Vegapunk, the brilliant scientist working for One Piece’s World Government, revealed in chapter 1113 that the world of the series will soon be covered with water. The oceans are rapidly rising, causing untold destruction on various islands. Fans were shocked by this revelation, but it may have been foreshadowed many years ago.

One of the series’ biggest mysteries, Noah, an ark gifted to the Fish-men by Joyboy, may have been foreshadowing the world flooding since it was first introduced. Due to its religious inspiration, given that it is most likely based on the biblical story of the same name, it may have been a warning of what Oda had planned for the story.

Joyboy Wanted a New World

The Fish-men could have been promised a fairer world

It is said that during the Void Century, Joyboy made an unknown promise to the Fish-men (and the merfolk), one directly related to the gigantic ark, Noah. Despite not being able to fulfill this promise during his time, Joyboy swore to his friends that someone would do it in his place. While this promise has never been stated in the series, it is easy to link this ark with a popular biblical story about a similar artifact. Noah’s Ark is said to have been a massive ship created to prevent humanity from becoming extinct when the Abrahamic God flooded the world.

Due to this connection, it is not hard to imagine that the vessel gifted by Joyboy could have been created with a similar purpose in mind. Noah was tasked with saving two of each animal, as well as his family, from dying during a divine flood created to purge humanity from evil. Joyboy, a mysterious man known for being the Warrior of Liberation, may have gifted his friends the ark Noah to save them from his plan to destroy the corrupt World Government.

One thing that sounds odd about Joyboy’s promise is that the Fish-men and Merfolk naturally would not need an ark to survive a flood, being adapted to live underwater. Still, based on the connection to Noah’s Ark, Joyboy’s promise could be related to the creation of a new world, one where all races could live freely and without judgment. It’s unclear if Noah’s purpose was to survive the flooding caused by Imu and the World Government or, more shockingly, if Joyboy’s promise was to flood the world and create a new one.

Joyboy Created Noah to Survive the Flood

Joyboy may have wanted to erase the Celestial Dragons

Throughout the One Piece manga, Oda has made sure to highlight the rampant discrimination that other races suffer. The Celestial Dragons, the ruling class that includes many of the franchise’s most despised characters, are a perfect example of this phenomenon. They consider other races to be below them, treating them like slaves or mindless animals. This horrible behavior has been criticized heavily by races like the Fish-Men, who were forced to create organizations like the Sun Pirates to protect themselves against these abuses. Likely, this same discrimination was also present during the time Joy Boy was alive.

As a warrior known for bringing freedom and happiness to the world, the first pirate could not have ignored these issues. His promise to the Fish-men could have included the erasure of those who ruled the world tyrannically. Noah could have been designed to fit various members of all races to prevent them from dying during the flood. Once the water had settled, only those who were allowed in the ark by Joyboy and the Fish-Men would be left to create a new society.

After learning about the Warrior of Liberation’s plan to eradicate them, the World Government made it their mission to destroy him and prevent his story from being known. During the enigmatic Void Century, those who shared the story of Joy Boy were hunted and eliminated, as happened to the Buccaneers, an almost extinct race to which Kuma belongs.

Luffy’s Dream Could Be Linked To The Flood

It may be Luffy’s destiny to flood the world

While this theory sounds far-fetched, there are a few points in the story that lend credibility to it. The Celestial Dragons moved to the top of the Red Line during or immediately after the Void Century, likely to be safe from the rising of the sea levels, either if they caused it or someone else. Also, after failing to keep his promise to the Fish-men, Joyboy left a message that someone would come one day to complete his mission.

Chapter 1114 heavily reinforced that Luffy has a deep connection with Joyboy, as he was shown fighting the Five Elders when Vegapunk spoke about the first pirate. The Straw Hat captain could be the man destined to fulfill Joyboy’s promise. If this is the case, Luffy’s dream, which has been kept a secret for many years, could be directly related to Joyboy’s goal.

Throughout his journey, Luffy has not changed much from the carefree young man who loved the sea fans met at the beginning of the series. While he has matured, he has kept true to himself, enjoying the simple things in life. Besides meat, one of Luffy’s true loves is pirate life, as he believes that being a pirate is synonymous with being free. Luffy may dream about everyone enjoying the freedom living at sea grants.

When Luffy enunciated his (still secret) dream to his crewmates, they had mixed reactions. Fans have speculated that Luffy’s dream, and destiny, could be destroying the Red Line to unite the world (symbolized by the merging of its oceans), but that would also cause massive geographical changes. This could explain why Luffy’s wish is such a divisive topic among the Straw Hat crew. His deepest desire may be to complete what Joyboy began and create a world where everyone has to sail the seas.

While this sounds like an unexpected direction for the story to take, the ark Noah was a major part of the Fish-man Island arc, and Joyboy’s message is still one of the biggest unexplained mysteries in One Piece. While it may not have been as relevant since the end of that adventure, it could become an important piece of the story soon.