Chapter 1040

Chapter 1040 is titled "Wasted Words on Young Ears".

Cover Page
Germa 66's Ahh... An Emotionless Excursion, Vol. 4: "A creature beyond the power of science"

Niji and Yonji think about how they were defeated by Big Mom.

Short Summary
Big Mom withstands Kid's laser blast and tries to use Soul Pocus, which fails to affect Kid or Law due to their lack of fear. Law then creates a soundless area (much like Corazon's Devil Fruit power) around Big Mom, and as Kid forces her down a hole, Big Mom is left unable to call her homies to save her. She lands in the Armory and inadvertently triggers a bomb which causes Kazenbo to wither away and blows away the remaining ground behind her. Big Mom then proceeds to fall all the way to the Wano mainland, where she is left defeated in a huge explosion; the fighters around Law and Kid are left in awe and jubilation at their victory over an Emperor of the Sea.

The hole created by Big Mom allows Momonosuke to reunite with Yamato, and Momonosuke says that Zunesha is calling out to him, revealing that the elephant was once Joy Boy's companion.

Long Summary
Eustass Kid tries to blast Big Mom into the large hole Law made with his last attack, but Big Mom soon starts resisting the impact of the blast and grips the edge of the hole to keep herself from moving. She then uses her Soul Pocus move again, saying that after Kid’s attack finishes, everyone present can either give her fifty years of their lifespans or become her slaves. Both crews start panicking, including the Beasts Pirates, but while Kid and Law’s crews want to run away, both Kid and Law, surprisingly, are not affected by Big Mom’s Soul Pocus, the reason being that they aren’t afraid of her.

Law creates a miniaturized Room called R-ROOM that he launches at Big Mom, which cancels out all sound within it in homage to the late Donquixote Rosinante's Nagi Nagi no Mi powers. At the same time, Misery tries to attack Law, but he easily destroys it with his sword. With Big Mom’s voice no longer reaching anyone to steal their souls, Kid fires another Damned Punk, successfully blasting her down the hole, with neither Prometheus nor Hera being able to come to her aid.

She ends up getting blasted down into the armory where she ends up punching one of the bombs Yamato froze, which causes her pain and also damages Kazenbo, causing it to shrink. Yamato manages to create a wall of ice to protect himself and the other frozen bombs, but the explosion destroys the lower part of Onigashima causing Big Mom to fall with several other explosives. As she falls, she mentally curses Roger for instigating the “Great Pirate Era” when it had no impact on him since he was about to die, and because of that, there are tons of young upstarts trying to claim the heads of the Emperors. She says that he could have at least told them about One Piece; if it was real, where is it, what it is, and if some of it could be "found" in Wano. The explosives hit the hole and cause another massive explosion to occur, before Big Mom is engulfed in the blast, she curses Law and Kid for this and claims she will not die from this, and Law uses the silent Room to block the sound of the explosion. Law and Kid are announced the victors of the battle and their respective crews cheer for them.

As a result of the earlier explosion, everyone across the island feels the impact, with Zoro starting to fall off the island himself. Fukurokuju also falls over desperately begging for some water, while Raizo stands his ground. Momonosuke asks Yamato if the explosion came from the basement, which he confirms, also saying he froze the other bombs. Momonosuke then tells Yamato that Zunesha, the elephant that carriers Zou on its back, is getting closer to the mainland. Yamato asks if this Zunesha is the same one Oden mentioned in his journal, and Momonosuke confirms, also saying that it was once Joy Boy's companion when it committed a crime 800 years ago.

Chapter Notes

 * Law and Kid's fight against Big Mom continues and concludes.
 * Kid's attack injures Big Mom, but she continues to withstand it.
 * Big Mom uses her Soul Pocus to try and take the life span of nearby members of the Beasts, Heart, and Kid Pirates, but Law and Kid are unaffected.
 * Law uses a new technique inspired by his benefactor, Rosinante, that silences Big Mom so she can't steal any more sole fragments to help her.
 * Kid's attack blasts Big Mom down the hole created by Law, who bisects Misery at the same time.
 * Big Mom passes through the weapons vault and accidentally sets off one of Yamato's frozen bombs, further injuring herself.
 * Big Mom falls into the crater on Wano Country alongside other explosives, where she falls victim to another, much bigger explosion which defeats her.
 * Before her defeat, Big Mom cursed Roger for starting the "Great Pirate Era" and implied that One Piece in some form may be found in Wano Country.
 * Kid and Law are announced the winners of this battle.
 * The explosion in the weapons vault destroys the lower portion of Onigashima and is felt throughout most of it.
 * Kazenbo gets directly hit by the explosion and shrinks down in size.
 * The ground beneath Zoro crumbles and he begins to fall off the island.
 * Fukurokuju collapses from dehydration in his fight against Raizo.
 * Yamato manages to protect himself and the remaining bombs in the armory from the explosion set off by Big Mom.
 * Yamato approaches Momonosuke through a hole caused by the explosion as he continues to pull Onigashima away from the Flower Capital.
 * Momonosuke reveals that Zunesha was a companion of Joy Boy, and the crime it committed occurred 800 years ago.

Trivia

 * The title of the chapter is a reference to the Japanese proverb uma no mimi ni nenbutsu (馬の耳に念仏). The "horse" in the title is replaced by the kanji 新世代, which means "new generation". However, the reading of the kanji is given as ガキ (gaki), which is the word for "brats".
 * In the original Shonen Jump release, the title contained the word mo (も), making the full title Gaki no Mimi ni mo Nenbutsu (の耳にも念仏). In the volume release, this word is dropped.