Chapter Ten: Octopus and the Navy

"Marines!!!"

No... to be precise, it was a skeleton draped in a Marine cloak, sitting on the steps right in front of the door. Its two arms rested on its leg bones, head hanging low, though it was impossible to tell how long it had been dead.

After seeing the full picture, Buggy let out a sigh of relief. "This guy... he's creepy as hell."

"Ka-chu!" The giant octopus exerted a massive, sudden force. Caught off guard, Buggy was yanked to the ground, the reins slipping from his grasp.

By the time Buggy scrambled back to his feet, he saw the giant octopus kneeling before the skeleton, emitting a mournful and strange sound, as if it were desperately releasing and venting its emotions.

The vast stone chamber echoed with its lonely and painful cries; it sounded ridiculous, yet it was impossible to laugh.

Buggy looked toward Robin, who was also gazing over in astonishment. Their eyes met, both finding the octopus's actions unexpected yet somehow logical. This giant octopus didn't just know this Marine; it likely shared a deep connection with him.

Having learned from the previous stone chamber, they walked with extreme caution to avoid triggering any traps, using their oil lamps to ignite the grease-coated torches on both sides of the walls.

With all four torches lit, the entire chamber was instantly illuminated.

Looking around, this chamber was just like the previous corridor—no traps on the floor or ceiling. Directly in front of the door were three steps leading upward, where the skeleton sat, and leaning against the far rock wall was an intact stone slab, densely covered in ancient cuneiform script.

This slab... Buggy's heart skipped a beat as he looked at the text. After all, as a pirate who had completed the Grand Line with Roger, he was very sensitive to this kind of writing. Could this be a Poneglyph?!

Robin's expression grew even more agitated, her body trembling slightly. She took a deep breath, walked up the steps to the side of the slab, and reached out to touch the lines of text. Her eyes shone with joy, as if she were looking at a newborn baby.

Treasure... Buggy regained his senses. He hadn't forgotten his original purpose for coming here; perhaps there was still a secret room.

He began searching the chamber, and after half an hour, he had turned the place upside down, yet he found no valuables or hidden mechanisms.

Could it be that the island map wasn't a treasure map at all, but merely a location marker for this stone slab?!

Buggy searched again, unwilling to give up, digging until he was nearly three feet deep, but still, he found nothing. He suddenly felt the entire world was filled with malice. Robin had found what she needed, the octopus had achieved its goal, but he, Buggy, had come away with nothing.

Listening to the octopus's strange wailing, Buggy felt a sour, inexplicable irritation. He roared, "Octopus-slice, stop crying! Your wailing is really pissing me off."

"Ying ying ying~" Although the octopus was sorrowful, tears streaming from its eyes, it didn't show any weakness, glaring back with its two small eyes and trying its best to look fierce.

"Is that even a sound an octopus should make..." The thought derailed in Buggy's mind. His urge to teach the octopus a lesson suddenly faded, and his mood inexplicably soured.

He flopped down onto the ground, staring blankly at the ceiling, feeling dejected for a moment.

A while later.

"Tap, tap..."

Robin seemed to have finished deciphering the cuneiform on the slab and stepped lightly across the floor to Buggy's side.

Buggy turned his head with a listless gaze, but suddenly, his whole body jolted. The angle was quite alluring; following the line of her round, slender thighs upward, he caught a glimpse of a peculiar sight beneath her skirt. Hmm... pur... purple?

Robin froze and took two steps back. Perhaps due to her sun-kissed skin, no change in expression was visible on her face, but there was an inexplicable, dark glint in her eyes.

"Hey, what's that look for! Captain Buggy is not that kind of lecherous man!" Buggy scrambled to a sitting position, protesting while wiping the two streaks of bright red blood flowing from his nose.

Seeing Robin remain indifferent, he hurriedly changed the subject. "Is that stone slab a Poneglyph?"

Robin looked surprised. "How do you know about Poneglyphs?"

Buggy shrugged. "I was a crew member on Pirate King Roger's ship. Poneglyphs are no secret to me."

"You were a crew member on the ship of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger!" Robin's expression turned incredulous, her breathing quickening. "Then do you know... about the Void Century?"

"No." Buggy shook his head and countered, "I was going to ask you, what is recorded on that slab?"

"You don't know..."

For the first time, Buggy saw a look of disappointment on Robin's face, but she quickly masked it, responding vaguely, "It only records some information about weapons; it is not a Poneglyph."

"Ancient Weapon." Buggy muttered to himself. From start to finish, he had no idea what kind of existence that was, but since it was a taboo of the world, it must be something capable of changing or even destroying the world.

However, the resentment of finding no treasure filled his heart. As for weapons, Buggy couldn't muster any interest. He just felt as if a heavy stone were pressing down on his chest. After working so hard, he had nothing to show for it. Treasure, wealth—to think he had looked forward to it for so long, only for it to be a boring delusion.

His gaze followed Robin, who was now looking at the skeleton with little interest.

The giant octopus continued its strange wailing. Robin circled the skeleton, crouched down, and pulled a thick notebook from beneath the frame. She sat on the ground without a care for her posture and, using the light from the torch, began to flip through it slowly.

Her expression shifted from calm to surprise, then to gravity, and finally, she closed the notebook and fell into deep thought.

The change in her expression piqued Buggy's interest. "Miss Robin, what did you find?"

"I think I know who this Marine was, as well as the story behind this octopus and the statue."

"Ka-chu, ka-chu!" The octopus stopped crying. The expression on its octopus head was even more excited and curious than Buggy's. It wiped its tears with a tentacle and stared unblinkingly at Robin.

"I'm all ears..." Although Buggy wasn't overly interested, perhaps there would be something unexpected in the story?

Robin said, "This skeleton was a Marine Branch Vice Admiral from sixty years ago. His name was Gray Katz, and his hometown was my hometown... Ohara."