One Piece reveals the true nature of Treasure Tree Adam in chapter 1131

One Piece fans know the Thousand Sunny as the second ship used by the Straw Hat Pirates on their journey across the Grand Line. The ship was designed and built by Franky, who dreamed of making a vessel that could sail around the globe. To ensure the craftmanship of the Thousand Sunny, Franky built it with Adam Wood, the highest-quality wood in the One Piece world.

Tough as it is, the Thousand Sunny has saved the Straw Hats on more than one occasion, proving that Adam Wood’s reputation is well deserved. This superlative wood can only be found on the black market due to its rarity. For the same reason, it gets sold at high prices, as if it were a precious jewel.

This explains why the plant that produces this wood is known as “Treasure Tree Adam”. Ever since this tree was first mentioned in One Piece, fans have speculated that it might be located in Elbaph, which explains their joy when the latest chapter of the pirate-themed manga confirmed this old theory to be true.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to chapter 1131.

A long-held fan theory is finally proved true in One Piece chapter 1131

The Treasure Tree Adam is confirmed to be in Elbaph

The Treasure Tree Adam as imagined by Franky (Image via Toei Animation)

Fans’ theories are rarely proven correct, especially in a story as unpredictable and multi-layered as Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece. This time, however, fans were on the right track. When Franky explained how he built the Thousand Sunny, he mentioned that he used the wood from a tree located in a war-torn country.

At the time, Elbaph had already been introduced in the series as an island full of warriors willing to fight to the death. While this led some fans to speculate that Elbaph was the country Franky was talking about, the community’s consensus became almost universal when a glimpse of the homeland of the Giants was shown in One Piece chapter 866.

The chapter showed the outline of a massive tree towering in the center of Elbaph, which fans immediately assumed to be Treasure Tree Adam. This theory was finally proved correct with the long-awaited beginning of the Elbaph Arc. The story introduced fans to the character of Loki, an evil Giant that was chained to the tree in the middle of the island to punish him for his misdeeds.

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In One Piece chapter 1131, Loki asked Monkey D. Luffy to free him from his restraints, and revealed that the tree to which he is tied is in fact Treasure Tree Adam. The manga shows the tree as a colossal plant that towers over Elbaph, dwarfing the entire island in size and essentially dividing it into two distinct regions.

In its upper part, the tree extends up to the clouds, and its huge branches allow the population to build houses and even castles. The lower part of the tree is bordered by its lower branches, which delimit a snowy region with mountains in the internal area, and grassy plains in the area near the coast.

The wood used to build the world's most iconic ships

Franky talking about the Adam Wood (Image via Shueisha)

The fact that Elbaph is actually the home of Treasure Tree Adam means that the Thousand Sunny is— in a certain sense— in its birthplace. Of course, fans are now eager to see Franky’s reaction to this.

When he told Luffy and the others about the Adam Wood, the shipwright had words of heartfelt appreciation for the tree from which it was harvested, saying that it remained intact despite the conflicts tearing apart the surrounding land.

Franky’s mentor Tom used the Adam Wood to build the Oro Jackson, the ship used by the Roger Pirates to travel around the entire Grand Line and find the legendary One Piece treasure. Aiming to create a ship even better than the Oro Jackson, Franky built the Thousand Sunny, and joined the Straw Hat Pirates to sail the world with them.

The narrative parallel between the Roger Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates, with the latter being the new generation version of the former and vice versa, and their signature ship being built from the wood of the same formidable tree, links indissolubly the two crews of the Pirate King, the past one and the future one.

A legendary tree intertwined with the lore of One Piece

The Treasure Tree Adam towering over Elbaph (Image via Shueisha)

The island of Elbaph appears to be based on Norse mythology, with the houses, clothes, and weapons of the Giants resembling those of the people from Viking Age Scandinavia. Given this, the Treasure Tree Adam may be a reference to the mythological tree Yggdrasil. In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is a colossal tree linking the nine worlds that constitute the cosmos.

The name Yggdrasil was used to refer to the tree present in the diorama created by Road, the former member of the New Giant Warrior Pirates and self-proclaimed “Sun God” of Elbaph. Despite being huge in its own right, this tree disappears compared to the immense Treasure Tree Adam. Road’s diorama was a miniature reproduction of the entire island.

He called himself the “Sun God”, just like Loki does. Inside the diorama, there is a tall tree that recalls the one at the center of the island. Moreover, Road had ferocious beasts at his service, much like Loki has his own monstrous subordinates.

With Treasure Tree Adam being the focus of Elbaph’s civilization, it’s entirely possible that it is inspired by the mythological Yggdrasil, and thus keeps together the One Piece version of the Norse mythology’s Nine Worlds.

Treasure Tree Adam and Sunlight Tree Eve must have some connection (Image via Shueisha)

One Piece chapter 1131 has already revealed that the central-southern portion of the island is called the “Underworld”, and serves as a prison and execution ground for Giants who— just like Loki— have committed serious crimes.

Hopefully, the upcoming chapters will also expose the connection between Treasure Tree Adam and Sunlight Tree Eve. The latter is an enormous tree that supplies air and light to Fish-Man Island by absorbing them on the surface and transferring them to its roots located on the ocean floor.

The location of the top of this tree on the surface is unknown, but it’s thanks to it that Fish-Man Island has air and solar light.

In anticipation of the story revealing more about these two legendary trees, One Piece has already implied that there’s some narrative link between them, their names being a reference to the biblical tale of Adam and Eve, the first two humans who ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.