Deciphering the Poneglyphs, Mysteries Gradually Unveiled

With the previous topic wrapped up, no one continued the discussion.

Roger pointed at the Ancient Language rubbing on the table. "Translate it for us, will you? We're curious what it says too."

"Leave it to me." Vikengam smiled, sat down at the desk, and picked up the rubbing. "Whose handwriting is the neatest? I'll read it line by line, and you write it down."

Rayleigh smiled at that. "Those two write like dogs crawling across the page. I'll do it."

"Bastard."

"What are you so smug about?"

Jaba and Roger each muttered a complaint, but neither refuted him.

It was clear that Rayleigh was indeed more cultured than they were. Usually, he also seemed more refined and gentlemanly. No wonder Shakky had taken a liking to him rather than Roger or Jaba.

After smiling, Vikengam turned his attention to the Ancient Language rubbing and began to read and translate.

"After the great war, the world did not welcome the dawn. Betrayal shattered the goal we once shared.

"Someone sought to seize the fruits of victory. Uranus was the first to disappear, but fortunately, during that war, Davy D. Jones had already destroyed the weapon's core, stripping it of its terrifying power.

"Soon after, my dear friend Poseidon was murdered, yet we still could not discover who had done it.

"The shadow of betrayal hung over us.

"To prevent such a thing from happening again, we hid Pluton away as a deterrent.

"How absurd and laughable. We once did everything we could to resist the power of Uranus and Pluton, even going so far as to awaken the Sea King. Yet now, we had no choice but to rely on that same power, even though it might destroy the world."

These were the words recorded on the first rubbing, which Roger said had come from a Poneglyph.

When Rayleigh finished writing, no one discussed the matter. They merely turned their gazes toward Vikengam.

Vikengam picked up another rubbing and began reading again. "We once wished to resist that power together. We had once fought side by side as comrades, but sadly, nothing could be undone.

"A new war had begun, and caught off guard as we were, we had clearly fallen into a disadvantage. But I believe that the final victory in this war will belong to us.

"Even if it continues into a distant future beyond anything we can imagine.

"What saddens me even more is that the promises I once made to my friends will likely never be fulfilled. That truly fills me with regret.

"Still, I believe that this will of freedom will eventually spread across the entire world.

"When that day comes, there will surely be someone who inherits this will and fulfills those promises I regret leaving behind.

"The world has begun to perish. I do not know how long this destruction will last. Perhaps until all things sink into the depths of the sea.

"Perhaps this is David's final curse.

"He had clearly warned us...

"I buried the secret to resisting that terrifying power within the ruins where we once fought. Perhaps it will leave a precious spark for all of you in the future."

After translating this Poneglyph rubbing as well, Vikengam picked up the last rubbing. After taking a look, he curled his lip. "This one is meaningless. It records some private affairs of an Ancient Kingdom's royal court. Says the king got cheated on..."

Clearly, this was not a rubbing from a Poneglyph, but from some ancient document.

Hearing that, Roger and the others had no interest in the matter. Rayleigh put away his pen, a hint of confusion on his face. "Why do the Poneglyphs feel like confessions? It seems like both were recorded by the same person?"

"What does it mean that the war wasn't over yet?" Jaba muttered in puzzlement.

"The world was being destroyed until all things sank into the deep sea? David's curse?" Roger murmured, equally confused.

"Why does this Davy D. Jones sound like a villain? Weren't they fighting Imu? Or perhaps the Twenty Kings or something?" Rayleigh added.

David Jones was a legendary figure whose tale was widely spread among pirates. It was said that he dwelled in the deep sea, and every treasure that sank to the ocean floor belonged to him.

The most famous tale was Pirate Game: Davy Jones's Battle.

In that game, players could seize each other's crew members, flags, and more. The reason the Rocks Pirates had been able to gather so many pirate big shots was closely tied to this game during its founding days.

Vikengam did not explain anything about the great war as he remembered it, or about Joy Boy. Those were only his speculations for now, and there was little point in mentioning them.

Ultimately, they would need to find more Poneglyphs before they could truly unravel these mysteries.

"I'm thirsty. Is there no tea?" Vikengam glanced at the desk and said with some dissatisfaction.

"Just drink alcohol. Why tea? Are you some noble young master?" Roger picked up Rayleigh's notes and instinctively mocked him as he read.

"Here." Jaba casually handed Vikengam the flask hanging from his waist.

Vikengam was still somewhat unaccustomed to their rough pirate ways, but he did not refuse the goodwill. He took the flask and drank a mouthful, then said with a disgusted expression, "This tastes awful. Even the servants in my house wouldn't drink this... Where did it come from? Isn't this just waste liquor?"

"My alcohol tastes terrible. My sincerest apologies, Lord Vikengam." Jaba mocked him, though he did not take it too seriously.

"Do you think the spark for resisting that terrifying power might be what we just guessed?" Roger asked with renewed interest.

"Possibly. At the moment, we need to collect these Poneglyphs, solve the mysteries related to them, and see whether we can find a way to fight Imu. At the same time, we need to search for the Final Island... Well, it sounds troublesome, but fortunately, the two goals don't conflict. We can handle them along the way." Rayleigh stroked the beard on his chin and smiled.

There were too few clues, so there was little point in investigating further here.

Still, this proved Vikengam's abilities. Roger was delighted and raised a hand to pat Vikengam on the shoulder. "Well done. With you around, we should be able to achieve our goal much faster."

"Alright, alright, stop dwelling on such heavy matters. Let's hold a feast to celebrate Vikengam joining us, and celebrate what we've gained!" Rayleigh called out, no longer thinking about it.

Before long, the Roger Pirates began holding a feast. Judging by how efficiently everyone moved, they had clearly thrown plenty of feasts before!

Meanwhile, at Marine Headquarters—Marineford.

Monkey D. Garp had just fought with his close friend Sengoku and was in a terrible mood as he headed toward the underground detention cells.

His son, Monkey D. Dragon, was being held there for violating multiple regulations at God Valley.

Inside the cell, Dragon was shackled behind his back against the wall, his expression dark and gloomy.

When he heard approaching footsteps, he raised his head and looked beyond the bars at his father—Vice Admiral Garp, recently hailed in the newspapers as the "Hero of the Marines."

Father and son stared at each other in silence, and the atmosphere became incredibly heavy.

After a moment, Dragon spoke. "Don't you have anything to explain?"

A flash of pain passed through Garp's eyes, but in the end, he said nothing.

Seeing his old man like this, Dragon was ultimately disappointed. He took a deep breath and looked at Garp. "Old man, I'm leaving the Marines!"

"Mm..." Garp replied quietly.

The role the Marines had played at God Valley had left him utterly ashamed. Facing his son's decision to leave, he could not find a single word to persuade him otherwise.

In fact, if not for the young Marines burning with passionate justice whom he could not abandon, he would not have wanted to keep struggling in this mire either.

But if he chose to leave as well, then who would protect those Marines?

"Heh..." Seeing that Garp had nothing to say, Dragon let out an even more disappointed, cold laugh. "No, I should say that I despise you!"

"Yeah..." Garp answered calmly.

After being seen in such a "wretched" state, being despised was only natural, wasn't it?

Not knowing what to say, Garp ultimately only tossed the key to unlock the shackles and cell in front of Dragon, then turned and walked away in desolation.

As he watched his old man's retreating back grow farther and farther away, Dragon's eyes gradually became complicated.

"Old man..."