Chapters · Final Saga › Elbaf

Chapter 1166: New Stories

Arc: Elbaf · Saga: Final Saga · Released:

Summary

A flashback continuation of the God Valley Incident. As the island collapses in the rain, the “curse” wears off Rocks D. Xebec — reverted to human form, battered and dying, he tells Roger and Garp “you better run…,” thanks them, and is finished by a sword strike (SHUNK) as three figures stand over him; Rayleigh reports “They killed him.” God Valley crumbles “like a curtain falling on a stage” and is swallowed by mist while a great branching lightning bolt “splits the sky” — and “a number of new stories began.” The Roger Pirates escape with the treasure and a rescued young Shakky; opening a chest, they find a baby. The World Government’s sanitized account — “The Downfall of the Rocks Pirates!!” starring “Garp the Hero,” written by Morgans and (per Sengoku) bought and paid for — sets the public celebrating Garp, who is disgusted and talks of quitting the Navy (the young Garp–Sengoku–Tsuru dynamic at Navy HQ). In a Navy-HQ underground-cells beat, a young man tells his father “I’m quitting the Navy, Dad… I’m disgusted with you!!” — “I know…” (likely young Dragon). The chapter then jumps to Elbaf: a lonely young Loki trails the visiting Rocks, who refuses to take a kid onto his crew; Loki tells him “I think you’re NIKA, Rocks,” and Rocks — dreaming of being “King of the World” — explains he wants the slumbering destroyers “Galleila,” which only Harald can control, and to team with Harald so “who could possibly stop us?!” Meanwhile Harald, to prove the giants seek peace, brutally punishes giants who pillage humans, and confesses he once “turned his back” on his “greatest friend” who begged for aid, leaving him to die so Elbaf could win the World Government’s faith. Having “made up his mind” (telling Ida) and setting aside “half measures” (telling Chief Jarul), Harald tells his sons Hajrudin and Loki to work together and support Elbaf “after I’m gone,” then sails an Elbaf Royal Navy ship to Marineford. Barred from landing, he pleads with the assembled Navy and World-Government dignitaries for “a chance to atone for a thousand years of history,” offering to become a slave so Elbaf’s children can “live hand in hand with humanity” — breaking off his own horn(s) as onlookers recoil, while an ominous eye watches. To be continued.

New reveals

• Rocks’s death shown up close. The curse “worn off,” Rocks — human again, dying in the rubble (“Will I leave… this island alive…?”) — tells Roger and Garp to run, “I’m glad you stopped me,” “Thanks…,” then a sword strike (SHUNK) ends him; three figures stand over him (silhouettes). Rayleigh: “They killed him.” (pp. 3–5)
• Escape with Shakky + treasure. The Roger Pirates flee the collapsing island (“Let’s make our escape! Full speed ahead!!”), keep the treasure, and confirm “We got Shakky out, safe and sound!!” (young Shakky shown). (pp. 6–8)
• A baby in a treasure chest. Opening a chest, the crew finds an infant — “A baby?!!” (p. 9). Unidentified.
• The sanitized official history. “The Downfall of the Rocks Pirates!!” / “Garp the Hero,” written by Morgans; Sengoku: “the government clearly paid him off to write this.” The public cheers “Rocks is dead!!!” / “Vice Admiral Garp, the real strongest man!!” (p. 10)
• Young Garp vs Sengoku vs Tsuru at Navy HQ. Sengoku: the WG/Navy are so vast — “tens of millions of soldiers” — that he “can just look the other way” when upper management does “something insane.” Garp calls him a “ladder-climbing fool”; Sengoku: “if you turn out like them, I’m gonna kill you myself!!” Garp: “I’ve got plenty to protect at the bottom of the cliff.” Tsuru: “Stop it, you two… Don’t tell me you’re quitting, Garp.” (pp. 10–11)
• “I’m quitting the Navy, Dad.” In the Navy-HQ underground cells, a young man tells his father he’s quitting — “I’m disgusted with you!!” / “I know…” — as a cell key clinks. Likely young Dragon to Garp (see Open questions — face not definitively identified). (p. 16)
• Young Loki calls Rocks “Nika.” At Elbaf, the lonely young Loki trails the visiting Rocks (who refuses to take him on the crew) and declares “I think you’re NIKA, Rocks”; Rocks, framed as the laughing “Warrior of Liberation” who “tears down the world,” dreams of being “King of the World.” (p. 12)
• Galleila is controllable by Harald. Rocks: “Slumbering somewhere out there in the world… is a bunch of incredible destroyers by the name of Galleila. And the guy who can actually control them… is your old man!! [Harald]” — Rocks courts Harald to command them (“If me and Harald team up… who could possibly stop us?!”). (p. 13)
• Harald abandoned his “greatest friend.” “My greatest friend begged me for help, and I turned my back on him!!!” — “I left him there to die!!” (“So lend me your aid!!!”), because “I wanted Elbaph to join the World Government!!” / “to avoid losing their faith.” (pp. 15)
• Harald reforms the giants by force. He brutally beats giants who pillage humans (“you scum with size as your only quality… built the giants’ history of terror”), extracting oaths (“I’ll never… pillage the humans again”); press: “The King of the Giants… becomes deranged!!” (pp. 14, 16)
• Harald’s farewell to his sons. Telling Chief Jarul “it’s time to set aside these half measures” and Ida “I’ve made up my mind,” he tells Hajrudin and Loki, “I want you two to work together… I love you both. You are my sons… to support Elbaf after I’m gone.” (p. 17)
• Harald’s submission at Marineford. An Elbaf Royal Navy ship reaches Marineford; barred from landing, Harald pleads to “atone for a thousand years of history,” to “apologize for all the mistakes that giantkind has made,” offering — “if that means I must be a slave, so be it!!!” — so Elbaf’s children can “live hand in hand with humanity.” He appears to break off his own horn(s) as onlookers scream; an ominous eye watches. (pp. 17–19)

