The answer
Slipped off a cliff. Gaimon landed inside an empty treasure chest while searching for treasure on a hill.
Ch. 22, p. 18open pagesettled: yes
Key facts
- Where
- Ch. 22Syrup Village
- Status
- Settled · Ch. 22
How we know
Chapter 22 · updated
Gaimon got stuck inside a treasure chest after slipping and falling off a cliff. In the flashback Gaimon climbs a steep rocky hill while searching for treasure and reaches the top where he sees several treasure chests lined up. He exclaims "It's here! I've found it!" before he slips and falls backward off the cliff. He lands perfectly inside an empty treasure chest at the bottom and narrates "By the time I woke up, I was already stuck in this chest..." ch. 22, p. 18. Gaimon's body and the chest become fused together after twenty years so that Luffy cannot pull him free despite repeated attempts. ch. 22, p. 11 His pirate companions sail away without him after he fails to reach the shore in time. ch. 22, p. 19 Gaimon later realizes the treasure on the island is now his alone because he cannot leave the chest. ch. 22, p. 19 The manga states this sequence directly with no other explanation given for how the chest became permanently attached to him.