Chapter 727: Ambushing Heroes

[BernieCrane]

[http://www.mangapanda.com/one-piece/727

C](http://www.mangapanda.com/one-piece/727)CC/Powermanga script:

! Chapter 727
“The Ambushing Hero”
Cover Story:
“Caribou’s Kehihihihi in the New World”
“Volume 42”
“Complete annihilation for the defiant! The captain is escorted away”
Page 2:
Blurb: “The girl is showered with jeers…”
Crowd: “Stop running!!”
“Stop running away!!!”
Gats: “Rebecca is running back and forth!!!”
“With Rolling Logan after her…”
“…The other fighters aiming for her…”
“…are getting mowed down one after the other!!!”
Crowd: “That’s dirty, Rebecca!!!”
“Stand up and fight!!!”
“Fight, and spill your blood!!!”
Rebecca: “Haa”
“Haa”
Page 3:
Crowd: “Stop running, Rebecca!!”
“You member of that cursed family!!!”
Usopp: “……That’s…”
“…You said that you’re her father… so if that’s true…”
“Then she’s the granddaughter of King Riku…”
“Which means, back when you were a human, you…!!”
Thunder: “It all began… on that night.”
Usopp: “That’s not an answer!!”
“Hey- you… and King Riku’s…”
Thunder: “No, I suppose it began much earlier than that”
“…With a woman named “Monet” “
“The day she started serving at the royal palace…”
Page 4:
Robin: “Monet, is it…?”
Usopp: “The bird woman of Punk Hazard!!?”
Thunder: “In these past 10 years… this country has really changed”
“The landscape… and the people as well”
Citizens: “You say you were attacked by pirates!?”
“Yeah, but the Riku Royal Army protected us”
“This drought won’t let up, yet our flowers refuse to wilt…”
“It’s all thanks to the fairies…”
Boy: “I wanna eat more!!”
Gramps: “You must have had enough if you’ve got the energy to stamp and shout like that… Even if it seems like we’re poor…”
“The most important thing is that we’re living in times of peace”
Page 5:
Thunder: “In the 800 years that the Riku Family ruled…”
“…This country never once saw war”
Robin: “…! That’s truly incredible…”
Thunder: “Indeed. That royal family could be called a miracle”
“Dressrosa was a nation of unparalleled peace…”
“But”
“Suddenly, a nightmare…”
SFX: whish
“Descended upon the palace”
Riku: “Who are you? Speak now!!!”
DD: “Don’t raise your voice…”
“And don’t call for anyone…!!”
Page 6:
DD: “I’m Donquixote Doflamingo”
“And I’ve returned home”
“As the rightful king of this land!!!”
Riku: “…Lately, I’ve been worried about a certain pirate named Donquixote”
DD: “…Of course. Your fears were well-grounded. I am indeed a member of that Donquixote clan…”
Riku: “I’ve heard that you’ve been attacking ships transporting the “Heavens’ Pay” tribute money from every country…”
“And that you used that to coerce the World Government into making you a Shichibukai”
DD: “Fufufuffuffuffuffu!! They’re concerned about how to deal with me…!!”
“Given that I don’t fear the Tenryuubito, they’re at a loss…!!”
“If you know of my position and power, then this conversation should be over quickly…”
Page 7:
DD: “King Riku! For ten billion berries…”
“I’ll sell you this country!!!”
Riku: “…!!! Such a sum… this country doesn’t possess that kind of…”
DD: “By all rights…”
“I should just take over and not even give you this chance”
“You have until dawn tomorrow!!”
“Do not request aid from outside nations…!!”
“And don’t make known to the people my existence”
“I, who would simply test your power as king”
Page 8:
Soldiers: “And what if we should fight…!!? King!!!”
Riku: “We mustn’t!!!”
“ “Fighting” would be worthy, but killing each other is something that humans should not do!!!”
“The fact that Dressrosa has been free of war for 800 years… is proof that we are no beasts”
“We will not become wild animals!! We’re human!! There shall be no killing!!!”
“There’s no time…!! Scatter to every town and village!!!”
“And gather up ten billion berries from throughout the land!!”
“Should you fail, this will become naught but a “Nation of Pirates”!!!”
“We will lose the trust of people, for a time…!!”
“But we only have a few hours!!!”
Page 9:
Riku: “When this is all over, we will atone in good faith!! We must!!”
“Lies and even well-intentioned deceptions will not be enough to weather this!!”
Soldier: “But”
“There are none in this country who could be called wealthy…!!”
Riku: “You will make collections up until the deadline!! The very life of this country depends on it!!!”
“So that Dressrosa might survive!!!”
Guy: “It’s the army…but… this late at night…!?”
“Squad Captain Tank!!!”
