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Manga Summaries Chapter 001-005
 

Chapter 1: Romance Dawn - The Beginning of New Adventures 

NEW CHARACTERS:

Monkey D. Luffy - A little boy who wants to be a pirate, like his hero Shanks.
Gold Roger - The first Pirate King who started the Age of Pirates and has a hidden treasure in Grand Line… the One Piece!
Red-Haired Shanks - A pirate captain who tries to dissuade Luffy from becoming a pirate
Makino - A waitress at a local bar
Higuma - A thief who boasts about killing 56 people. He has an 8 million beli bounty on his head.

"Once Upon a Time, there was a great pirate. His name was 'Gold Roger'. He had conquered every single treasure that existed. His last words before his execution have inspired pirates around the world:

'Want my ultimate treasures? It's possible... I will give them to those who can find them. I have gathered everything in this world and already hidden them in "that" place.'

"The world has entered the Pirate Era."

The story begins with a young boy from East Wind, a small village, trying to impress a group of pirates by making a cut under his left eye. This boy is Monkey D. Luffy, and more than anything, he wants to become a pirate. At the local tavern, the leader of the pirates, 'Red Haired Shanks', tries to persuade Luffy to think slow down and not consider piracy for another 10 years and uses the fact that Luffy can't swim against him. Luffy keeps trying though, and Shanks's pirates are happy about Luffy's enthusiasm.

A waitress named Makino humors Luffy when he says he'll pay her in treasure. A man named Higuma enters the bar, making fun of the pirates. He says he's a bandit and asks for barrels of sake. Makino tells him that they are out, but notices that Shanks is drinking the last of the sake. Shanks apologies and offers Higuma the last of it, but Higuma smashes it in his face. Shanks seemed to be more worried about how wet the floor was. Higuma brags about how he has an 8 million beli bounty on his head, and how he's killed 56 people. Shanks seems too busy trying to clean the mess, so Higuma takes out his sword and knocks over more bottles, then leaves, calling Shanks's pirates chickens.

After Higuma left, Shanks and his pirates have a good laugh about the ordeal. Luffy fumes at the pirates for their cowardice, and begins to walk out of the bar. Shanks grabs Luffy's arm begging him to wait, and Luffy's arm stretches! The pirates are obviously shocked, and one of them asked he ate the Gomu Gomu (Rubber) Fruit that was in one of the pirates' treasure boxes. Luffy thought it was desert. Shanks screams to Luffy that that was one of the Devil's Fruit. The particular one that Luffy ate grants you the "powers of a rubber man", but the person who ate it can never swim.

Even though Luffy can never swim, he is in a happy mood about his new-found powers. Luffy lamented over Shanks not coming back to town for a while. Someone walks in, whom Luffy thinks is Shanks. Higuma walks through the door, wanting sake once again. He kidnaps Luffy, and brings him in the street. Higuma notes how beating up Luffy has little effect, and keeps thrashing him around. He comments on selling him to the circus because of his rubber properties. Luffy fights back, but is no match. A town elder begs with Higuma to let Luffy go, and offers him cash. Luffy calls Higuma a Baboon, and Higuma threatens to kill him.

All of a sudden Shanks comes and Higuma threatens to kill him as well if he comes closer. One of Higuma's bandits points a gun at Shanks's head, but one of Shanks's pirates shoots the bandit in the head. Shanks exclaims that Higuma can throw sake on him or even spit on him, but he won't forgive him for hurting his friends. The bandits come at Shanks, and Shanks's first mate tells Shanks that he can handle them. He makes quick work of them, and Higuma tries to talk his way out of having the same fate. Shanks remarks that there is a reward on his head. Higuma throws a smoke bomb down and takes Luffy to a boat.

Higuma kicks Luffy out of his boat and calls Shanks a coward, which Luffy adamantly disagrees with.  All of a sudden a huge eel comes and eats Higuma and his boat. The eel comes toward Luffy, but Luffy can do nothing but watch. All of a sudden Shanks swims and saves Luffy from the eel's jaws. Shanks then stares the eel in the eye and tells it to "Get lost.” The eel leaves, and Luffy is in tears. Shanks saves Luffy but as a price, he lost his arm to the eel.

Shanks is about to leave the village for good, and Luffy states that he will not ask Shanks to take him as he has before. He will instead find a crew as strong as Shanks's, find the world's greatest treasure, and become the King of Pirates. Shanks gives Luffy his favorite straw hat, and tells him to give it back when he achieves his goal. One of Shanks's pirates comments that Luffy will be big and Shanks agrees.

