One Piece Chapter 551: Whitebeard of the Four Emperors

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Chapter title page: Chapter 551, "Whitebeard of the Four Emperors." The cover concludes Usopp's short focused serial, "Usopp's 'I'll Die If I'm On My Own' Disease," with the subtitle "Conclusion: 'Usopp Got Fat.'" Usopp stands in the Forest of Gluttony on the Boin Archipelago, now hugely swollen from eating the island's strange food, while the masked local watches him among giant fruit, flowers and syrupy-looking plants. This cover-story image is not part of the Marineford battlefield, but it shows Usopp's separated journey taking a comic and dangerous turn.

UsoppMasked Boin Archipelago inhabitant

The world reels from Sengoku's announcement. At Shabondy, people cry, "Fire Fist Ace...!!" and ask, "Is Gol D. Roger's son!?" Reporters scramble, shouting that this is huge news, that it must be sent to the main office right away, and that they need an extra edition. A trembling onlooker realizes, "It still lives... the Pirate King's bloodline...!!!" The broadcast turns Ace's execution into more than a public punishment: the watching world understands that Roger's blood survived in the condemned man.

Portgas D. AceGol D. RogerSengokuReportersShabondy Archipelago crowd

At Marineford, the sea, the fortress, and the gathered troops fall into stunned silence under the force of the revelation. Ace kneels on the execution platform while the Marines and commanders stare up at him. Boa Hancock looks toward the scaffold and realizes, "So he's not... Luffy's real brother?" Mihawk, Doflamingo and others remain watchful as the truth settles over the plaza. The information changes how everyone understands Ace's rescue: he is not only Whitebeard's commander, but Roger's surviving son.

Portgas D. AceBoa HancockDracule MihawkDonquixote DoflamingoSengokuMarinesLuffyGol D. Roger

The Marines repeat the news in disbelief: "Roger's... son...!!" Doflamingo laughs that the real son survived and calls it a miracle, adding that everybody even slightly associated with Roger was executed at that time. Sengoku, Aokiji and the other high officers sit grimly. Coby and Helmeppo realize Ace once said he was Luffy's brother, so they assumed his father was Dragon, but now understand Luffy and Ace are not related by blood. Garp remains silent, bearing the weight of both Roger's secret and Ace's fate.

Portgas D. AceDonquixote DoflamingoSengokuAokijiCobyHelmeppoMonkey D. GarpLuffyMonkey D. DragonGol D. RogerMarines

A flashback shows Roger entrusting his unborn child to Garp. Roger tells him, "Garp!! I'm gonna have a kid," but Garp says it will be too bad because Roger will be gone by then. Garp protests that he is a Marine and asks why Roger is telling him, since every woman connected to Roger will be executed. Roger answers that the Government will be all over his footsteps for the next year, and that is exactly why he is telling Garp. When Garp says the woman will be killed if found, Roger insists that his unborn child bears no sin and asks Garp to protect him as a comrade from countless battles.

Gol D. RogerMonkey D. GarpPortgas D. RougePortgas D. AceWorld Government

The Government's hunt reaches Baterila. Agents ask if this is the island and say Roger was seen there acting more like a father than a pirate. Orders go out to check all children born within ten months of Roger's arrest and to kill any mother who seems suspicious, because Roger's time is over and his bloodline must be exterminated. Pregnant women are inspected, children counted, and due dates watched. Rouge endures beyond all expectation, clinging to life as Garp shouts for her to hang on. As she gives birth, she names the child Ace and says that Gol D. Ace is the son she had with Roger.

Portgas D. RougeGol D. RogerPortgas D. AceMonkey D. GarpWorld Government agentsCipher Pol

Garp brings baby Ace to Dadan and orders, "You raise him, Dadan." Dadan is shocked and asks whose kid this is, while a young Luffy watches as Garp says Ace will live there from now on and tells him to be friendly with these people. Back in the present, Ace says he took his mother's name because he owes her a great debt and does not care about the blood he got from that worthless man. He repeats that the only father he has is Whitebeard. Sengoku notes that two years earlier, as captain of the Spade Pirates, Ace rose through the pirate world with great strength, and the Government finally noticed Roger's blood had survived.

Monkey D. GarpCurly DadanPortgas D. AceYoung LuffyPortgas D. RougeGol D. RogerWhitebeardSengokuSpade Pirates

Sengoku says Whitebeard realized the truth at the same time the Government did. To raise Ace into the next Pirate King, Whitebeard took his former rival's son onto his own ship. Ace rejects that, shouting, "No!!! I joined his crew to make Whitebeard the next Pirate King..." Sengoku answers that Ace is the only one who thinks so. The Marines could not take reckless action because Ace was protected by Whitebeard. If they had left him alone, Sengoku says, Ace would slowly but surely gain the qualities to stand at the summit of the pirate world, which is why there is so much meaning in cutting him down today.

