Levely Arc

The Levely Arc, also referred to as the Post-Whole Cake Island Arc, is the thirtieth
story arc of the manga and anime One Piece, both the third and last story arc of the Whole Cake Island Saga, and the seventh story arc of the second half of the series.
The Straw Hat Pirates' actions against the Big Mom Pirates are revealed to the world. Luffy's group is on its way to Wano Country while the Revolutionary Army prepares for their next move. Meanwhile, royalty across the globe gathers for the Levely, without knowing that a shadow-like figure is pulling the strings of the World.
==Summary==
===Great Powers on the Move: The Upcoming Levely===
Luffy, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Brook, and Carrot were sailing to Wano on the Thousand Sunny after their escape from Totto Land when Luffy and Chopper discovered a Raid Suit that Niji had apparently given to Sanji. Despite the two's pleas, Sanji refused to try it, and Nami revealed the addition of Zeus to her Clima-Tact. Carrot then received the newspaper, which told the story of their exploits against Big Mom and also included two new bounties for Sanji and Luffy. Sanji was pleased that his bounty now surpassed Zoro's, but was dismayed that his bounty poster included his family name. Luffy became depressed because he thought his bounty decreased to 150,000,000, when in reality it had increased to 1,500,000,000.
People all across the world reacted strongly to the news, and on Fish-Man Island, Neptune was reading it as Shirahoshi came to join her family in traveling to the Levely. Given Jinbe's actions against Big Mom, Neptune planned to declare Fish-Man Island under the Straw Hat Pirates' protection and a part of their territory. While Sakazuki read the news at New Marineford, he received a report that Princess Komane had been captured by pirates and he was furious at the incompetence of the escort crew. Out at sea, Rebecca told Riku Doldo III and Elizabello II about the news of Luffy's recent exploits when the pirate crew that had captured Komane set their eyes on the royal escort from their submarine, planning to abduct Viola as well. They fired a torpedo at the royals' ship, but Koby came in and redirected the shot before jumping on board and greeting the Dressrosa-Prodence Kingdom group. Helmeppo and the rest of the Marines then successfully took down the pirates and rescued Komane. Koby talked to Kyros before Rebecca came out with the news about Luffy, and Koby grew very happy as he read it, bringing him to tears of joy.
Due to Luffy's actions against the Big Mom Pirates and reports of seven powerful pirate crews being under his command, he is now being called and considered as the "Fifth Emperor." Shanks reacted positively, saying that it looked like he would be able to reunite with Luffy soon. However, the other Emperors reacted more negatively, with Kaidou angrily wondering why Luffy was in Big Mom's territory, Blackbeard saying that it was too soon for Luffy to be given the title, and Big Mom herself questioning Luffy's "victory" before swearing revenge against the Straw Hats. Back on the Sunny, the Straw Hats realized that Luffy had failed to see the extra zero in his bounty, making it 1,500,000,000, to the surprise of all.
Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Army moved their headquarters to Momoiro Island and were preparing for a meeting of their executives while they read the news. Ivankov praised Dragon for the recent feats his son achieved, and was surprised to learn that Sanji was part of the Germa Kingdom. Dragon noted that the Germa Kingdom would not be able to participate in the Levely. As they wondered why the executives were late, Sabo receive a call from Lindbergh, who said they got into trouble. While they waited, Dragon discussed with Sabo about their plan of declaring war against the World Nobles in the upcoming Levely.
The mentioned trouble was revealed to be the Peachbeard Pirates attacking the Lulusia Kingdom. As the citizens begged for the pirates to leave, the four executives and army commanders, Morley, Belo Betty, Lindbergh, and Karasu appeared. After Morley overwhelmed the pirates with her Devil Fruit power, Betty awakened the citizens' latent potential to fight with the Kobu Kobu no Mi and rallied them, allowing them to overwhelm the pirates with Lindbergh and Karasu's help. After taking down the pirates, the executives told the residents to claim Peachbeard's bounty and gave them a way to contact the revolutionaries if they needed to. As they left town, the executives talked about the Levely, which was set to occur in two days.
At New Marineford, Sakazuki heard that Fujitora went to Mary Geoise, which angered him. He sent Ryokugyu to get him out, but Ryokugyu was too lazy to do it, and the two admirals had a conversation. Fujitora said he had visited Vegapunk while journeying, and the scientist had invented something that could render the Seven Warlords of the Sea system obsolete. Meanwhile, royals gathered at the Red Port on the Red Line, where they could enter Mary Geoise through a Bondola. Shirahoshi was awestruck to see the surface world for the first time, while King Sterry was overwhelmed by a variety of people and races he had no knowledge of. As the royals went up to Mary Geoise on the Bondola, they were secretly accompanied by Morley, Karasu, and Sabo, the latter of whom was disguised as a guard next to Sterry.
