Does Luffy find the One Piece? Here's how it could go

One of the biggest and most long-standing questions fans of author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s series have had is, does Luffy find the One Piece? and if so, how does he do it? Across the entirety of the series’ thousand-plus chapter run, fans have questioned whether or not the series’ protagonist will actually find the titular treasure.

Thankfully, there is a roadmap for how to find the series’ titular treasure. There are, however, some missing pieces that the Straw Hats have to find along the way, resulting in fans still asking, “does Luffy find the One Piece.”

Follow along as this article fully breaks down the question of whether Luffy finds the One Piece and speculates on some scenarios that may play into finding the treasure mentioned above.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the One Piece manga.

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Road Poneglyphs biggest help in answering the age-old question of “does Luffy find the One Piece?”

It’s almost a universal belief amongst fans that the Straw Hats will find the One Piece one day, but for a while, fans asked exactly how Luffy will find the One Piece. As the series has progressed, especially beyond the time-skip, the exact way in which Luffy will achieve this goal has become clearer.

During the Zou arc, Oda introduced the Road Poneglyphs by presenting the first of their kind during the arc. As part of the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai alliance, the Straw Hats were given access to this significant body of text by the leaders of the Mokomo Dukedom.

The Poneglyph's purpose was also explained in the series, with their only relevant use being part of the map, which reveals the location of Laugh Tale, the last island in the Grand Line. This is where Joy Boy left his story (as seen during the Oden flashback), and this is also where the series’ eponymous treasure rests, waiting to be claimed.

Despite a chain of islands technically leading up to it, Laugh Tale is hidden behind the aforementioned Road Poneglyphs. The issue arises after reaching Lodestar Island, where navigators find their Log Poses unable to reset towards the next island, Laugh Tale. Instead, the needles will just spin and never point the way to the final island.

Thus, the Road Poneglyphs are the only known way to truly reach the last island of Laugh Tale and, consequently, the One Piece. Unfortunately, another issue arises in the unknown location of the fourth and final Road Poneglyph. Following the Wano arc, the Straw Hats found themselves in possession of 3 of the 4 Road Poneglyphs needed to point their way from Lodestar to Laugh Tale.

The fourth and final Road Poneglyph was last known to be on Fishman Island 25 years ago, where Gol D. Roger and his crew found it during his final journey through the Grand Line. However, the Ponegylph wasn’t in the Sea Forest next to Joy Boy’s message when Luffy and the Straw Hats arrived, meaning it had gone missing sometime in between.

With no information on its current whereabouts, it's unfortunately considered lost. However, there's little doubt that the Straw Hats will eventually uncover this final Poneglyph, answering the ultimate question, "how does Luffy find the One Piece?"

With that said, there's still the matter of exactly how Luffy and his crew will discover the 4th Road Poneglyph's location. One possibility that can be excluded is the Whitebeard Pirates stealing the Poneglyph when Fishman Island was under their protection.

However, Whitebeard himself never expressed an interest in finding the One Piece. Marco's alliance with the Straw Hats during the Wano arc and not telling them about the 4th Road Poneglyph's location further suggests that the crew didn't have it. Similarly, Big Mom only having one Road Poneglyph indicates her not taking it either.

One possibility is that the Marines or World Government actually possess the 4th and final Road Poneglyph. With Jinbe having been made a Shichibukai before the start of the series, it's possible that a visit to Fishman Island with the First Son of the Sea ended with the World Government stealing the Road Poneglyph.

This could then parlay into Vegapunk being asked to study the Road Poneglyph since its abduction, providing easy access for Luffy to obtain it. This is especially true since Vegapunk seems to be getting off on a friendly foot with the Straw Hats, as seen in One Piece Chapter 1061 scanlations. It seems fans may finally be getting close to a definitive answer to the age-old question of "does Luffy find the One Piece?"

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