The remnants stirred up trouble in the outside world, but Dimon had no interest in getting involved.
With those fools drawing the attention of the Marines and the World Government, he could take the opportunity to excavate the Ancient Weapon.
He would dig it up in secret, then amaze the entire world when the time came!
A month later, Kaido returned to Hachinosu, bringing several hundred pirates with him.
The pirate martial arts tournament he had held on Hachinosu Island had been a tremendous success. News of the Wine of Immortality spread, causing a frenzy.
Pirates who longed for eternal youth and immortality eagerly participated. In the end, one pirate crew stood out and successfully joined the Beasts Pirates.
The champion among them was a rookie with a bounty exceeding 200 million.
Dimon generously granted him a cup of Wine of Immortality.
He had quite a few Devil Points now, and he had not asked Kaido for a single Devil Fruit.
If he had to put it another way, he owned a share of the Beasts Pirates' original stock. He considered it an investment.
With a batch of obedient pirates joining them, Dimon immediately accelerated the excavation.
Under his orders, the Shinsengumi repeatedly used the Sword Ban Edict to arrest samurai in the Flower Capital, sending them all to split mountains and quarry stone.
Five years later, in Sea Calendar 1489.
To an immortal, time was worth less than weeds. Dimon could not feel its passage, and the power of the years could not leave even the slightest mark on his face.
Under his rule, Wano Country was neither plunged into darkness nor likely to prosper.
Except for the samurai!
In the Flower Capital now, not a single samurai dared to walk the streets.
The Sword Ban Edict was being enforced thoroughly.
Anyone who dared hide swords or armor could not escape investigation by Otabe's ninjas. Then the Shinsengumi would move in, raid their homes, and search them.
After that combination of blows, all the captured samurai were sent to Mount Fuji.
Of course, some had resisted, but faced with such a vast disparity in strength, their resistance achieved nothing.
Under the high-intensity labor of the ox-and-horse samurai, sweating like rain, Dimon finally received some good news.
The Ancient Weapon had been found!
No, more accurately, an artificially excavated passage had been discovered inside Mount Fuji.
The passage led straight into the depths beneath Mount Fuji!
Dimon immediately had Albedo seal off the passage, then shared the good news with Kaido.
Afterward, the two headed beneath Mount Fuji together.
They followed the spiral staircase downward, walking for a long time without reaching the bottom.
Kaido could not help but remark:
"Five years of excavation was already a massive undertaking. Who dug this passage?"
"People from ancient Wano Country, probably."
"Ancient Wano Country?"
Dimon explained, "The Wano Country we're in now was built later. Ancient Wano Country was dozens of times larger than the present one."
Present-day Wano Country stood hundreds of meters above sea level, encircled by enormous stone walls. Rainwater had accumulated within them, forming Wano Country's inland sea.
Ancient Wano Country slept beneath that inland sea.
After hearing the explanation, Kaido clicked his tongue in amazement. "Worororo... So there was such a past? What exactly happened during the Void Century eight hundred years ago?"
"I don't know."
After walking for a full quarter of an hour, they finally reached the end of the underground passage.
There were glass windows here, through which they could see the inland sea outside and fish of every color swimming within it.
Of course, the most eye-catching sight was the ruins of ancient Wano Country slumbering deep beneath the sea.
Dimon admired it for a moment before kicking aside the stone slab blocking the path ahead.
Once they stepped out of the passage, the view suddenly opened up.
At the center of the vast platform stood a torii-like structure, with a red stone placed inside it.
"Is this the Road Poneglyph you mentioned?"
"That's right. Make a rubbing later. First, let's look for the Ancient Weapon."
The two split up and circled the platform, but they did not see any warship.
In the end, Dimon found a loose stone slab. When he lifted it, there was another staircase beneath it.
After thinking for a moment, Dimon said, "The passage is too narrow. You stay here; I'll go down and take a look."
With that, he jumped down the stairs.
Kaido simply sat to one side and waited, using Observation Haki to lock onto Dimon and monitor his movements.
About half an hour later, Dimon returned.
"How was it?"
"I found it! It really is a super warship, sleeping in the sea below."
Dimon sounded somewhat helpless. "It may have been dormant for too long. It can't be activated; it probably lacks the energy needed to start it."
"What energy?"
Dimon spread his hands. "I don't know either. A technological creation like this could use any kind of energy. I need to find an outstanding scientist."
They had finally found the Ancient Weapon, only for it to be unusable because it lacked energy.
Still, when he thought about it carefully, it made sense. It had been over eight hundred years, after all. It would have been stranger if it could still start.
"I'll leave Wano Country to you for now. I'm going to find someone."
Dimon took out the Vivre Card Stussy had given him five years ago. He truly had not expected it to come in handy.
MADS was an underground, illegal research organization.
To evade pursuit by the World Government, its director, Vegapunk, had built its headquarters on a research vessel.
That way, they could flee at any time if they encountered danger.
On the vast sea, without coordinates to guide him, finding it would have been like searching for a needle in the ocean.
But for Dimon, with Stussy's Vivre Card leading the way, finding it was no difficult task.
He transformed into a demon and flew at supersonic speed, crossing the sea toward his target.
Several hours later, the target appeared in his field of vision.
It was not an ordinary wooden sailing ship seen everywhere. It was full of technological flair, yet somehow looked rather ridiculous.
"MADS" was written on the side of the ship, while the flag flying overhead bore the word "pacifist," meaning one who advocated peace.
"Is that... a warship?"
Dimon narrowed his eyes slightly, stopped flying, and stood suspended in the air.
Not far from the MADS research vessel was a large Marine warship.
Many Marines stood on its deck, with the leader wearing a cloak of justice.
Dimon knew this man very well: Marine Admiral Sengoku!
At that moment, Sengoku held a Den Den Mushi loudspeaker and called out:
"Vegapunk, have you made up your mind? Will you accept the World Government's goodwill, or choose to be sunk here?"
"I'll give you five more minutes. My patience is limited... Hmm?!"
Suddenly, Sengoku's expression shifted slightly. He abruptly looked up toward the sky.
Dimon raised an eyebrow in surprise. What sharp perception. I'd already suppressed my presence, yet he still noticed me.
"You are... Great Pirate Dimon!" Sengoku blurted out in astonishment.
Dimon clapped lightly as his body drifted down like a floating wisp. "As expected of a Marine admiral. Your Observation Haki is remarkable..."
On the MADS research vessel, Vegapunk and the many other scientists also noticed Dimon, all turning their eyes toward him.
At that moment, golden light blazed, illuminating every direction.
Sengoku's body swelled, instantly growing more than ten meters taller as he transformed into a giant golden Buddha.
"Since we've crossed paths, don't think you're leaving!"
With a cold snort, the Great Buddha extended a massive golden palm and grabbed at Dimon.
Seeing this, Dimon drew Enma and slashed with a single strike.
The blade collided with the giant palm's middle finger. In an instant, two waves of Conqueror's Haki crashed wildly against each other.
BOOM!!!
Like thunder resounding through the heavens, a long rift tore through the sea of clouds.
The scientists all gaped in shock.
"The sky... split apart?"
Before you continue