One Piece Chapter 1061 gave fans the long-awaited reveal of Vegapunk’s appearance. However, a discussion has started within the fandom, as most fans believe that the young “woman” who showed up before the Strawhat Pirates is not the scientist’s true identity.
To find the answer to this riddle, fans will have to wait for One Piece Chapter 1062, which will officially release on October 9, 2022. Partial leaks may be available in the days before.
Either way, One Piece fans have already started theorizing how Vegapunk will interact with Luffy and his newly awakened powers. Follow this thread to learn more.
Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the One Piece manga up to Chapter 1062 and reflects the personal views of the author’s Luffy’s New Devil Fruit Powers.
The captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy, is a young boy whose goal is to find One Piece and become the Pirate King. He is an exceptional warrior who has risen to all kinds of challenges, achieving Observation Haki, Armament, and Conqueror’s Haki. After defeating Kaido in a fierce battle, Luffy attained Emperor status.
Luffy ate a Devil Fruit, originally thought to be the Paramecia Class Gum-Gum Fruit, which gives his body rubbery properties and also allows him to use transformations called Gears to enhance his speed, strength, and versatility . During the battle against Kaido, the Gum-Gum was revealed to be a mythological Zoan, Human-Man, Model: Nika.
After being hit by Kaido’s Thunder Bellow Bagua, Luffy passed out. However, soon after, a smile appeared on his face, and his body seemed to transform. Somehow, he was unconsciously able to awaken his Devil Fruit, unleashing a whole new level of strength. Luffy called this stage Gear 5.
With the Nika-Nika’s true power lying dormant until then, Luffy’s body transformations were limited and seemed to be similar in nature to most Paramecia. After reaching Awakening, the fruit’s true power as a mythical zoan was unleashed, giving Luffy a new transformation.
His hair and clothes turned white, his eyes glowing with white ring-shaped pupils, and white clouds floated around his neck, giving him the appearance of the mythical Nika. Luffy’s body was endowed with greater physical abilities and, above all, incredible special powers, granting him complete freedom to fight according to his imagination.
As a result, Luffy has become a “liberation warrior”, a legendary individual who fights by bringing joy and freedom to those around him. This new ability has been, unsurprisingly, called “the world’s most ridiculous power.” Luffy was able to extend the rubbery nature of his body to the environment around him, affecting and reshaping it.
His body has gained freedom and durability, far surpassing that of his previous Gear transformations, to the point of becoming somewhat malleable like in a cartoon. Luffy was also able to increase the size of his body and limbs to such an extent that he was able to grab and manhandle Kaido despite the latter’s enormous size as a dragon.
One Piece 1061 revealed that Egghead Island is Vegapunk’s headquarters.
Vegapunk is one of the greatest scientific geniuses the One Piece world has ever seen. He is the leading scientist at the disposal of the world government, with unparalleled scientific expertise and technological advancement. His genius is such that it is said to be more than 500 years ahead of other scientists.
Vegapunk is responsible for modifying former Seven Warlords member Bartholomew Kuma into a cyborg. He also worked on the creation of the Pacifista cyborgs, the old models, and possibly also the new ones, the Seraphim.
Vegapunk’s past is largely unknown. Prior to working for the World Government, he was part of MADS, an unauthorized research team that also included Judge Vinsmoke, Queen, and Caesar Clown.
He currently leads the Special Science Group, abbreviated as SSG, an eponymous team and project. After the last Levely, the institution of the Seven Sea Lords was abolished, and the SSG was created to replace them. As a result, they recently created the Seraph Unit, a powerful new version of the Pacifista cyborgs, imbued with the peculiar powers of the Lunar Race.
Vegapunk’s personality and beliefs have yet to be revealed. From what we know, he seems to be an honorable individual: before making Bartholomew Kuma a cyborg, he granted him his last wish as a human being, which was to program him to protect the ship from the Strawhat Pirates , the Thousand Sunny, until they return.
One Piece Chapter 1061 shows the Strawhats arriving at an island called Egghead. Luffy, Chopper, and Jinbe were overwhelmed by the stormy seas along with Jewelry Bonney, and were separated from the rest of the crew. Later, Bonney revealed to them that the island they had just reached was Vegapunk.
