Personally, I feel like Kuzan being a double agent as a member of SWORD and infiltrating the Blackbeard pirates makes the most sense. Blackbeard has been going all across the seas becoming a bigger threat each time. It makes sense that this would trigger the Navy's attention and push for them to keep a close eye on him. Kuzan is a known protégé of Garp. We've seen throughout the entire series that Garp shares a lot of similarities with Luffy. Specifically, the trait that allows people to be inspired by WHO he is not by the power he wields. Garp's ideology is definitely the type that sticks with those that carry a moral backbone. Koby is the perfect example of this. Kuzan is another. The Elbaf reveal that Saul is still alive, and Kuzan's behavior at Hachinosu when Garp was captured, both suggest that whatever his arrangement with Blackbeard is, his loyalty was never really in question.

Theory: Imu predates the Void Century and may be from the First World (Harley Text)

(This is long, but I tried to ground everything in existing lore rather than treating this as headcanon.)

This is a refinement of a theory I posted about two weeks ago. After rewatching key episodes and rereading the Harley text, I’ve started to think Imu may be far older than the Void Century, possibly originating in the First World, not the Second World where the World Government is established.

Below is the full original theory and then the change.

• Imu’s rise within the founding alliance Twenty kingdoms allied to form the World Government. One of their leaders, Imu, used manipulation and political leverage to consolidate power while preserving the illusion of shared rule. The Empty Throne was symbolic, except it was never truly empty. 2. Nefertari Lili and the origin of the D. Nefertari Lili was one of the original twenty leaders. As Imu’s control grew, Lili and several remaining leaders who resisted him formed a covert opposition.

The middle initial “D.” was not a bloodline, but a symbol used among resistance factions to identify one another.

At some point Imu offered Lili a place beside him. She refused. In her reply she signed her name Nefertari D. Lili, deliberately adopting the rebel mark.

Imu had her killed during her return journey.

The Nefertari family’s punishment was permanent exclusion from Celestial Dragon status. Imu’s rage when Cobra revealed the “D.” in Lili’s name suggests he spent centuries unaware she had claimed the symbol herself.

• The resistance falls and the D. scatters Imu defeated the resistance. Survivors scattered across the world.

This explains why people carrying the D., Roger, Garp, Saul, Law, come from unrelated regions and cultures. They are not one lineage, but multiple descendant lines from different rebel factions.

• The flooding of the world At the height of his power, Imu flooded the world.

The current geography, the vast oceans and fragmented islands of the Blue Star, is not natural but the result of deliberate destruction following the collapse of the old world.

• Devil Fruits and occult binding Imu discovered occult methods to bind entities into objects, creating Devil Fruits. This knowledge leaked, producing more fruits as the world transitioned.

Some Devil Fruits carry the will of the summoner. This is why the Nika fruit has been hunted for 800 years. Its will cannot be controlled, only erased.

• Joy Boy, the first pirate Joy Boy was a Celestial Dragon descendant who learned the truth from inside the system and defected.

Using that same occult knowledge, he acquired the Nika power and became the world’s first pirate, stealing from Imu and the World Government on a massive scale.

Imu retaliated.
The Fishmen were punished.
Zunesha was condemned to eternal penance.

Joy Boy ultimately failed and died but reached Laugh Tale and left behind both the stolen treasure and a Poneglyph recording the full truth.

That truth, treasure and record together, is the One Piece.

• The Void Century The Void Century was erased specifically to prevent Joy Boy’s will from being inherited.

Ironically, the missing century became the very marker that attracted scholars to it.

• Ohara Ohara reconstructed this history from fragments. The Buster Call was not military. It was archival destruction.

Clover being killed mid sentence confirms Imu knew exactly what was being uncovered.

• Robin Saul, a D., defected to save Robin, the only person who could read the truth.

Imu destroyed the archive, but the archive had already read Robin.

Robin does not carry the D., suggesting she descends from those who preserved the record rather than those who fought.

The change to the theory

After revisiting Episode 1119, the Harley text, and the prophecy of the Three Worlds, I’m starting to think Imu is not from the Second World at all, but the First World.

The Harley text implies a First World where gods were present, a Second World with Joy Boy, Lili, and the Ancient Kingdom, and the current world of stagnation.

What if Imu is a survivor of the First World?

What if he made a pact with the God of Earth during that era, gaining longevity and power, and survived to manipulate the Second World and the founding of the World Government?

Episode 1119 made me fixate on one detail. Imu’s voice sounds like multiple voices speaking at once.

Instead of killing Lili, what if Imu and the Earth God fused her into themselves?

Meaning Nefertari D. Lili never truly died.