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Rocks D. Xebec (dying, human form → killed), Gol D. Roger (young), Monkey D. Garp (young), Sengoku (young), Tsuru (young), Shakuyaku (young, rescued), Silvers Rayleigh (young), Morgans (byline of the sanitized story), King Harald, Prince Loki (child), Hajrudin (child), Ida, Chief Jarul, Monkey D. Dragon (inferred — the underground-cells “I’m quitting the Navy” beat), an unidentified baby (God Valley chest)
• Cover (color spread): Luffy, Nami, Yamato, Otama, Zoro, Sanji
• Crews / groups: Roger Pirates, Rocks Pirates, Marines, World Government
• Locations: God Valley (West Blue), Navy HQ / Marineford, Elbaf (VIZ “Elbaph”)
• Concepts: Galleila, Sun God Nika (Nika / Warrior of Liberation)

Notable panels

• pp. 1–2 (color spread): Title double-spread — reader-request illustration: “Yamato and Otama collecting fallen leaves and baking sweet potatoes with tanukis and foxes” (by Naoyama). Autumn scene with Luffy (glasses, roasting), Nami, Yamato (horns, “15 / ODEN NI SORO” jersey), Zoro (“CAST OFF” cap), Sanji (rainbow sweater), Otama. Decorative — not a foreshadowing spread.
• pp. 3–4: Chapter title “New Stories.” The rain-soaked, curse-freed, dying Rocks; three figures stand over him; “Roger, Garp… you better run…”; “Thanks…” → SHUNK.
• p. 5: “Where’s… Rocks?” “They killed him…” “What happened to Rocks, Rayleigh?”; WG forces open fire on Roger’s fleeing ship; “Absent from the pages of recorded history…”
• pp. 6–7: God Valley “crumbled in upon itself… shrouded in a deep, deep mist”; a branching lightning bolt “splits the sky”; “a number of new stories began… in the mysterious, obscure God Valley Incident.”
• p. 8: Roger wakes bandaged; the treasure haul; young Shakky rescued.
• p. 9: The chest opens — “A baby?!!”
• p. 10: Morgans’s “Downfall of the Rocks Pirates”/“Garp the Hero” story; public cheers; Garp’s fury; “Navy HQ, Grand Line.”
• p. 11: Sengoku’s “look the other way” speech; Garp’s “ladder-climbing fool” / “bottom of the cliff”; Tsuru intervenes.
• p. 12: “Elbaph, New World”; young Loki trails Rocks; “I think you’re NIKA, Rocks.”
• p. 13: Rocks on Galleila + Harald; “Because of love…”; Loki: “I’ll keep coming back!!”
• pp. 14–16: Harald brutally reforms the giants; “The King of the Giants… becomes deranged!!”; the underground-cells “I’m quitting the Navy, Dad” beat.
• p. 17: Harald to Jarul/Ida and to his sons Hajrudin & Loki; the Elbaf Royal Navy ship reaches Marineford.
• pp. 18–19: Harald’s plea to the WG — “atone for a thousand years of history” / “if that means I must be a slave, so be it!!!”; he breaks off his horn(s); an ominous eye watches. “To be continued.”

Open questions raised

• Whose baby is in the chest, and what became of the infant the Roger Pirates recovered at God Valley?
• Who delivered the killing blow to Rocks? The curse wears off and Rocks thanks Roger and Garp before a sword strike ends him; three figures stand over him in silhouette. (Cross-check the established Rocks and God Valley “Garling delivered the killing blow” layer vs. the tender mercy-kill framing here.)
• Is the underground-cells “I’m quitting the Navy, Dad” young man Dragon? Strong inference given Ch. 1165’s young-Dragon defiance at God Valley, but the face is not definitively identified on-page — do not lock it.
• What is Galleila, and how does the Elbaf royal line “control” it? Why did only Harald hold that key?
• Did the World Government accept Harald’s submission — and does his self-abasement at Marineford lead to the betrayal his eventual murder implies? Who is the eye watching him (p. 19)?
• Was Rocks really “Nika” in a child’s eyes only, or does Loki’s read point at something real about the Warrior-of-Liberation pattern the Ds carry?