===The Meeting of the Kings: Arriving at the Holy Land===
The royals riding the Bondola later reached the top of the Red Line, and they made their way to Pangaea Castle. From his estate, Saint Charlos spotted Shirahoshi and took an interest in her. The Levely participants all gathered inside the castle, and they conversed with each other at the socializing plaza. Several royals tried to get Shirahoshi's attention, but she accidentally offended them due to her inexperience with communication. Elsewhere, Rebecca and Vivi got acquainted with each other while talking about Luffy. Shirahoshi overheard them and joined in on the conversation as Sai got reacquainted with Leo before telling his comrade that he planned to cut ties with Kano Country. Wapol then approached Vivi and began insulting her until Dalton interrupted and drove him away. As Vivi got reacquainted with Dalton and Kureha, Rebecca talked to Dalton about Luffy.
At Impel Down Level 6 solitary confinement, Doflamingo asked Magellan if he was guarding him and wondered if an assassin was coming to silence him to ensure that Mary Geoise's national treasure remained a secret. Back at Mary Geoise, a mysterious person opened a chamber where a straw hat was stored.
Meanwhile, Big Mom contacted Kaidou to make an arrangement concerning Luffy. Kaidou opposed working with her, but she reminded him of a debt he owed her. The Marines tapped into this call and grew concerned over the possibility of the two meeting but decided against taking action because of Wano Country's defenses. At the Red Port, Garp and several Marines heard about the call, and Hina talked to Garp about Rocks, an entity whose era was over 40 years ago but was currently gaining power. Back at Mary Geoise, Shanks met with the Five Elders in person to talk about a certain pirate.
Elsewhere, Sterry was brought before the Empty Throne to pledge never to sit on it and rule the world himself, but he became entranced by that idea. Outside, Charlos had Shirahoshi apprehended to be his pet. Leo and Sai attempted to stop the World Noble, but they were attacked by Rob Lucci as CP0 came to assist Charlos. Lucci stated that Charlos could do whatever he wanted as a god, and Neptune, who had already become disillusioned with living on the surface world, decided to attack Charlos and forsake Otohime's dream. However, Donquixote Mjosgard, the World Noble that Otohime had saved ten years ago, came in and hit Charlos with a massive, spiked club and ordered the release of Shirahoshi. Having been reformed by Otohime, Mjosgard wishes to repay his debt to the Ryugu Kingdom. Mansherry healed Shirahoshi's bruises, and Mjosgard promised to protect the princess from any more threats during the Levely.
Meanwhile, Jewelry Bonney disguised herself as the queen dowager of the Sorbet Kingdom, Connie, in order to infiltrate the Domain of the Gods where the World Nobles lived. She managed to sneak past the Celestial Dragon gate when Rosward came to see the injured Charlos. She also saw that Rosward was riding on Bartholomew Kuma, Warlord of the Sea and former king of the Sorbet Kingdom who had become a slave-to-rent for the World Nobles. The infiltrating revolutionaries saw this as well as they hid underground. They reflected that Kuma's enslavement was a statement to never defy the World Nobles and decided to go ahead with a do-or-die mission to rescue Kuma.
===Levely Begins: The World on the Verge of Cleansing===
Fujitora summoned Cobra and Doldo to meet with him, and sometime after this meeting, all the royals gathered around a table to begin the first day of the Levely conference. Meanwhile, the Five Elders stated that Cobra had requested a meeting with them, and talked about the increasing chaos in the world possibly necessitating a great cleansing. They headed for the Empty Throne, upon which sat the mysterious Imu. Kneeling before Imu, the Five Elders requested to learn the name that Imu had deemed the "light" that must be extinguished from history.
==Story Impact==
*Several characters make their first appearances in the manga after the timeskip. The characters (in the order they were reintroduced) are: Crocodile, Koby, Helmeppo, Marshall D. Teach, Van Augur, Doc Q, Avalo Pizarro, Moda, Inazuma, T Bone, Monkey D. Garp, Charlos, Doberman, Strawberry, Lacroix, Kaku, and Rosward.
**The Blackbeard Pirates only appear as silhouettes.
**Karasu, who was partly shown in Chapter 593, is formally introduced.
**Gion and Tokikake make their first appearance in the main storyline.
**Donquixote Mjosgard is seen in the present for the first time.
*Neptune plans to declare that Fish-Man Island is under the Straw Hat's protection.
*Helmeppo is revealed to possess Observation Haki.
*Luffy's bounty is raised to 1,500,000,000.
**Luffy is now considered by at least the World Economic Journal and the general public to be the "Fifth Emperor of the Sea" after being recognized for his actions in Totto Land.
