The island of Wano still holds many of One Piece’s dangerous secrets, and the manga’s newest cover story may dive into them and bring Kaido back.

One Piece‘s mysterious and sometimes illuminating cover stories have returned to the manga, and the latest one’s first entry teases another mystery on the island of Wano which may see the return of Kaido. Author Eiichiro Oda is known for packing each manga chapter with loads of information, so much so that it can’t all fit in One Piece‘s traditional manga pages. And judging from the beginning of a new cover story in chapter #1109, the land of Wano has more for readers to discover.

The latest One Piece manga arc, Egghead Island, has included fights that are as epic as they are essential to the plot from different time periods and locations around the series incredibly well-defined world. Although fans recently spent a long time on Wano, the franchise’s longest arc to date, Oda already has another excursion on the island to share with readers.

One Piece‘s next cover story begins in chapter #1109 with an image of what’s left of Kaido’s Onigashima base underwater, along with the remnants of an ancient area of Wano. No characters are shown in the image, but there are plenty of secrets and people left on Wano that the cover story could focus on.

The New Cover Story Will Connect To One Piece’s Ending

One Piece is written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda

Oda’s cover stories often provided light-hearted adventures for characters Luffy encountered in the past. After Buggy’s first defeat, a cover story provided a short and humorous adventure of how the Genius Jester reclaimed his lost limbs and crew. With “Germa 66’s Ahh… An Emotionless Excursion” concluding in chapter #1078, manga covers have been dedicated to charming art requests. Thankfully, a new cover story has begun to tell a new story, one large panel at a time. With the story reaching the final saga of One Piece‘s story, its author will surely reveal plot details in the cover story that will connect to the series ending.

The previous cover story began by explaining the origins of the scientific group MADS. Eventually, it evolved into a mission that saw Sanji’s siblings escape Whole Cake Island when the Blackbeard Pirates attacked it. The kidnapping of Charlotte Pudding allows Luffy’s likely final villain to read the vital Poneglyphs needed to reach Laugh Tale, information that will have huge ramifications in the future, and the new cover story will likely do the same. It begins with Onigashima’s massive Skull Dome now on Wano’s seabed, assumingly after Momonosuke moved it to where several nefarious remnants from the past linger.

Reader’s May Find Out If Kaido and Big Mom Are Really Dead

The last time fans saw Kaido’s base of operations, it had landed just outside of Wano’s flower capital after Momonosuke successfully moved it out of the way from Luffy’s gigantic Gear 5 punch. That attack defeated Kaido and liberated the island that had suffered under his and Orochi’s cruel rule for many years. During the Raid on Onigashima, both Kaido and Big Mom were defeated and forced deep into the island’s underground, possibly close to where Onigashima now rests.

One Piece‘s world was shocked by the defeat of Emperors of the Sea, Kaido and Big Mom. It took considerable effort from around a dozen of the series’ best fighters to finally defeat them by forcing them both off Onigashima and deep into the Wano’s lava pits, which exploded along with the two Yonkos. Oda doesn’t like killing off characters; some have survived similar explosive fates. The new cover story might prove if the Yonkos are dead, but it may focus on something more critical to One Piece‘s final saga than Kaido and Big Mom.

The fates of many of Kaido’s subordinates, members of the Tobiroppo, are also currently unknown and could be revealed in One Piece ‘s new cover story.

The Ancient Weapon Can’t Stay Hidden Forever

Before Luffy, Law, and Kid left Wano to sail into their next dangerous adventures, the former Shogan of Wano, Kozuki Sukiyaki, revealed that the ancient weapon Pluton was hidden under the island. Its harboring caused large sections of Wano’s island to be submerged underwater, exactly where Kaido’s former base now rests. Pluton and the other two Ancient Weapons will likely have a significant role in One Piece‘s story, which is a mystery that hopefully the new cover story will explore.

The Ancient Weapons and the terrifying rumors of their power were first introduced during the Alabasta arc. So far, only one of the weapons has been used in the series: Fishman Island’s “Poseidon.” Its ability to communicate with the largest creatures of the oceans, the Sea Kings, currently resides with the mermaid princess Shirahoshi. The weapon Uranus has yet to be revealed. Pluton, a seemingly massive battleship capable of creating mass destruction, has stayed hidden under Wano. However, that will likely not stay the case.

Pluton is the same ancient weapon that Crocodile was hunting and believed to be hidden in Alabasta. Robin would be the one to learn the truth from the former Kozuki Shogun, and she would go on to tell the rest of the Straw Hats, a secret the very sneaky Caribou also heard. Now, more than a few One Piece characters are aware of the existence of the ancient weapons. Fewer know their locations, but one of those few will likely appear in the new cover story if it revolves around Wano’s ancient weapon.

Wano Is Filled With Character’s Fans Want To See More Of

Besides the ultimate fates of Kaido, Big Mom, and the ancient Weapon Pluton, One Piece‘s new cover story on Wano may also feature a Luffy ally many thought was dead. SWORD member and semi-effective spy X. Drake was last seen heavily injured after the Raid of Onigashima and hasn’t appeared in the story since. Fan-favorite characters like Yamato and the surviving Red Scabbards may also have roles to play in the cover story.

Even if the following cover story does not dive deep into one of the subjects or characters mentioned above, it will likely provide more interesting context for Luffy’s world, which continues to grow along with the sense of wonder fans get from the series. Still, it’s only possible to know for sure once Eiichiro Oda’s next chapter of One Piece is released to uncover what happened after “Onigashima sinks.“