Out for Karma: One Piece

Chapter 134: Truth unveiled

Chapter 134: Truth unveiled

The highest bounty ever recorded in History was Gol D Roger, the very first Pirate King at 5,564,800,000 Berries to be exact. The second closest was Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world with a bounty a bit above 5 Billion. 

Today however three bounties super passed them easily. Luffy, Robin and finally Rick. The latter by a huge margin. In fact there was almost a 2.5 Billion gap between first and second place. Luffy may have been the greatest pirate of this era but the danger he represented to the World Government was less than Rick to the eyes of the World Nobles and the Navy. The events of the justical island aside, and his brief appearance at the Marineford war three years ago were just a drop in the ocean compared to Rick who time and time again had openly defied the gods.

“How did he get that high a bounty?” Mihawk wondered aloud what everybody was thinking.
“Hachinosu. Blackbeard was believed to be the second most powerful Emperor after red hair. Killing him and half his crew in a blink of an eye without sustaining any injuries and all by himself… He is also a powerful devil fruit user, twice at that.” explained Aokiji.
“And he’s seen as a symbol to the Revolutionary Army. Dragon is the leader, Sabo the hero and Rick is the face of the movement encouraging people to stand for themselves.” Robin added.
“So… Dad is like… The most dangerous man in the world?”
“I’m not sure about that though I would not bet against it. The one sure thing is that he’s the most wanted.” said Sanji.

Rick had won over his stupor and without a word exited the garden to the balcony in the back.

‘I guess I can't just inspire people to make a stand now.’
‘Doesn’t seem like it.’ Diana replied in a rather quiet tone.
‘I thought you’d be overjoyed, me going directly after the celestial dragons.’
‘It’s not them that I want down. Or rather not them I want the most down.’
‘Who then?’
‘... I can’t tell you yet. But soon I will. Be a little more patient.’
‘... Alright. Any idea what we’ll find on Laugh Tale.’
‘Yes and no. I have never been there before but I have… a feeling of what it is.’
‘I see. No, actually, I don’t but I guess I’ll find out soon enough.’

“Are you thinking to yourself or speaking with Diana?”

Turning his head around, Rick saw Robin entering the balcony. Joining his side she took his arm in hers.

“The later. We were talking about the fact that… With a bounty that high I will have to do more than fight. I knew I would but I did think I would be in a leading position. My notoriety is so much bigger than Sabo’s or Dragon’s… It won’t bode well if I’m not the one leading the charge, even though I’d not be making any calls.” he explained and Robin nodded in understanding. “There is also the fact that Diana refuses to share information for the moment.”
“About what?”
‘What is on Laugh Tale, mainly.’ answered the goddess that the brunette could hear since she was in contact with Rick. ‘I have an idea of what’s there but it’s just that, an idea. As for the void century, it’s your dream to discover it so I won’t spoil it. Not like I was there the whole time to begin with.’
‘Thank you.’

~~~~~

Three days later they arrived on a relatively small island. Without Usopp's good eyes they may have missed it. There were no mountains, no rivers, no trees. Just a vast plain of lush green grass. The only man made structure was at the very center of the land. Walls of stone positioned in a circle. Sunny was anchored at the edge of the island while the Red Force who also made the journey stayed farther away; Shanks, Yassop, and Ben had literally jumped ship to be part of the island exploration.

“Let’s g…”
“Wait a moment.” Rick stopped his captain in his tracks. “You can go yet.”
“What?! Why?!”
“Because you’re missing something.” Nami said as she came to Luffy with a well wrapped gift.

Confused for a moment, the straw hat captain delicately pulled open the blue sky colored ribbon then removed the red warper while Nami still opened it. Opening the rather flat bug wide box, Luffy pulled out a beautiful and well made red coat. Looking at it in awe, he couldn’t but admire the golden pauldrons, golden embroidery and golden cuffs shaped in his Jolly Roger. When Nami advised him to look at the coat’s back, Luffy turned it around and was confronted with his jolly roger once again but this time there were many others positioned in a circle around it. Each one was pretty explicit and he understood immediately that they belonged to his crewmates. The realization brought a smile to his lips and at Nami’s urging, he put it on his shoulders.

“I think you’re good to go, captain.” said Rick grinning.
