One Piece

New Chapter

I was rooting for 'The elders didn't know about this, and were just trying to stop the transmission because they incorrectly assumed it was Void Century knowledge', but it seems that's not the case. Indeed it appears the Celestial Dragons collectively knew about this, and the implication is that that's why they live on such high ground.

Alright, this is a good one!

We get a delightful cameo-fest as various people react to Vegapunk's message. In New Marineford, various officers including Hina don't believe, while Sakazuki just looks as pissed off as he always is. In the Mock Town pub at Jaya, everyone bursts out laughing. Paulie and the people at Water 7 believe, though, as do Magellan and Doflamingo at Impel Down. Doffy proposes moving the inmates to "higher ground." To add credence to his claims, Vegapunk predicts the earthquake that made the sea level rise by one meter, and we see Smoothie and Mont d'Or, Tonjit, and Kuzan shocked by this.

At Egghead, the Navy battleships are getting nowhere against the robot. Saturn breaks past the Straw Hats' blockade and makes it to the power plant, and we see the Mother Flame, which is literally a small flame kept in a giant tank of water. Vegapunk begins to narrate what he knows of the Void Century, which he admits is incomplete (much to the relief of Robin fans everywhere!). Imu watches in silence, as the World Nobles demand the feed be cut. Saul "dereshis" in triumph at Elbaf. In Orange Town, Mayor Boodle and Chouchou the dog listen in, as to Marguerite and the other woman of Amazon Lily. Vegapunk begins by introducing the "main character" of the story - a man with powers similar to those of Nika, the sun god of Giant mythology. He was Joy Boy, the very first pirate...

Edited by HamburgerTime on May 12th 2024 at 8:18:49 AM

Action! Lore!

Vegapunk's attempt to find the "ultimate energy source" is what led to the Mother Flame, and however that works. He describes this as his "first sin." He goes on to talk about researching the Void Century as his "second sin" so he's clearly talking about things the World Government has deemed illegal. And he confirms that he does NOT have the full story, and will only be telling what he has confirmed; Namely, he goes into talking about Joyboy, and confirms that he was "the world's first pirate."

He also describes Nika in connection with Joyboy. Is he going to tell the world about Luffy's connection as well? Or try to?

Big Mom Pirates spotted! But just as one of the many reactions to Vegapunk's message. Speaking of, he predicted that the water would rise as a result of an "earthquake." I doubt he knew Lulusia would be the target, but Vegapunk clearly knew that the Five Elders would use their superweapon.

The fights with the Elders aren't going very well. Luffy's in Gear Five again, but even he's having trouble now with the Elder he's fighting.

Yeah with this I 100% believe Doffy knows the truth of the world which is why they don’t just execute him and why he was obsessed with being immortal. best way to avoid dying in a sinking world just brute force it via immortality.

His previous interactions with the Marines suggesting he knows things most don’t is something I’ve noticed for awhile.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on May 12th 2024 at 8:29:14 AM

Given that this is an incomplete account, I’m willing to bet that the story of Joy Boy will be presented to us like Noland the Liar: a third hand incomplete account presented first before a full flashback later.

Things are coming down to the wire. The Elders are overwhelming, and it’s likely they are about to go on a rampage. The Straw Hats are in no position to beat them yet.

I bet next chapter we will finally hear the name of the kingdom that Clover was stopped from saying all these years ago.

Cool that the weaker Strawhats were ultimately able to stall Saturn long enough that he gave up on getting to Robin.

Well, we've gotta see how involved that robot gets. And the Seraphim are still an X Factor as well, aren't they? I still don't love that this arc is apparently leading us to the Straw Hats STILL having to run from the Navy and World Government, but that is mitigated by the fact the fucking Elders are involved, which was not expected when this battle started. One Elder might've been manageable.

All that said... They know the Straw Hats are going to Elbaph. The present of the Giants makes that clear enough. How much good will running to Elbaph really do? Giants are powerful, of course. But not invincible.

Edited by diddyknux on May 12th 2024 at 10:44:01 AM

One thing that stood out to me in this chapter: Charlos's sister did not appear to recognize the term "Void Century". That strikes me as significant. It makes me wonder if the World Nobles simply don't care or if, for them, there isn't a Void, they know what happened, or at least their version.

Also as I typed this a thought occurred, how much of the Celestial Dragons' behavior would be explained by the possibility they've just been having an 800 year-long End of the World party? They already know what Vegapunk is saying, the original 20 Kings have no way to stop it, so they're just going to party hardy as long as they can until the end and their descendants turned into what we have now.

Vegapunk also says a five-meter rise of sea level would be enough to drown virtually all of modern civilization. And it's risen by one already. Four more shots of the superweapon...

And with all the kingdoms we know, seeing what is targeted is gonna be intense.

Kind of a short chapter, but it was good to see all the reactions, the Mother Flame, and more action. And confirmation of something Zunesha already alluded to, that Joyboy had the Nika Fruit. And him being a "pirate" was something I predicted!

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on May 12th 2024 at 9:01:06 AM

It also confirms that Joyboy and Nika are not literally the same. Nika is a pre-existing figure from the Giants' mythology that Joyboy was compared to.

It would be kinda weird if Joyboy became the model the fruit was based on after all. And we know D Fs were around at the time already from Toki.

Nobody can defuse these lore bombs.

The clock is gonna reach zero. No last seconds to spare for the world government.

Apparently, some pages compared mother flame to what appear in Enel's miniadventure in the cover of page 478, wether is the same thing or a coincidence, is yet to be revealed

@Hamburger Time: That was Doffy actially! And for him to know such a specific fact as well!

I kinda like how the people of Mock Town are still acting as the straw skeptics of the One Piece world.

You mean 472? It's true, that's an uncanny resemblance, especially with what appear to be representations of Pluton and Poseidon also on the carvings.

Edited by Moth13 on May 12th 2024 at 1:32:30 PM

Holy crap. A giant ship. Sea monsters. And a tiny flame in a circular container.

Ops, my bad. Yeah, that

Also one interpretation of the A&Mu seen on the Mother Flame container is A-To-Mu, or Atom, coming from "and/&" in Japanese (ex: Yotsuba&! being also known as Yotsubato)

So it all comes down to nukes.

All chapter I wanted Vegapunk to talk faster. He's giving us the good stuff but dammit, it still feels like teasing!

What I enjoyed about this chapter is showing Nika and Joyboy were not one in the same plus that Nika is even older than Joyboy. Also the fact Joyboy is the 1st pirate definitely raise more questions and I can't wait for the answers.

@diddyknux: I've actually wondered about that, and my mind raced to a terrifying possibility... What if once the Elbaf arc ends and the Strawhats say their goodbyes to the giants, just as they're sailing away Elbaf is erased in front of their eyes just like Lulusia. Is that possibility a bit too dark? Definitely, but I have a gut feeling Lulusia will not be the only destroyed kingdom in this final saga.

I feel like the "ticking clock" of the final World Government arc will be taking the superweapon down before it fires on somewhere we care about, likely Alabasta but Fishman Island and Luffy's home island are possibilities too.