Rayleigh smiled broadly when talking about the rubbings he had seized from Linlin.
"At the time, we had no idea what we had taken from Linlin. All we knew was that, although we couldn't read the writing, Linlin cared a lot about that thing!"
If she values it so much, it must be something good, so we put it in the cabin as ballast.
Later, after Rocks died, the sea gradually calmed down, and we no longer needed to devote our energy to endless wars.
And so, after that, we returned to the Qidian of the Grand Line, Reverse Mountain!
At this point, Rayleigh gestured with his hand over the gold.
"As we all know, when we crossed the Reverse Mountain from Four Blues and officially entered the Grand Line..."
We will face a choice!
There are seven routes in total on the Grand Line, and each of these seven routes has its own ocean currents. Once we choose one, we cannot change our route midway; we can only follow the chosen route.
On our first voyage, we took the leftmost route, which was the route we took after coming down from Reverse Mountain, departing from Meteor Island, and passing through the Bollywood Kingdom.
So after our second voyage, we boarded other routes.
And so, year after year, we searched along every shipping route for a path that would lead us closer to that final island.
But ten years have passed, and we still haven't found any clues about the Laugh Tale!
Rayleigh took a large gulp of his drink.
"That wasn't a year or two, but a full ten years, and most importantly..."
Over the past decade, we have not only amassed numerous scars, but also received news that has caused us immense pain.
Roger has been diagnosed with an incurable disease!!!
Hearing this, Gawain nodded thoughtfully. The crucial moment had finally arrived.
He listened very attentively to what Rayleigh was saying, because even he himself hadn't been particularly familiar with these things before his transmigration.
Gawain was just an ordinary fan; he wasn't a fanatic, nor did he bother to memorize the timeline of the Pirate King world.
So, like everyone else, he listened quietly and attentively to the clues of history.
Rayleigh let out a long sigh, and then he continued his story.
"When Roger learned that he had a terminal illness, he panicked, he was really panicked!"
Or rather, we all became anxious.
We quickly went to fetch Crocus, the most skilled doctor of the time, and had him board our ship.
Ha, that old guy is really unhappy about it. He really doesn't want to become a pirate, but..."
Rayleigh smiled and pointed at Gawain.
"Gawain, you haven't met Roger in person, so you can't feel his charisma."
It's a kind of charm that... once he's made up his mind to invite us earnestly, we simply can't resist him!
However, haha, although you can't feel that charm, Momousagi, Jinbe, and everyone else can. I, for one, am even experiencing that charm for the second time.
Because your charm surpasses even Roger's!
Listening to Rayleigh's examples, the group suddenly understood what Roger's charisma was all about.
Gawain chuckled and waved his hand.
"Old man, no matter how much you praise me, I won't increase your annuity, so please continue telling the story."
"Tsk tsk, so calm and composed. You're different from Roger in that respect. That guy was quite the braggart."
But that's good too. This is who you are, and it's precisely this composure of yours that gives me more confidence!
Rayleigh nodded, then looked around and continued.
"After Roger fell seriously ill, we sped up our voyage. At the same time, although we had no clue, we also discovered many stone tablets around the world that were similar to Linlin's rubbing of the Poneglyph."
Although we couldn't understand it, we still treated it as one of the clues and frantically searched for traces of the Laugh Tale.
But during this time, trouble came knocking again, and this trouble was called the Shiki, Shiki!
Rayleigh gritted his teeth in annoyance.
"That guy's ambition is growing ever larger. He's never been satisfied with being one of the Three Emperors. He doesn't even care about the position of Pirate King. He just wants to become the Rocks of the past, gather all the pirates together, and start a full-scale war against the World Government!"
For this reason, Shiki approached Whitebeard, but unfortunately, Whitebeard did not agree to Shiki's plan.
After all, Whitebeard was no longer just a pirate; he was now a patriarch who cared deeply about the safety of his men and didn't want to start wars with just anyone, causing more bloodshed.