“I am!”

And with that he walked down the plan and became the first person in the world to set foot on Laugh Tale since Roger.

“You’re not coming?” inquired Rick to his grandfather.
“...”
“He may not have led the life you wanted him to but it’s a happy and free life that he made for himself. Will you really miss perhaps the most important moment of it because of your… opinion about his choices?”
“... No. You’re right. It’s not about me, it’s about him.”
“What about you guys?” he asked Aokiji and Mihawk this time.
“It feels like I’d be intruding.” replied the iceman and the former warlord nodded in agreement.
“Did you feel like you were intruding during our journey together? If not, you should come.”

And with that, Rick got off the ship and walked leisurely towards the center of the island, Garp by his side. Aokiji was the first to take a step and followed them then after a sigh, Mihawk did too.

After a fifteen minute walk, they arrived at the man made structure. It reminded Rick of Stonehenge. A circle made of stone who he believed was the same kind that poneglyphs were made of. Unlike Stonehenge however, the space between stones used as pillars was another one with poneglyphs written on it. In the very center was a big tombstone. Robin walked forward.

“Here lies Joy Boy. A friend, a husband and father. May his will burn bright in his successor and may he bear the flag of the dawn against a sundering world. Nefertari D. Lili.”
“““““WHAT?!”””””

Everyone exclaimed their surprise. They didn’t know what to expect but certainly not this. Not a message for one of Vivi’s ancestors.

“Know anything about that?” asked Zoro, to the blue haired princess.
“Not much. Before we left for the reverie, father… He was busying himself searching for unofficial records about Alabasta. He found a signed letter by a woman named Lili. She… was the queen of Alabasta 800 years ago. When the twenty family gathered to create the world government and create the empty throne only she refused to leave her kingdom and go live up Red Line to what is now Marie Geoise. However she never came back to Alabasta and it was her little brother, upon receiving a letter from her, that took up the throne and perpetuated the Nefertari dynasty. Father wanted to know what happened to her and why there was no record of her at all in our family’s and kingdom’s history. I didn’t know that she… That the Nefertari bore the D in their name.” she explained with a bit of disbelief.
“Perhaps the questions we have would be answered by the steles around?” wondered Rick and Robin walked to read all of them. Meanwhile the rest of the crew waited, though Luffy not knowing the word began to look around with Eri, Usopp and Chopper. After a while spent reading in silence Robin spoke up with a shaken voice.

“This… This is a summary of what happened to the Lost Kingdom! Why the poneglyphs were scattered all over the world and by who! She’s… Queen Lili was the one who did it! To spread the word about the Lost kingdom and their history but also of the twenty’s family's crimes against it and the one who led them.”
“Wait a minute!” Interjected Aokiji. “The twenty are called that because they allied with each other to create the World Government and create the empty throne with the specific purpose of not fighting each other for power and becoming tyrants! They can’t have had someone leading them!”
“It’s said they were led by a woman who originated from the Lost Kingdom and betrayed it. Her name is…”
“Imu.”

Everyone turned around to look at Rick. He didn’t know how to read poneglyphs and yet, clearly knew the name of someone nobody ever heard of. It all made sense when they saw the horns and the blood red eyes on his face.

“Who are you?” asked Aokiji. His body had tense recognizing immediately that it wasn’t Rick among them.
“I’m Diana. You may know me by my epitaph, the ‘sea devil’.”
““Right.”” Shanks and Mihawk said, clearly not believing a word.
“It’s the truth.” Robin confirmed.
“Perhaps you would change your mind after my tale?”
“Oh! Story time!” Luffy exclaimed, plopping his ass down on the grass ready to listen.
