When they returned to the Central Hall from the underground temple, Roger took the rolled rubbing from inside his coat and spread it across the low table.
The ancient script captured on the rubbing shone a damp, faintly reflective black in the Dial Lamp's light. Uneven pressure from the rubbing pad had left tiny, jagged gaps along the edges of the strokes.
He lowered his head and stared at the symbols, unable to recognize a single one. After a long silence, he rolled the rubbing up again and tucked it inside his coat.
"Annus. There's one more thing."
"Go ahead."
Roger rose from the bench and rolled his right shoulder.
"I finally made it here, toured Sky Island, and saw the Poneglyph. I've got a request, but I don't know if you'll agree."
o
Annus turned, his gaze settling on Roger's face.
"I want to fight you. Not some warm-up where we trade a few moves and call it quits. A real, serious fight.
"Back in our years with the Rocks Pirates, we didn't get many chances to face each other. It was always a free-for-all, with Shiki or Newgate or Linlin getting in the way. I've always wanted to know just how strong you've become."
"All right."
The Second Layer lay roughly a thousand feet above God's Island. It was somewhat smaller than God's Island itself, its surface covered in black soil brought from the Blue Sea.
Annus had allotted this land to the Agricultural Executive as an experimental plot. Dozens of rows of ironwood saplings imported from the Blue Sea grew on the eastern side. To the west lay a newly cleared field that had yet to be sown. Several Glaze Cloud posts stood along its edge, intended to anchor a windbreak net. The net had not been