Video version: https://youtu.be/S-YboNXtglU

Cover:

On the cover, it seems that Nekomamushi has joined Hyougoro in the position of acting as a yakuza boss while smoking his pipe. This is at Hyougorou’s own place at the Flower Capital, as indicated by the lantern with the writing “Hyou” on it, which stands for “Leopard”, the animal Hyougorou is associated with. Despite being a dog, Yamato has no issues getting along with this big fluffy cat.

Even more cameos!

On Pirate Island, a pair of pirates are talking about potentially finding sunken treasure in the sunken world. However one of them mentions that the sunken Gold City would only be found in one spot rather than all over the world, so locating it would still be hard. This is in fact a reference to Shandora; as you might remember, Noland came back to Jaya only for half of the island to be missing. We now know that the island was shot up into the sky by the knock-up stream, but Noland believed instead that the island sank to the bottom of the ocean, so he told the world that the island must’ve sunk. That myth persevered, as it is now known across the world that the City of Gold from Noland’s tale sunk to the ground, which most dismissed as the ramblings of a lunatic, but in the case of these pirates they do want to believe in the romance of it existing.

And in a fitting fashion, we actually get a brief cameo by the Saruyama Alliance, or Monkey Mountain Alliance, a reference to the “Mont” in Montblanc. As we saw in a previous cover story, Cricket, Masira, and Shoujou decided to move on from Jaya and search for new mysterious lands, previously having been in search of Nakrowa, the land of dreams, another fantastical place. In this case he is fascinated by lost lands that existed even beyond Noland, adding even more romance to this world.

However, let’s backtrack a little bit. Going back to the panel at Hachinosu, you can actually spot there what looks like to be Don Krieg! But not just him, accompanying him is actually… Gin! After years of memes, theory, and speculation, finally Gin makes it back to the story! As he said, he kept believing in Don Krieg, but it seems the two were humbled enough to actually take strengthening themselves seriously and actually made it all the way to the New World! Krieg himself now appears to have longer hair and generally looks a lot tougher and more respectable than the delusional man he once was. At the same time though, it doesn’t stop there because opposite to them is what appears to be Pearl! The other member of the Krieg Pirates who covered himself in this iconic massive steel plating, who has seemingly made it all the way to the New World with them as well.

We then cut to the general hospital at G-S, which is a Marine Base that is likely meant to be GrandLine Base “SWORD”, in this case serving to heal the injured SWORD members, unlike the other numbered G bases. Them having reached it in less than a day would indicate it’s not that far from the Egghead/Hachinosu area. It’s quite a massive base, as comparing it to the size of battleships surrounding the island, which we now know are about 60m wide, the base itself is about twice that size, making it at least about a couple hundred meters tall. Atop it is of course the symbol of the Marines, being the seagull.

Within the medical bay of the base, Koby, Hibari, and Helmeppo are recovering, alongside Prince Grus, Kujaku, and a surprise cameo by Pandaman! Their medical shirts are all also branded with the term “Marine”.

Shockingly enough though, X Drake also makes his appearance. Last we knew of him, he was pretty fatally wounded in Onigashima and passed out next to Hawkins, with Prince Grus mentioning as late as almost an entire month later that they still couldn’t get in contact with him. But I suppose that miraculously, Drake managed to pull himself together, survive, escape Wano, and then sail all the way to G-S to receive further care. Either he got help from the Straw Hats but that was off-screened, or he really pulled this off all on its own! Even if it’s yet another case of characters refusing to die, it’s at least impressive he’s made it this far. As a small detail though, you can spot the den den mushi on the side having the same sideburns he has, and this is also one of the first times we see him properly unmasked in the present.

There’s also Smoker, who had been separated from Tashigi who went to Hachinosu with Garp, is now reuniting with her, asking her where she is and going after her at G-S. He is crossing the sea by riding on the Billower Bike, his special smoke-powered bike that he first used all the way back in Loguetown.

Meanwhile at at a certain town of particularly European architecture, Vegapunk continues his speech:

“Well, my words have been a bit fragmented, but if I added any more, I would just be delving into speculation.”

In response to this, one of the citizens demands “Tell us!! What is it that Roger left behind?!”. On the back of his jacket is the writing “Ittai naniwo”, which in Japanese translates to “What the hell is it”, referring to the very sentence he is uttering.

Zoro vs Nasujuro

Meanwhile, as Stussy dissolves the Labophase frontier dome, Zoro and Jinbe are about to reach the ship, but are surpassed by Nasujuro, who arrived onto the Labophase by using Geppo, who rushes in in an attempt to cut the Thousand Sunny. The Straw Hats even mention that they heard some great noise before, likely being Nasujuro cutting the Labophase in half. You can also get a really good feel for just how massive the transformed versions of the Gorosei are, as you can see how massively Nasujuro towers over the Thousand Sunny. It seems that as part of the transformation, just like his clothes, his sword also grows in size as well.

