## One Piece Chapter 1044: Warrior of Liberation - Chapter: 1044 - Pages: 0-12 - Characters: Germa 66, Vinsmoke Niji, Vinsmoke Yonji, Monkey D. Luffy, Kaido, Kozuki Momonosuke, Yamato, Zunesha, Joy Boy, Sanji, Eustass Kid, Trafalgar D. Water Law, Marco, Hyogoro, Nami, Tama, Alliance Fighters, Five Elders, CP0, Sun God Nika, Kurozumi Orochi, Kozuki Hiyori, Kozuki Oden, People of Wano, Kurozumi Kanjuro, Kazenbo, Beast Pirates ### Summary Page 0: The title page reads "Chapter 1044: Warrior of Liberation." It continues Germa 66's cold-blooded voyage, volume 8: "Mama's out at sea. Let's start our research!!" The cover-story image shows members of Germa 66 inside a laboratory-like room with tools and machinery suspended around them while Niji and Yonji lie captured. This is official cover-story material tied to Germa 66 and Whole Cake Island rather than the main Wano battle, so it is retained as useful extra context. Page 1: A resounding pulse echoes across Onigashima. Kaido, still on the rooftop after Luffy's apparent defeat, looks up and asks, "What's happening...?" and "How can he still stand?" Luffy's body beats with the rhythm "Doom dut da da" while he laughs and says, "I just lost... But I feel like I'm having a blast... Ahaha hahaha!!" Momonosuke tells Yamato that Zunesha said Luffy is Joyboy, and Yamato reacts in shock: "Zunesha said that?!" The page turns the previous chapter's despair on its head. The man whose voice vanished is moving again, and the sound Zunesha called the Drums of Liberation is coming from Luffy himself. Page 2: Across Onigashima, Luffy's revival is felt by his allies. In the Pleasure Hall right brain tower, people yell and someone cries, "Sir Pirate! You're awake!!" Sanji, badly battered but alert, says, "Luffy...?" On the live floor, Kid looks up and asks, "What the--?!" Law, Marco, Hyo, Nami, Tama, and others react as they sense that Straw Hat is still breathing. Nami and Tama weep and shout, "Luffy's still alive?!" and "You've gotta be okay, right?! Big Bro..." The page spreads the news of Luffy's return through the alliance like a heartbeat. His presence has not simply returned on the roof; everyone who had been crushed by the announcement of his death begins to feel hope again. Page 3: The scene shifts to the Holy Land Mary Geoise, inside Pangaea Castle's Hall of Power. The Five Elders question whether their priorities are straight after sacrificing one of their best agents and enraging Kaido, but they decide this may be better than the alternative because it was imperative to snuff out something problematic. They explain that, no matter the era, the World Government has always failed to acquire the Gomu-Gomu Fruit, even after 800 years of trying. One elder suggests it is almost as if the fruit itself is evading them. Another says all Zoan fruits have a will of their own and that this one carries the name of a god. They reveal that the Gomu-Gomu Fruit is actually the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Nika. Page 4: The Five Elders describe Nika's power as "the most ridiculous power in the world!!" They say its user's body gains the properties of rubber in combat, and that awakening exponentially strengthens that rubbery body and grants even more freedom. Far and wide, they say, Nika was the embodiment of "the warrior of liberation," putting smiles on faces. While the explanation continues, the chapter cuts back to the treasure repository on the second floor, where Orochi calls for Hiyori and begs that it was all Kaido using him. He says he always admired Oden, but Hiyori calmly asks who would still believe him after he spat in the face of a samurai he owed. She says her father kept his promise, did he not? Page 5: Hiyori recounts Oden's sacrifice to Orochi. She says Oden danced like a fool for five long years because he believed Orochi and Kaido would honor their secret arrangement and free Wano, yet he never even told his own family. He still expected the same of Orochi when he agreed to let the hostages go. Hiyori says her father was a man who kept his word, even while he withstood being boiled for an entire hour and his body burned by oil. Despite everything, Oden always smiled, but she cannot even fathom the suffering he carried by himself because the entire nation was held hostage. Orochi, cornered and pinned, can only ask what is the matter with Hiyori as she keeps playing and laying out his crimes. Page 6: A memory shows Hiyori as a child asking her father whether he is really okay with what everyone says about him. Oden answers, "Of course I am! You know why? Because... I have you guys!!" Hiyori remembers swearing that she would always be there for him, and Orochi tries to twist the story by claiming that as shogun he can ensure Oden's legacy is recognized. Hiyori finally tears away every mask of politeness and declares, "Hold your tongue, you miserable wretch!! I am Kozuki Hiyori!!" Her tears and rage make the reveal absolute. She is not Komurasaki playing a r...