Tank: “Gather up all the cash in the town and bring it here!!!”
Someone: “Hey!! What’s going on!?”
“How could you … the King’ll have something to say about this!!”
Tank: “This is on the King’s orders!!”
Someone: “Eh!?”
Page 10:
Tank: “Hurry!!!”
“We can’t explain, and there’s no time!!”
“It’s no use…!! This sort of request is unthinkable…”
“Just trust in King Riku…!!! And bring as much as you can!”
“Bring all your money here!!!”
People: “Such a thing, all of a sudden…”
“It’s the Dendenmushi projector…!!!”
Sfx: bzz bzz
Riku: “Citizens of Dressrosa”
Guy: “It’s King Riku!!”
Riku: “I have an urgent request…!!”
“It’s so unreasonable that you may at first doubt what you’re hearing, but…”
“Without asking for an explanation… I need you to give me all the wealth of this nation”
Page 11:
Riku: “All your money!!!”
“I need you to lend me all of it!!!”
Guy: “The king… bowing like that…”
“But why are we doing this…!!”
“And so suddenly…!!?”
Chancellor: “King!!! There’s no need to bow so low!!!”
“You mustn’t!!!”
“You’re the king of this land!!”
Sfx: stare
“Please stop that! Raise up your head!!!”
Page 12:
“Showing this sort of foolishness to the public is an act unfit for this line of kings!!!”
“You’ll be the laughingstock of the world!!! Please stop that!!!”
Riku: “I beg of you!!!”
“This is no jest or jape! If need be, I will prove it…”
“…by cutting off my own hands and feet!!!”
“Tank, listen…”
“In case all goes awry…!! At least I’ll bring down that Doflamingo…!!”
“I’ll leave it to you to request aid from other nations and deal with the aftermath!!”
Page 13:
Tank: “Ffff”
“Ffff”
“We have to get that money, no matter what…!!!”
People: “Hurry up, everyone!! Just as the King said!!! Gather up all your money!!”
“Our kindly King Riku would never make such a request with malice in his heart!!”
“This is no small thing, so there must be a reason!!”
“Let’s bring all our money here!!!”
Tank: “This is the virtue… of our king…”
“I’m sorry!!!”
“This is the trust built by the Riku Family over 800 years”
“What an amazing country!!! Surely we’ll be saved!!!”
“We humbly borrow this from you!!!
Page 14:
“Bring all the wealth of the nation…”
“…to the palace!!!”
“Hurry!!!”
Soldier: “Squad Captain Tank! In Sevio, the king is…!!”
“Look at the screen!!”
Tank: “What’s this now!?”
Text: “Southern Town Sevio”
Soldier: “My liege, you needn’t have come here yourself!!”
Riku: “Run away…!!”
Man: “King Riku!! We don’t know why this is happening, but…”
“…We believe in y-“
Riku: “Run away…!!”
Man: “Gyahh!!!”
Sfx: tighten
burn burn
People: “Eh!!? King Riku, what’re you…!!?”
Page 15:
Sfx: fwoosh
Tears sfx: drip drip
People: “Kyahh!!”
Page 16:
Riku: “Stop…!!!”
Sfx: drip drip
Riku: “Please stop!!!”
Soldier: “King Riku, please stop this!!! Did we do something wrong!!?”
Sfx: chaki
Riku: “Out of the way!!! Don’t come near me!! Get away from me!!!”
All: “Uwahhh!!!”
Woman: “Kyahhh”
“Even the soldiers…!!”
Riku: “My body…”
“Is moving on its own…!!!”
Page 17:
Tank: “My King…??”
“What on earth are you doing!??”
DD: “Fuffuffuffu”
“How terrible… fufufu”
“What an awful King…”
“Well, now this night will truly begin, my soldiers”
“Dance for me!!”
“ “Parasite”!!”
TN: “The attack’s kanji are “parasite thread,” with the word “thread” (ito) embedded in the Japanese pronunciation of “Parasite” (parasaito) as a pun”
Page 18: (note to Tobi: even though they share panels, I’m splitting up all the lines written explicitly on pages 18 and 19 respectively)
People: “Uwahhh!!!”
“Even the soldiers are rampaging now!!!”
Soldier: “Uwahh!!! Sq… Squad Captain!!”
People: “Why are you doing this, King Riku!!?”
“He’d never make such a mistake…!!”
Man: “Gyahh!!”
“Did we do something wrong…!!?”
Riku: “…No explanation can make this right, now…!!!”
“This country is done for…”
Riku (in big panel): “This was…”
Someone: “What’s happened to the king!!?”
Page 19:
Soldier: “I’m not doing this!! My body…”
Tank: “Haa… I know!! Me too!!!”
“…Why’s my body moving on its own…!!?”
“Haa”
“…!!? And the same thing is happening to the King…!!!”
Riku: “…Doflamingo’s trap!!!”
Someone: “Please stop!!”
Trebol: “Hey, hey, can we head out now, Doffy!?”
DD: “Idiot. No need to rush…”
“Fuffuffuffu!!”
“More, more…!!! I want the whole country trembling with fear!! And then, when they’ve come to hate King Riku with all their hearts…!!”
“That’s when the hero will appear…!!!”
Blurb: “The lurking “hero” [kanji under hero reads as “malice”]!!”