So, having failed to negotiate with Whitebeard, Shiki, together with Linlin, set their sights on us!
You've all probably heard of the Battle of Edd War in 1497 of the Sea Circle Calendar. It was in that damned place that I faced the most dangerous battle of my life.
Even when we were dealing with Rocks, thanks to that bastard Garp's help, we weren't pushed into a real predicament.
But that time, we fought to the point where both sides were close to death!
Fortunately, a sudden and massive storm brought our war to an end, and neither of our teams could ultimately determine a winner.
But after this naval battle, our ships became increasingly dilapidated and were almost incapable of sailing on the open sea.
Moreover, Roger's health was deteriorating...
Rayleigh took another big gulp of wine, and after emptying the entire jug, he casually tossed it far away.
He then continued.
"In order to find the Laugh Tale in the final stage of our lives, we needed a faster ship, so in 1498, we came to Water 7."
Oh right, that year, Franky had just become Tom's apprentice. Haha, we'd seen him when he was really young.
In short, we asked shipwright Tom to build us a new ship, the Oro Jackson!
Afterwards, we took a speedboat back to the New World to continue gathering information about the Laugh Tale.
And just as we were gathering information, the final element that would lead to our success appeared!!!
In Gawain's eyes, Rayleigh was incredibly excited at this moment. Despite his advanced age, his heroic spirit remained undiminished, as if he had returned to his spirited days.
He clapped his hands loudly.
"In the New World, while exploring an island, we encountered Whitebeard again, haha."
Honestly, our two pirate crews have rarely fought in a long time, but this time, it seems that there's a new and fairly strong member in the Whitebeard Pirates. That guy charged at us from a great distance.
We didn't even need to look to know he was a hothead, but considering his strength, Gaban and I both wanted to fight him.
But, haha, the closer Roger got to death, the more he missed the thrill of battle, so he just snatched the enemy away.
With a Divine Departure, Roger sent the hothead flying over 800 meters, crashing through more than ten giant trees before finally stopping.
So Roger fought Whitebeard, who was very protective of his own, for three days and three nights.
After the war ended, we drank with Whitebeard. Whitebeard we drank, Roger knelt down Whitebeard and earnestly begged him to lend us that hothead for a few years!
Because that hothead's surname Kozuki, which is the surname of the family that created the Poneglyph!
Logically speaking, borrowing crew members was impossible, and Whitebeard got furious, almost leading to another battle.
However, the hothead actually took the initiative to want to join us, and he asked Whitebeard to let him follow us.
And so, Oden, along with his Nekomamushi subordinate, came aboard our ship and became one of our crew members!
At this point, Rayleigh's eyes narrowed, and his attitude became increasingly serious.
"With Oden's involvement, our journey then took us to one place after another where ordinary historical texts were stored. Through Oden's translations, we discovered more clues on those stone tablets, namely the locations of other Poneglyph."
Until we arrived at the Sky Island and came to where we are now, after looking at the stone tablet, Oden translated the location of the Poseidon.
After Roger had Oden carve our mark on the stone tablet, we followed the guidance of the Sky Island tablet to Fish-Man Island. As it turned out, although there was no Poseidon on Fish-Man Island, we discovered the first Red Poneglyph there!
After Oden translated the contents of the Red Poneglyph for us, we were completely stunned. It turned out that the real key to the Laugh Tale was the four unique red road signs in the world!
And at that very moment, fate smiled upon them!
Rayleigh gave a mysterious smile, then said meaningfully.
"The year 1498 of the Ocean Calendar was an incredibly magical year. Right after we deciphered the first Road Poneglyph on Fish-Man Island, we found all the Road Poneglyph in an instant!"
The landmark on Fish-Man Island was the first one, and the one we copied from Linlin's Totto Land Center was the second one.
As for the third and fourth road signs, they were actually located in the hometowns of Oden and Nekomamushi, respectively!
And so, at the end of 1498, we sailed to Wano Country and Zou. On the back of the incomparably majestic Zunesha, we unraveled the secret that had puzzled the world for eight hundred years: the Laugh Tale!!!
