The doom that befell Flevance, the gilded city of White Lead, this disease is next to incurable for most in One Piece. The only known survivor, Trafalgar D Law, only survives through his sheer force of will and the abilities of his Op-Op Fruit. While it’s obviously caused by the substance White Lead, what exactly is One Piece’s White Lead Disease?
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What Causes White Lead Disease?
Obviously, White Lead Disease comes from the substance White Lead. Though sometimes it’s referred to as Amber Lead depending on the translation or dub. Whatever color it’s referred to by though, this disease always has the same effect. The White Lead it comes from is mined under the country of Flevance, which in turn gives them a massive boost in their economy. While White Lead and items made from it became a booming business, making everyone in Flevance stupid and rich, it came back to show them the consequence of their actions.
White Lead Disease easily wiped out the entirety of Flevance, despite taking generations to appear. Although the country of Flevance was wiped from the map by Buster Call, the population was long dead from their organs calcifying. The White Lead, as it works its way through the body, slowly takes over and corrupts the cells of the host. Eventually, they become walking zombies in a sense, with the spread of pale white on their skin showing just how long they are from death.
City of Flevance
Flevance is the gilded town known as the epicenter of the opulent White Lead. The substance was mined from under the town for generations, long before Law and his family were the victims of its greed. White Lead was mined for decades at a minimum and shipped around the world as a luxury item, making everything from decorations to jewelry and statues for the rich everywhere. Flevance, in turn, became a bustling hub with many attracted to its upscale, fancy towns and populations.
As the generations went on, more and more workers in Flevance worked in White Lead mines while others lived nearby. The prolonged exposure to both workers and the country itself with the mines being opened brings about the disease. It took time working its way in through generations to wear away the citizens’ resistance, until eventually the entirety of Flevance once again would be ruled by the White Lead underneath.
Pandemic
With Flevance being a more generational island with residents that often stayed put instead of traveled, White Lead Disease popped up fast. Whether at some point the disease got worse or just overexposure accelerated the spread, White Lead began killing slowly before ramping up speed. Eventually, the World Government cut Flevance off from the rest of the world, walling the country in. Despite the disease being caused by exposure to the White Lead and not actually being contagious, they go into the scorched earth policy.
A Buster Call comes to wipe Flevance from the map, intending to remove the disease completely. In that brief time, before it comes crashing down, a young Trafalgar D Water Law flees. His parents were doctors in the city, desperately trying to help cure the disease but eventually succumbing. Before they die, Traffy is told of his legacy with the Will of D before being told to escape and live. He makes it out, fleeing and eventually meeting the Donquixote Family, although he’s still subject to the White Lead Disease eating away at him.
Effects
The disease is quite literally the White Lead reproducing and building up in the victim’s body. This causes them to slowly calcify, the White Lead replacing their own normal cells. The major effect is, that over the generations that have lived with the White Lead Disease, it shortens the lifespan of each subsequent generation. Even worse, it causes the effects of the disease to appear even earlier in the infected’s lifetime. With Traffy, he’s infected pretty thoroughly by the time he’s only about seven or eight years old.
As the buildup of White Lead starts earlier and earlier, it eventually can cause the user to totally calcify thanks to the amount in them. That said, most who get the disease will usually succumb before then, dying from the buildup in major organs first. While the buildup in the organs can’t be seen, the disease can be relatively accurately measured by the deposits visible on victims’ skin. The white splotches will stand out against the natural skin color of the North Blue people, showing pale against them.
Cures
There is no formal cure for White Lead Disease. To this day, many around the world of One Piece still believe it to actually be a contagious disease, choosing to play off their mistake. However, after Flevance is delivered the ultimate cure by being bombed out of existence, the Disease mostly fades from memory over time. That means not many are working on curing it, despite the hope Cora and Law hold for it to happen. Eventually, they pull an all-or-nothing move, hearing that the Op-Op Fruit is about to be traded to Donquixote Doflamingo.
Despite Cora’s death in the process, the operation ends up as a success after Law eats the Devil Fruit. After eating it, he’s able to use his existing medical knowledge and learn more to remove the White Lead from his system. It’s the only foolproof way to get it all out, and considering the Op-Op Fruit is a one-of-a-kind power, it’s not easy to get. Not that anyone has to worry about getting White Lead Disease of course.
Despite the past prevalence of White Lead throughout the Grand Line and beyond as a luxury, it no longer exists. Whether the White Lead Disease ever showed up beyond Flevance sounds unlikely. Not impossible, but mostly due to the minute amounts of White Lead in comparison to Flevance. The World Government also made it a point to destroy any White Lead they could find. While it’s a fully fatal, incurable disease, White Lead Disease is no longer a danger to anyone in One Piece.
