Warning: SPOILERS for chapter #1071 of One Piece.
Luffy's biggest rival in Elbaf, the island of the Giants (spelled Elbaph in the Viz English translation), an essential location in the One Piece world that holds the keys to many of the series mysteries.
Kid is one of the twelve pirates of the "Worst Generation" who started building a reputation on Grand Line shortly before the Summit War at Marineford. The Kid Pirates are a dangerous crew known for causing many civilian casualties, created the fearsome Yonko and obtaining a copy of one of Road Poneglyphs needed to reach Laugh Tale.
Chapter #1071 of One Piece shows that Kid has once again beaten Luffy to an important goal. After leaving Wano, where they worked together to defeat Kaido and Big Mom, Luffy, Kid, and Trafalgar Law took different routes. While Luffy's path took him to Egghead Island, and Law unfortunately fell in an ambush by the Blackbeard Pirates, Kid instead arrives at Elbaf, the fabled land of the Giants. In recent chapters, it was revealed that the library of Ohara, a repository of knowledge needed to decipher the many mysteries of the One Piece world, was saved by its attempted destruction at the hands of the World Government and brought to Elbaf. This means that, once again, Kid has gained the upper hand in the race for the One Piece treasure.
Kid Is Ahead Of Luffy In The Race For The One Piece
Since his introduction in the story, Kid immediately developed a heated rivalry with Luffy for the title of best pirate of the new generation and new Pirate King. To obtain that title, a pirate must collect the four Road Poneglyphs to find the hidden location of Laugh Tale, where the One Piece awaits. In Wano, Kid demonstrated unexpected knowledge related to the location of the fourth Road Poneglyph, which is connected to a mysterious "man marked by flames", whose identity Kid is supposedly aware of, while Luffy never even heard of him. After all, the Kid Pirates went after the Road Poneglyphs early on and even managed to steal one of them from one of Big Mom's commanders. This proves that Kid has always been a step ahead of Luffy in the race for the One Piece, laser-focused on the final goal, while the Straw Hats captain is content to go where the wind of adventure carries him.
Elbaf is clearly the next location where the Straw Hats will arrive, if they manage to successfully escape from Rob Lucci and iral Kizaru on Egghead. Luffy will not be happy to discover that Kid has beaten him to such an important landmark of their adventure, and the competition between the two most hot-headed captains in One Piece remains open.
The latest chapter of One Piece is available from Viz Media.
