A bizarre statement, right? Well, there is a little bit of evidence scattered across the manga that indicates he may still be alive. In fact, he may be this guy:

It’s popular belief that this guy is Scopper Gaban, the Second Mate of the Roger Pirates, but there is no reasoning for this at all beyond the assumption that the hat he is wearing comes from Wanokuni.

There is some logic behind my thesis. Firstly:

• The entire ‘From the Decks of the World’ cover story only contains characters the Strawhat Pirates already know. They do not know Gaban.
• This means that the mystery man is also known to at least one of the Strawhat Pirates, and yet Oda hides his identity because it is very important.
• Laboon is happy. This is very bizarre given his idiosyncrasy of bashing his head against the Red Line when waiting for the Rumbar Pirates. Why is he enjoying himself?

Yorkis favourite drink is Sake and his favourite song is Binks Sake. What are they drinking in the cover page? Sake. He’s also friends with Crocus, obviously, and they are on friendly terms. The cover story shows characters celebrating the fact the Strawhat Pirates are not dead. These covers celebrate specific characters’ being alive, for example, the cover story mostly features old close friends:

Luffy

But that’s wrong! Brooks close friends are not all dead. He has Crocus and Laboon! If you connect the dots it’s perfectly plausible to think that’s Yorki, right?

But wait, isn’t he dead? – UNCONFIRMED! We’ve already had an instance in which a presumed dead character has returned, and Oda even hinted at this. Remember Sabo?

But Oda didn’t hint at him still being alive!
Oh?

The only confirmed conclusion we can actually make from his “death” is that the crew partially split up. In fact, Brook told Yorki to “treasure his life”, which indicates he would live on but would simply be unfit for Piracy. A common misconception is that everyone else contracted this disease when in fact they all died from poisoned wounds:

Plus, the virus is “unknown” and it’s clearly never explained as to whether he will die or not. I speculate that he made the journey across the calm belt and, during the timeskip, completed his promise to Laboon. Do you guys think it’s possible for Yorki to be alive? I certainly do, I think that old man (with the same hair colour as Yorki) drinking Sake (his favorite drink) with two of his friends (Laboon and Crocus) at Reverse Mountain (where he promised he would return) is in fact Yorki in his 80’s.

Note: Captain Yorki is also based on Calico Jack, his name is actually Calico Yorki. Calico Jack made a disappearance from Piracy only a few years after he became famous, he later returned from his Hiatus. I won’t go into immense details but Yorki’s own journey parallels that of Calico Jack who supposedly became ill.

Am I being a lunatic or am I making sense?

*Theory by L o g i a

• His name is similar to John Silver from Treasure Island and Sir Walter Raleigh, an English 16th-century explorer and privateer. It should be noted that Sir Walter Raleigh’s name has been spelled in over forty different ways, in which also includes the spelling “Rayleigh” (note; the “y” would actually be pronounced as “i”).
• When Rayleigh fought Kizaru, he told him that if he were to get rid of his wanted poster, he could go into a peaceful retirement. This means that Rayleigh has an active bounty; the amount has yet to be revealed.
• Silver is traditionally considered the next most valuable metal after gold, and as the first mate, Silvers Rayleigh was the second highest ranked man in the crew after the captain, Gol D. Roger also known as Gold Roger.
  • There is a theme of rare metals among the senior members of the Roger Pirates, as another member is named Scopper Gaban, as in “copper”.
• Rayleigh and Coby share the same birthday.
• He is the first former pirate known to still have an active bounty.
• In the 5th fan poll, Rayleigh ranked 32nd.

SBS-Based:

• When Shanks and Buggy were first revealed to be part of Roger’s crew, a fan asked Oda in a SBS question if the man that scolded them was a subordinate captain under Roger that commanded the ship they were sailing on, or even a high ranking officer. Without giving away Rayleigh’s name at the time, Oda responded that this man was none other than the first mate of Roger’s crew. Oda also stated in his response that since he had set this fact in stone from the very start, he told Toei Animation that when they adapt Buggy’s flashback for the anime, Buggy and Shanks should not refer to Rayleigh as Captain in the anime