“I don’t remember how I came to be, but my memories go as far back as a thousand years ago. I was called Selene by my people. They thought I was a goddess because of my powers and diligently prayed and served me. In return I was protecting them from the natural disasters of the world. tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, violent storms and so much more. Sometimes, for their good deeds I gave them a special fruit. A unique one for each person. You call them devil fruits now. The kingdom, named Dawn by its people, prospered and began to develop at a very fast pace. Fast forward more or less two hundred years and a disaster that I couldn’t stop by myself despite my powers appeared. The sea level began to rise alarmingly. The scientist discovered that the world was beginning to get hotter and the eternal snow at the very top of the highest mountains began to melt. The newly formed water joined the sea explaining how the sea level rose. To find more information about the phenomenon I asked for volunteers to take the sea and go explore the world. Hundreds did. It was a perilous journey, full of unknown danger, that’s why the fruits that I made but gave so few of, were given freely to each one of those brave men and women risking their lives. To show the world they were from the Kingdom and my subjects I gave them the letter D in their name. For Diana, the name I had chosen for myself before my people began to call me Selene. Among those explorers was the bravest and kindest man I’ve ever met, with an indomitable will and a thirst for freedom.” said Dina with a nostalgic smile.
“Joy Boy.” whispered Robin.
“Yes, Joy Boy. He was such a simple man, such an oddball. When everyone was more interested in prospering and making the lives of others better, he wanted to leave the kingdom and explore. You remind me of him a lot.” the goddess added, looking at Luffy. “He was brighter though.” she joked and got an offended ‘Hey!’ from the young pirate king. “Regularly, the crews came back to the kingdom to bring me reports of their findings. Joy Boy’s were the most asinine. Sky islands? An Island under the seas? Sea monster bigger than a mountain? If I didn’t know he was such an honest man I would have properly punished him for lying to me. But he brought back proof of his words. Among them were different races of people no one had ever seen before. Mere people, Sky people, Moon people, giants… Each time he returned home, he brought with him new people from new horizons. People I’m proud to have called friends. As time passed, I began to eagerly await each of his return. For Joy Boy, I wasn’t just Selene the Goddess. I was a person too. I was a friend. I was a confidant. After a few years, I became a wife.”
“Joy Boy?” asked Chopper.
“Yes. Our union was fruitful and I quickly gave birth to a daughter. She didn’t have my horns or my wings but she had my eyes. Unfortunately we had to hide her. My people already didn’t like the friendly relationship Joy Boy and I had. To know that we were united and had a child wouldn’t have gone well.”
“Why not?” asked Sanji.
“With time, most of them became very zealous. The masses mostly. They put me on a pedestal and saw me as the epitome of grace and purity.”
“What an archaic mindset.” noted Usopp.
“True. but it was 800 years ago.”
“The world hasn't changed much since.” remarked Reiju.

As a princess, she was well aware of what had been expected of her and many other princesses all over the world. Her father had made her a killer, that was undeniably true but he had made sure she remained a virgin until the time had come for her to marry. On the side Vivi nodded solemnly, though she was glad her father had not been so backward.

“With Joy Boy absent for months, sometimes years and with me with my duties towards the kingdom and my people, our daughter didn’t see us much, especially her father. I was there everyday, from sunset to sunrise but in hindsight it wasn’t the best of upbringing. She was such a bright child. She quickly understood why we were not spending as much time as we all wanted together. Though as the years came and went, her love turned to resentment. She began to be full of herself. How could she not? She was the daughter of a Goddess and the best explorer of the kingdom after all. She got in her head that she was my successor and that it was her birthright to rule over others.”
“She’s Imu.” Nami stated.
“Yes. When she became old enough, she asked of me to let her go explore the world. Since she couldn’t be seen in public in the Kingdom I agreed. I was aware of how lonely she was and how restrictive her life was so when she made her request, I agreed to it. At first she sailed with her father then once she learned everything she needed to know to survive on her own she left with his blessing. It took years but she gathered twenty rulers to her side and when she came home, it was to wage war against the kingdom and me. Despite our superior technology and the fruit users, we lost for Imu told them of any weaknesses we had and didn’t know about. To protect the world, I used every ounce of my power to do two things. The first was to sink Dawn. That way, Imu would not be able to salvage the technology and hold the world hostage. The second was to split my soul in many, many small pieces and infuse them into the fruits I made with my power. Each piece held one command. ‘Make anyone who ate one of my fruits incredibly weak to water’.”

That revelation came in as a small bomb.

“So that’s how the devil fruits came to existence.” thought aloud Usopp.
“But… How did you do it?” asked Franky. “It sounds like magic.”
“Magic is what unlearned people call what they don’t understand. It’s just advanced science. How did I do that? I don’t know. I just knew I could. I supposed that my soul was led by my power as if it was a beacon.”
