Rayleigh Recognizes Luffys Straw Hat
Status: confirmed (the recognition beat is on-page Ch. 503; the deeper lineage meaning stays forward) · Technique: prop-tell, chekhov-explicit
The seed
The payoff
Why this matters
A textbook prop-tell: Oda lets a brand-new character react to an inheritance-object before any character (or reader) is told why, banking the curiosity for a later reveal. Cross-link Silvers Rayleigh, Luffy.