One Piece Commemorates Major Milestone by Hiding Its Greatest Secret Beneath the Waves

Beyond its sprawling anime, blockbuster live-action adaptations, and endless merchandise, One Piece remains a titan of the literary world. The record-shattering manga has officially eclipsed the monumental milestone of 600 million copies in circulation. To mark this historic achievement, series creator Eiichiro Oda orchestrated a grand gesture: he has finally committed the true nature of the “One Piece”—the mythical treasure pursued by Monkey D. Luffy—to paper. This document has been locked within a miniature treasure chest and submerged in the depths of the ocean, where it will remain until the series concludes.

The ambitious project was chronicled in a cinematic social media video. In the footage, a silhouette of Eiichiro Oda is seen at his workstation, meticulously documenting the definitive truth regarding Luffy and his ultimate goal. Once the manuscript was secured, it was placed in a chest designed to evoke the series’ iconic aesthetic and handed over to a professional diving team. Encapsulated in a protective vessel reminiscent of a Log Pose, the chest was lowered into the abyss, disappearing into the dark waters.

Publishing giant Shueisha confirmed the 600-million-copy feat following data shared by the Japanese tracking firm Oricon. This commemorative underwater deployment was a highly technical operation, conducted in partnership with the Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). The organizations provided the necessary maritime expertise and filming equipment to ensure the “treasure” reached its resting place safely. Plans are already in place to retrieve the chest for a public reveal once the manga’s final chapter is published.

Since its 1997 debut in Weekly Shonen Jump, One Piece has evolved from a simple pirate adventure into a global cultural phenomenon. While some enthusiasts point out that One Piece has now numerically outperformed the entire cumulative history of Superman’s 18,000+ issues, the sheer scale of the 600-million figure stands on its own as a peerless accomplishment. It solidifies Oda’s work as the best-selling manga in history by a significant margin.

Remarkably, the campaign highlights that this is the first time Oda has ever physically written down the series’ endgame, having previously guarded the secret solely within his own mind for nearly three decades. Given the immense narrative weight of the revelation, the decision to literally “bury” the secret 650 meters below sea level adds a poetic layer of security to the story’s conclusion. Unless an exceptionally daring fan is prepared for a deep-sea expedition, the mystery of the One Piece remains safely out of reach.

Source: Polygon