10 years later, the citizens of East Wind watch as Luffy sets sail in a tiny boat with a barrel on it and goes off to fulfill his dream of becoming the greatest pirate. All of a sudden, the eel that took off Shanks's arm approaches Luffy, and Luffy punches with his 'Rubber Pistol' punch and knocks it out. Luffy then exclaims that he will become the greatest pirate of all…

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Chapter 2 - That Boy "The Straw Hat Wearing Luffy"

NEW CHARACTERS:
Albida - A fat female pirate captain with a giant club
Coby - A nerdy crew member of Albida’s pirates

Luffy complacently wonders how he could've come across such a giant whirlpool on such a nice day. His small ship is slowly getting sucked into the vortex...

On another pirate ship, a woman named Albida notes how dirty the deck is. A pirate nervously whimpers that he will clean the deck again. She pulls out a bludgeon and hits him, presumably killing him. A boy with glasses tells Albida (even though by then she's revealed to be a porker :O) how beautiful she is and how dust is the most horrible thing in the world. She then tells the boy that the only reason she keeps him around is for his navigation skills, and tells him to shine her shoes. She kicks him when he shines them too much, then tells him to clean the wash room.

The boy (whose name is Coby) finds a barrel on shore and tells some of the pirates in the crew, who believe it is a barrel of sake. As they discuss keeping it to themselves, Luffy pops out and shouts "WHAT A NICE NAP THAT WAS!" The pirates' shock was short-lived as Albida's bludgeon hits them. Albida asks who the most beautiful person in the world is, and naturally the pirates say she is. Then she asks why they were sleeping on the job (she mistook Luffy's statement as one of her pirates). The pirates say that there was an invader in a barrel. Albida and her pirates believe that it may have been the "notoriously evil Roronoa Zoro" coming to collect her bounty. He is/was supposedly being held captive at a Marine's base.

Meanwhile, a ways off, Coby asks Luffy if he is all right (He was apparently knocked far by Albida's bludgeon). Luffy asks Coby is he has a small boat because his was destroyed in the whirlpool. Coby shows him one that he'd been building to escape Albida, but was too much of a punk to use. Coby says that two years ago, he was fishing and accidentally stumbled onto Albida's ship. He had to become the ship's caretaker to stay alive. Luffy called him useless, and Coby, like a true passive introvert, laughed it off. He asked Luffy why he was sailing and Luffy said 'To become the Pirate King!!" Coby is shocked and says that become the Pirate King you would have to have the greatest treasure in the world, or the "One Piece" (DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN!). Coby says that every pirate is looking for the treasure, and obtaining it is impossible. Luffy hits him and Coby shrugs it off. Luffy tells Coby that he would die for his dream and Coby is awed at his determination. Coby then begins to wonder if his dream of becoming a Marine could come true. He says that then maybe he can arrest bad guys like Albida.

Lo and behold, Albida comes and destroys his ship, mad because Coby was thinking about escaping. Albida comments on how Luffy doesn't look like Roronoa Zoro and assumes Coby hired him to catch her. She asks Coby who the most beautiful in the sea is. As he is saying it, Luffy asks whom 'this rude woman is'. Albida's crew trembles as Albida herself gets steamed at Luffy's remark. Then Coby asks Luffy to repeat after him, "In all the seas, this lady is the most." He pauses and realizes how spineless he is and says "THE RUDEST DAMNED BITCH!!!" Luffy laughs, Coby remarks that he has no regrets. She then lifts her bludgeon and Luffy tells Coby to get behind him. She strikes Luffy but he exclaims that it has no effect on him because he is made of rubber. As everyone is reeling from what happened, Luffy does his 'Rubber Pistol' right in Albida's face. He tells the crew to prepare a boat for Coby because he's going to become a Marine.