“Why not make people eating a fruit simply die?” inquired Shanks.
“I created the fruits to reward and help. I wasn’t going to punish innocent people. Among the group here, how many ate a fruit out of happenstance? I can call out at least four names.” she replied with a smile looking at a grinning Luffy, an embarrassed Eri and a serious looking Garp.
“One thing bothers me. You put a piece of your soul into your fruits so that Imu wouldn’t be able to use them but I don’t understand how that would impede her? She just had to find them, no?” Aokiji asked.
“That’s because a human being or rather a mortal can only be the vessel of one soul.” Robin began to explain. “Anymore and the body explodes. Since the piece of her soul in the fruit is so small it’s alright but a second piece is too much.”
“Yet your husband ate two and Blackbeard could use two abilities.” Mihawk remarked.
“That’s because Rick is an artificial human.”
“He’s what now?” interjected Garp, not liking what he was hearing.
“Indeed, he is.” Robin’s words were confirmed by Diana. “It seems some scientist in this world tried to play god and create artificial humans whose bodies are strong enough to accommodate more than one piece of my soul. Unfortunately, you can’t create a soul from a test tube so while the body is fully functional there is no one home. They’re mindless shells. How Rick’s body got a soul… nobody has any clues. Not Vegapunk, not me. What I do know is that two fragments of my soul fusing together brought me back to awareness. As for the one called Blackbeard, he simply used his darkness ability to keep my soul in it, separated from the other power he took for himself. Or at least that’s what I think.”
“What you think?” inquired Mihawk.

Diana, or rather Rick, nodded and thought for a moment to explain properly what she meant.

“Whenever I created a fruit… well it was in response to the wishes of the person who asked it of me. I had no way to know how those powers would develop. Rick’s black hole ability is purely a finding of his own, so is Luffy’s gear 5. Joy Boy simply said that he accessed that ability when he had felt particularly happy and free.”
“Let’s back up a bit. The reason you can use Wal’s body as a vessel is because…”
“I’m sure you understood by now but my soul is powerful. Two fragments were enough to connect with his own soul. At first I could only take over when he felt emotion that would weaken him. Anger, fear, despair. But after Vegapunk fixed his body and synchronized his soul properly, don’t ask, nobody has any idea about that, it was easier for me to tempt him and take control but also to communicate with each other. That ease of communication helped us in getting to know each other and in the end we struck a deal. I stopped limiting his powers and didn't attack his loved ones and in exchange he willingly let me link my soul to his, allowing me to feel and experience anything he did. Until then I was just conscious in a dark place. Quite maddening.”
“So that explains how he became so powerful in Wano despite being locked up for 8 months.” stated Zoro.
“Yes and no. He got this far because he trained hard and used his brain a lot to use his abilities to their best. I only made it harder to use them. To give you an example, making that giant bean on Skypiea fall would have required no effort from him despite his injured state.”
“Why, though?” Luffy asked.
“You mean, why I limited him? Only one fruit per person. That’s the rule I established so no one would become too powerful. I also hated him a bit, he was unknowingly my jailer after all.”
“Some fruits are utterly too powerful already.”
“True but that wasn’t done on purpose. To take Rick’s as an example again, when I created the Zushi Zushi no Mi, it was for someone with a frail body who wanted to be able to lift things easily. Never in my wildest dream did I think the power of gravity would be developed to such an extent that it could destroy the world.”

Vivi, wanting to know more about Nefertari Lili, put an end to the topic. She had questions and she wanted answers.

“What of Queen Lili?”
“I do not know much about her. Only that she led her army for Imu.”
“I do. It’s written all around us.” Robin said and began to talk. “Imu passed herself as a goddess by bending the knees and will of others with conqueror Haki. The first ones of her recruits were weak minded and easy to use. The ones after that were manipulated. She told Queen Lili about the Dawn kingdom and lied to her about their incoming conquest of the world with the help of devastating weapons. I suppose she’s referring to the ancient weapons. It was only when the kingdom sank with all its people and witnessing Imu’s rage at her failure to conquer it, that she began to have doubts. As all rulers went back to Imu’s base on the other side of the world, she met Joy Boy on the way who told her the truth. It’s stated here that it was why she refused to go with Imu and the other nineteen families up the Red Line. She felt guilty for her actions and decided that the truth needed to survive. With Joy Boy’s help she sailed the seas and disseminated the poneglyphs all around the world, so that one day a D could save the world from Imu and her allies. At the end of their journey Joy Boy died of old age and Queen Lili buried him here. The place closest to his home and which couldn’t be found by normal ways. She had those steles made to record the history that the World government was trying to hide and erase and had the four rio poneglyphs made. After that she just says that she went back to Alabasta, but apparently she never made it there.”
