During the course of the current cover story, “Germa 66’s Ahh… An Emotionless Excursion“, the presence of the Blackbeard Pirates was teased many times. Fans have been picking up small details and references, coming up with the theory that the fearsome Blackbeard wanted to take advantage of Big Mom’s absence from her kingdom to steal her most valued possession, one of the four Road Poneglyph that point the way toward the hidden island of Laugh Tale, where the fabled treasure One Piece awaits. This, however, remained just a theory, and Blackbeard’s recent appearance in Amazon Lily seemed to disprove it forever.

With Reiju and Ichiji rescuing their brothers Niji and Yonji with the help of Caesar Clown, it seemed that the adventures of the Straw Hats’ Sanji’s siblings on Whole Cake Island were finished, and with them this cover story. However, chapter #1062 of One Piece surprised fans by showing Chocolat Town (one of the provinces of Big Mom’s Totto Land Kingdom) completely frozen over. The only person in the world with this kind of power is Aokiji, the former Marine Admiral who has joined the Blackbeard Pirates as one of the Ten Titanic Captains. The cover story for chapter #1046 did, in fact, show the silhouette of two intruders arriving in Chocolat Town but, based on the future developments, everyone assumed these were Reiju and Ichiji. Instead, it turned out to be just another example of masterful deception by One Piece‘s author, Eiichiro Oda.

The Blackbeard Pirates Have Arrived In Totto Land

It seems clear, at this point, that fans’ suspicions were true, and the Blackbeard Pirates have indeed invaded Totto Land, even if without their captain, who instead went to Amazon Lily to try to steal Boa Hancock’s Devil Fruit. This is the perfect time to attack Big Mom’s territory, as the former Yonko went to Wano, along with some of her most powerful children, to forge an alliance with Kaido, only to be defeated and apparently killed in the final battle against the Straw Hats. The Big Mom commanders left, Katakuri and Oven, have been busy dealing with the Germa’s incursion, so the Blackbeard Pirates will have an easy time achieving their goal. There are only two things they may want from Totto Land: the Road Poneglyph that Big Mom jealously kept, and Charlotte Pudding who, as a member of the Three-Eyed Tribe, has the potential to read the inscriptions on the Poneglyph.

Considering that Aokiji appeared in Chocolat Town, which is Pudding’s territory, it’s possible that the girl has already been taken, while someone else from Blackbeard’s crew stole the Road Poneglyph (perhaps Shiryu, who has the power of invisibility). If this scenario will be confirmed in the last panel of this cover story, then Blackbeard is one step closer to his goal of finding the One Piece, and his next target could be Wano, where another Road Poneglyph is hidden.