In the latest chapters of the manga One Piece, Saint Nerona Imu, the world’s ruler, has arrived in Elbaph, revealing more about his incredible powers. Author Eiichiro Oda has been gradually showcasing Imu’s abilities, including the Covenants and a special Devil Fruit. Interestingly, Oda hinted at these powers almost 20 years ago in a side story called “Enel’s Space Operations,” which began in 2006. This story featured Space Pirates with abilities similar to Imu’s, and it seems to hold clues to the origins of powers like the Covenants and immortality.
Breaking Down Imu’s Covenant Power Origin From “Enel’s Space Operations” Cover Story
The Elbaf Arc in One Piece has revealed a lot more about the Knights of God, also called Holy Knights, and their incredible abilities. These knights have made a powerful deal with Saint Imu Nerona, granting them powers like immortality, instant healing, and immense strength. In return, Imu can take over their bodies and control them from anywhere, using them as a connection to the rest of the world from the Holy Land of Marijoa.
Okay, so chapter 1179 of One Piece totally blew my mind! It turns out the Holy Knights get their power from these incredible mechanical hearts! And get this – inside those hearts is a manometer, which is a direct connection to something Oda teased way back in 2005! Remember Enel’s Space Operations cover story? That’s where we met the Space Pirates led by Seamars, and they had some seriously advanced tech. It looks like that tech is the source of the Holy Knights’ power and was used to wreak havoc on the moon! It’s amazing how Oda is tying everything together after all this time!
The technology they used contained devices similar to manometers. While Oda didn’t explain how these devices helped them in battle, it’s revealed that Imu somehow obtained this technology and used it to transform the Holy Knights, essentially turning them into cyborgs.
How The Holy Knights Become Immortal Using Ancient Technology
The world of One Piece has strong ties to outer space, and many of its inhabitants originally come from the moon. Groups like the Shandians, Birkans, and Skypians traveled from the moon to Earth, and the Lunarians also have lunar origins. They brought advanced technology with them, including the technology used by the Space Pirates. This makes the presence of powerful, technologically advanced beings and cyborgs in the One Piece world quite plausible. In fact, this technology is what Saint Imu Nerona uses to create the abilities of the Holy Knights.
If I break this person’s will, will they ever be able to recover? — Zoro, One Piece 1179
The Holy Knights appear invincible, able to recover from any attack. But their weakness is a special, metallic heart containing a pressure gauge. Destroying this heart is the only way to defeat them, which is why Sommers was so frightened when he learned Zoro intended to do just that in One Piece chapter 1179.
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Assessing The Key Importance Of The Steel Heart In Beating The World Government Immortals
Now that Saint Imu Nerona has arrived in Elbaph, the Holy Knights are about to become much more powerful. While Sommers is near death and Sanji defeated Killingham, Imu’s dark abilities will likely restore and enhance the Knights significantly. Imu’s power seems to work best up close – we’ve already seen he can only directly control those with the Shallow Sea Pact when he’s nearby. Those connected by the Depths Covenant are stronger and can be controlled from anywhere, but they probably become even more powerful the closer they are to Imu.
With his arrival in Elbaph, these characters will become more powerful. The way to defeat them will be to break through their defenses with Conqueror’s Haki and then destroy what’s inside. This idea, hinted at by Oda twenty years ago in an Enel side story, will finally be fully explained during the Elbaph arc, and it’s a great example of how carefully planned and complex One Piece is.
One Piece chapter 1180 will be available to read on Manga Plus on April 19, 2026, at 11 a.m. EST.
One Piece
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- Release Date
- 1999-10-20
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- TV-14
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- Comedy (Genre), Action (Genre), Adventure (Genre), Anime (Genre), Fantasy (Genre)
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2026-04-09 23:38