Chapter 888 - 888: Hard to Tell Truth from Falsehood

Rumble! Rumble!

The chaotic, heavy footsteps rapidly faded into the distance through the dark passage, until they finally disappeared completely.

Inside the Mausoleum, after a brief but bloody commotion, everything once again fell into complete silence.

[Inside the Vast Main A]

Now, only Momonosuke, Hiyori, and the fallen Juste remained.

"Hehehe! Sister-sama! The strength you showed just now was really incredible."

Seeing that Shanks had completely escaped and confirming that they were safe, Momonosuke immediately discarded his earlier wild act and shamelessly scurried over to Hiyori's side.

He was like a mangy dog begging its master for praise. Every wrinkle on his face seemed to squeeze toward flattery as he rubbed his hands excitedly, "See... see? I did a pretty good job cooperating, right? I told you before, little brother here wouldn't waste too much time from drawing his sword to finishing the fight. And look, I already captured the guy alive."

In fact, going by age, he was older than Hiyori and should have been her older brother.

But for the sake of a better life in the future, what did seniority matter?

Forget not being allowed to call her Sister. As long as he could follow the World Government, he would even call her Mom or Grandma.

"Hmph! Your sneak attack was decent enough."

Hiyori returned her sword to its sheath.

She could not even be bothered to give this rat begging for scraps a proper look. Her beautiful face was filled with coldness and contempt.

But she still used a cold voice to put an end to today's performance, "Put seastone cuffs on him and transport him to Marine Headquarters. Someone else will naturally continue writing the script from here."

For someone like Momonosuke, who would sell out his own father for glory and was despicable to an outrageous degree, even with their blood relationship, Hiyori could not feel the slightest bit of goodwill toward him.

When all was said and done... this whole family of theirs was nothing but a bunch of beasts.

———

The ashes that had filled the sky over Arabasta eventually scattered completely into the wind and sand.

This resistance, which had been filled with the dream of restoring the country, ended in a brutal and absurd conclusion.

Arabasta did not lose a single soldier, while Koza and the civilian rebels who had served as its spiritual symbols were completely wiped out.

Deep inside the Mausoleum, Juste, the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, was captured in humiliation, becoming a deadly noose around the necks of the old era.

Once everything fell silent, Arabasta, this paradise on earth, continued to sing and dance in peace.

As for Luffy and the others, who had narrowly escaped death, although they had suffered an unprecedented defeat and experienced separation through life and death, the road ahead was still there.

They calmed their emotions, resupplied, then returned to the Going Merry, raised the pirate flag, and sailed toward the unknown.

Only this time, they were no longer sailing alone.

Shanks no longer hid himself. He piloted his own ship and sailed alongside the Going Merry.

After witnessing the World Government's despairingly overwhelming military power several times, Shanks realized that there was no longer any chance for the remaining pirates on the sea to turn things around.

Luffy, who carried Nika's destiny, was the final light capable of tearing through the endless night. Nothing could be allowed to happen to him.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to travel together, Shanks planned to force-feed this young captain all of his top-level three types of Haki and rapidly train him to mastery.

And two unexpected figures had also joined Luffy's group.

Crocodile, who had decided to keep a low profile for the time being and go along for the ride, and Robin, who remained as taciturn as ever.

However, after setting sail again, the Going Merry was strangely quiet.

Luffy, who had always been carefree and shouted about wanting to eat meat, had become unusually quiet over the past few days.

He often sat alone on the ram's head at the bow, staring blankly at the horizon. No one knew what astonishing move that single-celled brain of his was brewing.

Sanji and the others had no intention of paying him any attention either. The group simply interacted among themselves, treating Luffy as if he were invisible.

Only Kuro had become the middleman, occasionally feeding Luffy.

After several days of sailing, on a calm and peaceful night, the atmosphere inside the captain's cabin on Shanks' ship was oppressive.

Only Shanks, Yasopp, and the other core members of the Red-Haired Pirates remained in the room, along with Crocodile and Robin.

Of course, Luffy was there too.

"Robin!"

Crocodile irritably crushed out half a cigar. A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes as he was the first to turn his attack on the woman in the corner, "How many days has it been? It's about time you opened that tightly shut mouth of yours, isn't it? Don't tell me you didn't understand a single word of that Poneglyph we nearly lost our lives to obtain! How exactly are we supposed to decipher its contents?"

