of Ichiro Oda a piece is a traditional shonen that follows the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Monkey D. Full of incredible adventures led by Luffy, and mind-blowing world-building, whose likes no other story in the world can match. It is also the greatest strength of these two things a piece. However, as of late, Eiichiro Oda is also trying his luck with romance. When Episode One began, the series writer made it clear that he didn't want romance to be the backbone of the story. This is especially because a piece is a hearsay story, and young guys don't care much about romance, but obviously, things have changed significantly in the last saga.
Recently, in Elbaf Arch, a piece Centering on Nerona Emu, king of the world, and his deep obsession with Nefertari Lily from the zero century, the groundwork was laid for one of the darkest romance stories of all time. Amidst all this, the likes of Kandel and Princess Shuri also got involved.
One Piece exposes Emu's one-sided dark romantic obsession with Nefertari Lily
The main villain a piece He is none other than Nerona Emu, the king of the world. The overarching plot line of Emu had a huge mystery a piece Until recently, but one piece chapter 1179, which was officially released on April 5, 2026, in Shuisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump issue 19, demystified the character by first showing his arrival in Warland Elbaf. Nerona Emu's full character design was unveiled to us, and so were her powers in subsequent chapters.
“Gorosei, the Holy Land will be without Mu for a while. I leave it in your care.” — Nerona Emu When He's Going to Elbaf, One Piece Chapter #1178
Along with this, the relationship of Emu from the past also became clear. For example, Eiichiro Oda gave us a flashback panel of Nerona Emu and Joy Boy, clearly showing that they were friends at one point. a piece Chapter 1181 was released on April 27, 2926, in Shuisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump issues #22-23.
At the same time, we know Nerona Emu's deep obsession with Nefertari Lily. In the beginning, Lily was one of the founding 20 kings; However, she sides with none other than Joy Boy and raises the flag of revolution against the sinking world. This was officially confirmed in One Piece Chapter 1085, released on June 5, 2023. Emu's obsession with Lily seems to have started earlier. Although she clearly blames him for spreading the poneglyphs around the world and keeping D's spirit alive, Emu desires her deeply. This is exactly why Nerona Emu also wants Nefertari Vivi, who looks like Lily. At this point in the story, Eiichiro Oda makes it clear that Nerona Emu has a one-sided obsession with Nefertari Lily, which is especially evident from the portrait of the former queen of Arabia in her flower room.
One Piece officially sets 3 major upgrades for the Monster Trio
The monster trio is getting major upgrades through their upcoming Elbaf battles in one piece.
“If it hadn't been for Lily's mistake that day, the abominable relics called Poneglyphs wouldn't be scattered around the world!” – Nerona Emu explains Lily's role in Zero Century, One Piece Chapter #1085
Why Princess Shuri's downfall is directly linked to the darkest story of One Piece
While Emu's obsession with Nefertari Lily is quite obvious, there is more to it than that. It seems that Emu projects his obsession with Lily onto other blue-haired women in the One Piece world, and Princess Shuri is one of them. It was clear from a piece Chapter 1185 was officially released in Shuisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump issue #29 on June 15, 2026. In this chapter, Brook explains to Shuri that at one point, a Celestial Dragon Ship went to Asperia and stayed for a few months. During those months, Lady Candle, Shuri's mother, was especially overworked and stressed. Soon after, a marriage was announced between Reuven and Candelle, and Shuri was born.
“Once, a World Government ship drifted into Asperia, and the kingdom was shocked to encounter such authority as they had never experienced before. Lady Kandel was bedridden for months due to exhaustion, and you wouldn't believe how depressed the people were during those months.” – Brooke narrates Kandel's dark past, One Piece Chapter #1185
This, when combined with the fact that Shuri holds the blood of a Celestial Dragon and belongs to the Manmeir family, officially confirms that King Reuven is not her real father and that she is the product of a certain Celestial Dragon. Shuri has blue hair like Vivi, which explains why Nerona took Emu back to the Holy Land and why she personally serves him as her own maid. Shuri must be 70 years old now, but she hasn't aged much since she went to the sacred land of Marizoa.
Apparently, Emu has kept him with him to fulfill all his needs and has made him a mindless slave soldier for himself. Whichever way we look at it, it's a dark, immature love story with a very twisted form of tragedy that Emu has so far emphasized in so many characters. Now, he's trying to do the same with Nefertali Vivi.
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Why did Lily fall in love with Joy Boy instead of Emu?
Emu's obsession makes a lot of sense when looking at Lily a piece Chapter 1183, which marks the beginning of the Asperia flashback on May 25, 2026, in Shuisha's Weekly Shonen Jump issue #26. In this flashback, it was very clear that Shuri, in her childish nature, was in love with none other than Brooke. Because of her childish innocence, she didn't understand why her feelings for Brooke were out of place. No matter what Brooke told her, Shuri was ready to show her feelings for him. Interestingly, at the very beginning of this flashback in One Piece Chapter 1183, Eiichiro Oda showed Brooke doing the Nika pose. This was a major hint by the author to connect Brooke to Sun God Nika and Shuri to Nefertari Lily.
Nerona Emu: One more thing, I want Vivi!
Five Elders: As you wish
— Exchange showing Nerona Emu's dark obsession with Lily
As such, the implication here is that just as Shuri had feelings for Brooke, Lily had feelings for none other than Nika. This was clearly shown in a piece Chapter 1181, which was officially released on April 27, 2026 in WSJ issues #22-23. Joy Boy and Nerona Emu were friends, but since Lily chose Joy Boy over Nerona Emu, her obsession with him grew to unhealthy proportions, which undoubtedly had a significant role in the Great War 900 years ago. It also explains his deep desire to obtain Nefertari Vivi in the final saga. As the Elbaf arc pushes towards its end, Shuri's connection to Emu, as well as more information related to the likes of Lily and Vivi, will also be unveiled by Eiichiro Oda, and that's something we're eagerly waiting to see.
All new One Piece Chapters by Eiichiro Oda are available to read via Manga Plus and Viz Media.