SengokuPortgas D. AceWhitebeardGol D. RogerMarinesWhitebeard Pirates

Sengoku declares that the Marines will execute Ace even if it means total war with Whitebeard. The plaza roars with tension, but a report interrupts him: the Gates of Justice have begun to open without anyone's orders. The control room cannot be contacted, and Sengoku snaps, "What!?" The sudden movement cuts through the carefully staged execution. Marineford's defenses are still assembled, but the uncontrollable opening of the gates announces that the enemy may already be moving according to a plan the Marines did not foresee.

SengokuPortgas D. AceWhitebeardMarinesGates of Justice

On the Tri-Current, Luffy and Jimbei watch the Gates of Justice open in front of them. Luffy shouts, "It opened!!!" while Jimbei asks what is going on. Someone says the gates are opening on their own, and another points out that the man from the previous warning said they would not open. The escapees wonder if someone at Marineford is controlling it, but they cannot tell who. The impossible opening lets their ship continue toward the war, carrying Luffy, Jimbei, Crocodile, Ivankov, Buggy and the Impel Down prisoners closer to Ace.

LuffyJimbeiBuggyCrocodileEmporio IvankovImpel Down prisonersPortgas D. AceGates of Justice

Buggy's followers look at him with awe and ask, "Ca... Captain Buggy!? Could it be...?" One asks if Buggy is doing this, another calls him a prophet of God, and Buggy angrily thinks that of course he is not doing it. Privately he panics, wondering who is opening the gates and whether the heavens are trying to make him the Pirate King. At Marineford, Sengoku receives the report that something appeared out of nowhere and asks where it came from. Marines shout, "Here they come!!!" and "All men, to your battle stations!!!"

BuggySengokuMarinesImpel Down prisonersGates of Justice

A huge fleet of pirate ships enters the bay. Marines shout that it is a massive pirate fleet and demand to know where Whitebeard is. They identify the Mad Knight Doma, Thunder Lord Makugai, the Decalvan Brothers and the Whirlpool Spider Squardo. The report says there are forty-three ships in total, all allied with Whitebeard, but Whitebeard and his lieutenants are nowhere to be seen. The pirates call that they are here for Ace, while the Marines recognize the force as infamous captains from the New World and brace for the opening wave of war.

DomaMakugaiDecalvan BrothersSquardoWhitebeardPortgas D. AceMarinesWhitebeard allied captains

Ace looks down from the platform and whispers, "You guys too...!!" as the allied fleet closes in. Marines ask whether they should open fire, but others warn that Whitebeard must be somewhere close and must have a plan, so they should keep their eyes on the sea. The Shichibukai watch with interest: Doflamingo laughs, "Fufufu-fufu!! Now this is interesting...!!" Moria says he is getting chills, and another voice challenges, "Come on out, Whitebeard!!!" The battlefield tightens as everyone searches for the Emperor himself.

Portgas D. AceWhitebeardDoflamingoGecko MoriaBoa HancockBartholomew KumaDracule MihawkMarinesWhitebeard allied captains

Aokiji and the admirals notice something strange beneath the bay. Bubbles rise, the water shakes, and Sengoku says, "It can't be...!!" Marines ask where the sound is coming from and whether they may have chosen a poor formation. Looking into the bay, Sengoku realizes that all of Whitebeard's ships had coating applied, letting them travel on the ocean floor. A shadow forms in the middle of the crescent bay, and the Marines understand that the real attack is emerging from below, inside the very harbor they thought they controlled.

SengokuAokijiKizaruAkainuMarinesWhitebeard Pirates

The Whitebeard Pirates erupt into Marineford's bay from below the sea. Three ships from the Whitebeard Pirates appear alongside the allied fleet, and the report says the fourteen squad leaders have entered the bay. Sengoku mutters, "Whitebeard..." as the Moby Dick bursts upward in a huge wave, Marines screaming, "Uwaa-ahhh!!!" The flagship's arrival confirms how many years have been read by Sengoku and Whitebeard alike: the enemy did not merely come through the gates, but rose from inside the Marines' crescent formation.

WhitebeardSengokuMarcoWhitebeard PiratesMoby DickMarinesWhitebeard squad leaders

Whitebeard steps onto the bow of the Moby Dick and laughs, "Gurararara...!!" Ace, overwhelmed, cries, "Old man!!!" Whitebeard looks up at the execution platform and says, "My beloved son had better be unharmed...!!!" In his mind or aloud, he tells Ace, "You wait right there... Ace!!!" The page ends Volume 56 with Whitebeard's enormous presence filling the bay, his fleet already inside Marineford's defenses, and the war for Ace's life finally beginning in earnest.

