My Theory on The One Piece

WHAT IS THE REAL LIFE ONE PIECE

As some of you may know, Roger's execution is inspired by the legend of Olivier Levasseur's (La Buse's) execution. So one of the most important clues to what the One Piece would probably be connected to La Buse's treasure, especially with how much Oda loves to reference real-world histories and mythologies. Well, the One Piece in our world is La Buse's greatest treasure and the very thing that got him executed in the first place. It is The Fiery Cross of Goa.

WHAT DOES THE FIERY CROSS OF GOA MEAN IN ONE PIECE

The Eternal Flame

The cross is called "Fiery" because it is made of gold and in the light of the Sun, it glows so brightly as if it was on fire. The first thing I thought it could represent is the Eternal Flame. Vegapunk mentioned a better power source than the Mother Flame that the Great Kingdom used and since the Mother Flame is a blatant reference to nuclear fission, the natural progression from that would be nuclear fusion which we are currently using to create an artificial Sun. The "lingering shadows" line in the Harley was not only a callback to the Akazaya being called "Shadows of the Night", but also a reference to the shadows left behind after a nuclear attack like in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This line is referring to the victims of the Void Century war. The theme of "attaining the Sun" was also prominent all throughout One Piece, like when:

• Luffy punching Crocodile into the light and exposing his scheme
• Luffy punched a ball of gold into the sky to clear up Enel's storm clouds
• Luffy freeing everyone's shadows in Thriller Bark so they can face the Sun again
• Luffy bringing light into Doffy's underground slave factory

The Sun became a symbol of freedom itself and as the Harley said:

"The Sun will return and a new dawn will come"

- The Harley (Chapter 1138)

This means that the Eternal Flame will be connected to reversing The Great Cleansing and bringing back sunlight to "the underworld" and the slaves under the holy land.

Not to mention, we literally see what looks to be Imu's final form holding "the Sun" on the left side of the Elbaf Mural. This creature in the mural is simply the natural progression of Imu's current form. In his second form, we see that:

• He got bigger
• He has two more horns
• His black cape/wing starts enveloping his arms, which is why the Deep Covenant mark is there instead of on his back like when he arrived on Elbaf

From this, we can assume that Imu's final form will be a big, black monster with a crown of six horns like the creature we see in the mural which itself already looks like the silhouette Sabo saw in the Throne Room.

So, with this drawing from the mural, the multiple references to "the Sun" in the Harley, and the fact that Oda specifically used a unique word to refer to the "Hellflame Serpent", I think it's reasonable enough to say that the Eternal Flame will be a crucial part to the future of the story.

Nika

When talking about the Sun, there is one famous story about Hanuman who ate the Sun because he mistakes it for a fruit. But why does this story matter? It's because Hanuman is believed to be a possible inspiration for Sun Wukong who inspires a lot of anime protagonists such as Goku, Naruto and of course, Luffy. Luffy's Bajrang Gun (which he used in Gear 5) was also a direct reference to Hanuman. Luffy accidentally eating the Sun God fruit in chapter one could also be a reference to the very same story, so I think Nika also "consumed the Sun" somehow which is what gave him his power, and as we already talked about, "the Sun" is synonymous with the Eternal Flame. This leads me to think that the "Cross" part is referring to a gravestone. We've already seen a cross with the Sun symbol in it such as the one in Kuma's church. We also know that Qilingham's weapon is a reference to the crucifixion so I think that means that Qilingham's ancestor might've been the one to execute Nika. That ties up the Eternal Flame, Nika and the cross, specifically in terms of the crucifixion. Additionally, in Gaimon's island, there are six chests which is the same amount of chests we saw in God Valley, and in both cases, one of those chests has a human inside them like Gaimon and Shanks. All of these lead me to think that the "Fiery Cross" would mean the grave of the Sun God.

The Nerona Dynasty

So what happened after Nika became the Sun God? For this part, I am inspired by the part of the Elbaf Mural where you can see the Noah next to a winged person and being led by a king. Since the winged person seems to be able to fly, I think it is not just a representation of a normal Skypiean, but the first few Lunarians. The reason I think they would be the first few Lunarians is because I think the flames on their backs came from the Eternal Flame. It is literally an undying fire, and a few chapters before Lunarians were introduced, we see Marco lending his fire to help the people affected by the Ice Oni virus just like what I'm proposing here. But why would Nika lend the Eternal Flame's power to these people? I believe it's so that they can lift the Noah away from the first world's oppressors (the Moon or the Red Line). As we know, when a Lunarian's flame disappears, they are able to fly faster. I think this is because they are using the flame's power which is how the Lunarians of the first world managed to carry the Noah away.