His impatience was not without reason.

If the Poneglyph contained information about Pluton, it would be his only hope of making a comeback.

Faced with his aggressive questioning, Robin did not get angry.

She put down the yellowed book and looked up, a complicated and bitter expression appearing on her delicate face.

"It's not that I couldn't decipher it, nor that I don't want to tell you."

Robin picked up her coffee, her voice somewhat distant, "It's that I suspect that Poneglyph was altered and then pieced back together."

"What?", Shanks' expression immediately tightened, "Why do you say that? What did you see?"

The indestructible stone tablet being altered was practically as absurd as a fairy tale.

At least with his strength, he could not leave even a mark on a Poneglyph.

Besides, even if it had been altered, there should not be not a single trace left on the stone tablet.

Robin took a deep breath and, as if murmuring in a dream, recited those heavy words, "It says..."

"In the distant Void Century, the forbidden existence Joy Boy was abandoned by the world and jointly hunted down by the gods representing the Three Ancient Weapons."

"Uranus represents the sky, Pluton represents the earth, and Poseidon represents the sea. Joy Boy was unable to withstand them and was defeated by the Twenty Kings and the Three Gods working together."

"After his defeat, he buried his final legacy at the end of the world, Laugh Tale. To obtain this power capable of overturning the world, one must gather the Four Road Poneglyphs and follow their coordinates to find the sea route leading to the final destination."

A secret capable of overturning the world's understanding of history was calmly revealed by Robin.

However...

"Tch! That's it?"

Crocodile frowned in disappointment, utterly puzzled, "The content is explosive, sure, but this isn't what I wanted at all. What about Pluton? Poseidon and Uranus have already been confirmed. Don't tell me Pluton is in the World Government's hands too."

"As for those prehistoric stories, what the hell are they supposed to do for our current desperate situation? The victor becomes king and the loser becomes a bandit. A story can't overturn the World Government. You all saw what happened to Koza."

Although he was complaining, he also understood that expecting a stone that had existed for a thousand years to give them a solution to their current problem was ultimately a fool's dream.

If a stone from a thousand years ago really could give them guidance, that would be frightening in itself.

But if there really was no substantive information on the Poneglyph, he still could not help feeling somewhat unwilling to accept it.

He was not asking for much. It should at least give them some useful information, right?

Otherwise, what did it mean for all of them to risk their lives going through all that?

"There is a huge problem."

Robin ignored his complaints and sighed as she pointed out the core mystery, "Don't you find it absurd? This stone tablet recording Joy Boy's legacy just happens to have been placed inside Arabasta's Mausoleum."

"What is so strange about that? The fragments of history circulating on the sea happen to match up."

Yasopp came over, scratching his head as he recalled, "I remember that our captain's captain back then really did gather four stones before finding the route to Laugh Tale. That proves the Road Poneglyphs are real."

Shanks' hand holding his bowl of wine paused slightly. A trace of longing for his old captain flashed through his eyes as he smiled bitterly, "I didn't go ashore on that final voyage because I was taking care of Buggy, who had a high fever, so I don't know what was hidden there. But Yasopp is right. The captain really did gather all four coordinate stones back then."

Shanks could also be considered someone who had personally experienced this matter.

Although he had not gone ashore, he had experienced the entire journey.

It was just that he had not had the brain to memorize the Four Road Poneglyphs.

Otherwise, they could have gone straight to Laugh Tale by now.

Actually, it was not as if he knew nothing.

But his companions who had gone ashore all said that the time had not yet come.

To open what was hidden there, they had to wait for the person truly destined to do so.

From his guess, Luffy should be that truly destined person.

Now, they were already qualified to go ashore.

Unfortunately, they still did not know the coordinates.

Just then, Crocodile, who had remained silent and gloomy, suddenly had a flash of insight in his eyes. Having spent years manipulating schemes, his mind worked extremely quickly.

"I think I understand what's strange about this."

Crocodile's voice was hoarse, making the temperature around them seem to drop, "Arabasta is the ancestral homeland of one of the Twenty Kings who joined together to destroy that era. They were the true culprits who killed Joy Boy."