WhitebeardPortgas D. AceSengokuMoby DickWhitebeard PiratesMarines

Usopp Gallery Pirates fan-art spread. Usopp announces, "Hey you!! We'll get it going here too! Usopp Gallery Pirates, lights, camera, action!!" and reminds readers, "Make sure you see movie number 10!!!" The page displays many submitted One Piece drawings and crafts, including a large circular Straw Hat crew image promoted with, "Take the grand prize!!! A signed postcard!!" The caption praises a picture made with a single thread and no breaks: "What skill!! Take the grand prize!!" Other entries include portraits and handmade scenes of characters such as Whitebeard, Chopper, Hancock, Gecko Moria and Sogeking.

UsoppSogekingWhitebeardChopperBoa HancockGecko MoriaStraw Hat Pirates

Second Usopp Gallery Pirates fan-art spread. The page is mostly Japanese captions around reader submissions, showing One Piece character illustrations, figure photos, crafts and themed food. Visible entries include a Mugiwara Pirates lineup, a large Chopper figure, a Bon Clay portrait, a Robin-style costume, a Nami illustration, a Doflamingo drawing, a Luffy and Straw Hat group picture, and a "Family" composition of pirates. The spread is an official fan-art gallery page rather than chapter story content, but it preserves reader-made One Piece artwork from the volume.

LuffyZoroNamiUsoppSanjiChopperRobinFrankyBrookBon ClayDonquixote DoflamingoStraw Hat Pirates

Third Usopp Gallery Pirates fan-art spread. The page again uses mostly Japanese labels and captions, presenting additional reader submissions: intense Luffy and Ace artwork, a laughing Straw Hat group, a busy food-themed crew picture, a nine-stage Brook or skeleton-pirate composition, cut-paper and tile-style Chopper or pirate images, a Sanji chocolate craft, a Domino illustration, a baby with a Straw Hat-style plush, and a newspaper-style Brook drawing. This page is not part of the Marineford narrative, but it is a useful official extra collecting fan contributions printed with the volume.

LuffyPortgas D. AceBrookChopperSanjiDominoStraw Hat Pirates

One Piece Film Strong World extra page. Oda introduces the movie, saying that in winter 2009, on December 12, the film will arrive in theaters for about a month, that it is the tenth One Piece anime movie, and that it is also the tenth year of the anime. He explains the credit "Executive Producer: Oda Eiichiro," meaning he is responsible for the movie's story and checking details until completion. He says he worked hard, picked Mr. Children for the theme song "Fanfare!," Konishi Yasuharu for opening BGM, and Takenaka Naoto to play Golden Lion Shiki.

Eiichiro OdaMr. ChildrenKonishi YasuharuGolden Lion ShikiTakenaka Naoto

Strong World extra page continues Oda's comments. He says many major guests agreed to help, making the project a little scary, but the important part is what is inside the movie. Because it was Oda's first time writing the scenario himself, he even threw out a complete script and restarted from scratch. The film was pushed from March to December, but he says everyone worked to make a better movie. He introduces Golden Lion Shiki, a pirate active in the same era as Roger and Whitebeard, hidden for twenty years, whose plan pulls in the Straw Hats and even has Nami saying, "Let me join you." Oda also mentions drawing chapter 0 and a special volume 0 for early moviegoers.

Eiichiro OdaGolden Lion ShikiGol D. RogerWhitebeardNamiStraw Hat Pirates

Strong World extra page focusing on director Sakai. Oda says they are looking behind the scenes of the movie and that, because his own name is on the film for the first time, they needed to make it different. They consulted genre experts, worked hard to match the design to the story, and put more than usual into research, color and backgrounds. Oda calls Sakai the director and says Sakai has directed many One Piece anime episodes, including the end of Chopper's arc with the sakura and the Enies Lobby scene where Luffy goes into Gear Second for the first time. Oda praises him as someone who can portray both emotion and action.

Eiichiro OdaSakaiChopperLuffy

Short interview with the Strong World film's director. Oda calls Sakai one of the most important people on the movie, and Sakai jokes that being called the boss is embarrassing. They discuss the difference between television and movies: preparation time is longer, each scene gets more work, the backgrounds can be more detailed, and the frame density is higher than usual. Sakai says movies also have better sound, such as 5.1 channel audio in theaters. For final words, he says he poured everything he learned as a director into Strong World and tried to express what he feels about One Piece, asking readers to watch the movie.

Eiichiro OdaSakai

Japanese publication colophon page for One Piece volume 56. The page thanks readers for volume 56, lists the first printing date as December 9, 2009, credits Eiichiro Oda as the author, names Shueisha/Home-sha-related publication and printing information, notes that it was printed in Japan, and includes the ISBN 978-4-08-874761-3. Most of the page is Japanese legal, publisher and contact text rather than story material, but it is official volume metadata and distinct from external scan-site advertisements.

Eiichiro Oda

No description for this page.

End of chapter25 pages

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