The story of One Piece has recently concluded the long and messy battle for Future Island/Egghead, and the characters on both sides of the battle are still picking up the pieces as of the manga’s 1125th chapter. This chapter accomplishes a few noteworthy things to build upon Chapter 1124’s own bizarre developments and raise the stakes and tension yet again.

Chapter 1125, in short, shows multiple factions assessing the situation and getting themselves ready for their next moves. In the process, each side plays up their own strengths and personalities, from the World Government’s typical villainy and ruthlessness to the Revolutionary Army being decisive and slightly desperate as the underdogs, not to mention the endless tricks of the Vegapunk group. The plot makes some impressive strides in this chapter, giving fans many reasons to look forward to the Elbaph arc that looms ahead.

One Piece Official Trailer (Trailer)The Surviving Vegapunk Satellites Prove That Science Really Can Cheat Death

Advanced Technology Can Do What Devil Fruits and Miracles Cannot

One of the later scenes in Chapter 1125 is a solid reminder that advanced science and technology has a wholly unique role to play in the story of One Piece. For the most part, this pirate manga is a fantasy adventure, even if it lacks high fantasy staples like dragons and wizards, and it has been made clear that these fantasy elements have their limits. The Devil Fruit and Haki combat system are mainly geared toward shonen-style battles, and no weapons more advanced than rifles and ship cannons are seen, with the Ancient Weapons being obvious yet elusive examples. As for the limits of the human body and mortality itself, only Brook’s Revive-Revive Fruit can cheat death, while the power of science makes immortality easy. After all, Lilith told the Straw Hats in Chapter 1124 that Vegapunk didn’t “die” in the conventional sense, and now One Piece readers can see what she meant.

The main Dr. Vegapunk, the Stella, is certainly dead thanks to the attacks of the terrifying Admiral Kizaru and his Devil Fruit. However, even if readers also saw the Satellites perish one by one, they are not fully dead. As Chapter 1125 shows, they survived and are now in control of the Genius Brain, all thanks to Edison. The Vegapunks known as Atlas, Pythagoras, and Shaka are still alive as parts of Edison’s body now, marking them as artificial and perhaps mechanical beings. This is a rare example of hard sci-fi at work in One Piece, yet another reminder that this world is truly huge and has some bizarre secrets out there for readers to discover.

This almost feels like a watered down version of transhumanism, the concept of people’s minds and bodies being radically altered by technology. Having those “dead” Vegapunks survive in this form as mental constructs in a chimera body is somewhat similar to the concept of a memory upload, or uploading somebody’s mind and consciousness into a computer mainframe. No other faction in One Piece‘s world could have done this, but the Vegapunks make it look easy, wandering around the detached Genius Brain as four beings uploaded into one body, so to speak. It’s only natural that a brilliant group like this would have the tech and the foresight to escape death in this way, safely floating in the Genius Brain on those fabricated clouds until the world is ready for them once again. Such are the wonders of Future Island, a place unlike anything Luffy and his friends have seen anywhere on either half of the Grand Line.

Figarland Garling Becomes a New Elder to Replace Jaygarcia Saturn

The World Government is Quick to Dispose of Powerful Agents it No Longer Has Use For

Meanwhile, the World Government proves yet again what a ruthless and unforgiving entity it truly is. The mysterious and all-powerful being Imu is deeply disappointed by Jaygarcia Saturn’s failure to capture Luffy as the new Joy Boy, and for once, One Piece fans get to see an Elder pleading for his life and acting vulnerable. It does Saturn no good, because Imu uses mysterious means to shrivel Saturn to death and leave only his bones behind, robbing the World Government of a powerful warrior and politician. At roughly the same time, the swordsman Figarland Garling steps into the Five Elders’ chambers as one of them, introducing himself as Saturn’s official replacement. The other four Elders seem unsettle by this, but voice no objections, probably fearing that Imu will punish them next if they voice any dissent.