Powermanga: http://forums.arlongpark.net/showthread.php?t=40159&p=3058973&viewfull=1#post3058973

[biceps2point0]

thanks, off to read now.

[Warden Magellan]

With this i think we are almost done with flashbacks. Only Law-Donflamingo and then pure awesome action
Although i really enjoyed this chapter.

[KageKageKing]

King Riku created the first Kickstarter in history.
Even if its a flashback, it still better than the ones in other certain series.:ninja:

[TheFrith]

I love Doflamingo's Pee-Wee Herman hair so much.

[mugiwara_gambo]

nice chapter…...............

[Violet]

This chapter was soo dark. In my opinion, Doflamingo just became the most evil villain ever in One Piece.

[John Smith]

I really enjoyed this chapter, so much that reaching the ending so quickly left me kind of sad

So like many people predicted it was X-Drake that attacked Caribou, but does that mean he is working for Kaido?

And for gods sake how did king Riku let himself be played this way, it's almost tragic but even if he had told his people about dofla, it probably would only lead to more pointless killing than necessary.
Where was Riku's son in all this ?

[Nex 0]

Man oh man do I hate Doflamingo with ever fiber of my being. He's starting to make Crocodile's take over of Alabasta look Saint-like.

Such a great freaking villain.

[Aohige_AP]

@Violet:

This chapter was soo dark. In my opinion, Doflamingo just became the most evil villain ever in One Piece.

Drugging kids with meth and pumping them of experimental drugs until they die still takes the cake, IMO.

[Nex 0]

Also, I like that quitely dropped information that Dolfamingo attacked (however indirectly) the celestial dragons.

Also, he pretty much blackmailed his way into being a Warlord. Makes a lot of sense in retrospect. Totally explains how he was always able to act however he wanted in front of whomever.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Aohige_AP:

Drugging kids with meth and pumping them of experimental drugs until they die still takes the cake, IMO.

That was all on Doflamingo's orders though, wasn't it? I assume it was him who wanted the army of giants, because Caesar seems to lack the spine to have any real ambition of his own.

[Gliblord]

What an absolute bastard.

[PortalMyst]

i hoped for something more….interesting, about how to get the trone, not just string-control over ex-king....well, that way it's fine, i guess.

[adbgonzalez]

@Warden:

With this i think we are almost done with flashbacks. Only Law-Donflamingo and then pure awesome action
Although i really enjoyed this chapter.

I don't think so. We'll get that for sure, but this one isn't finished yet. And, this being a Mr Soldier's Flashback, he has to make his appearance or maybe other flashback about him. And a flashback about dwarves becoming slaves again. And…

[Acacia]

It's boring chep, but Drake finall show up, it's enough for me. I wonder why Drake stayed last two years at that island?

[Dododo]

It's almost cute how Riku thinks a bundle of dynamite will kill Doffy

[Smiley]

Doflamingo, what a bastard you are.
Though if he attacked the celestial dragons tax ships, why was the CP-0 so eager to help him?

[op.d.fan]

@Smiley:

Doflamingo, what a bastard you are.
Though if he attacked the celestial dragons tax ships, why was the CP-0 so eager to help him?

guess it was just staged to fool people that he is some bigshot and make him a sichibukai

[Violet]

@Aohige_AP:

Drugging kids with meth and pumping them of experimental drugs until they die still takes the cake, IMO.