“What about the D in her name?” asked Aokiji.
“Oh? That’s… Hmm. Let me see.” Robin replied and began to read other steles. “Here it is. Apparently her father was a D and had a fling with the widow and childless queen of the Kingdom. Queen Alubarna. The capital was named after her. They had two children, twins. Lili, the oldest and Python the youngest.”

Vivi thanked her and began to ask more personal questions about her many times great aunt to Robin who happily answered her. On the side Usopp, voiced what he was thinking.

“Sooooo, the World Government was created by a bunch of genocidal maniacs and led by a megalomaniac. No wonder they want to hide the truth.” Usopp said.
“Their pristine image of order and justice would crumble.” remarked Sanji.
“And to think they were able to maintain their rule and that lie for 800 years through their descendants… Yohoho.” laughed Brook derisively.
“Not just their descendants. Imu is still alive.”
“That’s impossible! She’d be 800 years old. Nobody lives that long!”  Usopp protested Diana’s words.
“I’m a goddess so I can but Imu took more after her father than me. She doesn’t have my lifespan but she has a way to live eternally. How do you think the rumors of immortality and the Ope Ope no Mi came about?”
“You mean the one about the user sacrificing their life for someone and granting them immortality is true?” asked Nami.
“Yes. She told me herself.”
‘So that’s the one you…’ Rick who had been listening all along finally connected the dots.
‘Yes.’
“Okay… Despite how mind blowing that was, I have three questions. One, where is the lost kingdom? Two, what about the eternal snow melting? Three, and it’s not really a question for you but for everyone here, where is the One Piece?” inquired Usopp.
“The eternal snow is still melting. Water Seven is proof of that.” replied Franky.”
“From what I observed 800 years ago the sea level was 200m lower. And the increase is gradually getting greater and quicker.”
“Holy… 200m?!”
“There must have been many countries that ended up under water.” noted Chopper.
“Unfortunately, yes. It could all have been prevented without Imu’s interference.”
“You found a solution?” asked Franky, whose interest had doubled.
“Joy Boy did.”
“... And? What is it?”

Diana smiled apologetically to the cyborg and gave back control to Rick.

“I think it’s her way of saying it’s up to us to find out.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s either a part of the void century or linked to the One Piece? Though how she knows what the One Piece is is beyond me.” the Vice- captain answered with a shrug.
“Hm, Uncle, Robin? I found something!”

Eri’s call brought everyone’s attention to her. She was standing in front of the stele behind the grave. As everyone got closer to have a look, especially Luffy and Robin, she pointed with her finger a part of the stone that had sunk.

“I… touched the stele to know how it felt and that part felt weird. I don’t know why but I felt like pushing it and that happened.” she explained.

Robin took a look and after examining the stele shared her findings.

“The word you pushed means ‘will’. Perhaps there are other mechanisms on the stele or the others?”
“A secret passage!” Luffy exclaimed with stars in his eyes. “Everyone, let’s find it!”

The crew separated and did as ordered. After fifteen minutes only Luffy, Eri, Rick and Vivi found one yet nothing happened.

“Why?!” Usopp asked no one in particular.
“... It’s the D.” replied Rick.
“The D?”  Sanji said.
“The only people who found anything have a D in their name. They’re descendants of the D clan. Eri even found two. Grandpa, would you mind trying on a stele no one found anything?”
“Sure.” the Vice-Admiral replied with a shrug and went to the nearest stele. Soon enough he found a mechanism. “Well, I’ll be… That was so weird, it was like…”
“You were attracted to that particular spot, Grandpa?” said Eri.
“Yeah.”
“Alright every D find the missing pushy stones!”

Even Garp, who had his curiosity piqued, went with it. The more mechanisms were being pushed the more Robin understood the puzzle.

