to miss her not returning to her house. Turns out, Saul is on the run, but he’s a happy guy, and helps cheer Robin up.
Meanwhile, the CP9 of the past has arrived at Ohara. The archaeologists work quickly to hide their illicit study of the missing history. Robin is busy spending time with her new friend as Saul builds a raft to leave the island. Robin tells Saul that she became an archaeologist like her mother so she could go back out to sea with her. She then mentions the void in history and how her mother went to search for it, which shocks Saul, because he knows Robin’s mother: Olvia. He then realizes he’s landed on Ohara, and tells Robin to keep that she’s a scholar a secret, because the Navy is on the way with a warship to destroy the archaeologists and their work. Robin doesn’t believe him at first, but Saul clearly knows Olvia and is panicked, so he convinces Robin to head back to town to check on any weird developments.
Little does Robin know that her mother is back on Ohara, having stowed away on the Navy ship. She tells the archaeologists they have to run because her survey team, searching for information about the ponegliff, were all killed except for her. Now the Navy is going to remove all the scholars because they figured out where she was from. But the other scholars don’t budge; they’ve expected this and planned for it and plan to protect all the knowledge in their library as long as they can.
But they don’t realize what’s coming. Aokiji—only a Vice Admiral, and going by Kuzan—arrives at Ohara on a Navy ship of his own.
Although Robin rushes to tell the scholars that warships are coming, they don’t believe her—they think it’s just a general inspection. But when the Navy arrives they begin a mandatory evacuation and kick all the scholars out of the library until they find the ponegliff research. The scholars are now officially guilty of studying the one hundred year void in history—the penalty is death. As warships approach, Olvia is captured by CP9 and brought back to the place where the scholars are being held. Robin is still there, refusing to leave her friends behind.
Professor Clover appeals to the guards to let them speak to the Five Elders to report on their theories about the void in history. He’s allowed to talk to them via transponder snail, and suggests a hypothesis. He and the scholars aren’t interested so much in what’s on the ponegliffs, rather than why they exist—huge stone tablets containing a history that the World Government wants suppressed. He suspects that during this one hundred year time period there was a great empire that realized another powerful force could destroy them, so they put their history on stone which couldn’t be burned or broken. The missing history coincides with when the World Government came to power, too, coming directly after the void in history.
Clover’s hypothesis is damning: although the World Government says researching the ponegliffs is illegal because they explain how to create a weapon, their main goal is to help erase any history before the World Government took power from the empire before it and to keep anyone from knowing about what the World Government did during that time. Before Clover can share the name of the empire that existed before the World Government, the Five Elders orders his death—he’s shot.
With the revelation of the scholars’ knowledge about the past, Ohara’s fate is sealed. The Buster Call is activated and the ships start firing on the island. The Tree of Knowledge is on fire, Professor Clover has been wounded, and the Navy leads Olvia away.
But Robin, even though she was so young when Olvia left, believes that she’s her mother. Although Olvia tries to deny it, Robin calls out for her, and reveals out loud that she’s an archaeologist to be like her, and she’s missed her. Poor Robin has grown up without any parental affection at all, and she doesn’t want to be left alone again.

Robin and Olvia are reunited, but only for a moment. Saul appears and Olvia asks him to protect Robin, even though Robin doesn’t want to go. But Saul carries her away, and Olvia tells Robin to remember her history and live. Out at sea, the Navy sees Saul running away and recognizes him as Vice Admiral Saul, who was involved in the state-sanctioned murder of Olvia’s research group. Once Saul learned about the Buster Call, he deserted the Navy and took Olvia with him, but ended up shipwrecked on Ohara instead of being able to make his way home. He’s no longer a Navy man; he can’t abide by their tactics, and he attacks a Navy ship in order to save Robin from their bombs.
Saul continues to fight the Navy and his former comrades, and tells Robin to run for the evacuation ship. But the people on board are dubious of her, and as she waits the Navy refuses to allow the ship to pick her up. Saul continues to fight the Navy until Aokoji interrupts him, because Saul is causing problems in the destruction of Ohara, and Aokij can’t let that happen. And it is destruction—even the evacuation ship, sailing away, is destroyed on purpose in case it was harboring any scholars. Aokiji is a fascinating character, because he’s both complicit in the terrible acts the World Government carries out, but he also seems to struggle with the right way to move forward. Keep an eye on him.
Robin makes her way back to Saul, who tries to protect her, but Aokiji is too powerful. Saul tells her to take his raft and run away. Robin doesn’t want to be alone, but Saul tells her to remember that one day she’ll meet people who will be her true and forever friends. He forces her to run as Aokiji freezes him solid with his ice powers. But When Robin reaches the coast, Aokiji is already there—and he’s decided to let Robin go. He sets her free in Saul’s raft, and warns her to hide and to not cause him problems, because he’ll track her down and remove her from the equation if she does.
After Ohara was completely destroyed by the World Government, they knew she could read the ponegliffs and put a huge bounty on her for simply existing with the knowledge they had destroyed Ohara to erase. Poor Robin spent her whole life on the run, betrayed by everyone for the bounty she was worth, with no attachments or people who cared about her…until she met Crocodile, and then, Luffy…
Back in the present, Robin has finally found her friends that Saul promised her she would discover, but she knows that the World Government will chase her until she dies. She knows that if it keeps happening, the Straw Hats will start to resent her, and she doesn’t want that to happen. She doesn’t want to lose more people she cares about because she was inconvenient. Spandam laughs, and agrees with her; she’s a nuisance. But Luffy has figured out who Robin is so scared of, and he tells Usopp—with his new toys as Sniper King—to shoot down the World Government flag, which sets it on fire.
With a declaration of war against the government, he demands to hear from Robin that she wants to live, and she finally, finally trusts that she’s found the friends Saul promised her would protect her—she wants to live.
If Spandam was shocked by the Straw Hats setting fire to the World Government’s flag, Robin’s desperate wish to survive, and the drawbridge lowering to allow the pirate forces across, he’s not at all prepared for Franky to pull out the blueprints for Pluton, taunt him with them, and then set them on fire. Franky’s betting that without those blueprints, the World Government can’t hassle Water Seven anymore, and he’s confident the Straw Hats will rescue Robin, too. So Spandam will have nothing.
Now the race is on to get to Robin before she can be sent through the Gates of Justice. The Franky Family worked hard to get the drawbridge down, but they’re being stymied at every turn, and can only get it halfway. As luck would have it, Kokoro has fired up Rocketman again, and she barrels it through the courthouse and over the abyss toward Robin and CP9 like a flying battering ram, carrying the Straw Hats with her.
Spandam and Lucci take Robin to the Gates of Justice while the Straw Hats are given a challenge; Robin is wearing handcuffs made out of sea stone that suppresses her powers, and each member of CP9 has a key. But they won’t know which key will work until they collect them all. It’s a delaying tactic, as well as a fun game to a group who believe the Straw Hats are pushovers and will never survive. Luffy goes after Robin while the other five plan to take on the other members of CP9.
The only CP9 agent the Straw Hats aren’t fighting is Lucci—Luffy’s going to take care of him. CP9 has underestimated the Straw Hats for sure, but although the Straw Hats are strong, CP9 both as a group and individually have skills that are some of the fiercest that the Straw Hats have ever had to face. Also, Kaku and Kalifa have new Devil Fruit powers, on top of the powers Jabra has had the entire time.