When Rayleigh got to this point, Gawain's expression finally turned serious, because Gawain knew that what Rayleigh was about to say was most likely the secret of the Laugh Tale.
At the same time, both Gion and Hancock looked tense!
Even Jinbe, who had already decided not to be shocked, silently widened his large eyes.
As for Uta...
The little girl's mouth was practically agape.
The baby is only thirteen years old this year, and has only been at sea for a month.
In just one month, the baby already knows the world's biggest secret?!
Facing the expectant looks from everyone, Rayleigh smiled and said...
"That Laugh Tale is a floating island without a fixed location. Only by using the four Road Poneglyph to determine the island's movement patterns can its current position be calculated!"
Fortunately, Gaban the Elder was an exceptionally skilled navigator, haha, he quickly calculated the location of the Laugh Tale.
And so, in the year 1499 of the Sea Circle Calendar, we landed on that last island!
Then we witnessed an absolutely astonishing, hilarious joke, ahahahaha!!!
At this point, Rayleigh couldn't help but burst into laughter, slapping his thigh hard as he laughed!
"You'd never guess what a joke it was! Roger and I laughed so hard we couldn't stop. How could there be such a great joke in the world!"
"Hey, old man, stop dawdling and just tell me already!"
What exactly is Laugh Tale Great Treasure? And what is the One Piece?!
Jinbe finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked Rayleigh with great anticipation.
Seeing Jinbe's unbearable expression, Rayleigh suddenly revealed a mysterious smile.
"Haha, Jinbe, whether it's Laugh Tale or the Great Treasure, didn't you already know what they contained the moment you heard the name?"
Rayleigh's fingers were covered in Armament Haki, and then he slowly wrote on the gold.
"Laugh Tale"
"One piece (a single piece, a whole)"
After finishing writing, Rayleigh said with a smile.
"Whether it's Laugh Tale or One Piece, these are names Roger gave to the island after he saw it."
These names actually contain a lot of information.
Laugh Tale, hahaha, that's a ridiculous story.
As for the One Piece, haha.
The so-called Great Treasure is actually the real Great Treasure that can unify the world into a whole!!!
At this moment, Rayleigh no longer had the teasing tone he had before, and he continued speaking.
"When we arrived at Laugh Tale, we found an enormous banquet hall on that island!"
In that banquet hall, there were countless chairs of various heights and sizes... dilapidated but still showing signs of wear and tear!
Next, we saw the true Poneglyph on Laugh Tale, which tells the secrets of the entire world!
Once upon a time, in that infinitely distant ancient era.
There are no humans on the sea. The only life forms living on this land are the Mink Tribe, the Oars Tribe, the Longarm Tribe, and a series of other non-human races!
At the same time, in that era, there was no concept of nation-states; various races of creatures lived scattered and fought each other.
Their way of life was extremely primitive; the victors owned everything, while the losers became slaves, and this way of life lasted for tens of thousands of years.
Five thousand years ago, we humans appeared on the moon!
That's right, this is part of the Great Treasure, and it's one of the pieces of information the World Government has been trying to cover up!
We and the Celestial Dragon actually share the same ancestors. There should never be any distinction between us, whether we are superior or inferior, noble or Celestial Dragon. We are one entity, descendants of humans who came from the moon to the sea!
Therefore, the Celestial Dragon are never any more noble than any of us!!!
At this point, Rayleigh looked into Gawain's eyes.
When he discovered that Gawain showed no anger or change in expression whatsoever, Rayleigh nodded in admiration.
Then he continued.
"We come from a more advanced civilization, a city called Birka."
The original city faced destruction, so, led by a guardian Nika, they came to the sea to establish a new home.
In the ancient civilizations of humankind, the sacred tree was the source of everything, so they sowed its seeds on different islands.
However, the sacred trees have extremely demanding environmental requirements, and in the end only three trees survived: the Adam, the Eve, and the Tree of Knowledge.