He was not completely ignorant of that part of history, "In a sacred royal family forbidden ground like this, they openly placed a stone tablet telling people where to find the legacy of their enemy?"

Crocodile took a deep breath and said with considerable speechlessness, "That would be like taking something belonging to the man who killed your father and enshrining it as a family heirloom in your own ancestral grave. It's absolutely ridiculous. There is definitely a problem."

As soon as he said this, the meeting room fell completely silent. Even the thick-headed Yasopp shuddered.

"That's right. This could be a trap."

Shanks stared at the dim oil lamp, "The stone itself is indeed an ancient artifact, but the inscriptions on it were definitely deliberately planted by the World Government as bait to lure in and capture those who resist."

"Besides..."

Shanks glanced at Robin, his tone solemn, "The current government leadership isn't lacking people who understand ancient writing either. Not long ago, in Loguetown, I saw Olvia myself."

At the mention of this sensitive name, Robin's hand holding her coffee trembled, and the scalding liquid spilled onto her fingers.

"She really is the most authoritative historian, and she understands the ancient language. She even knows more about it than I do."

Robin hesitated painfully before speaking, "But if she handled it, given her principles, she wouldn't alter the Poneglyph. What I'm afraid of is that they deliberately placed this Poneglyph containing information about Laugh Tale in Arabasta."

"Aiyaaa! Why are you all speaking in riddles? The more I listen, the more my head hurts!"

Unable to stand the oppressive atmosphere, Yasopp slammed the table and stood up, "Who cares whose trap it is? There is one thing we have to do now: gather the Four Road Poneglyphs! Once we find them and put them together, we'll be able to get to Laugh Tale!"

"Things have already come to this point. We, who have been crushed and cornered in all directions, can only place our hopes on Joy Boy's ruins and pray that this is a road to survival!"

Although these words were impassioned, they could not conceal the helplessness and sorrow of the living having to pin their hopes on the legacy of the dead.

Otherwise, they truly had no other options.

"This stupid method really is the most practical one. As for those Four Road Poneglyphs, I happened to gather accurate information about them over the past few years," Shanks tapped the sea chart, "They're all in the New World."

"One is kept by the Whitebeard Pirates, one is in Kaido's hands. Everyone knows he's a dog of the World Government now. One was taken in by the NEO Marines, and the last one was placed by Big Mom on her Cake Island."

None of the people guarding the stone tablets were simple figures.

Fortunately, half of them were allies, so they could obtain them with ease.

"Wait..."

Crocodile noticed the problem and asked in astonishment, "Don't tell me that the World Government, which occupies the entire world, doesn't even have a single Road Poneglyph in its own hands?"

That sort of thing sounded unbelievable.

In Crocodile's eyes, those people in the World Government were not only powerful, they were also highly skilled at political maneuvering.

If Laugh Tale were really important and truly concealed some great secret, how could the World Government possibly not care about it?

Although Kaido had one, which could technically be considered to be in the World Government's possession, that was different.

If the World Government really kept a Road Poneglyph in Mary Geoise, they would not even know how to get it.

"Because he isn't interested in it at all. The World Government is an extension of his will, so naturally, they aren't interested either."

Robin shook her head with a bitter smile.

She had been raised by that man from childhood, so she naturally understood his personality better.

But she also knew that Rosse had never been arrogant or conceited.

Every time, after understanding the entire situation, he would create an outcome that left the rebels in the most miserable position.

This time, most likely, would be no exception.

The difference in strength had always been secondary.

Even if it was only a battle of wits, it would be difficult for them to outplay that man.

But there were still things she had to do.

Even if they ultimately lost, at least she had tried.

"In his eyes, perhaps we're nothing more than a bunch of exquisite toys," Robin smiled at herself mockingly.

Those words left Shanks and the others silent.

After all they had experienced over the years, they had naturally realized this as well.

But that was simply the kind of people they were. Even after being tormented this badly, how could they possibly give up resisting?

Even if they ultimately lost completely, they still wanted to tear off a piece of Rosse.

Otherwise, they would not be willing to die.

"What are you all doing here? You're already this depressed?"

Crocodile frowned as he looked at the dispirited group, suddenly feeling that something was wrong, "I was stuck into the ground and almost killed before, and I didn't become like you. Even if we're just their toys, then we have to be sharp toys."

"Toys can hurt their owners too!"