The Straw Hats need to fight off the Seraphim while finding a traitor among the Vegapunks, but there may be a simple solution to both problems.

Things have gotten pretty dicey in the latest One Piece chapters. According to Vegapunk Shaka, one of the Vegapunks may have gone rogue. They’ve trapped everyone in the Labophase, cut off communications, and taken out the cameras. Worst of all, they’ve sent the Seraphim on a murderous rampage and won’t listen to any of the good Vegapunks’ orders to stop.

The Straw Hats could probably beat the Seraphim and even destroy them if they had to, but they might not have to. All they have to do is get someone to order the Seraphim to stop attacking them, and it doesn’t even need the traitor Vegapunk to do it. If the Straw Hats can properly seize the opportunity, they can end the Labophase death game without any casualties.

How Can the Seraphim Be Stopped?

To stop the Seraphim, it’s important to understand just how giving them orders works. They follow the orders of the Five Elders, the seven Vegapunks, Sentomaru, and whoever has an Authority Chip in that descending hierarchical order. Orders given can only be overruled by someone higher on the hierarchy; for example, the orders given by a Vegapunk Satellite can’t be overturned by the Stella, but they can be overturned by one of the Five Elders. If the last person to give an order is rendered unconscious, the Seraphim will listen to anyone else not on the same level of authority, higher or lower. As long as nothing about these rules changes within the next few chapters, the Straw Hats should have a simple solution to their predicament.

The first solution that might come to mind is figuring out which of the Vegapunks is the traitor. If this can be done, then perhaps they could be convinced to order the Seraphim to stop. There’s still no certainty as to why they’re doing this, so perhaps talking things out is still possible.

However, this might take too long, especially since the Seraphim are already on the attack. On top of this, the Stella, another suspect, is still missing. Figuring out who the traitor is may have to wait until after the Seraphim are stopped. This sounds contradictory, but a method exists to solve both problems.

All anyone has to do is knock out all of the Vegapunk Satellites. If they did this, then Stussy, another member of the authority hierarchy, could order the Seraphim to stop; they’ll also have to make sure neither Lucci nor Kaku is there to give an order of their own. If the Seraphim continue attacking, then those still conscious will know that the Stella is the traitor and they’ll at least have that question answered.

This method may be drastic, but it’s the best way to resolve the ongoing crisis. It’s swift, it almost completely bypasses the need to root out the traitor, and it ends with everyone living, including the Seraphim. As for the Vegapunks, they’ll have to hope they’re with a Straw Hat who can knock them out gently like Usopp.

Src: cbr.com