Meanwhile, the Thousand Sunny is attacked by a giant shark and the other Strawhats are thrown underwater. Suddenly, a strange giant mecha warrior appears and attacks the shark.
Then, a mysterious young woman left the mecha cabin and stood in front of them. Much to everyone’s shock, the young “woman” revealed her identity, claiming to be Vegapunk.
Whether or not this is entirely true will most likely be uncovered in the upcoming One Piece chapters.
According to some fans, after recently unlocking his Gear 5 form, Luffy could perform another transformation, which would be an upgraded version of the previous one. This would allow him to maximize his rubbery stretching powers, to the point of being able to stretch time and space.
This theory compares Luffy’s various Gear transformations to Chopper’s Rumble Ball modes, claiming that Gear 5 is something still unrefined, similar to Chopper’s monster form. The point being made was that, unlike his subordinate, Luffy’s transformations don’t just rely on Devil Fruit power, but Haki as well.
During his fight against Kaido, Luffy’s Haki reserves were depleted. However, after unlocking the Gear 5 transformation, he was able to use Haki Coating attacks again, and even unleash the full force of his Advanced Conqueror’s Haki.
According to the aforementioned theory, this was only possible because Luffy’s Devil Fruit powers allow him to stretch everything, including his Haki.
It seems that the strongest characters in One Piece are those with the most powerful Haki. Willpower is one of the main themes of the series, and Haki is nothing but the power of willpower.
Therefore, the man who wants to become the Pirate King, that is to say the freest man in the world, will have to stretch his will to the most extreme limits. This could be an allusion to Luffy stretching his Haki, which is based on willpower.
The maximum effect of extending everything, including Haki, would allow Luffy to affect even time and space, effectively extending them. This could prove very useful in his fight against Blackbeard, whose Dark Fruit, on the contrary, compresses time and space through a black hole.
As One Piece author Eiichiro Oda recently stated, he tries to highlight his main character as someone who is funny even during the fiercest fights.
Although he is aware that the general audience of the series will not appreciate this concept, Oda wanted to emphasize the contrast between Luffy’s cartoonish humor and Kaido’s deadly seriousness.
It is therefore logical that the author tries to impress his readers with something as amazing as a power capable of influencing even time and space.
Vegapunk is an essential character who has researched the Seastone, Devil Fruits, Lineage Factor, Artificial Lifeforms, and Gigantification. It is therefore likely that the scientist is interested in the transformations of Luffy’s Gear, which are related to his devil fruit powers.
The meeting between Luffy and Vegapunk has already been announced. During the Hall of Enies arc, Koby told Luffy about the scientist, pointing out that Vegapunk studies Devil Fruits. The author recently hinted that the mysterious scientist will be the one to explain how Devil Fruits work.
It has been said that all Zoan-type Devil Fruits contain willpower within them. This explains why Luffy unintentionally made everyone present laugh, as his Devil Fruit grants him the power of a mythical character who used to make everyone smile and laugh.
According to some fans, Vegapunk’s scientific resources could help Luffy increase his control over the Gear 5, to the point of fully mastering its form, performing a perfected Nika-Nika transformation where the Devil Fruit instinct no longer takes over. on the user. This stage would be Gear 6, allowing Luffy to stretch everything without limits.
Findings
After leading the Wano Alliance to victory over Kaido and Big Mom, Luffy became one of the Four Emperors. He recently awakened his true Devil Fruit, unlocking the Gear 5 transformation, but he’ll need to practice more to fully understand the capabilities of his powers.
With the start of the new Egghead Island arc, Luffy is likely to meet Vegapunk, the person who understands Devil Fruits better than anyone in the world. According to some One Piece fans, the scientist could help him harness his Devil Fruit powers, creating a new form, the Gear 6.
This would allow Luffy to control time and space, stretching everything around him without limit.
As the One Piece series comes to an end, the Strawhats are about to enter the decisive phase of their adventure. They will have to improve further to face the next challenges.
For the same reason, this is also the time for the author to start spilling the secrets he has been teasing fans about. The interaction between Luffy and Vegapunk seems like a great way to do both.