“May his will burn bright in his successor and may he bear the flag of the dawn against a sundering world. That’s what Queen Lili wrote on Joy Boy’s tombstone.”
“And what she wrote to her brother.”
“Do you think those steles, by simple touch, react to the D lineage factor?’ Franky asked.
“That’d be insane.” noted Chopper.
“Diana doesn’t know anything about it.” Rick shared.
“I wouldn’t be surprised. D are a special kind of people.” said Shanks.

As Vivi took care of the last stele, everyone heard a loud rumbling. The ground began to shake and an opening right in front of Joy Boy’s tombstone appeared, revealing a descending stair.

“Yay! We found it!” exclaimed Luffy who rushed to explore but was caught by the back of his neck by Nami.
“Don’t go exploring like that, you idiot! It’s pitch dark! At least take a lamp!”

Rick quickly went back to the Sunny, carrying Franky and Usopp with him. In no time they created headlamps for everyone thanks to a light dial which had been disassembled. Going back to their previous location they gave one to everyone interested in going down.

The stairs weren't that long but went deep. After ten minutes of going down, the motley crew arrived in a very wide room. The bit of lights showed glimpses of gold. Luffy saw some kind of small pedestal in front of him with a black crystal resting upon it.He didn’t know why but he touched it and it lit in a powerful and warm white light. That wasn’t all. The whole room lit up. Crystals identical but smaller to the one Luffy had touched were mounted on the wall and lit up too.
They revealed an immense treasure. Gold of course was everywhere but there was more. Wooden chests, shelves with books, shelves with maps. At the back end of the room, right opposite of the entrance was a coffin made of stone.

“That’s Joy Boy.” Rick said with certainty.

While everyone began to look at the treasure, Robin, Vivi, Shanks and Rick went to look at Joy Boy. There was a smaller stele with a message written on poneglyph above it. From Robin’s estimation it was way more recent than the rest of the room.

“What does it say?” the former emperor asked the brunette.
“It’s.. a message, signed by Roger but also Oden and… my mother. She was here, they found… all of this.” she whispered in daze. Rick took her hand in his and squeezed it to offer his support. “It says : ‘We found this place but were unable to fulfill Joy Boy and Queen Lili’s last request. You that come after us, may you be the successor they were waiting for. Do what we couldn’t. Free the world and become what I fail to become. The freest person on the seas.’ ”
“Captain…”
“I don’t get it. What is he talking about? Wasn’t he the Pirate King? The freest man in the world? Able to sail on any sea as he liked?” asked Vivi.
“The title was given to him by...”

Rick stopped right there what he was about to say. An insidious idea had come to his mind and turned into an epiphany. The more he thought, the more he made connections. When he finally realized the big picture, the whole plan, he began to laugh like mad. His laughter was so loud that he drew the attention of everyone.

“What’s going on with him?” Zoro asked.
“I don’t know.” replied Vivi.
“Princess Vivi asked questions about the message on that stele that Robin read for us. He was giving an answer when he stopped.”
“I think he understood something.” answered the archaeologist.

Rick had tears in his eyes and was holding his stomach. A well placed love punch by Nami made him stop.

“Sorry but… this.. This is so absurd…” the gravity man said, catching his breath.
“What is?” inquired his wife.
“Roger wasn’t the Pirate King. He never was!”
““““““““““WHAT?!”””””””””””
“But! He was! Everyone knows that!” protested Chopper.
“The title was given to him by the navy! By the World Government but that wasn’t the truth! He wasn’t because he couldn’t. Neither are you, Luffy!”
“What do you mean?”
“Think! The Pirate King is the freest man on the seas! Like Vivi said, they are able to sail anywhere they want! The truth is, it’s impossible because the Red Line is separating the world in two! You have to go through Reverse Mountain to get through one half or go through RedPort or Fishman island to get to the other half! They’re check points! You can’t sail freely, say from East Blue to West Blue or North Blue to South Blue!”
“You need to go through the Red Line at Red Port and go through one of the Calm Belts for that.” explained Nami.
“How could anyone claim to be free in that case?”
“They can’t.” admitted Luffy.
“It’s foolish! But what if… What if you didn’t have to go through Red Port or Fishman island? A checkpoint controlled by the World Nobles.”