Wasn't that Doflamingo's orders, too? Sorry if I am missing something.

By the way, that "Parasite" ability looks kinda dangerous and way too powerful.

[RobZilla]

@Acacia:

It's boring chep, but Drake finall show up, it's enough for me. I wonder why Drake stayed last two years at that island?

He doesn't necessarily have to have stayed on that island for 2 years.

Most likely he beat Scotch to gain Kaido's attention, joined up as part of his crew and then was sent back recently by Kaido to help Scotch stifle the workers revolt.

God it was good to see Drake again in all his glory and not just as a silhouette dinosaur.

[Hudell]

@Nex:

.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

That was all on Doflamingo's orders though, wasn't it? I assume it was him who wanted the army of giants, because Caesar seems to lack the spine to have any real ambition of his own.

I think that he just wanted to do something that vegapunk couldn't.

[Enzeru]

Oda's doing a splendid job at making us hate DD. Even so, it's hard not to love such a glorious bastard of a villain.

[retrobot]

This chapter makes me all the more excited to see when Doflamingo and Luffy finally meet face to face.

[NER]

His final lines about how the country should suffer more before the hero appears.. fucking glorious.

[RobZilla]

@NER:

His final lines about how the country should suffer more before the hero appears.. fucking glorious.

Donquixote Doflamingo, the John Wayne of Dressrosa.

[Maju]

@Nex:

Man oh man do I hate Doflamingo with ever fiber of my being. He's starting to make Crocodile's take over of Alabasta look Saint-like.

Such a great freaking villain.

wait what?no

croco plan was extremely more evil than this..he would have sterminated half alabasta if it wasn't for Pell.

at least ofla's plan kept the victims to a minimum.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Smiley:

Doflamingo, what a bastard you are.
Though if he attacked the celestial dragons tax ships, why was the CP-0 so eager to help him?

he has a deal with them at the moment..it was probably under their order that he tried to kill moria.
they are just protecting an important assets

[.access timeco.]

Hated the chapter…

The problem with it is that it repeats a trend that is annoying the hell out of me everytime Oda pulls it and more and more it looks like he is completely unable to go without: resorting to unbelievably good characters to oppose his villains. King Riku is not just a good man, he takes it to such an extreme that he becomes borderline retarded.

"Oh, this guy claiming to be from the family that originaly ruled this country comes to my door and says I will have to pay for this country and I should be happy that he is not just taking it back without giving me a chance to 'buy' it. And I will TOTALLY believe in his words because it makes so much sense to think this guy will just leave with the money, specially knowing that he is an ambitious bastard who defies the WG itself and pisses on its face by becoming a Shichibukai threatening them. And just in the case I fail to gather all that money, just then I will think about opposing this guy... and that will be done by killing myself and leaving this country without a king".

Granted fighting a Shichibukai doesn't sound like the safest route, but I simply can't buy it. The "we shouldn't fight, 'cause wars are bad and kill people" is the kind of thinking that must be used with caution, not just to make a character sound good. In this very situation it sounds nothing but stupid, to think that making the army fight is worse than ripping the whole population of any money they could gather, specially knowing that Dressrosa had so fucking many allies that could lend more than a hand in a fight against Doflamingo crew (and again, it would be a fight against a Pirate crew, not against a country. It could hardly be called a war).

I guess that's why I find easier to relate to the bad guys in OP - except the Tenryuubito, as they are portrayed in the same absurd and extreme light the good people like King Riku are.

[RobZilla]

@.access:

Hated the chapter…

The problem with it is that it repeats a trend that is annoying the hell out of me everytime Oda pulls it and more and more it looks like he is completely unable to go without: resorting to unbelievably good characters to oppose his villains. King Riku is not just a good man, he takes it to such an extreme that he becomes borderline retarded.

"Oh, this guy claiming to be from the family that originaly ruled this country comes to my door and says I will have to pay for this country and I should be happy that he is not just taking it back without giving me a chance to 'buy' it. And I will TOTALLY believe in his words because it makes so much sense to think this guy will just leave with the money, specially knowing that he is an ambitious bastard who defies the WG itself and pisses on its face by becoming a Shichibukai threatening them. And just in the case I fail to gather all that money, just then I will think about opposing this guy... and that will be done by killing myself and leaving this country without a king".

