Summary:
The episode begins with the events before Nami’s group arrives at Dock 88. Drake’s men bombard Luffy’s group with gunfire, but he easily deflects the bullets with his Devil Fruit powers. The Marines resort to using what appear to be bazookas when they see that their weapons are ineffective. Instead, they fire flash bombs to subdue the pirates, which stings their eyes. Drake then has his Sword Unit attack the Straw Hats who are still trying to recover from the effects of the flash bomb. The crew is able to fend off attacks. Luffy is then shot by a Seastone net and is immediately incapacitated. Drake demands that they surrender, telling them that while their naval base policy is to take live prisoners, he won’t hesitate to change that policy if he meets any resistance. With Luffy in a weakened state, Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp seem unable to withstand the overwhelming number of marines at the dock and consider surrendering.
Just as the marines are about to capture them, Nami and Dr. Kobato with Chopper still hidden under the hospital bed sheet. The Marines notice that Dr. Kobato is with the pirates and they hesitate to attack, asking those who have just arrived to identify themselves. Dr. Kobato then pretends to be a hostage and screams in mock terror. He hints his plan to Nami and Nami also pretends to be a nurse held by Chopper, now in his Heavy Point form. Acting like a tough and ruthless pirate, Chopper demands that the marines stand down and let them board their ship.
Drake relents and orders his men to stand down in exchange for the release of the “hostages”. Zoro releases Luffy from the Seastone net, but Luffy remains weak. Mekao, Dr. Kobat’s father, watches this happen. He says that while he’s not too worried about his daughter being with the pirates because he can tell if she’s really upset, he’s still worried that the marines might unintentionally hurt her.
Drake “houses” the Straw Hats and lets them board their ship, but Zoro senses another trap. He quietly tells Luffy to throw them onto their ship at his signal. One marine secretly saves Dr. Kobat and another also tries to save Nami, but the marine is punched. That was their signal to hurry to the ship. Luffy hangs the crew on Merry. Mekao, concerned for his daughter’s safety, aids the pirates in their escape by launching the Going Merry from the dock into the bay. Thinking that the Straw Hats are holding “Nurse” Nami hostage, Drake orders them not to shoot at them, but to fire warning shots instead. As the ship departs, the marines examine the ship and notice Nami giving orders to the crew and being held hostage. They realize that he is actually part of the Straw Hats.
Inside the base, Robin is leaving the library having finished exploring the base when she is stopped by marines. She subdues them and then manages to escape on a ship. He swings from the base to the Merry and the crew finally comes together. He gives Nami the map of Navarone Island that she got from the library.
The Marines start firing cannons at the Merry and start chasing them with warships. Nami refers to the map and sees the only way out of the Seagate base she is heading towards. She noticed that the water was too shallow and that the map didn’t make sense. They head to the Sea Gate anyway and try to come up with a plan to open the gate. The Marines continue to fire on the Merry while the Straw Hats have no way to retaliate as the Marines have confiscated all of their cannonballs. Luffy comes up with a plan and uses his Gomu Gomu no Fusen ability to catch all the cannonballs fired at them and redirect them to the gate. Just as the gate explodes, Nami realizes that if the marines took all their cannonballs, they must have also taken the treasure they found on Skypiea.