**The world now knows about the existence of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet and Luffy's relationship with Sabo.
*Sanji's bounty is raised to 330,000,000.
**Sanji's wanted conditions changed back to "Dead or Alive."
**Sanji's poster now has his full name Vinsmoke Sanji, making Sanji's relationship to the Vinsmoke Family public.
*Sanji received his own Raid Suit from Niji, who hid it in Luffy's pocket during the escape from Cacao Island. Sanji rejects it, but the others want to keep it just in case.
**Sanji would later end up having to use the Raid Suit in the Wano Country Arc to help hide his identity.
*Zeus remains with the Straw Hat Pirates.
*The Germa Kingdom's affiliation with the World Government is revoked. 
*The Revolutionary Army escaped the destruction of Baltigo and they moved their base of operations to the Kamabakka Kingdom.
*Dragon decides to declare war on the World Nobles during the Levely.
*The executives of the Revolutionary Army are introduced: Morley, Belo Betty, Lindbergh, and Karasu.
*Ryokugyu makes his first real appearance, though only a silhouette is shown.
*Fujitora and Ryokugyu were talking about Vegapunk and his completion of an invention that would make the Seven Warlords of the Sea obsolete.
**Fujitora meets with Nefertari Cobra and Riku Doldo III in a private meeting. It was later confirmed during the Wano Country Arc that this meeting was to discuss on having the two kings propose on the disbandment of the Seven Warlords of the Sea during the Levely as both of their kingdoms had previously suffered because of the Warlords of the Sea, which would lead to the dissolution of the Warlord system.
*Sai plans to cut ties with his kingdom, Kano Country.
*Doflamingo is shown in solitary confinement, and he believes that there will be assassins coming after him because he knows about Mary Geoise's secret national treasure.
*Cobra requests a private audience with the Five Elders.
*Nusjuro mentions that they can't maintain the balance anymore due to losing control of the world and will have to do a global cleansing soon.
*A mysterious figure known as Imu is introduced.
**The Five Elders bow to Imu, implying that the latter is the true head of the World Government.
**Imu has shown an interest in Luffy, Blackbeard, Shirahoshi, and Vivi, having cut apart pictures of the first three while holding a picture of the fourth.
*A straw hat is kept in a secret chamber in Mary Geoise, which Imu has access to.
*According to Big Mom, Kaidou owes her a huge favor. It was also mentioned that the two used to work together.
**Those statements would be expanded upon during the Wano Country Arc: The two were formerly part of the Rocks Pirates, and Kaidou's Devil Fruit, the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu, was given to him by Linlin the day the crew disbanded.
*A group named Rocks is mentioned by Garp and said that Rocks' era came before Roger's.
*The Empty Throne is revealed.
**800 years ago, the twenty kingdoms that founded the World Government made a pledge in front of the throne, cementing that the world's kings are equal among each other. The pledge is followed and re-enacted by all kings allied with the World Government.
**Sterry has shown interest in taking the throne for himself, violating the pledge.
**Despite the pledge, a mysterious person called Imu is allowed to sit on the throne.
*Kaku is confirmed to be part of CP0.
*Charlos attempts to forcibly take Shirahoshi into his possession, but is stopped by Mjosgard, a fellow World Noble who was once saved by Otohime.
**Mjosgard now considers himself a human thanks to Otohime, unlike the other World Nobles, who view themselves above humanity.
*Shanks is at Mary Geoise and he speaks to the Five Elders in person about "a certain pirate".
*Bartholomew Kuma is revealed to be the Sorbet Kingdom's former king and is currently a slave for rent of the World Nobles.
**Sabo, Morley, Lindbergh, and Karasu plan to rescue Kuma.
*Jewelry Bonney infiltrates Mary Geoise, which is later revealed to be an attempt at saving her father, Bartholomew Kuma.
==Trivia==
*One Piece's editor Takuma Naito stated that he does not consider the Levely Arc a full arc, as it was intentionally short. However, it is longer than the Loguetown, Reverse Mountain, and Return to Sabaody arcs.
*This is the first arc to not feature all current members of the Straw Hat Pirates in any form (including cover page and flashbacks) with Franky and Jinbe not being shown at all.
**In the anime adaptation, both Franky and Jinbe do appear in flashbacks from various arcs.
*This is so far the only arc that does not focus on an adventure of the Straw Hat Pirates in the arc's main setting.
==References==
==Arc Navigation==
==Site Navigation==
ca:Arc del Levely
es:Arco del Levely
fr:Arc Rêverie
ru:Арка Совета Королей
pl:Saga o Reverie
zh:世界会议篇
Category:Story Arcs