Granted fighting a Shichibukai doesn't sound like the safest route, but I simply can't buy it. The "we shouldn't fight, 'cause wars are bad and kill people" is the kind of thinking that must be used with caution, not just to make a character sound good. In this very situation it sounds nothing but stupid, to think that making the army fight is worse than ripping the whole population of any money they could gather, specially knowing that Dressrosa had so fucking many allies that could lend more than a hand in a fight against Doflamingo crew (and again, it would be a fight against a Pirate crew, not against a country. It could hardly be called a war).

I guess that's why I find easier to relate to the bad guys in OP - except the Tenryuubito, as they are portrayed in the same absurd and extreme light the good people like King Riku are.

So King Riku is an extremely strict pacifist, those are his ideals, it's not unrealistic. He's just doing everything he can to prevent any bloodshed.

It is of course on the other hand, hopeless optimism on his part that Dofla would just leave with the money that he gathered from the people, but again that's not unrealistic characterisation, it's unrealistic thinking from Riku.

The tenryuubito are meant to be the absolute thesis when it comes to nepotism and rampant classism, again not unrealistic, there are plenty people who throughout the annals of history have been similar to the CD.

[Maju]

@.access:

Hated the chapter…

The problem with it is that it repeats a trend that is annoying the hell out of me everytime Oda pulls it and more and more it looks like he is completely unable to go without: resorting to unbelievably good characters to oppose his villains. King Riku is not just a good man, he takes it to such an extreme that he becomes borderline retarded.

"Oh, this guy claiming to be from the family that originaly ruled this country comes to my door and says I will have to pay for this country and I should be happy that he is not just taking it back without giving me a chance to 'buy' it. And I will TOTALLY believe in his words because it makes so much sense to think this guy will just leave with the money, specially knowing that he is an ambitious bastard who defies the WG itself and pisses on its face by becoming a Shichibukai threatening them. And just in the case I fail to gather all that money, just then I will think about opposing this guy... and that will be done by killing myself and leaving this country without a king".

Granted fighting a Shichibukai doesn't sound like the safest route, but I simply can't buy it. The "we shouldn't fight, 'cause wars are bad and kill people" is the kind of thinking that must be used with caution, not just to make a character sound good. In this very situation it sounds nothing but stupid, to think that making the army fight is worse than ripping the whole population of any money they could gather, specially knowing that Dressrosa had so fucking many allies that could lend more than a hand in a fight against Doflamingo crew (and again, it would be a fight against a Pirate crew, not against a country. It could hardly be called a war).

I guess that's why I find easier to relate to the bad guys in OP - except the Tenryuubito, as they are portrayed in the same absurd and extreme light the good people like King Riku are.

half the population would have been already exterminated before any other of the allied countries could intervene.
Remember that all this happened in one single night (king riku was in his bed and the final term was dawn),so dressrosa's army would have been alone against dofla and his crew..and remember that numbers don't count in onepiece…enies lobby's luffy defeated tons of marines alone,and they were not part of a country that didn't used its army in centuries.

also,a pirate usually is interested in money,not in power(even croco was ultimately interested in alabasta because of pluton and because he wanted to create his "pirate country" with it)...dressrosa was a relatively poor country with nothing of much interest in it,it was extremely realistic to think that doflamingo was after the money and not the crown..right now even we the readers don't know why doflamingo was so interested in going back to dressrosa

[No Maam]

Liked the chapter very much but was hoping we might actually see Pica sometimes soon.

Anyways I was expecting this was the way things went down.

[Kaizoku_Ou]

@Aohige_AP:

Drugging kids with meth and pumping them of experimental drugs until they die still takes the cake, IMO.

DD allowed it and even instructed Monet to protect his experiments which makes him a way more evil than CC.

[.access timeco.]

One thing that you guys mentioned and I ignored is the fact Doflaming gave such a short time for Riku. This somehow excuses him (since he didn't had much time to think, it makes sense that he would just take the option that better fitted his pacifist disposition).

If it was an isolated case, I wouldn't bother much, problem is that it is not just Riku. Oda is always doing that, good people always behave like that in OP, always being nothing short of (stupid) saints and not surprisingly screwing everything over thanks to that (until Luffy comes and solves everything using what? The violence Oda so hardly tries to make the other good characters never resorts to).

