One Piece: Elbaf’s Ancient Mural, Explained

The lore of the One Piece world deepens even further with One Piece chapter 1138, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that this chapter is, by far, the most exciting of all chapters that Oda had dropped in the Final Saga, by far. In fact, One Piece chapter 1138 has a good shout at being one of the very best chapters in all of the story, and much of that is related to the massive reveals from the Harley texts about the world.

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According to the Harley texts, the world of One Piece has already been destroyed twice in the past, and both times it was destroyed, the Sun God Nika’s name is involved. This was mentioned in the story by Great Elder Jarul. Now, One Piece chapter 1138 has revealed more exciting bits of information pertaining to the two destructions of the world that happened long ago, and fans certainly have a lot more context.

The Ancient Mural That Was Drawn By Giants Connects To The Harley

• The Giants Drew A Mural Long Ago About The Wars That Destroyed The World
• The Mural Is Based On The Harley

One Piece chapter 1138 introduced the fans to a massive mural drawn on the Adam Tree in Elbaf. This mural was found by Franky while traveling with Ripley, one of the most important characters in the history of Elbaf, and at the same time, the lover of the mysterious silhouetted man. Upon seeing the mural, Franky was clearly in awe, and couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but Ripley believed that it was all a child’s dream perhaps. Clearly, that’s not the case. These murals were drawn by Giants that existed long who knew what was going to come and who had studied the Harley texts ardently. The Harley texts show how the world of One Piece was engulfed in war two times in the past, how they connect to each other, and how the world was essentially destroyed.

By itself, the mural wouldn’t have been as easy to understand, but thankfully, around the same time, Nico Robin was given a copy of the Harley by Saul. There are countless translations of the Harley that exist, each with their own meaning, which is why just about everyone has their own version of the Sun God in One Piece. Nico Robin went on to read the Harley, and it depicted the Three Worlds. The current world is known as the Third World, while the other two are the Second and the First World.

The Depictions And The Story Of The Three Worlds

The First World

Flames engulfed the land, and humans succumbed to their desires, touching the forbidden Sun. The enslaved prayed, and the Sun God appeared. The Earth God was enraged, and together with the serpent of infernal flames, shrouded the world in death and darkness. They would never meet again.

The First World existed long ago in the history of One Piece, but an exact time period for it isn’t given. Based on the fact that the Void Century was 900-800 years ago, one can, at the very least, assume that this time period was around 1600 years ago, but nothing can be said for sure. Based on the words of the Harley texts, a lot of information can be extracted about the First World. It is believed that during this time, the land was engulfed in flames, but while this could be taken literally, it might just mean that the world was rich in resources — the resource here being the flames themselves. The humans, seeing all the resources, succumbed to their desires and got a piece of the flame for themselves.

These flames likely stemmed from the Forbidden Sun. For those who do not remember, Vegapunk clearly stated that long ago, the people of the world created their own sun and its power was mesmerizing, such that even Vegapunk’s own Mother Flame paled in comparison. This is the sun that humanity got its hands on. With it, they likely started to rule, as is depicted by someone in a crown, possibly being the guy who touched the sun. Due to there being a power struggle, slavery erupted into the world.

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The slaves were likely used to mine more energy balls, which could just be like pieces of Mother Flame. Naturally, they wished to be freed and they prayed for the Sun God. As a result, the Sun God appeared. It is not clearly said where the Sun God came from, but the is clearly a ship like Ark Maxim that exists in the mural, which might seem to indicate that the Sun God came from the moon, meaning the original Nika is actually an alien to the earth. The Earth God and the Serpent of Infernal Flames joined hands and fought the Sun God, likely beating it.

The Second World and The Third World

Breath stirred within the void, and the Forest God sent forth demons. The Sun did nothing but spread the fires of war. The people of the half-moon dreamed, the people of the full-moon dreamed. Humans slew the Sun and became Gods, and the Sea God raged. They would never meet again.

In chaos, there is void. The troubled shadow remembers the promised day, and hears the voice of the fractured moon. The Sun God dances and laughs, leading the world to its end. The sun will return once more, and a new dawn will arrive. Surely, this time, they will meet again.

The Second World is set during the Void Century. During this time, the Forest God seems to be of importance. Who this person is remains unknown, but clearly, they’re the ones who gave rise to demons, or potentially, Devil Fruits. The Sun itself, which could be another world for the power source that humans touched long ago, spread fires of war, which refers to the ancient weapons being used to destroy the world. The people of the half-moon, or the D people, along with the winged races, prayed and the Sun God likely emerged again in the form of Joy Boy. But, 20 Kings rose against his forces and likely collaborated with Imu (the Earth God), and the sun was slain.

It is unclear if the ancient power source was destroyed along with Joy Boy, or if the Sun refers to Joy Boy here. Either way, it is likely that both perished in a war that saw all the races unite against Imu, at the end of which the Sea God raged and the world sank by 200 meters. Finally, the Third World is the current world, which is where the Sun God has come once again, as a fragment of the D, and this time, he will definitely defeat Imu and bring about a new dawn.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus apps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1138, is set to be February 2, 2025.

One Piece

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

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  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

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  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)

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  Akemi Okamura

  Nami (voice)

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