One Piece Just Unleashed a Major Upgrade for an Unexpected Straw Hat

One Piece is currently depicting its Elbaph arc, featuring the land of the giants that is very important to Usopp of the Straw Hats due to his admiration for the giants, while Monkey D. Luffy’s Gear Fifth form, Nika, is rooted in the history of Elbaph. Yet the Straw Hat, who just received a major upgrade, isn’t either of them, but rather a very unexpected member. Given that Elbaph is one of the most important arcs of the Final Saga, it was naturally expected that the main focus, the Straw Hats, would be getting new power upgrades. With the left hand of the Pirate King, Scopper Gaban, advising Luffy and Zoro to properly use their Conqueror’s Haki to take down the God’s Knights, it is confirmed that they will be receiving a power upgrade soon.

However, amidst this development, fans were also expecting that Usopp, whose dream is to become a brave warrior of the sea, would see that dream begin to materialize in the Elbaph arc, since the giants are his greatest inspiration. Yet there has been no development for him at all. Meanwhile, the latest chapter instead gave Franky, the shipwright of the Straw Hats, an unexpected power-up that essentially positions him as one of the front combat members, as he displays a strength parallel to Jinbe’s.

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One Piece Chapter 1176, titled “With Pride,” features Vegapunk Lilith employing one of the gadgets she brought with her. It turns out that with this device, she can store energy from any element, as she does with the natural disaster, the fire that had spread across the school, absorbing it as heat energy. After storing it in a bottle, Lilith passes it to Franky, saying she is surprised that Franky was already on par with the Pacifista while using only cola as the fuel for his cyborg body. She advises that a stronger fuel would make him even more powerful. Thus, immediately after Franky drinks it, the energy he is able to produce is unlike anything seen before.

With this newfound fuel, Franky delivers a punch that is arguably as strong as Jinbe’s Fish-Man Karate secret technique. This makes it clear that Franky has just received a major power upgrade, and in terms of measurement, he is now stronger than the Pacifista after employing the Super Vega-Cola fuel instead of normal cola. What is interesting about Franky’s role in Elbaph is that it had earlier hinted that the region may also become key to fulfilling his dream.

Franky’s dream is to build a ship that will circumnavigate the entire world, and while the Thousand Sunny is already doing so, the ship will require upgrades before heading into the final journey and war. With Elbaph said to have the biggest Treasure Tree Adam, which provides the rare Adam Wood, the final step to fulfilling Franky’s dream may also be met if he uses the resource from here to give the Straw Hats’ ship its ultimate upgrade. Thus, so far, One Piece‘s Elbaph arc has been more fruitful for Franky, an unexpected Straw Hat member, when fans initially expected that Usopp would receive a power upgrade or move closer to realizing his dream.

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