• About Riku believing Doffy was only after money and not the crown, I don't think that holds up. Doffy himself said that Riku should be happy that he was giving him a chance instead of just taking the country back in that instant, that alone should be enough to show that Doflamingo was after the country, not money.
  Also, Riku himself said that Doflamingo took the money from the Tenryuubito as a way to threat the World Government and make him a Shichibukai. He knew already that Doflamingo was not after the money he was getting, but just used it to gain power, so…

[Enzeru]

@.access:

One thing that you guys mentioned and I ignored is the fact Doflaming gave such a short time for Riku. This somehow excuses him (since he didn't had much time to think, it makes sense that he would just take the option that better fitted his pacifist disposition).

If it was an isolated case, I wouldn't bother much, problem is that it is not just Riku. Oda is always doing that, good people always behave like that in OP, always being nothing short of (stupid) saints and not surprisingly screwing everything over thanks to that (until Luffy comes and solves everything using what? The violence Oda so hardly tries to make the other good characters never resorts to).

• About Riku believing Doffy was only after money and not the crown, I don't think that holds up. Doffy himself said that Riku should be happy that he was giving him a chance instead of just taking the country back in that instant, that alone should be enough to show that Doflamingo was after the country, not money.
  Also, Riku himself said that Doflamingo took the money from the Tenryuubito as a way to threat the World Government and make him a Shichibukai. He knew already that Doflamingo was not after the money he was getting, but just used it to gain power, so…

But what were his alternatives? He could either obey DD and do what he was told to, deep down hoping for that 1 in a million chance of DD being true to his word, or risk a battle that would led to way too many casualties, involving the kingdom's beloved and innocent citizens. Yes, he could've technically asked his allied nations for help, but as you said yourself, there was barely any time to act. And I doubt that even those nations would've been able to take on DD and his crew.
What you call a hopelessly optimistic saint, I call a desperate king, somehow trying to make the best of a situation that was forlorn to begin with.

[RobZilla]

@.access:

One thing that you guys mentioned and I ignored is the fact Doflaming gave such a short time for Riku. This somehow excuses him (since he didn't had much time to think, it makes sense that he would just take the option that better fitted his pacifist disposition).

If it was an isolated case, I wouldn't bother much, problem is that it is not just Riku. Oda is always doing that, good people always behave like that in OP, always being nothing short of (stupid) saints and not surprisingly screwing everything over thanks to that (until Luffy comes and solves everything using what? The violence Oda so hardly tries to make the other good characters never resorts to).

• About Riku believing Doffy was only after money and not the crown, I don't think that holds up. Doffy himself said that Riku should be happy that he was giving him a chance instead of just taking the country back in that instant, that alone should be enough to show that Doflamingo was after the country, not money.
  Also, Riku himself said that Doflamingo took the money from the Tenryuubito as a way to threat the World Government and make him a Shichibukai. He knew already that Doflamingo was not after the money he was getting, but just used it to gain power, so…

There are some instances of the stuff you're talking about, but once again only in pacifists. Examples like Otohime and Vivi are prime examples, but they each had good reasons for being as such.

There's been plenty of times that people the SH's have saved haven't been afraid to fight as well, for example Dalton, he was more than willing to fight and kill Wapol to stop him regaining the throne of The Drum Kingdom.

King Riku did the only thing he could within the time frame and his own principles, and of course that is exactly what Dofla planned for. People with strong principles are generally easy to manipulate and Dofla won power and critical acclaim from the people of Dressrosa in one fell swoop because of it.

[Maju]

@.access:

One thing that you guys mentioned and I ignored is the fact Doflaming gave such a short time for Riku. This somehow excuses him (since he didn't had much time to think, it makes sense that he would just take the option that better fitted his pacifist disposition).

If it was an isolated case, I wouldn't bother much, problem is that it is not just Riku. Oda is always doing that, good people always behave like that in OP, always being nothing short of (stupid) saints and not surprisingly screwing everything over thanks to that (until Luffy comes and solves everything using what? The violence Oda so hardly tries to make the other good characters never resorts to).

cobra was not a pacifist,not the way king riku is anyway..he was ready to use his army against croco,but got kidnapped shortly after.surely he did want to protect the citizien of his country,but i don't think it is something that a "saint" will do,just a good king.