In this case however, Nasujuro is stopped as Jinbe propels Zoro with an attack called “Gyojin Jujutsu, Kataguruma”. This is a new move of Fishman Jujutsu which literally translates to “Piggyback Ride”, but in this case it’s a pun as the kanji used for this term reads as “Shoulder Car”, as Jinbe is literally throwing Zoro with an over the shoulder throw.

Zoro then follows up with a Nitoryuu, or two sword style move, called “Gokuraku Anyou Rashomon”. This is an enhanced version of “Rashomon”, a move that he originally used in the sea train to cut the train cars in half to open a path. Rashomon refers to the city gates that would allow entrance to great old cities like Kyoto, and are thus meant to create a path forward. In the case of the sea train Zoro was opening the path for them to continue, and in this case you could argue Zoro is opening up a path for them to escape. The additional preface here however furthers a deeper joke. “Gokuraku” refers to heaven, paradise, whereas “Anyou” refers to providing a place for the elderly. So in other words, “Gokuraku Anyou” means “providing the elderly with eternal rest to heaven”, which combined with the gate of Rashomon could be interpreted as Zoro opening “the gates of heaven” for Nasujuro. This is fitting not only as a fitting jab at Nasujuro that he is so elderly Zoro is figuratively trying to bring him to the gates of heaven, but it’s all just fitting due to the fact they are on a sky island where heaven would theoretically be to begin with.

However, as the two clash, both of them exclaim: “A Kitetsu blade?!!”, as apparent by the text box referring to both sides. This is massive however, as this finally confirms a long standing theory that has existed in the community for over 20 years! You see, the Kitetsu line of swords refers to a special line of swords that have been made by craftsmen of the Wano Country, which are particularly known for being Cursed Swords. It is said that whoever own Kitetsu swords end up meeting a horrible unfortunate death due to their cursed nature. At Loguetown, Zoro found the Sandai Kitetsu. “Sandai” means “Third Generation”, meaning it’s the third incarnation of this series of swords, which each successive sword being weaker than the original first. Zoro felt that the sword was cursed but still decided to defy its luck with his own.

Beyond the Sandai Kitetsu however, we saw the previous incarnation of the Nidai Kitetsu, or the Second Generation Kitetsu, said to be stronger than the Sandai Kitetsu. The Nidai was crafted by Kotetsu, an ancestor of Kouzuki Sukiyaki, which would imply they were a former Kouzuki shogun. Prior to the Nidai Kitetsu though, it was mentioned there existed a more fabled blade and the strongest of all Kitetsu, being the Shodai Kitetsu, or first generation Kitetsu.

To put it into perspective, the strongest swords in the One Piece world are classified into the Meito grading system, which is a system of grading swords, inspired by a real life Meito metric in Japan, that classifies the greatest blades in the World. Beyond the Wazamono, or “Sharpened Blades” of which there are an unspecified amount, the greatest swords can be further classified into three categories: there are 50 Ryo-Wazamono, or “Well-Sharpened Blades”, 21 O-Wazamono, or “Greatly-Sharpened Blades”, and 12 Saijo O-Wazamono, the “Best-Sharpened Blades”. Zoro’s Sandai Kitetsu does not qualify for these three higher grades, instead being a simpler “Wazamono” generic grade, but still considered a Meito blade. On the other hand, the Nidai Kitetsu is considered part of the 21 O-Wazamono, but the most special is that the Shodai Kitetsu is in the top 12 Saijo O Wazamono. This puts it on the same level as Mihawk’s Yoru, Whitebeard’s Murakumogiri, and Roger’s Ace, the best swords ever made. However keep in mind, if a blade is further strengthened by becoming a Kokuto, or a black blade, then it’s possible that it can rise in Meito grade.

And well, here’s the thing: fans have speculated for years now that the sword that Nasujuro possesses may actually be the fabled Shodai Kitetsu, the very first of the line of Kitetsu swords and the strongest of them all. This wasn’t just wild speculation, as the crossguard used for the sword was the same identical pattern that is reserved exclusively for the Kitetsu swords, which would have already indicated it was one of them, but this was still technically speculation until today where it is finally confirmed! And it only makes sense that this would be the Shodai Kitetsu rather than a blade inferior to even the Sandai, fitting for a swordsman of Nasujuro’s caliber.

Thing is though, now knowing about the demonic truths of the Gorosei, this makes one wonder more about the swords. For one, “Kitetsu” translates to “demon piercer”. But was this intended as a sword meant to pierce demons or perhaps was it a sword intended for demons to pierce others, given how Nasujuro, a demon himself, wields it? At the same time, it also makes one wonder… does Nasujuro have something to do with the curse the Kitetsu blades carry? After all we’ve already seen how the likes of Saturn could spread diseases through his actions, so could Nasujuro similarly have been able to imbue the swords with a curse in some form, perhaps through his fruit or something?

Either way, after the two clash, Zoro tells them to already get the ship going and they’ll just hop onto it as it shoots out with a Coup de Burst. Meanwhile Luffy and the giants finally reach the Elbaf ship and prepare to escape, and with how things are wrapping up, the ending may be more imminent than we realize. If you take a look, you can also notice that the figurehead of the drakkar of the giants has been repaired after Nasujuro cut it, as it has been stitched back together onto the ship being held by some wooden planks and rope.

