Chapter 996

Yamato refuses, saying that Oden wouldn’t do that. Sasaki starts to draw his sword and irritatingly tells Yamato that he finds it insulting he would say something like that to him while protecting ‘dead weight’. Seeing this, Yamato’s teeth start changing and becoming sharp. Before the two can start fighting, Franky arrives with Hatcha following him. Yamato recognizes Franky inside the General Franky as Hatcha swings his club near Franky, causing him to bust a hole through the floor.

Yamato remembers that there is a floor underneath him and grabs Momonosuke and Shinobu to escape. Franky asks if the two have been captured but they answer that they are being rescued. Yamato asks Franky to take care of Sasaki and that Luffy put him in charge of protecting the two. While Franky doesn’t know who Yamato is, he nevertheless accepts. As thanks, Yamato uses a move called Narikabura, and fires a shot of Armament Haki at Hatcha that strikes him in the head, defeating him.

Sasaki orders his troops to chase after Yamato, who tells Momonosuke that he must live because he believe he is the one who will lead the world to the dawn. In the second basement floor, Trafalgar Law defeats several guards and approaches a Poneglyph while thinking about what Donquixote Rosinante said about the name of “D.”, and how they are considered the enemies of the gods. He also thought back to when he revealed his full name to Robin at an earlier point, which surprised her. She appreciates the trust he has shown telling her this, but she can not give an answer, as despite her interest in the name, Luffy has no interest in knowing. Law realizes that in order to figure out the meaning, they need to follow the Road Poneglyphs.

Sadly, the Poneglyph he finds isn’t red, so he chooses to keep looking. He says to Rosinante that now he seeks to find the meaning of the “checkered life” he is meant to lead. On the third floor, Eustass Kid uses his Devil Fruit to gather metal objects and asks Killer if he gathered enough. Killer answers that since they are fighting the world’s strongest pirate, it can’t hurt to have too much, which elates Kid. At the roof of the Skull Dome, Kaidou continues his battle with the Scabbards and is starting to overwhelm them. At the Live Stage, Big Mom returns, but she says that she only plans on joining Kaidou up on the roof. Luffy, Jinbe, and Sanji manage to reach the second floor of the castle with Jinbe telling Luffy that the roof is above the fifth floor. Suddenly, Sanji asks the two of them if they can hear that sound from the third floor. He focuses and hears someone speaking in a seductive voice.