Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country

Chapter 967: Roger's Adventure

Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2019-12-28 Roger-era flashback .

Summary

Continuing the Oden flashback, the chapter recounts the final stretch of the Roger Pirates’ voyage. Roger reveals he has stolen a copy of one red Road Poneglyph from Linlin (Big Mom) and means to gather all four; the stones lead the crew to Water Seven (where Tom builds them a sea-train and young Iceberg & Kokoro look on), then down to Fish-Man Island. There a young King Neptune reads the Sea-Forest poneglyph — “an apology from someone named Joyboy” — and 3-year-old prophet Sharley delivers the prophecy that the mermaid who can command the Neptunians (Poseidon) will soon be born as Neptune’s daughter. Roger declares he is not after the weapon but “the vast treasure those people left behind.” Near Wano, Kozuki Toki collapses; Oden slips home for mere hours, copies the Wano poneglyph, and ships out again, leaving Toki with Inuarashi and Nekomamushi. At Zou the crew finds the final Road Poneglyph behind the Kozuki crest in the Whale Forest, learns the Kozuki and Minks were “brothers,” senses something huge (Zunisha) watching, and a child Pedro begs to join (he is put on the “waiting list”). On the eve of the last leg, apprentice Buggy (“Buggyjiro”) falls ill with a fever and Shanks (“Redtaro”) stays behind to nurse him — so neither reaches the final island. Roger completes the first full circumnavigation of the world and is crowned King of the Pirates. At the island the crew learns the entire truth of the world — the Void Century, the People of the D., the Ancient Weapons, and that Wano was once open to the world — and finds a “vast treasure, which was very real indeed.” Roger reads Joy Boy’s message, laughs until he weeps (“I wish I’d been born in your time!!”), and names the island “Laugh Tale.”

New reveals

• The four red Road Poneglyphs are a single set: Roger holds a stolen copy of Big Mom’s, the Sea-Forest stone sits at Fish-Man Island, and the final one is hidden behind the Kozuki crest at Zou. Locating/copying all four charts the course to the final island. (pp. 3, 9, 15)
• The Sea-Forest poneglyph is Joy Boy’s apology — Neptune reads it on-page (p. 9).
• Poseidon = a mermaid. Sharley (age 3) prophesies the once-in-centuries mermaid who can speak to the Neptunians will soon be born as Neptune’s daughter; Roger frames her as a future “weapon that’ll destroy the world.” (pp. 8–10)
• Roger: it is not the weapon they want but “the vast treasure those people left behind.” (p. 10)
• Oden’s homecoming to Wano lasted “merely hours”; he took “a quick copy of the poneglyph” and returned to the ship. (pp. 12–13)
• Zou is reached by Vivre Card (“the only way to reach Zou is with this Vivre Card,” p. 13) — revealed to be a card from Dogstorm & Cat Viper (per the letter, p. 14). (pp. 13–14)
• Buggy & Shanks missed the final island — Buggy (“Buggyjiro”) caught a sudden fever, Shanks (“Redtaro”) stayed to care for him. (p. 16)
• Roger’s crew is the first to reach the final island in 800 years; he completes the first full circumnavigation → King of the Pirates. (pp. 17, 19)
• At the island, “we learned the entire truth of the world” — what the 100-year void is, what the People of the D. are, what the Ancient Weapons are; “Wano was open to the world” in the past. (p. 17)
• A “vast treasure, which was very real indeed” exists on the island; Roger laughs and names it “Laugh Tale.” (pp. 17–19)

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Roger, Silvers Rayleigh, Crocus, Kozuki Oden, Buggy (as “Buggyjiro”), Shanks (as “Redtaro”), Kozuki Toki, Tom, Iceberg, Kokoro, King Neptune, Madam Sharley (as “Sharley,” age 3 — first appearance), Otohime (mentioned), Joy Boy (via poneglyph message), Pedro (as a child), Duke of the Mokomo Dukedom (Duke of Mokomo Dukedom — first appearance), Inuarashi (adult; stays with Toki p12, “Dogstorm” per letter p14), Nekomamushi (adult; stays with Toki p12, “Cat Viper” per letter p14), Zunisha (sensed), Big Mom (as “Linlin,” mentioned), Whitebeard (as “White-kichi,” mentioned), Shirahoshi (the unborn Mermaid Princess, unnamed)
• Locations: Water Seven, Fish-Man Island, Wano Country, Zou, Mokomo Dukedom, Whale Forest, Raftel (named “Laugh Tale”)
• Crews / groups: Roger Pirates, Whitebeard Pirates, Minks
• Lore: Road Poneglyph, Voice of All Things, Poneglyph

Notable panels

• Pages 1–2 — Color spread (volume opener): the Straw Hat crew (Franky, Jinbei, Luffy, Usopp, Brook, Sanji, Robin, Zoro, Chopper, Nami) raising tankards in a toast aboard the Sunny against a giant “ONE PIECE” sun motif — a celebratory, Binks’s-Sake-themed splash echoing the chapter’s “Roger laughed” climax. (Decorative/thematic; no discrete foreshadow.)
• Page 3 — Chapter title “Roger’s Adventure”; Roger reveals the stolen Road-Poneglyph copy from Linlin and the plan to gather all four “red ones.”
• Page 9 — Neptune reads the Sea-Forest poneglyph: “an apology from someone named Joyboy.”
• Page 18 — Full-page splash: “ROGER JUST LAUGHED.” Roger’s head-back, eyes-shut, open-mouth laugh under the skull-crested captain’s hat — the first time this laugh is drawn for Roger (Smoker only described it Ch. 99; Ch. 1 p.1 is the serene eyes-open execution-grin). A one-to-one pose quotation of Luffy’s “HEE!!” block-grin (Ch. 99 p.13) and Yasuie’s firing-squad laugh (Ch. 942 pp.14–15). See Pirate Laugh Before Execution Mythic Doctrine.
• Page 19 — “We’ll call it ‘Laugh Tale.’”

Open questions raised

• What exactly is the “vast treasure, which was very real indeed” on Laugh Tale?
• What was Joy Boy apologizing for, and why did the whole truth make Roger laugh rather than despair?
• Why was Wano “open to the world” in the past, and what closed it?
• What did Roger learn about the People of the D. that fit the rest of the truth?