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The recent One Piece chapters have been centered around Dr Vegapunk’s message to the world. As Vegapunk began his speech by claiming that the One Piece world is destined to sink underwater, the entire globe was thrown into turmoil. The old scientist touched upon some major arguments, such as the Void Century events and Joy Boy’s history.
Nevertheless, many fans criticized the fact that Vegapunk’s speech sounded more like a recap, as most of the information featured in it was already well-known or very easy to guess. This is true to a certain extent, as no one was surprised to hear that Joy Boy was the first pirate in history. Even the reveal that the world was once made up of several huge continents had already been predicted by a popular theory.
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However, Vegapunk’s message serves not only to inform the readers about the lore of the series but also to expose those secrets to the very inhabitants of the franchise’s fictional world. Oda’s audience is very informed, but the knowledge available to the readers is not necessarily available to the characters in verse. The mangaka is trying to present the truth to everyone so that each can make their own choice when the final conflict begins.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to chapter 1116.
Vegapunk's speech will change the One Piece world forever
Fans and in-verse characters have different levels of knowledge
Up until this point, the only truly shocking revelations contained in Vegapunk’s message are that a huge man-made flood reshaped the One Piece world and that this event is set to happen again in the future. Fans rightly expect to learn something more, such as the name of the Great Kingdom or even the real identity of Imu-sama.
What’s important to remember, however, is that, apart from the fans, the topics touched on by Vegapunk are a secret for the large majority of the people who live in the fictional world of the series. The intertwined, realistic worldbuilding is one of the major aspects of Eiichiro Oda’s story.
It’s taken for granted that characters know everything, but this hardly corresponds to the truth, especially in One Piece’s vast, ever-evolving, and variegated world, where most people only know things through rumors. For example, most commoners in the series are shocked to see Devil Fruit users, but seeing them is nothing to be surprised about for the fans.
It has been shown several times that real events are often distorted by accounts or even completely manipulated by newspapers. That’s not even considering that the World Government literally erases things and people from history and forbids anybody to try to get some information on certain topics.
Another crucial thing to consider is that the various islands are isolated, so they hardly communicate and exchange information. People know the most famous and legendary names, but there’s no guarantee that they are truly aware of much more than just their reputation.
The most powerful and important characters possess much greater knowledge but don’t necessarily know the truth about the world. If anything, most of them probably aren’t aware of Imu’s existence.
Fans take this for granted and are eager to know the full identity of the mysterious leader of the World Government. Still, most of the characters in the fictional world don’t even know that this individual exists. For this reason, enlightening everyone is absolutely pivotal, as it will trigger people’s reactions.
By showing how people worldwide react to Vegapunk’s message, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda also gives fans an overview of friends, allies, and enemies before the turning point. It gives the vibes of the story truly entering its final and most decisive part.
An entangled world that evolves through conflict
With the recent reveals, many apparently minor things suddenly make much more sense. The sea slowly submerges Water Seven, Rayleigh being a ship-coating mechanic, Shanks and his men having no Devil Fruit powers, the Holy Land of Mary Geoise being built very high above sea level, or Long Ring Long Land changing during high and low tide are all details that hold a different meaning now.
The entire One Piece world will now learn the truth, and something big will come out of this. The abolishment of the Seven Warlords during the latest Levely was just the beginning, as now the various kingdoms will change their political views. Vegapunk claimed that, with regards to the two sides that fought during the Void Century, he won’t openly take a stand, which is actually interesting.
The fact that the scientist said that he won’t label either side as good or evil is odd, especially considering the insane amount of wicked deeds that the World Government committed, which include slavery and mass murder. Celestial Dragons consider regular humans worthless insects that can be enslaved and killed without a second thought.
Nevertheless, Vegapunk’s words will expose the fact that World Government leaders are the culprits for the huge flood that reshaped the globe in the past and threatens it even now. In all likelihood, these are identical people, as Imu and the Five Elders appear to be immortal individuals already in circulation during the Void Century.
Of course, this will cause many people and entire nations to rebel against the World Government’s fake democracy. This is also the perfect set-up to involve the Revolutionary Army in the story. Moreover, regardless of how far Vegapunk will go with his revelations, his words will cast doubts in the Marines.
The Navy is definitely going to split, as it has been heavily foreshadowed for a long time, not least by Vegapunk’s own words to Dragon after the Ohara Incident:
“Within the Navy, in particular, there are many reasonable people to be found!”
After Vegapunk’s speech, the world will be in complete chaos, which is the perfect setting as the story heads into the endgame. Upon learning that someone is about to use the same technology that once sank a large portion of the globe, people will not stay indifferent. Some individuals won’t believe the news, but most of the population will accept it.
Granted, it’s not like the average inhabitants of the One Piece world can do much to thwart the menace. However, Eiichiro Oda’s ultimate goal with Vegapunk’s message is to set things so that many relevant characters can get involved in the final saga. This will make the story a tale about the entire world and not just the Straw Hat Pirates.
With the truth exposed, the conflict between those who oppose the World Government and those who will continue to support it is unavoidable. There also will be major inner struggles, especially within the Navy and likely even among the Celestial Dragons and the CP0.
There have been already some examples of good-hearted Celestial Dragons, and it’s highly possible that, after the events of the Egghead Incident, Lucci and Kaku’s blind adherence to the World Government’s dictates may falter. Meanwhile, the Cross Guild and the Blackbeard Pirates have yet to make their move.
The series enters its true endgame
One Piece author Eiichiro Oda used Vegapunk’s message both as a narrative device to reveal some of the greatest secrets of the lore and as a trigger for the decisive war that will decide the fate of the globe.
When Vegapunk’s message ends, all the cards will be on the table. The countdown to the biggest and final conflict in the series will officially begin. This time, it will no longer be about the fate of the Straw Hats or a single island, as the whole world will be at stake.
The point of showing the reaction of the countless characters that appear throughout the story is, in fact, to emphasize both the length of the journey and the fact that now everything is at stake. Furthermore, whoever the Straw Hats encounter from now on will be informed about both the world’s distant past and near future, making every character potentially decisive for the next developments in the story.
Related Links
- One Piece chapter 1116 release date and time
- One Piece chapter 1116: Major spoilers to expect
- One Piece chapter 1115 review
- One Piece chapter 1115: Was Joy Boy part of a special race? Explored
- One Piece already foreshadowed the continents before Void Century, and it's not the Pangaea theory