However Vice-Admirals Bluegrass and Doll arrive from the other side of the island and they manage to make a hole in the ship, which may cause trouble. Dhole herself attacks with an attack with her armament haki called “Rock and Roll Blaster”, which is a fitting move for her rock aesthetic. The kanji reading for it reads as “音魂の爆発”, or “Explosions of Soul Music”.

Vegapunk’s final words

As Vegapunk’s main message comes to an end, before we read his last closing words, let’s quickly summarize so far everything that his speech has confirmed for the series:

1. Nika and Joyboy are indeed not the same. The former is a mythical figure, the latter was a real pirate
2. Joyboy was a former user of the mythical Nika fruit, and he awakened the fruit
3. Joyboy originated from the ancient kingdom
4. Joyboy was considered the “first pirate”
5. Imu has the final ancient weapon aside from Pluton and Poseidon, which would have to be Uranus
6. The world sank under the water by 200 meters after an ancient weapon was used continuously
7. Joyboy’s defeat marked the end of the Void Century around 800 years ago
8. Imu’s ultimate plan at present is to completely sink the world under the sea

All the Gorosei, aside from Nasujuro who is above, quickly gather around the Iron Giant, in an attempt to close the transmission. We see yet another country of Eastern appearance reacting to Vegapunk’s words. Given the tall peaks and the architecture, it’s possible this may be the Kano Country, the country from where Don Sai of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet originates, which is inspired by real life Korea, known as the “Kan Country” in Japanese. Focusing on Vegapunk’s message though, in his final words he mentions:

”And one last thing… allow me to deliver a message. To those bearing the name “D.” scattered across the world. Within you, there’s another mo-“

And the call cuts off, as Warcury slams into the iron giant, causing it to tumble around and for the transmission den den mushi inside of it to malfunction. And unfortunately, we literally get one single syllable to work with here, which isn’t much. But this is Japanese, so there is still something we can extrapolate out of this. First and foremost, are the words that precede it. Vegapunk is clearly addressing this to the people of the D. clan, but specifically he mentions “within you” (お前さん達の中に), which is complicated as both in English and Japanese it can be interpreted in two ways.

For one, the most logical meaning is that “within you” refers to among the group. Meaning that Vegapunk is trying to say that among the members of the D. clan there is someone or something. Perhaps maybe he intends to say that among them there is a traitor of sorts or something like that, perhaps referring to Teach being the only member of the D. clan who seems to be actively working against the Dawn, with Rocks having seemingly preceded him. But “within you” can also be interpreted more literally as actually being within them, as in within each of their bodies. The Japanese word here is “naka”, which literally means “in the middle of”, or “inside of”, so it could actually refer to the members of the D. clan possessing something inside them, whether it’s some power, will, or other thing.

Vegapunk follows this in Japanese with a single character: “Mo”. In this case, “mo” is written on its own as hiragana. Meaning that it’s not trying to be an English sounding word, as that would use katakana, and it doesn’t seem to be part of a larger word, as that would usually be written in kanji, though it could be due to it being cut off.

Instead on its own, generally the character “mo” often serves as a particle, which in this case indicates aggregation. It varies by the context, but in English it is often translated as “too”, or “else”. As a basic example, I can say “Watashi mo iku”, or “I’m also going”. “Watashi” is “me”, “iku” is “to go”, so “mo” here can mean “also”. So in this case, Vegapunk’s words could mean “Within you is also a…” or “Within you is another…” something something.

So the possible readings here are either one: the most obvious interpretation, being that Vegapunk is saying that among the D. clan there is “another”. As we mentioned this first reading could be read as perhaps there being an additional traitor within them, or something like that. But if we go by the second reading though, we could take it that to the members of the D. clan there is something additional that exists within them, or something else that isn’t part of them entirely.

What comes to mind to me is the fact that it was mentioned that the D. clan carry inherited will with them. Though inherited will isn’t specific to the D. clan, it simply refers to all those who have inherited someone else’s dream, the D. clan generally seems to bring forth the will of the D., the will of their ancestors, which seems to be the will to wish to bring the Dawn of the World as even Lily herself mentioned.

But generally as we understood it, inherited will is more of an abstract concept right? But what if there’s more to it, something more physical? After all, according to Rosinante, the D. Clan are the “fateful clan”, a clan that seems to have some influence over fate. Several characters have pointed this out in regard to Luffy, with how he seems to be able to influence fate in some way or another to always survive no matter the impossible odds, with many wondering if he has fate on his side beyond just pure luck. This makes them the natural enemies of the Gods, the Celestial Dragons, though one could read this as being the enemies of nature herself, the Sea, or in other words Imu as we’ve long since speculated.

But perhaps, think about it this way. It’s more obvious than what. you might think. What if what Vegapunk actually meant is that what may also exist within the D. Clan is actually the mo