“Then anyone could sail freely.” Nami replied.
“Exactly!”
“I don’t get where you’re going with this.” said Sanji.
“Imu made her base, her home on Marie Geoise, just above Red Port! She had taken control of the one point that allowed someone to go from one half to the other! By doing so she effectively controlled the movements of everyone! The trades, the immigration, everything! She severely limited everyone’s comings and goings! The only problem for Imu was that there exists another point in the world where one could potentially go through one half to the other without her being able to do something about it!”
“Reverse Mountain.” Jimbei said.
“You got it in one!”
“But Reverse Mountain only goes one way!” exclaimed Usopp.
“True.”
“Then why?” asked Chopper.
“Because that’s where the Lost Kingdom was! Right there at the top of Reverse Mountain!”
““““““““WHAT?!””””””””””

Once again Rick shocked his audience.

“Why bother attacking the kingdom in the first place? She already had control of the world in a way with Reverse Mountain only going one way yet she did it nonetheless. I count three reasons as to why! One because, well… with Diana still around and with her powers, Imu couldn’t become the world’s supreme ruler, so her mother needed to go. Two because, the Lost Kingdom was trying to stop the rise of the sea level! We know that plenty of land was submerged and became uninhabitable. In other words, less land, more sea which suited Imu just fine for her world domination’s plan. Three, because Joy Boy, just like Roger and just like you, Luffy, wanted to be the freest man in the world! Red Line is big, it’s thick, destroying it to connect all the seas was difficult, perhaps impossible for him except at one point! Reverse Mountain. It’s a giant hole just filled with sea water! It would have been way easier to blow it up! Especially with an ancient weapon like Pluto! That’s why it was created in the first place!”
“That’s… True. From what I read of the blueprints, Pluto definitely has the power to do that.” shared Franky.
“Furthermore Red Port links only the two half of the Grand Line while Reverse Mountain does it for the seven seas. Imu absolutely couldn’t let her parents destroy that part of Red Line. So she attacked.”
“Wait, you said that Pluto was created for the sole purpose of blowing up Reverse Mountain? Let’s say it’s true, what about the others? If one was enough, why make more?” asked Aokiji.
“There are only two more. Poseidon and Uranus. Poseidon is not a weapon per say. It’s just the ability to control Sea Kings. When we were on Fishman island the first time, we discovered that the purpose of Poseidon was to control the Sea Kings into dragging the huge arch Noah to the surface. Stopping the global warming of the world is…”
“A huge feat. Even with my powers I can only affect a tiny area of the world. Whatever the scientist planned it would have taken decades perhaps more to permanently change the weather and continuously maintain it.”
‘Exactly, Nami! They couldn’t let people get stranded or die as the sea rose. So they created one so big that it could contain a whole island of people if not more. As for Uranus, I think it is their solution! Reshapping Reverse Mountain would bring forth many consequences.”
“It’s a vast area touching every sea. The entire ecosystem would have changed. Up to the weather. So to fight or rather control that change they made, they intended to use their solution for global Warming. Two birds, one stone.” Nami confirmed her thoughts.
“Poseidon and Uranus are not weapons in the strict sense but what they can do can turn them into one.”
“So, what you’re saying is… If uncle Luffy wants to be the Pirate King for real, he has to blow up Reverse Mountain?”

Everyone turned to Eri, who had raised a very good question.

“... Yeah, I guess.” replied Rick.
“Good luck with that. The ancient weapons are lost.” reminded Yassop who had been silent all the while.
“Except we have with us the only person in the world capable of finding them.” Ben denied his friend’s words and pointed to Robin.
“Ah, yes. Forgot about that.”
“Actually, I’m not the only person who can.” the flower woman corrected.
“Who else?” asked Garp and everyone's eyes grew big when Robin smiled and turned to her husband.
“Since when can you read the poneglyphs?” Franky asked.
“I can’t.”
“Then how?” inquired Sanji.
“Remember, I spent a decade in O’hara. I got time to read.”
“Their location was already recorded?!”
“No grandpa. But there was a very old book that talked about a polytheistic religion.”
“A Poly-what now?”
“A religion of many gods, Luffy.” explained Robin.
“Ah, okay.”
“Three names caught my attention.”
