York is still a hostage of the Straw Hats, who find themselves trapped on Egghead Island and surrounded by Marine warships. At the end of chapter 1089, we found out that York’s distress call to Mars and the Elders was orchestrated by Luffy, who told Zoro to threaten York’s life while Usopp arranged the call. In chapter 1090 of the One Piece manga, the Straw Hats’ grow desperate to flee Egghead as Mars and the Elders formulate a bargaining plan to satisfy all parties.
Editor’s Note: There will be spoilers for chapter 1090 of the One Piece manga below.
Once the cat’s out of the bag that York’s private distress call was arranged by the Straw Hats, Luffy takes matters into his own hands. He grabs the communicator and addresses Mars and the Elders directly. Introducing himself as Monkey D. Luffy, the man who’ll be King of the Pirates, he demands that all the Marine warships abandon their ambush and sail away from the shore. As Luffy begins to inform them of the current hostage situation, Nico Robin intervenes, informing him that information is a weapon. The more he communicates, the more they can use against him.
One of the five Elders, Jaygarcia Saturn, reminds the counsel that they must retain three things: York’s safety, the Punk Records (which stores the brain of Dr. Vegapunk), and the power plant that creates the Mother Flame. Everything else is disposable, including human lives like Rob Lucci’s group. York chimes in to remind the Straw Hats that she has an agreement with the five Elders and if any harm should come to her, the whole island will go up in smoke. Just then, S-Snake gives her a harsh bonk on the head, to which Nico protests, reminding Nami that York is unarmed.
Usopp checks in on the workers and Seraphim trapped in the Labophase Basement, whom the Straw Hats fed. The workers call them their saviors, devouring the food. The Seraphims are trapped in bubble balls that incorporate sea energy into its materials, making it the perfect weapon for incapacitating power-users. S-Snake reassures the workers and Seraphims that they have no intentions of killing them.
Due to being a clone of Boa Hancock, S-Snake shared her affection of Luffy with her, allowing Luffy to convince her to undo the petrification on his allies. Vegapunk remarks that S-Snake wasn’t programmed to give in to Luffy’s demands. He concludes that this information must have been transmitted through bloodline elements related to Boa Hancock’s fascination with Luffy.
The communications system is restored, but the frontier dome won’t open. York comments that their efforts are futile. Since the barrier has an encryption code on it and since her brain isn’t synched to any of theirs, they won’t be able to get it from her. Stussy confirms that they’re surrounded on all sides. Nami puts her expertise into practice and tells the other that although the log pose compass hasn’t recorded a new signal yet, there’s still a needle pointing northeast. Vegapunk confirms this to be Elbaph, the Isle of Giants.
Luffy and Usopp are delighted and skip away singing. Dr. Vegapunk confirms that the Marine warships are covering every coast, so the Straw Hats can’t leave via the port. The northeast direction that they’re planning to head is on the backside of the island, but the Thousand Sunny is with the Vegaforce-1. Dr. Vegapunk suggests using the Vegaforce-1 to fly over the barricade as a means of escape, but the robot can only fly in the airspace over Egghead Island. Once they leave via the Vegaforce-1, it will crash to Earth. But the Thousand Sunny can use its coup de burst to fly even farther.
The plan seems perfect, but they still need to deactivate the frontier dome. York maintains her stance, refusing to share the code. Dr. Vegapunk believes he can crack the code, so he gets to work. A handful of Straw Hats make a beeline for the Thousand Sunny. The Elders prepare to attack Egghead Island, against Kizaru’s advice and regardless of the consequences. Dr. Vegapunk’s bodyguard Sentomaru confronts the Straw Hats and Luffy remarks that someone is approaching them — someone strong.
New chapters of the One Piece manga can be read outside Japan on Manga Plus and Viz Media. The anime is on Crunchyroll.