A little known fact that I don’t see talked about a lot is that there’s actually a 3 day timeskip between the end of Chapter 1085 (when Sabo meets Imu) and the start of Chapter 1086 (when Sabo escapes on a boat to Lulusia).
How do we know this? Well, in Chapter 925 we see Blackbeard say that on the 4th day of the Reverie, the Revolutionaries fought the Admirals.
And what we see in Chapter 1083 supports this, with us also now knowing Sabo met Imu on this day as well.
Yet we also know the Reverie is a 7 day long event and Sabo did not escape until it ended.
So the only answer is that there was a small timeskip between these two events.
I think this is a prime example of how Oda handles not essential passages of time, in particular, by not mentioning them.
One of the biggest complaints I see in the fanbase is the apparently very short span of time all the events in the series take place in universe. (Fair enough) I’ve seen some estimates that the Straw Hats only spent a month or two together Pre Timeskip. But I don’t think this is accurate. Because although we are usually given specific times the Straw Hats spend on land, we very rarely get travel time on the sea, and when we do it’s shown in weeks. Yet most timelines work off the assumption that if a passage of time is not explicitly shown, the Straw Hats are essentially teleporting from island to island.
I’m not trying to say I could make a better timeline. I give full kudos to those who try to make one. What I am trying to show is that Oda does not always focus on the passage of time even when it does occur. If you want to think a month passes between Alabasta to Jaya or weeks between Skypiea and Long Ring or that the Straw Hats partied on FMI for 10 days. (Which they totally would do) then I think that’s just as valid. It’s how I’m going to personally take it to be honest.
*by Latter-Contact-6814
