Cover Page: From the Decks of the World: The 500,000,000 Man Arc Vol. 21: "Rusukaina - Our dear boss, long time no see!".

Marguerite shows Luffy's new wanted poster to the beasts on Rusukaina.

After arriving at the southwestern shore of Whole Cake Island, Pedro and Brook split off from the rest of the Sanji Retrieval Team to search for Big Mom's Road Poneglyph.

Meanwhile, Luffy, Nami, Chopper, and Carrot disembark onto the shore. After Luffy thinks he sees Sanji, his group runs into the nearby forest filled with sweets, where they encounter new dangers.

At the southwestern shore of Whole Cake Island, Luffy and Carrot get excited as the Shark Submerge III emerges from Channel 3, inside it are Pedro and Brook. Pedro apologizes to Luffy for taking Brook on his quest, but Brook says that he should be able to help infiltrate and steal Big Mom's Road Poneglyph by detaching his soul from his body, which scares Carrot. Luffy bids farewell to Pedro and Brook and says that they will be waiting around after meeting with Sanji and Pudding. Pedro reminds them to stay alert and remember the message that Pekoms left. The Shark Submerge III submerges as Pedro and Brook pilot it through a river towards Big Mom's castle, going deep to avoid detection.

Luffy is excited about adventuring on Whole Cake Island, and calls out for Sanji and Pudding. Nami questions if Luffy really saw them earlier like he said he did, which Luffy affirms as Chopper and Carrot taste the meringue ground. Luffy goes up a hill and says that he saw Sanji and Pudding standing right where he was, but disappeared when he briefly looked away. Suddenly, Luffy sees Sanji standing against a tree, and he, Carrot, and Chopper race toward him. However, Nami does not see Sanji there and wonders what her crewmates are doing, as they also lose sight of Sanji. Luffy, Chopper, and Carrot become instantly enthralled by the forest in front of them, which is made entirely out of candy, and they call to Sanji. Nami decides to take their visions of Sanji seriously, but wonders why he would be hiding from them. Luffy, Chopper, and Carrot decide to split up and look for Sanji, although they are more interested in the sweet treats in their paths, but Nami tells them to stop. Luffy tells her that they should follow their instincts, but Nami questions their motives and says that they will look for Sanji together. As they walk on a bridge, Luffy, Chopper, and Carrot keep getting distracted by sweets, which Nami berates them for. She reminds her crewmates that they are in enemy territory and should go back if they do not find Sanji soon, which disappoints them. However, the trio is still distracted by the heaping of sweets, and as Nami shouts at them again a giant crocodile jumps out from under them with its mouth open.

The team barely manages to race across the rest of the bridge as the crocodile takes a giant bite out of it. Chopper asks Luffy if they should fight the crocodile, but Luffy says there is no need as the crocodile, who is wearing a bowler hat and suspenders, notes aloud that they are just humans. It then walks away on its hind legs, causing Luffy to get mad that it did not find them delicious, to Nami's chagrin. Nami tells her crewmates that the crocodile they encountered is the definition of weird and dangerous. Luffy, however, questions that after everything she's seen since entering the Grand Line, should she really be freaked out at this point (and points to Chopper and Carrot who fall in the same category of being weird), leaving Nami embarrassed after realizing this. She admits that he does have a point, but she still wants to go back and wait on the coast. Suddenly, Luffy sees another version of himself, which shocks his crewmates. The two Luffys ask who the other is at the same time, making the same movements and expressions. They begin threatening the same thing at each other, mirroring each other's actions as though they are reflections of each other. Chopper and Nami grow extremely confused about what is happening, and Carrot sees Sanji lying on a tree branch. The Sanji Retrieval Team calls out to Sanji, saying they came to take him back and wondering where Pudding is. Luffy heads over to Sanji, but ends up headbutting his other version, causing them to get into a fistfight as Chopper sees Sanji running away again. The two Luffys tell the others to go after Sanji as they continue fighting, matching every blow and wondering who the other is.

While chasing after Sanji, Nami, Chopper, and Carrot encounter a large man buried to the neck in the ground, which frightens both parties. They ask the man who buried him, and he reveals that he is here because he likes being buried. The man asks them for some juice, causing Chopper to become enraged over his insanity, forcing Nami to pull Chopper away as the pirates ignore the buried man and continue running after Sanji. The man offers to share the direction Sanji went in if they give him apple juice from a waterfall, but the team is suddenly forced to duck as a rabbit rides in on a large bird and swings a spear at them, which cuts apart a few living trees. Thoroughly bewildered by the insanity of the forest, Nami tries to convince the others to go back, saying that if Sanji was really there he would not sit idly by while this happened. However, their compasses and watches begin spinning nonstop as everything in the Seducing Woods comes to life, intending on covering up the pirates' exit and playing a game of death.

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