• About Riku believing Doffy was only after money and not the crown, I don't think that holds up. Doffy himself said that Riku should be happy that he was giving him a chance instead of just taking the country back in that instant, that alone should be enough to show that Doflamingo was after the country, not money.
  Also, Riku himself said that Doflamingo took the money from the Tenryuubito as a way to threat the World Government and make him a Shichibukai. He knew already that Doflamingo was not after the money he was getting, but just used it to gain power, so…

-you can obtain money through a country you know?most people want to rule just so they can put money on their pockets through said power.
riku was already giving said money to doflamingo (and an insane amount too) without bothering him with things like "govern a reign",it was,in fact,a "fair deal"
also,the shichibukai title is not a position of "power",is a position that grants "immunity",but not power…so trying to become shichibukai doesn't mean you are interested in power,but just that you want to do whatever you want without the marines bothering you.

[Tangaroa]

I wish there'd been a little more detail in Monet's role in things. Guessing she was a scouting agent for Dofla.

Dofla continues to intrigue me. He's the first of Luffy's foes to run his crew as much by showing loyalty to them as fear (though after being beaten by Luffy almost every crew has discovered their old bonds).
Looking forward to finding out all his reasons for what he's done with Dressrosa.

Things aren't looking good for poor Caribou. Maybe next issue we'll even get a look at Kaido as well.

Also not looking good for Rebecca if the whole of D block is targeting her. Anyone reckon Cavendish will offer a team-up?

[Juvar]

Not sure I really liked this chapter. I think it was GOOD, yes, but there was as good as nothing shown we didn't already know to a degree…

[Rosebullet Teacher]

Did Doflamingo import the sexy stab-a-n*gga chicks? cos the old Dressrosa kinda sucked: "I'm hungry!" "Yeah but no war dude!", no toys either. Basically Doflamingo Invasion = Pimp My Country? Those 800 years of no war didn't mean shit after houses started burning down, the G5 made excuses for Vergo these dudes were too into Game of Thrones and concluded: The king is mad. Fuck this population! FuS

[Kingdomkey]

Surprised Oda gave Drake his post time skip debut (outside of the Jump Festa poster) in the cover story but I'm not complaining, his new design is awesome and this cover story's now 1000x more interesting.

The rest of the chapter was great too, all the trouble starting when Monet came to the palace was a very interesting little detail, and Doflamingo just became an even better villain. I wonder if the flashback will continue next week, I'm guessing it will probably go back to D block though.

[The Laughing Man]

Doflamingo: much evil. so cruel. very haircut. wow.

[knceng]

@.access:

One thing that you guys mentioned and I ignored is the fact Doflaming gave such a short time for Riku. This somehow excuses him (since he didn't had much time to think, it makes sense that he would just take the option that better fitted his pacifist disposition).

If it was an isolated case, I wouldn't bother much, problem is that it is not just Riku. Oda is always doing that, good people always behave like that in OP, always being nothing short of (stupid) saints and not surprisingly screwing everything over thanks to that (until Luffy comes and solves everything using what? The violence Oda so hardly tries to make the other good characters never resorts to).

• About Riku believing Doffy was only after money and not the crown, I don't think that holds up. Doffy himself said that Riku should be happy that he was giving him a chance instead of just taking the country back in that instant, that alone should be enough to show that Doflamingo was after the country, not money.
  Also, Riku himself said that Doflamingo took the money from the Tenryuubito as a way to threat the World Government and make him a Shichibukai. He knew already that Doflamingo was not after the money he was getting, but just used it to gain power, so…

The fact that Riku knew DD is a "special case" Shicibukai made everything complicate. If DD's just a normal Shicibukai like Croco, the decision probably different.

[FranzLome]

Doflamingo's ultimatum to King Riku is similar to Arlong's deal with Nami. The money is just a cover for the true goal and neither pirate had any intent to honor the deal. Dofy's goal was to throw the country into crisis and discredit the king so he could move in and take over. Arlong wanted Nami's service a cartographer.

In the end, having the money didn't matter to Arlong as he used it to just bribe the Marines. Dofy is much more of a dick though, so I imagine he still took any money they managed to collect for the sake of dickery.

[Gol D. Silvers]

I like how Oda made known that Dressrosa was a very simple country under the Riku regime as contrast to how Doflamingo rules it now. Underneath the extravagant exterior lies a disgusting truth, as opposed to the times of old, less extravagant but simpler and more peaceful.

[Maju]

@FranzLome:

Doflamingo's ultimatum to King Riku is similar to Arlong's deal with Nami. The money is just a cover for the true goal and neither pirate had any intent to honor the deal. Dofy's goal was to throw the country into crisis and discredit the king so he could move in and take over. Arlong wanted Nami's service a cartographer.

