‘One Piece’ Just Confirmed a Decades-Long Fan Theory

Folks, One Piece’s Egghead arc just keeps getting spicier and spicier. Now that Vegapunk’s broadcast has started, some of One Piece’s core mysteries are finally being unraveled after two full decades of world-building and theorizing.

In fact, so much monumental lore has been revealed in the last three chapters, it’s worth reviewing. And then, naturally, we can make space for wanting to know even more. But since April, One Piece has been on break more than usual. Plus, those breaks have occurred on a somewhat unpredictable schedule.

So when can we expect the next chunk of Vegapunk’s broadcast? When is One Piece chapter 1116 coming out?

One Piece lore two decades in the making

**Major spoilers ahead for One Piece‘s Egghead arc through chapter 1115 in the manga!**

In chapter 1113, Dr. Vegapunk revealed during a broadcast to every person who lives within One Piece’s world that “the world we know will sink into the sea.” This gigantic reveal broke One Piece‘s 27 years of careful world-building wide open. All of a sudden, fans could go back and view, say, the slow sinking of Water 7 against the unnatural hole in the ocean beneath nearby Enies Lobby in a very different light.

And the flow of revelations has not let up. In chapter 1114, Dr. Vegapunk promised to divulge everything he was able to find out about the Void Century. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Joyboy is the central figure in the Void Century’s war against the allied nations which would become the World Government. We’ve also learned he was a citizen of the super-advanced ancient civilization the would-be World Government fought against, and that he was the first person to be called a “pirate.”

In chapter 1115, Vegapunk revealed that the sinking of the world isn’t being caused by a natural disaster. Instead, it’s a man-made disaster related to the Ancient Weapons. What’s more, it’s already happened once before—during the Void Century, when the sea level around the world rose a whopping 200 meters.

For us Americans, for whom the metric system means nothing, that’s the length of two football fields. By contrast, the real-world sea level is expected to rise 30 cm by 2100, and that’s enough to trigger weather changes and the destruction of communities. So 200 meters—rapidly—is some real shit.

As with many long-awaited lore reveals, fans have pondered whether this was coming. And while the 200-meter number wasn’t floated, the idea of a “Great Flood” during the Void Century has been a prominent fan theory for years. The latest part of Vegapunk’s broadcast also confirmed a related theory that, before the Void Century, One Piece’s world was not made up of all the quirky islands we know and love today. Before the sea rose, the world’s population lived on full continents.

And the broadcast isn’t even over yet.

When will we know more?

It seems like Dr. Vegapunk has plenty more to say, despite the Five Elders doing everything they can to stop his (seemingly) post-mortem broadcast. When will we readers get the next juicy piece of One Piece’s long-elusive core lore?

After all, One Piece’s release schedule has been more erratic than usual in recent months. Eiichiro Oda took three well-earned weeks off in April—after the sudden passing of his mentor, Akira Toriyama—to look after his health. One Piece was back for two tantalizing weeks before its publication, Weekly Shounen Jump, took off for Golden Week, a week-long Japanese holiday break. One Piece then returned for one more week before Oda took another week off.

And look, as far as I’m concerned, someone as hard-working as Oda can and should take all the breaks he needs. I want everyone to make it to the reveal of the One Piece, dammit.

But now, it seems, the usual “three weeks on, one week off” schedule is set to be restored. One Piece chapter 1116 will drop this very Sunday, June 2. You heard that right, subsequent-week releases are back! For now!

New chapters typically arrive on the Shounen Jump app around 11AM ET / 8AM PT. Avoid social media accordingly until you read the chapter.

Please note that the official One Piece chapter releases are always on Sunday. Any earlier versions coming up online are unofficial, unsanctioned leaks.