Holy shit, it took a long time to backread everything in this read - took a little over a day or so tbh, and while there are some things I want to respond to, I'm not going to go back and search for all that again. At this point, I just want to say that I'm glad that we're pretty much just waiting on translations and scans AND the crazy negativity in the beginning has died down. It was a bit distressing, so I temporarily ignored some of y'all.
All that aside, I think I've said this before, but I'm extremely glad that Drake's plot is finally beginning to show itself. As a fan, I'd like some more hype as well as the revelation of his backstory, SWORD, and anything else Oda plans on revealing in connection to Drake. I think it was pretty smart - not weak - that he decided to ask Luffy for help since he still does have a mission to complete which we still don't actually know what all it entails.
As for Luffy and Drake's interaction, I'm glad that it finally happened - well, it's a start of one - and though I'd like to see Luffy get upset over what happened to Otama's village, I think that he may be saved because of his connection to Coby since he's a good Marine. Perhaps Luffy will equate that with Drake as well though I guess that will depend on if and when, exactly, Drake spills the beans on actually being a Marine.
I want to give more of an opinion on the chapter, but gotta see the translations with the scans first.