In the end, having the money didn't matter to Arlong as he used it to just bribe the Marines. Dofy is much more of a dick though, so I imagine he still took any money they managed to collect for the sake of dickery.

actually,arlong was serious when he made the deal,and he really wanted that money.
the problem was that probably he didn't think nami would have really done it,or maybe just understimated her talent and her usefulness as a cartographer

[TiAn]

@John:

And for gods sake how did king Riku let himself be played this way, it's almost tragic but even if he had told his people about dofla, it probably would only lead to more pointless killing than necessary.

Maybe Dofla used his strings to keep king Riku's mouth well shut…

[TheGreatestSwordsman]

@knceng:

The fact that Riku knew DD is a "special case" Shicibukai made everything complicate. If DD's just a normal Shicibukai like Croco, the decision probably different.

What does that have to do with believing/trusting a pirate you know nothing about and is threatening you?

Anyways, good chapter. Doflamingo is quite amusing, his last line is also typical of him and awesome at the same time. I wonder if he did something similar to Law.

[Encore]

@.access:

Hated the chapter…

The problem with it is that it repeats a trend that is annoying the hell out of me everytime Oda pulls it and more and more it looks like he is completely unable to go without: resorting to unbelievably good characters to oppose his villains. King Riku is not just a good man, he takes it to such an extreme that he becomes borderline retarded.

"Oh, this guy claiming to be from the family that originaly ruled this country comes to my door and says I will have to pay for this country and I should be happy that he is not just taking it back without giving me a chance to 'buy' it. And I will TOTALLY believe in his words because it makes so much sense to think this guy will just leave with the money, specially knowing that he is an ambitious bastard who defies the WG itself and pisses on its face by becoming a Shichibukai threatening them. And just in the case I fail to gather all that money, just then I will think about opposing this guy... and that will be done by killing myself and leaving this country without a king".

Granted fighting a Shichibukai doesn't sound like the safest route, but I simply can't buy it. The "we shouldn't fight, 'cause wars are bad and kill people" is the kind of thinking that must be used with caution, not just to make a character sound good. In this very situation it sounds nothing but stupid, to think that making the army fight is worse than ripping the whole population of any money they could gather, specially knowing that Dressrosa had so fucking many allies that could lend more than a hand in a fight against Doflamingo crew (and again, it would be a fight against a Pirate crew, not against a country. It could hardly be called a war).

I guess that's why I find easier to relate to the bad guys in OP - except the Tenryuubito, as they are portrayed in the same absurd and extreme light the good people like King Riku are.

I don't think it was that stranige Riku reacted the way he did, for 800 years his ancestors has protected the peace of Dressrosa and resorting to a fight when there is another option would be going against everything his ancestors believed in for 800 years. Doflamingos suggestion to buy the country may very well have seemed have seemed believable considering what Riku knew about Doflamingo at the time. Riku simply didn't know what kind of motive Doflamingo would have for taking over a poor peace loving country such as Dressrosa.

aaaand awesome chapter : D really interested in Monets role in this.

[Ceasar]

From an economical perspective, it wouldn't have been that bad to lose all that money anyways, since pretty much everyone in the country gave all their cash, goods would just be worth less money, the internal economy wouldn't really take that big of a hit. Also considering dressrosas reputation as being peaceful and trusted, together with having a lot of allies they'd probably be able to borrow their way, and possibly get restitutions from the world goverment (I mean why would you be in the WG, if not to get both military protection but also bailouts in a crisis), so I'm saying way to chose a good political action King Riku

[FranzLome]

@Maju:

actually,arlong was serious when he made the deal,and he really wanted that money.
the problem was that probably he didn't think nami would have really done it,or maybe just understimated her talent and her usefulness as a cartographer

I don't mean it's exactly the same, only similar in regard to overall importance of the money. After all, Doflamingo's deal had a one day time limit. Arlong's deal went on for years and years. Eventually Nami's maps proved to be more valuable than the money over the years. Dofy's just more calculating than Arlong.

When people make comparisons to the first half the the series, others are quick to assume they're making 1:1 comparisons and are quick to jump on them or take things too far. If things are exact, the manga will get boring, but traces of past story elements create a tight narrative.

[Kurloz]

Usopp assuming Sol is the king's son

Didn't Toy Soldier tell Rebecca that Scarlet was the one with "great blood?"