Luffy and Coby are now sailing toward the Marine Base (hahaha, those pirates were punks), and Coby tells Luffy that to get the One Piece he must go through "Grand Line", which was also known as the Pirates' Graveyard. Luffy says that this is why he needs a strong crew, and that one of his crew is being held at the Base they were headed to. Luffy is, of course, talking about Roronoa Zoro, the feared pirate hunter. The predictable Coby is against this, but they're obviously still going…

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Chapter 3 - Pirate Hunter Zoro Enters

NEW CHARACTERS:

Roronoa Zoro - A famous pirate hunter that Luffy wants as a crew member
Helmeppo - the spoiled son of the local Marine lieutenant

Coby tells Luffy that Zoro is a monster that hunts fugitives, and that trying to recruit him is a very bad idea. They land at the Marine Base island, and the first thing Luffy wants to do is eat (this won't be the last time, believe me). After they eat, Luffy says that they must now part ways, so Coby can go off and become a Marine. He then wonders out loud if Zoro is still at the base. The other people at the restaurant act like Luffy just drew a gun. Coby noted that on a sign he saw that a Lieutenant Morgan was at the base, and the restaurant went crazy again.

They leave and Coby wonders why they were as afraid of a Marine official's name as they were an outlaw's. They arrive at the main headquarters and Luffy scales the wall, eager to meet Zoro. Luffy thinks he spotted him, and walks into the base. They peer over another wall, and spot a man with a black bandana. Coby gets scared and says that this is the terrible Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro. But Zoro is tied to a cross in the middle of a field, pseudo-Crucifixion style. Luffy wonders if this is really Zoro, because the ropes seem easy to break. Zoro spots them and asks Coby and Luffy to untie him. He says he'd been tied for 9 days and he was exhausted. He swears that he would pay Luffy and Coby with the bounty that he would collect for catching a fugitive after he was freed. Coby, of course, is freaking out and tells Luffy that Zoro could kill him. Luffy says that Zoro can't kill him because he is also strong.

All of a sudden, a little girl scales the wall with the ladder and offers Zoro some rice balls. Zoro tells her to get lost or he'll kill her. All of a sudden Helmeppo, the son of the lieutenant comes on the field. Zoro scoffs at him. Helmeppo takes a bite of one of the girl's rice balls and chokes, saying that they are too sweet, The little girl whimpers that she thought they would be better sweet (as opposed to salty as they are traditionally made). Helmeppo then takes the girl's rice balls and smashes them into the ground. (Grimey.) The girl starts to cry, and Helmeppo says that the law says that if you help a criminal, you receive the same punishment. He orders a marine to toss the girl out (Luffy catches her), and then says that he promises to Zoro alive for another month, then let him go. Luffy approaches Zoro and asks him if he wanted to join his crew. Zoro declines and says that he will survive for a month instead, because he had something to take care of. He then asks Luffy to feed him the stomped out rice balls and asks Luffy to tell the girl that her rice balls taste great.

Luffy goes and tells the girl and the girl reveals that Zoro was arrested because of her. Helmeppo let his wolf roam around the village, scaring the villagers. It threatened the little girl and Zoro killed it. All of a sudden, Helmeppo walks along and the whole town is bowing their heads to him. He says that if they lift their heads, he will execute them like he will do Zoro in 3 days. Luffy asks him about his one month deal with Zoro and Helmeppo said that he was just play around. Luffy angrily floors Helmeppo with a left hook. Coby holds him back as he screams that he's going to ask Zoro to join him…

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Chapter 4 - Marine Lieutenant "Axe Arm Morgan"

NEW CHARACTERS:

Lieutenant “Axe Arm” Morgan - A corrupt Marine Lieutenant with a giant axe stuck to his arm.

Uh-oh. The villagers are hectic that Luffy just KOed Helmeppo, the son of the feared Lieutenant Morgan. Coby keeps holding Luffy back, while Luffy screams at Helmeppo to fight, but he cries and goes off to tell his father. The girl comments on how cool Luffy was, but her mother quickly snatches her up, because she doesn't want her consorting with criminals. Coby worries as usual, but Luffy keeps his confidence and says he's going to talk to Zoro again.

In the Main Marine Building, a shadowy figure comments on how he believes the town doesn't respect him as much because they don't give him as many offerings. Helmeppo charges in asking his father, Lieutenant Morgan, to kill someone.

Luffy approaches Zoro and asks him once again to join, but Zoro is adamant about not wanting to be a pirate. Luffy still believes that Zoro will join him. Luffy says that Zoro is a swordsman, and that if he retrieves his sword, Zoro would have to join him. Zoro protests, but Luffy has made up his mind.