And it was these legendary sacred trees that brought the Devil Fruit to this sea!
Of course, it was during this time that the Fish-Man moved and settled among Eve's roots.
Meanwhile, feeling the chaos and rampant slavery in the world, Nika, the guardian of the sacred tree and humankind, began to ride Ganesha, Zunesha transformed by Uranus, and travel the world.
He worked hard to resolve the conflicts between the various races and attempted to liberate the slaves. As a result, the world finally entered a period of peace, and the various races gradually became peaceful and joyful, with fewer and fewer slaves in the world!
From that moment on, Nika became the sun in the eyes of the slaves!
Of course, Nika will eventually die; even legends eventually fall.
No one could have imagined that after Nika disappeared, the various races of the world would still maintain the peace that Nika had persuaded them to maintain, but the humans who were once led by Nika would become the source of chaos!
Humanity itself began an endless civil war, which eroded unity and friendship, leaving only hatred.
Even more remarkably, ancient humans abandoned Nika's ideas and became staunch supporters of slavery, a world that persisted for a full three thousand five hundred years!
Over the past three thousand five hundred years, humanity has multiplied and grown to the point of gradually occupying most of the world's territory. However, the more this has happened, the more severe the divisions within humanity have become.
No one remembers the past anymore, and no one cares about the fact that all of humanity shares a single common ancestor.
Even the legend of Nika the Liberator has been completely forgotten by humankind.
But then, another miracle occurred; his name was Joy Boy.
Fifteen hundred years ago, a giant named Joy Boy inherited Nika's power and ambition, and established the Great Kingdom, the most powerful nation at the time.
Because giants have very long lifespans, Joy Boy traveled the seas for a full seven hundred years.
Over these seven hundred years, he not only had to save and protect all races other than humans, but he also had to find a way to unite humanity.
Unfortunately, he couldn't do it this time, because the human mind is far more complex than that of the simple-minded races!
After seven hundred years of effort, Joy Boy had failed to restore peace to the land. So, at this moment, Joy Boy proposed a bold plan!
He plans to use Three Ancient Weapons to completely destroy the Red Line, and then use the Red Line as material to connect every island in the world.
Joy Boy believed that as long as the world is no longer separated by geography, resulting in different cultures and ideologies, then even if there are still differences in the quality of life among different races, they can become one nation and no longer fall into war.
And this is another meaning of One Piece. The Great Treasure we see on Laugh Tale is a plan to connect the Four Blues into one!
Do you know what that plan is? Haha, that plan is really hilarious!
Joy Boy actually plans to use himself, who has eaten the Nika Fruit, as the bowstring, Eve's root as the bow arm, and Poseidon and the Sea King as the power source to launch Fish-Man Island onto the Red Line, completely destroying the Red Line's seamless and almost indestructible structure!
Next, Joy Boy will use Pluton he commissioned from Water 7, to shatter the remaining large sections of the Red Line's structure after it has crumbled.
Next, we will use Uranus, whom we humans brought from the moon to the sea, who can levitate and manipulate small spaces, change Lineage Factor, and seal Devil Fruit abilities, to transport the shattered Red Line between the various islands!
Hahaha, what a terrifying plan, and what a ridiculous plan, yet, ironically, this plan actually has a chance of coming to fruition.
Because eight hundred years ago, Joy Boy first persuaded all races except humans and gained their support!
Then, since all races were standing behind Joy Boy, humans had no choice but to join them.
And so, Joy Boy gathered representatives of all the races on the Laugh Tale, where he would hold a grand banquet to commemorate the great plan that was about to begin.
This was supposed to be a banquet hosted by the giants, attended by all the kings of mankind, and a gathering of leaders of all races, but in the end, Joy Boy suffered a terrible betrayal.
Because Queen Imu-Guel, the queen of the most powerful nation at the time, brought not envoys to the banquet, but a delegation led by the Uranus, who had significantly enhanced their Lineage Factor...
Killing machine!