One Piece’s Creator Teases Luffy Needs to Visit One Place Before Laugh Tale

After almost two decades since its introduction, Luffy and the Straw Hats have finally crossed Elbaf off their list and as One Piece heads deeper into the Final Saga, there are only a few more locations left for Luffy to visit before Laugh Tale. It is unclear where exactly the Straw Hats’ adventures will lead them next, but assuming Luffy will continue following in Gol D. Roger’s footsteps, it may not be too long until he finds the final Road Poneglyph as well as the titular treasure. That said, One Piece’s creator has just revealed a revision to Roger’s journey that could take the Straw Hats on a major detour to where their adventure first began.

In the SBS section of Volume 111 of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda reveals that the giant bridge Roger and his crew come across in Chapter 967 isn’t, in fact, Tequila Wolf but another one of the four bridges revealed by Ivankov in Chapter 1125. Oda suspiciously does not give a definitive answer as to whether the bridge in Chapter 967 is Bourbon Wolf, but he does firmly confirm it is not Tequila Wolf. While the exact location of Bourbon Wolf is yet to be explicitly revealed in the series, Chapter 967 does give fans a few clues and it could hint at the Straw Hats needing to go all the way back to the Paradise portion of the Grand Line before Laugh Tale.

One Piece Reveals An Unexpected Stop in Roger’s Journey to Laugh Tale

In Chapter 1125 of One Piece, Ivankov reveals the existence of four other giant bridges like Tequila Wolf named Bourbon Wolf, Rum Wolf, and Vodka Wolf. All four of these bridges have supposedly been under construction using slave labor for over 700 years, though their purpose remains a mystery. Until Chapter 1125, Tequila Wolf, which is located in the East Blue and is where Robin was sent by Kuma during the time skip, was assumed to be the only bridge of its kind. Thus, for the longest time, there was no question about the bridge seen in Oden’s flashback in Chapter 967, that is until the latest SBS, in which Oda’s response reads:

“The bridge that Oden saw… It’s not Tequila Wolf!! How did I know that? I won’t say it’s Bourbon Wolf, but it’s not Tequila Wolf. That’s my answer!! We find out there are four bridges in Chapter 1125, so there’s no way you could know that in Chapter 967, but looking back, why did I think so? Amazing.”

Though only a small part of Roger’s grand journey, Oda’s non-committal answer hints that it could end up being far more crucial to the story than it seems. While fans can’t be sure whether the bridge in question is indeed Bourbon Wolf based on Oda’s answer alone, one thing that fans can definitely deduce is its general location. Luckily, the unique geography of One Piece‘s world splits it into four separate seas, making it quite easy to pinpoint this stop in Roger’s journey.

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Based on Tequila Wolf being based in the East Blue in One Piece, one can assume that the remaining bridges are each based in one of the other seas. As seen in Chapter 967, Roger and his crew visit Water Seven before coming across the massive bridge, and Sabaody after it. This means the bridge in question would have to be in one of the two seas bordering the first half of the Grand Line called Paradise, these being the East Blue and the South Blue. Oda’s answer in the SBS of Volume 111 eliminates Tequila Wolf and the East Blue, which leaves the South Blue and whichever of the three remaining bridges is based there.

Tequila Wolf and the Other Bridges May Be Closely Tied to the Void Century

At the base level, the introduction of these bridges via One Piece’s time skip was certainly meant to further highlight the World Government’s cruelty, which fans got to witness first-hand through Nico Robin. However, as Ivankov notes in Chapter 1125, the fact that giant bridges like Tequila Wolf and the rest have been under construction since the Void Century is now quite suspicious considering the rising sea levels and the World Government’s supposed plan to further submerge the planet.

As such, it is possible that this particular bridge that Roger and his crew visited on the course of their travels could be crucial to finding Laugh Tale. Their name structure also stands out as being quite odd, though perhaps the alcohol theme could tie in with Binks’ Brew and the popular theory about the final treasure being sake in some way. That said, One Piece is quite committed to having Luffy constantly moving forward, rarely taking him back to old locations, which is why it is a little hard to imagine the Straw Hats taking a detour to the South Blue. Still, it may be too soon to dismiss the idea of the Straw Hats coming across another one of these bridges near the New World as they may very well end up being a must-visit on Luffy’s itinerary to finding the One Piece.

One Piece is available to read from Manga Plus and Viz Media.