On the cover page, Shanks is feeding grilled fish to hungry stray cats! Also...lil Luffy! This is the kind of stuff that makes me think that Oda just doesn't see Shanks as a bad guy. There aren't many villains in this story that feed the hungry, it's usually the opposite. So, I really doubt all those "secret villain" Shanks theories. But, we'll see.
Scopper is able to go one-on-one with Imu pretty handily. This old man is RIPPED! I guess you have to stay in shape, if you want to please your giant wife! Also, Luffy just BARELY escapes getting sliced in half. I guess Yggdrasil needed a nice trimming, anyway.
"What a hideous form! You don't even seem to be of this World!" Hmm...that's...curious phrasing. I guess maybe "Devils" could be from one of the Moons, or other planets, originally? Space is probably going to come into play in some way, somehow, soon-ish.
"You're a disappointment! A injured old man just had to save you! Don't you have any shame!?" Oof. Scopper's not wrong. But, still...that stings.
"The King of the Pirates is a title reserved for one who's death is celebrated" Huh. That's...a interesting way to look at it. That DOES feel like it's foreshadowing that Luffy will "die" by the end of the story. Even if it's just a fakeout death.
We get another of the 19 World Weapons! Honebami Toshiro, the Bone Eater! Cool name! It...still isn't doing anything special. So, I keep feeling that all these swords DO just have the same ability to "feed on life force". More on that over here:
https://worstgen.alwaysdata.net/for...tarving-imus-hungry-blades-must-be-fed.86239/
Oh....we just learned part of what's on Laugh Tale. There IS a direct message from Joyboy on Laugh Tale. I mean, we kind of figured that in some way. But, this confirms that. Oda's really gearing up for the finale.
And Luffy...actually doesn't seem to be too bad off, for getting stabbed through the chest. Honestly? He comes across as kind of whiny in this chapter, but that's probably on purpose. Oda's probably showing us that Luffy still has some "maturing" to do.
So...wait...Imu knew about Sabo and Ace...but he doesn't recognize one of the Wings of the Pirate King? That's weird. Maybe the idea is that he forgot? I don't know.
"Why is a D being called the King of the Pirates?!" This is kind of interesting for a few reasons. One, because this seems to imply that the title of the Pirate King existed before Roger. It's not just something Big News Morgans made up to sell newspapers. And two...it seems like Imu is kind of "protective" of the title. Which seems to imply that Joyboy was the original Pirate King...and Imu doesn't want anyone else being called that. Whether it's because he's sentimental or because he doesn't want someone else challenging him, either way. And thirdly....this means that Joyboy was probably NOT a D-Clan member. Which is...interesting. I'm not sure what that means, but it's something to note.
"He is the one...we've been waiting for!" Oooh....nice moment.
Scopper attacks Imu and...Scopper loses a ARM! That's ANOTHER person who's had to sacrifice a arm in order to save Luffy! It's even the same arm, Scopper's left arm. Luffy's not gonna be happy about that. Mind you, with Chopper around, this may or may not be a permanent injury. But, we'll see. It would be a interesting cost of Luffy being "too weak" right now. But, I'm just not sure if it makes sense for it to be permanent, given how many high-class doctors are around.
Luckily, it does seem like Luffy's starting to get his second wind. And Loki's being tended to, so he can probably rejoin the fight soon, too. So, the tides do seem to be turning against Imu.