On the tower of the Marine Base, Helmeppo screams at Morgan because he is being passive to Helmeppo's situation with Luffy. (Morgan is having a gigantic statue of himself being put up, obviously a sign of a huge ego) He comments on how even Morgan never hit him. Morgan strikes Helmeppo and says it was because he wasn't worth hitting. Morgan says that he punishes only those who oppose him. (By this time Morgan fully reveals himself, and shows that he has a steel cage around his jaw and a giant axe for his right forearm) Morgan than inquires about the little girl who snuck into the base, and asks Helmeppo if he executed her. Helmeppo says no, because she was just a child, and Morgan orders his captain to kill the girl. The captain says that he can't, and Morgan strikes him down with his axe-arm, for disobeying orders. He says that he will go there himself, to remind the villagers who he is. He exclaims that as lieutenant, he is the greatest person at the base, and that great people don't make mistakes.

Luffy looks around and sees no marines around. He notices people on top of the tower, and decides to see what's up. He extends his arm to the top of the base and shouts "GOMU GOMU ROCKET!!" and propels himself to the top. Morgan is on the top, scolding a Marine for damaging his statue, when all of a sudden Luffy shoots from over the ledge. Luffy has gone too fast and uses the ropes from the statue that the Marines are putting up to stop himself from flying over the tower. In doing this, he inadvertently snatches the ropes from the Marine's hands, making them drop the large statue, which breaks in half. The Marines, Morgan and Helmeppo are speechless. Luffy apologizes, and Morgan calls for his head. Helmeppo says that Luffy is the guy who hit him, and Luffy grabs him and runs into the base. A Marine spots Coby on the field with Zoro, and Morgan’s orders him to be killed as well.

Coby starts untying Zoro, saying that he shouldn't have been arrested and that he will be a true Marine. A shot rings out and hits Coby in the shoulder.

Luffy drags Helmeppo and asks where Zoro's sword is located…

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Chapter 5 - The Pirate King and The Great Swordsman

NEW CHARACTERS:

Kuina - Zoro’s fiercest childhood rival

Luffy asks Helmeppo where Zoro's sword is, and he says that they passed the room a while back. Luffy turns around and some soldiers threaten to fire. Luffy then uses Helmeppo as a shield.

Coby's shot, but is determined to set Zoro free. He tells Zoro about Helmeppo's lie and how he intended to kill him in 3 days. He then tells him that Luffy punched Helmeppo because of this. Zoro was stunned. Just then, Marines come and point guns at Coby and Zoro.

Luffy makes it to Helmeppo's room and finds 3 swords and wonders which sword is Zoro's. Helmeppo faints, and Luffy looks out of the window to see what's happening on the field where Zoro is. He sees Coby and Zoro surrounded and Morgan tells them to surround the base so the "Straw Hat" doesn't escape. The Marines line up like a firing squad and prepare to execute Coby and Zoro. Zoro says that he can't die because he has unfinished business...

FLASHBACK: Zoro's Promise

At a dojo, a young Zoro (probably no more than 10 years old and uses 2 swords in battle) is defeated for the 2000th time by Kuina, daughter of the dojo's sensei. This is extraordinary, since Zoro defeats even adults. Zoro is distraught by this, but the sensei points out that she is older than him. Zoro than announces that he will never lose to anyone again and will become the world's Greatest Swordsman.

Night comes, and Zoro once again challenges Kuina, this time with real swords as opposed to wooden training swords. Zoro is easily defeated. Kuina then sits down and explains that she is the one who should be upset. Soon Zoro will surpass her in strength because of a man's natural physical growth as compared to a woman's. She wants to be the world's best swordsman as well, but can't because she is a woman. Zoro then makes her promise that one of them become the Greatest Swordsman, and she agrees.

The next day, Kuina dies from falling down a flight of stairs. Zoro then takes her sword and vows to become the World's Greatest Swordsman.

END FLASHBACK

Back on the field, Zoro says that he can't die because he promised to Kuina to become the Greatest Swordsman. Luffy stretches his arm toward the windowsill and Gomu Gomu Rockets toward the field. Morgan tells the Marines to fire. They fire, only to shoot Luffy, who is standing between the Marines and Coby and Zoro. The bullets strike Luffy but then bounce off of him. Zoro is shocked and asks Luffy "What kind of human are you". Luffy says "The one who will become The Pirate King". Luffy then asks Zoro which of the 3 swords are his, and Zoro tells him that he uses all three. He then declares that rather than die there he will take Luffy up on his offer and become a pirate!

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