One Piece continues flashing back to Bartholomew Kuma’s early life this week, and chapter 1099 reveals even more. After learning about Bonney’s condition in the last chapter, as well as the intense torture that Ginny went through, things have been a little dark. This week’s chapter gives a little more of the lighter side, and finally shows how Bartholomew Kuma became known as ‘The Tyrant’.
This article contains major spoilers for One Piece chapter 1099. Catch up on Viz or MangaPlus before reading further!
What Happens in Chapter 1099?
The story opens back in the same flashbacks to Kuma that have been going on for a few weeks now. This time it flashes just a little before Luffy sets out in the East Blue, chronologically, and Bonney is around nine or so years old. Somehow she manages to get hold of the Age-Age Fruit, eating it and turning into a teenager before realizing what happened.
Kuma of course is freaked out, but they don’t have much time to worry about that. Bulldog, a trusted friend and the former ruler of Sorbet Kingdom before Bekori, arrives. He informs Kuma that the previous king is on his way back for blood. Naturally, Kuma is being held up as the ruler of Sorbet Kingdom by the people, with Bulldog only a figurehead, and goes out to take Bekori on himself.
Their clash results in Kuma being labeled a pirate by the World Government, and a bounty is on his head. For a time, he visits with the Revolutionaries. Here, Dragon tells him of Vegapunk, who he believes can cure Bonney’s Sapphire Scales. With a new hope on the horizon, Kuma sets off to collect Bonney and find Vegapunk.
The Age-Age Fruit
When Bonney suddenly appears aged up, nobody realizes who she is until she says something. Now everyone is terrified, and one of the many churchgoers in Kuma’s flock says it’s the Age-Age Fruit that she ate. Where she manages to get that Devil Fruit from is anyone’s guess, but she picks up on it relatively quickly. Within a few days, she’s morphing from young to old and back again.
There was a surprisingly good gag to break up the seriousness too, as one of the churchgoers thinks Bonney successfully made herself old. Instead, it’s just Bulldog’s mother, a small, ancient lady that Bonney subsequently copies the age of. It’s hilarious, and damn does it feel nice to have a silly joke in One Piece after the intensity of chapter 1098.
King Bekori: Back for More
Some people just don’t know when to quit, King Bekori specifically. The jerk doesn’t take no for an answer and tries to do to Sorbet Kingdom what Sabo’s family did to Goa. Now, he’s coming back even after Kuma expels him from the kingdom in a one-man revolution. The last surviving Buccaneer uses his Paw-Paw Fruit to defeat Bekori in a day, destroying his castle in the process. Though he’s been run off, Bekori eventually comes back to try and take his kingdom again. Except this time with some World Government backing.
Kuma decides to take off to the seas as a pirate and prevent Bekori from coming near the Sorbet Kingdom. He’s successful too, taking out the evil jerk for good before becoming a pirate, on the run from the Marines. Thanks to Bekori’s close ties with the World Government, he’s has Big News Morgans brand Kuma as ‘Tyrant’. Of course, this is only growing his fearsome reputation.
Kuma The Tyrant
He makes one hell of a name while out on the seas, leading his own one-man crew wherever he is needed. Despite being an independent entity of the Revolutionaries, their paths do end up crossing from time to time. Otherwise, Kuma sails from land to land running from the World Government, only stopping to help those who need it. While the world may try to brand him as a destructive tyrant, Kuma proves himself repeatedly as a savior.
It’s this title that will eventually get him a position as Warlord of the Sea, with help from Vegapunk. The incredible strength of the Paw-Paw Fruit sees his bounty shoot up in no time. Soon enough he runs into a couple of old friends. They have quite a few updates for him too, with some not-so-good news as well.
Revolutionary Help
Checking in with Dragon and the Revolutionaries is the final step on Kuma’s way to curing Bonney. While she’s been left behind in Sorbet Kingdom with Bulldog this whole time, Kuma hasn’t stopped searching for a cure. He finally finds it too, through Monkey D Dragon of all people. Though he has some news to share first. Ivankov and Inazuma have been captured and put in prison at Impel Down! Not that anyone can do anything about it, since leading a raid there is basically suicide. Dragon also makes sure to mention Koala and Sabo, which is nice to get some backstory on.
They also make sure to ask Kuma if they can make someone else the Eastern Commander for the Revolutionaries. Of course, he approves and Belo Betty gets the position that was one of Ginny’s. Now, Dragon tells Kuma about the doctor he met some time ago. One who is having to relocate thanks to a lab accident in the New World. The Punk Hazard Incident that deserts the island just happened, and now Vegapunk is setting up shop on Egghead.
Enter Vegapunk
This is a little while before Vegapunk figures out his satellites, and he’s lugging around his massive brain still. When Kuma finds him, he shows him Bonney’s Sapphire Scales, begging Vegapunk to treat his dying daughter. While the doctor agrees, saying he is able to cure Bonney, he does mention that it comes at a massive, massive expense when it comes to money. That said, he also realizes that Kuma is one of the last remaining Buccaneers, and that gives him an idea.
Vegapunk offers to cure Bonney in exchange for using Kuma as the basis for his clone experiments. He says these clones will be used in the world to protect people, with state-of-the-art technology that will make them indestructible. While Kuma notes that he’s nothing but a spineless pacifist, Vegapunk has the light-bulb moment and names the project Pacifista. Now, with a cure in sight for Ginny, Kuma selflessly gives up everything he ever was in order to save the only family he has.
Chapter 1099 does quite a bit to make Vegapunk look a little sinister, especially because of how he sees Kuma as an experiment. Of course, science isn’t always the most ethical in One Piece, and he does have a history of human experimentation. That said, there’s a lot more to explore in the backstory of Kuma and Vegapunk, which will likely come in the next chapters as One Piece sprints toward the finish of Egghead Island arc.
