What the Cross Guild needs to find the One Piece, explained

The latest spoilers and leaks for the upcoming One Piece chapter were especially exciting since it kept the pace and tone that the series has maintained over the years. What made this latest set of spoilers, raw scans, and scanlations so intriguing was that it focused on the Cross Guild, essentially the crew of the beloved Buggy the Clown.

Moreover, fans saw Buggy proclaim that he and the Cross Guild are officially in the hunt for the One Piece alongside fellow Yonko Blackbeard, Shanks, and Luffy. While the general Cross Guild members were excited by this announcement, Crocodile and Mihawk were left fuming at Buggy setting such an unrealistic goal. However, this begs the question of whether or not it truly is unrealistic for the Cross Guild to acquire the series’ eponymous treasure after entering so late in the race.

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Road to the One Piece may be difficult for the Cross Guild, but far from insurmountable

Before diving into what the Cross Guild needs to find the One Piece, it’s worth explaining where the series’ treasure is and why it needs specific items to be found. The treasure is left behind by Gol D. Roger, the former Pirate King who was the first to fully sail the Grand Line. This includes the final island of Laugh Tale, which Roger named and is where he left the titular treasure.

In fact, the treasure was originally left there by Joy Boy, with Roger and his crew only rediscovering it rather than creating it originally, as seen in the Kozuki Oden flashback. Furthermore, Roger only found the Laugh Tale on what was technically his second trip around the Grand Line. On his first, he and his crew reached Lodestar Island and found that they could go no further, as per their Log Poses.

This was due to their not having the four Road Poneglyphs, which are key to making it to Laugh Tale and finding the One Piece. The Road Poneglyphs are a subset of standard Poneglyphs, which are massive stone tablets with ancient text carved onto them. These texts can be anything from stories to the true history of the world to maps which help find the One Piece.

However, only a few people in the world can read these texts, all of them with varying skill and accuracy. For example, Gol D. Roger wasn’t able to read the language itself but could tell what was written on the Poneglyph via the Voice of All Things, which he had. The Three-Eye Tribe is one race that is genetically predisposed to having the Voice of All Things.

Beyond this ability, only Nico Robin of the Straw Hat Pirates and Kozuki Sukiyaki of Wano can read the text that’s on the Poneglyphs. This means that Buggy either needs to convince Sukiyaki or Robin to work with the Cross Guild in order for him to read the Road Poneglyphs and find the One Piece.

While he can try and find someone with the Voice of All Things, the Three-Eye Tribe’s homeland is unknown, which is a way to qualify who can and cannot hear the Voice of All Things. Even if Buggy is able to somehow find someone willing to read the Road Poneglyphs for him, the more difficult task is obtaining the Road Poneglyphs

Of the four in total, the locations of the three are known. One is in Big Mom’s possession, the other is in the Whale Tree in Zou, while the third is hidden in a secret cavern at the foot of the submerged Mt. Fuji in Old Wano. The fourth one, however, is being guarded by someone with a burn scar who rides an all-black ship and uses whirlpools to stop anyone from approaching.

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Final thoughts

There are five key things Buggy and the Cross Guild need to find in order to obtain the One Piece. First and foremost, Buggy needs someone who can read the Road Poneglyphs. If he’s able to attain this, then he needs to find each of the aforementioned four Road Poneglyphs in order to map out the location of Laugh Tale. However, whether or not he can obtain these things is an entirely different matter.

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