“Pluto, Poseidon and Uranus.” Shanks said.
“Yes. Three gods. Pluto was the god of the underworld or in other words Hell where the dead went. Poseidon, the god of the seas and lived under it. Finally Uranus, the god of the sky. When we found Poseidon…”
“Wait, what?!” exclaimed Garp in shock “You found one?! For real?! You found one of the ancient weapons?!”
“Hey! Shirahoshi is not a weapon!” protested Luffy angrily, letting the cat out of the bag.
“Shira… The mermaid princess?! That cute little puppy is…”
“She’s not! She just has the ability to speak to the Sea Kings, nothing more.” Rick corrected his grandfather.
“But how? Wasn’t she born in our era?” inquired Mihawk.
“It’s because of the Lineage Factor. Shirahoshi is not the Poseidon from Joy Boy’s time but her descendant. What we know about it is that it’s always a mermaid and that not all mermaids from the line of the first Poseidon have that factor active. So far Shirahoshi is the second, at least officially. There might have been others.”
“I see…”
“The fact that we found Poseidon under the sea just like I read about the god himself, made me think about the two others. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think that Pluto would be located at the land of the dead and Uranus… either on a sky island or the moon.”
““““““““The moon?!””””””””

Rick turned to Robin for some help in explaining.

“Pluto is indeed located in the lands of the dead. The hidden poneglyphs in Alabasta said as much and I confirmed it.”
“When?” Franky asked.
“In Wano. Everything in that country points to that. Even Zoro’s sword Enma is called after the king of hell of Wano’s culture. Pluto is currently sealed because Wano’s borders are closed. In the message behind us, left by Roger, my mother and Oden, they talked about failing to fulfill Joy Boy’s and Queen Lili’s last wish. When he came back to Wano, Oden wanted to open the borders, meaning unsealing Pluto and blowing up Reverse Mountain with it. Unfortunately Kaidou happened. Now about Uranus being on the moon… It’s Rick’s idea but I can’t help but give it credit because of what we learned on Skypiea and the three races emigrating from the moon.”
“What races?” asked Luffy.
“The Skypeian, the Shandoran and the Lunarian came from the moon. We found that out when Rick and I searched for the location of the golden bell among the records on Skypiea. We also know that Joy Boy left a message there since Roger brought it to Fishman island.”
“That’s correct,” said Shanks.
“Those three races were very advanced technologically but had exhausted the moon's resources and despite their technology had to leave it and find a new home.”
“Technology advanced people, coming from the moon and meeting Joy Boy. Yeah, I can see why you think Uranus is on the moon.” said Usopp.
“You see? You don't need to be able to read poneglyphs to find an ancient weapon.” Rick grinned.
“That means, if I’m following right what you’ve been saying until now, Uranus is a machine that can control the weather on a world scale?” inquired Nami.
“That’s what I believe. That’s what makes sense to me at least. In any case That links everything we know with the addition of All Blue.”
“What has All Blue anything to do with any of it?”
“Sanji, if Reverse Mountain disappears, all the seas in the world will meet right there.” said Reiju.
“Oh! So it’s not a myth! It does exist!” the blond cook exclaimed in excitement.
“Not yet but yes.” corrected Rick.
“That is if everything you said is true.” a skeptical Mihawk said.

Horns sprouted on Rick’s head, indicating that Diana was taking control.

“It is. All of it. Rick got all of it right. We were almost ready to put the plan into action. Pluto was built, Noah too. What was missing was Uranus but the scientists were almost done with that. A year or two at best. Then Imu happened. Joy Boy and I… especially him… We knew what kind of person she became. We knew of her making a home on Red Line on the other side of the world but… we couldn’t imagine what her plans were. We couldn’t fathom that she had turned into such a monster. She was young and we thought she was just adventurous and ambitious just like her father had been at her age. Lots of people lost their lives and suffered, are still suffering because of her entitlement and megalomania.” she explained sadly.
“““““““““““...”””””””””””
“It’s nice and all to have uncovered the void century and everything but what about you, Luffy?” inquired Zoro, changing the subject to something that interested him.
“What about me?”
“To the people of the world you are the Pirate King but in truth you aren’t. What do you want to do about that?”

Luffy had no direct and easy answer to that.

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