Devil Fruit Alert!
Jabra’s Devil Fruit power is the Mutt-Mutt fruit, Wolf model, that allows him to turn into a wolf and gain extra strength and slashing power with his claws.
Kaku’s mystery fruit was the Ox-Ox Fruit, giraffe model, which allows Kaku the ability to transform into…a giraffe, which Jabra ridicules him for, and Kaku defends, since giraffes are definitely cool. But it’s pretty clear it’s mostly an awkward Devil Fruit skill that embarrasses Kaku.
Kalifa’s Devil Fruit was the Bubble Bubble Fruit; it allows her to protect herself by forming bubbles, and to turn her opponents into shiny bubbles, taking away their strength and ability to move. Unfortunately for her water cancels her power out completely. Kaku and Kalifa did not get the best Devil Fruits.
Back to the Action!
The fight against CP9 is the roughest for Chopper, who is still developing his strength and skills. While fighting Kumadori, he can’t manage to win because of Kumadori’s strength. Chopper’s three rumble balls aren’t enough. He can take more, but he loses control and turns into a rampaging monster with immense strength; it’s dangerous for enemies and allies alike. He decides that he has to defeat Kumadori to help save Robin, and pops his fourth Rumble Ball. He transforms into a huge reindeer-man, glassy-eyed and terrifying, and Kumadori doesn’t stand a chance, but will Chopper survive…and be the same?

While Franky, Nami, Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp attempt to defeat the rest of the CP9 agents, Spandam is dragging Robin toward the Gates of Justice, with Luffy hot on their heels. Lucci heads back to hold him off, and as Spandam takes Robin forward, he tries to activate his transponder snail to communicate with the rest of CP9…but accidentally uses the golden snail instead, which activities the Buster Call. The Buster Call signal goes to the Navy, and Robin is appalled as Spandam gets out the right transponder snail to call his agents. Unfortunately, he accidentally starts broadcasting to the whole island.
Spandam isn’t the brightest.
Robin’s seen firsthand what the Buster Call does. It’s a massive attack that destroys everything, not just an island’s building, but the people on it, and the island itself, too. The Buster Call is a death sentence for everyone on Enies Lobby. Spandam doesn’t care; he’ll sacrifice however many it takes for justice and to get his promotion. When Robin realizes that the transponder snail is broadcasting, she uses her chance to warn everyone to evacuate. Spandam knocks her over and cuts off the broadcast after pretending to be Luffy, but that’s not going to work.
As the remaining guards on Enies Lobby start to run, Luffy and Lucci finally meet again; Lucci is the last CP9 agent standing between himself and Robin. The final battle between Lucci and Luffy begins!

Takeaways

This volume was a lot and came with tons of revelations about the World Government, Robin’s motivations, and just how far Luffy will go for his crew (he’s gonna wreck you no matter who you are).
The most surprising detail is that 900 years in the past, there was an empire that somehow was wiped away by what became the World Government, and they will use everything as their disposal to keep the existence of that empire a secret, including killing innocent civilians. Children. Spandam in particular is the best example we’ve gotten so far of the way the World Government is beyond corrupt, but it’s also true that not everyone is bad: Aokiji let Robin survive, Saul wouldn’t continue killing innocents even as the cost of his own life and future, and we’ve seen many members of the Navy who believe in justice in a way that’s just not borne out by actual World Government policies. The mystery remains: why is the government so determined to keep the past hidden? What did they do to claim power?

Next Time

We’ll be reading Volumes 43, 44, and 45, and also diving into the resolution of the Water Seven arc. How will Luffy defeat Rob Lucci? Does Robin return to the crew? And will the Buster Call destroy the island before the Straw Hats get away? Don’t miss it!