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Chapter 1059, the latest installment of the One Piece series, left fans hyped up with the outstanding return of Silvers Rayleigh, the right-hand man of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King. Rayleigh's appearance intimidated Blackbeard, forcing the Emperor to give up his intent to steal Boa Hancock's Devil Fruit power.
That apart, a further outbreak also left fans shocked. Follow this thread to learn more about what happened.
Key highlights
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to Chapter 1060.
What ties the Seraphim Unit with the Lunarians, One Piece's most hyped lost race
One Piece chapter 1059 introduced the Seraphim Unit
Blackbeard wasn't the only one trying to take over Boa Hancock. With the latter being a former member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the World Government also went after her, sending the Marines, along with the newly developed Seraphim Unit, to seize Amazon Lily.
The Seraphim Unit was developed by the Marines' Special Science Group and consists of a group of newly upgraded Pacifistas. The project was established with the intent of replacing the Seven Warlords as the allies of the Marines among the Three Great Powers.
The Special Science Group, abbreviated as SSG, is an eponymous team and project led by Dr. Vegapunk, the greatest scientific genius that the One Piece world has ever known and the lead scientist at the World Government's disposal. After the latest Levely, the institution of the Seven Warlords of the Sea was abolished. The SSG was created to replace them.
Like the old Pacifistas, the Seraphims are cyborgs built in the image of an existing person. However, thanks to their special enhancements, they are significantly stronger than the Pacifistas. The new cyborgs have shown enough power to put some pressure on Blackbeard, one of the Emperors. They were able to come out of that clash, plus the entire siege of Amazon Lily, completely unscathed.
The Seraphims appear to closely mirror the looks of former Warlords, albeit with a childish appearance. For instance, the cyborgs that were deployed to Amazon Lily closely resembled the childhood versions of Dracule Mihawk, the World's Strongest Swordsman, and Boa Hancock, the Pirate Empress. Some Seraphims displayed eyes with star-shaped pupils as a peculiar physical feature.
Like the original Pacifista models, the Seraphims execute their duties in a robotic manner, acting as per direct orders. They attack with no restraint, not stopping their charge even if it potentially endangers bystanding allies. Seraphims use lasers, but some of them also have access to peculiar weapons.
The Seraphim based on Dracule Mihawk, in particular, has shown incredibly powerful swordsmanship. Wielding a sword that somehow resembles Mihawk's Yoru, the cyborg unleashed a slash with enough might to cut the biggest mountain of the Amazon Lily island in half, forcing Blackbeard to cover himself in Armament Haki to withstand the attack without getting damaged.
During the siege of Amazon Lily, the Hancock Seraphim backed up the Marines, helping them corner the Kuja warriors. With the sudden arrival of the Blackbeard Pirates, the Mihawk Seraphim took action and repelled the intruders. By the end of the battle, the two Seraphims were no longer around, presumably because they were ordered to retreat. It was noted that neither of them suffered any damage.
The incredible durability of Seraphims is due to their bodies being enhanced with Lunarian traits. As a result of these biological modifications, in addition to the looks of the child Warlords, the cyborgs also exhibit all the typical somatic features of the Lunarians: brown skin, white hair, black wings and a flame burning on the back.
Who are the Lunarians?
Lunarians are a race of people native to the Red Line. They are currently thought to have only one known survivor, Alber. Initially held captive by the World Government, Alber eventually escaped and was recruited by Kaido, who made him his second in command and assigned him the name King. Thus, Alber became Kaido's right-hand man and his strongest and most loyal subordinate.
Lunarians are able to freely create fire and manipulate it. King showed the ability to coat his limbs with flames to enhance his punches, kicks and slashes. He could also unleash powerful fire blasts with massive range. King's flames are particularly powerful because they are akin to magma, which in the One Piece world is much stronger than normal fire. This skill granted him the moniker of "Wildfire".
Lunarians also possess incredible resistance, allowing them to survive in any situation and environment and earning them the reputation of being a race of gods. If a Lunarian switches off the flame burning at his back, his signature durability will decrease, however he will gain a massive speed boost in exchange.
Thanks to his Lunarian body, King has shown the ability to withstand extremely powerful attacks without shedding a single drop of blood. He was even able to come out unscathed from attacks that were strong enough to cut Kaido's dragon scales and wound the Emperor in the process.
The circumstances of the Lunarian race nearly disappearing are yet to be disclosed. However, it's interesting to note that the World Government rewards an enormous sum of 150 million berries to anyone with relevant information about the whereabouts of a survivor of this race. This possibly hints at the World Government being the one who hunted Lunarians.
Charlotte Linlin, one of the former Four Emperors, was eager to recruit King to her crew so that she could have a Lunarian in her nation Totto Land, where all the various races of the world unite. Unfortunately for her, King, being strongly loyal to Kaido, rejected her proposal.
The term "Lunarian" seems to recall the moon. Interestingly, the tribes that reside on the Sky Islands possess wings on their backs and originate from the moon. There has yet to be any confirmation or refutation that the Lunarians share this origin. However, their wings are extremely functional and allow swift and fast flight, unlike the ones of the Sky Islands people.
Some One Piece fans likened the Lunarians' innate ability to ignite their bodies and create and control fire to the Minks' natural ability to conjure electricity, as well as the ability of Fish-men to manipulate water via their Fish-Men Karate.
With their extraordinary abilities, especially their resilience to any kind of damage, it's no wonder that the World Government was interested in Lunarian biology, to the point of conducting experiments. Eventually, the World Government's scientists managed to replicate this natural-born ability and used it to enhance the Seraphims, making the new Pacifista models a fearsome human weapon.
Some fan theories involving the Lunarians
The importance of the Lunarians for the main plot of One Piece seems to be rising, making it very feasible that this race hides some secrets which will play a big part in the final arc of the series. This has prompted many One Piece fans to go wild with theories about the Lunarians.
A popular theory that has been circulating since this race was first mentioned is the one which assumes that the people of the D. clan, i.e. the ones with the D. in their names, were all descendants of this race. This is primarily based on how the D. people are known as enemies of the Celestial Dragons and the World Governments, a feature that the Lunarians seem to share.
Some fans have even speculated that Monkey D. Luffy, the main character of the One Piece series, who is a D. owner, comes from a family with Lunarian heritage. They believe that Luffy's Gear 5 transformation, with its white hair and flames that resemble Sun God Nika, is actually the manifestation of the king of the Lunarians. This could explain why the World Government is so afraid of this power.
Final thoughts
Afer a letdown owing to some unsatisfactory aspects of the Wano Arc - which left many fans disappointed with its unfulfilled potential - the One Piece series is now going strong once again.
The revelations about the Cross Guild, the new bounties of the Strawhat Pirates, and now the latest installment of the series, have generated significant hype among fans. Between Rayleigh intimidating Blackbeard and the shocking appearance of the Seraphim Unit, One Piece fans are eagerly waiting to find out what will happen next.
The Seraphims generated an incredible amount of interest in the One Piece fandom, leaving behind many questions in their wake, key among them being why the Seraphims resemble the Warlords when the latter were children. Fans are also wondering how the World Government imprinted the Seraphims with the powers of the Lunarian race.
There are countless questions to answer, and the narrative potential to exploit them is immense. With the series entering its endgame, One Piece fans are hoping that everything will be handled satisfactorily.