Now, what happened after they left? I believe they fell on what is now known as Dawn Island and built the Goa Kingdom. This is because Goa is built in what seems to be a massive crater around the size of the Noah and even their insignia is something that is in the shape of a meteorite. It made sense that the island that the Sun God fell in would be named the Dawn Island. I also had a theory that Nika is Imu's father which means that the Nerona Dynasty (God Dynasty) is also named after the Sun God. I realized that that theory might make this theory even longer than it already is, so I will address it some other time, but if it is true, it would explain why both Luffy and Sabo said that Dressrosa reminds them of their home. It would be because Dressrosa is also an island that used to be ruled by a Celestial Dragon. Regardless of that portion of the theory, I think it is already pretty reasonable to think that the Sun God could've fallen on this island. Therefore, my final conclusion is that The Fiery Cross of Goa represents the Eternal Flame that is still alive inside the Sun God's grave.

WHAT THIS MEAN TO THE STORY

I think this can be great for the story because right now, Luffy's power depends on his devil fruit, which to me, feels like a borrowed power. Luffy did train with it a lot and really make it his own with the way he uses it, but that doesn't erase the fact that he's just using the best imitation of what Nika had. People have also been theorizing which Zoan devil fruit Blackbeard will have (assuming neither of the ones he already has is secretly a Zoan) so what if Blackbeard will end up stealing Luffy's devil fruit instead. I know there probably isn't much proof for this theory but I still think it'd be poetic to see Blackbeard using Nika's power since he is a perversion of everything that Luffy stands for. That way, Luffy can make the power his own and use it to beat Blackbeard while he is using Luffy's old power.

There are still some loose threads about this idea such as how this is going to play into the series' mysterious full title or why this would make Roger laugh. However, I have another angle that could answer the second question, but to answer it, I will have to start with another big question. Where is the One Piece at?

WHERE THE ONE PIECE COULD BE

There are probably hundreds of theories about this particular subject but I personally like the theory that it was inside of the Reverse Mountain. It is in the middle of Polestar and Lodestar, the landscape could be a result of the Void Century War, it is at the opposite end of the planet to the holy land, and more. But none of this matters to this theory because I think the One Piece is not there anymore, and in fact, I don't think it ever stayed in one place. I believe it is currently travelling through the Deep Current and is about to make its way to Fishman Island soon.

When the crew was on their way to Fishman Island, Brook and Franky talked about how the Deep Current moves so slow that something can be kept there for thousands of years before it surfaced, and it would also be so dark because sunlight can't reach that far into the ocean. It would explain why the World Government never found where Laugh Tale is, why you need all four Road Poneglyphs to fully decipher its location, why Shanks doesn't have any devil fruit user in his crew, and why having a great navigator is essential to get to the One Piece. But now, why do I think it will arrive at Fishman Island soon?

The thing is, I think Oda has been hinting pretty hard that the next arc is gonna be the Final War arc with Jarul declaring war, Warland being the birthplace of war, Imu coming down to Elbaf to prepare for the war after the holy land got attacked, the entire Elbaf flashback revolving around things that led up to great mythological wars, and more. However, I think the main characters that would be involved with the war are all over the place right now. We don't know where Shanks is but I'd imagine he's going after the One Piece right now (Loki might know where the last Road Poneglyph is and that's how he knows where Shanks is going). Buggy has nothing that could get him to the One Piece, so unless he followed someone there or steal something from someone soon, he's probably gonna go after the World Government since that's what Cross Guild has been doing and there are also theories that some of the Warlords in Impel Down will join them somehow. Luffy will have everything he needs to go after the One Piece once he meets the Man Marked by Flame which will happen pretty soon, and he would also want to go there because that's where Shanks would be headed. Meanwhile, Blackbeard's agenda is leaning more towards the World Government. He has Lafitte spy on the holy land and he recently just got the information that one of the Ancient Weapons is right under them. There are also other factions like the Revolutionary Army, Marines, and other World Government forces that were set up to be important to the war but are simply not interested in going after the One Piece just yet. So now, we have Shanks and Luffy going after the One Piece, while the Marines, World Government forces, Revolutionary Army, Blackbeard, and Buggy are all around the holy land. If Laugh Tale happens to arrive under the holy land, it would make all of these forces converge in the same place.

Moreover, if Laugh Tale is travelling through the Deep Current, Fishman Island would be the best place to send it to, because it is the only place we know that is still able to sustain light and life on the ocean floor. With that said, I would want to mention a pretty famous theory made by DropThePizza called the Pole Shift Theory. You should check it out yourself since it's a pretty great theory that uses a lot of cool facts as evidence. There is one particular part of that theory where it talks about how the sea current would be reversed if the poles were shifted. I think it would be very funny if Joyboy sent Laugh Tale and the One Piece to Fishman Island 800 years ago but then the pole shifted and it ended up going the opposite way. With the speed of the current, it would end up taking centuries for it to arrive instead of whenever Joyboy promised them. This is the "Day of Promise" that his allies have been waiting for. This is why Roger was too early and why Joyboy had to apologize to Fishman Island. Most importantly, I think this is why Roger laughed at Joyboy's story. He was planning to finish the war himself, but now he has to hope that someone will carry his will over 800 years in the future and finish the war that he started.