This has a variety of implications, some new and some familiar. Most obvious of all is the sheer ruthlessness of this act, with Imu disposing of such a powerful ruler and warrior without any second thoughts. It’s further evidence that the World Government will coldly rid itself of anyone who disappoints Imu or feels like a liability in any way, and this may remind fans of the disbandment of the Seven Warlords of the Sea right after the Wano saga. The World Government’s leaders felt more suspicious of their own agents than ever, deciding to nip a potential problem in the bud by stripping all Warlords of their rank and privileges, whether those Warlords showed signs of trouble or not. That was why Dracule Mihawk formed Cross Guild with Sir Crocodile, after all, and it’s why Boa Hancock was recently attacked.

Thematically, all this makes the World Government the exact opposite of the heroes in this manga. While the World Government has no sentimentality and favors bonds of duty and intimidation over trust, the heroes are all about the familiar power of friendship, as shown when Usopp and Nico Robin both tried to quit the Straw Hat crew in the Water 7 saga, only to be convinced to return. That power of friendship often comes bundled with the power of forgiveness and second chances, which allows characters like Usopp to learn and grow from mistakes and failures, and it’s inspiring to see. By contrast, villainous factions like the World Government sternly punish failure, usually to set an example for everyone else and motivate them through fear to succeed at all costs. Villains like Imu might think they’re doing the right thing when they kill off the likes of Jaygarcia Saturn, but in reality, they are foolishly robbing themselves of assets.

There’s also the question about whether Figarland Garling will merely replace Saturn as a politician, or whether he will also assume Saturn’s combat role. Notably, little is known of Figarland’s combat skills aside from his swordsmanship, and it’s not even clear if he knows how to use Haki or has a Devil Fruit of his own. Given his reputation, he probably has one or both of those things, and now that he is one of the Five Elders, One Piece elders may get their answers soon. This may also disrupt the pattern of the Elders having mythical Zoan-type Fruits with their full powers awakened, unless by some slim chance Garling happens to have his own Devil Fruit of that type. Given how rare mythical Zoan-type Fruits are, though, that seems quite unlikely.

Monkey D.Dragon’s Words Make the Final Battle That Much More Urgent

The Heroes Have Very Little Time to Fight For a Better Future

The final scene in Chapter 1125 shows a handful of members of the Revolutionary Army thinking over what all this means for them and their crusade against the World Government’s tyranny. It’s clear to Koala, Sabo, and the others that the impending ecological disaster is complicating things, since the Revolutionary Army already had its hands full fighting the World Government itself. Now the Army’s members are fighting rising tides, making their final battle that much more desperate and urgent. That’s the kind of thing any shonen endgame phase should do, add yet more stakes at the last minute to take audiences by surprise and make everyone tense about how this new set of problems will be resolved in the near future. The threat of the sinking world isn’t something Koala and Sabo were prepared to deal with, but now, they have no choice. This may stretch their creativity and resources to the limit.

All this is summarized by Luffy’s father, Monkey D. Dragon, who points out how much this complicates their endgame battle. This is now about more than the Army vs the World Government — it’s about everyone vs each other in a panicked free-for-all as land becomes a precious commodity. Only the highest ground will be spared, and everyone will fight over it. This is the time when the Revolutionary Army needs to unite the entire world to overthrow the World Government, but that won’t happen if everyone is fighting each other over what little land will remain. Perhaps that was the entire point of each case of the sinking world, turning people against each other fighting over safe land so no one can unite to take down the World Government.

That’s a grim situation, but Dragon and his son just might have the solution, especially if Luffy gets his hands on the One Piece, Gol D. Roger’s famed treasure. This is yet another reason why Luffy must find that treasure ASAP to save the world, not just to satisfy fans’ curiosity about what the One Piece is. If the manga will spend 27 years and counting teasing fans about what the One Piece treasure is, then there had better be some serious stakes about why the One Piece’s discovery will matter so much, and the manga has provided those stakes, and father and son both know it.