Ch. 1This Reincarnation Was a Sure Bet
Plot points and events
- In 1484, after the God Valley incident, Marines report to Garin Saint Figarland that Roger’s crew looted the treasure and took one infant. The baby is returned to Garin in a chest; furious, he vows to retrieve what Roger stole himself.
- The chapter recounts God Valley’s aftermath: Rocks is dead, his crew has scattered, the Celestial Dragons’ slaves have escaped, and the Roger Pirates have emerged as the apparent winners. Garp’s experience there leaves him disillusioned with the World Government and Marine justice.
- Ten years later, in Mary Geoise, Garin’s younger son Shaya awakens memories of his previous life. He realizes he has been reincarnated as a Celestial Dragon in the One Piece world—and that his older brother is Shanks.
- Shaya recalls his former life as an overworked corporate employee who died from exhaustion. He resolves to enjoy his new privilege rather than labor, imagining a carefree life of parties and excess.
- A system suddenly announces itself. Shaya rejects it outright, insisting that neither a system nor anyone else will make him work.
Character developments
- Garin Figarland is shown as formidable and fiercely protective of his family, though frustrated by the Marines’ failure to stop Roger.
- Shaya shifts from confusion about his identity to gleeful confidence in his status. His memories of exploitation shape his determination to avoid work and responsibility.
- Garp is portrayed as increasingly alienated from the institutions he serves after witnessing the Celestial Dragons’ cruelty.
Character interactions
- Garin berates the Marines for losing the treasure and demands that they return the infant, while making clear he will deal with Roger himself.
- Shaya’s key “interaction” is with the newly awakened system: he immediately challenges it and refuses its presumed authority.
Significant themes
- Power and privilege: Celestial Dragons can act with impunity, a reality Shaya sees as the foundation of his new life.
- Freedom versus exploitation: Having died as an overworked laborer, Shaya treats his reincarnation as a chance to escape compulsory work.
- History’s turning points: God Valley’s outcome signals the decline of Rocks and the rise of Roger, while foreshadowing future conflict between the Celestial Dragons and Luffy.
- Satire and irony: Shaya’s comic ambition is not heroism or greatness, but to become a carefree, lawless Celestial Dragon—and to refuse even the usual transmigrator’s system.