A Deep Exchange, the Sorrowful Island Whale

"God's Tribe?"

Lin Nuo's eyes flickered slightly.

Stockton set down his teacup, his eyes filled with caution and excitement.

"I once read a description in an explorer's journal."

"It mentioned an ancient mural on the Red Line depicting a race with 'black wings on their backs, mastery over flames, and powerful adaptability.'"

He raised his head and looked directly at Lin Nuo.

The room fell silent.

Even Ivankov and the others, who had been fooling around, stopped and looked over.

Lin Nuo was silent for several seconds.

He gazed at Stockton and activated the Voice of All Things.

The other man displayed no excess emotion, only pure curiosity and longing...

"Yes, and no."

"My bloodline is somewhat special, but the fewer people who know about this, the better."

Lin Nuo did not completely deny it.

Stockton drew out a long acknowledgment, then became even more serious.

"Please rest assured. Everything heard in this room today will remain in this room," he said solemnly.

Then he smiled somewhat sheepishly.

"Still, it feels like I'm the one taking advantage again, asking about such an important secret..."

"How about this?"

He stood and gestured for Lin Nuo to follow.

"Would you be interested in seeing my real 'treasure room,' sir?"

"Consider it a small return favor."

After a brief thought, Lin Nuo nodded.

Stockton then led him out of the public research room, through a narrow corridor, and to a wooden door behind the captain's cabin.

He took out two oddly shaped keys, inserted them into the locks, and turned them in a particular sequence.

Click. The door opened.

Inside was a secret room much smaller than the one outside.

There were no windows, and the walls were completely covered by towering bookshelves.

"Please, sit."

Stockton lit the whale-oil lamp on the table.

Lin Nuo sat down, his gaze sweeping over the ancient books. Many were written in scripts he did not recognize at all.

"Mr. Lin Nuo," Stockton said as he sat opposite him.

"How much do you know about ancient history?"

"I know a few fragments, but much of it has been deliberately concealed."

"That's right. Concealed." Stockton gave a bitter smile.

"The World Government's stance toward scholars researching ancient history, especially those involved with the Void Century, is very clear."

"Suppression, even eradication."

His fingers lightly tapped the tabletop.

"But do you know? Some people study history not to overthrow the world, nor to seek ancient weapons and become kings."

"They simply want to know what truly happened in this world eight hundred years ago."

Stockton's voice was very soft.

"Knowledge itself is not a crime. Exploration and the pursuit of knowledge are humanity's most precious instincts."

Seeking the truth...

Those words coincided perfectly with one of Lin Nuo's goals in uncovering the Void Century.

"Stockton..."

"If I said I knew when the three ancient weapons—Uranus, Pluton, and Poseidon—would likely appear in the future, in what form, and whose hands they would fall into, would you believe me?"

Clatter.

A magnifying glass Stockton had been playing with fell onto the table.

More than ten seconds passed before he finally asked hoarsely.

"...W-What did you say?"

"I know some secrets that the World Government is desperately trying to hide."

Lin Nuo did not go into too much detail.

Stockton leaned back in his chair and pondered.

"It seems your knowledge and experience far exceed what I imagined."

He stood and paced several steps around the cramped secret room.

"Since you've decided to tell me something so important, then in exchange, I should offer stakes worthy of a deeper exchange."

He returned to the desk, pulled open a hidden drawer, and took out a thin notebook.

"I, Alger Stockton, am not merely an ordinary archaeologist."

"I actually possess a... very rare constitution."

"I can hear the voices of ancient writing."

Lin Nuo raised an eyebrow. "The voices of writing?"

That ability was somewhat similar to his Voice of All Things.

"Not voices in the literal sense," Stockton explained.

"When I stare at and touch genuine ancient texts for a long time, my consciousness resonates with the writing in some way."

"I can sense fragments of the writer's emotions, and even see certain scenes from history."

"But every use of this ability consumes an enormous amount of mental energy. Afterwards, I fall into a deep sleep lasting weeks, or even months."

"That's why I spend most of my time living in seclusion and researching, with little contact with the outside world."

He gave a self-deprecating smile.

"This voyage is partly for academic exchange, but also for an agreement."

He looked at Lin Nuo, his expression complicated.

"An old friend who took enormous risks to obtain rubbings of ancient Poneglyphs is waiting for me at Whiskey Peak."

"We agreed to meet there, exchange our research findings, and then... find a way to decipher any information that might be hidden within those rubbings."

"Rubbings of Poneglyphs?"

Just as the two were talking, the ship suddenly lurched.

Several books slipped from the shelves and fell to the floor.

Outside came Ivankov's ear-splitting shout.

"Ah!! What is that thing?!"

Lin Nuo and Stockton exchanged a glance, then immediately rose and rushed out of the secret room.

The deck was already packed with people.

Everyone crowded along the railing, staring in the same direction.

The boundless rocky wall of the Red Line was now close at hand.

In the distance, they could vaguely see the spectacular sight of the five waterways of Reverse Mountain converging at its summit.

Only a short stretch of voyage remained before they reached the entrance to the Grand Line.

Yet at that moment, no one was looking at the mountain. Their attention was fixed on the sea between the ship and the Red Line.

There, the seawater was swelling unnaturally.

A massive cylindrical object emerged from beneath the surface.

Its diameter was estimated to exceed a hundred meters, and this was only a small portion of what had surfaced.

"Th-That's the head of something?!" a young sailor stammered, his teeth chattering.

"A Sea King? But that size is ridiculous!"

Lin Nuo walked to the very front of the railing and examined the colossal pillar-like head rising higher and higher.

"Stop the ship first. I'll go take a look."

With that, he stepped over the railing.

Behind him, his folded black wings spread wide.

With a beat of his wings, Lin Nuo whipped up a gust of air and shot toward the giant creature in the sea like an arrow released from a bow.

Silence fell over the deck of the Quest for Knowledge.

"Ehhh——!!"

Led by First Mate Raymond, every sailor aboard the Quest for Knowledge nearly had their eyes pop out of their sockets.

"He! He's flying!!"

Raymond rushed over to Stockton and pointed into the distance.

"Sir! He called those wings decorations!?"

Dr. Stockton pushed up his glasses, his expression unchanged.

"Raymond, calm down."

"It's merely new technology: biomimetic powered wings."

"Their ship's ability to fly briefly also uses similar aerodynamic principles and special propulsion devices."

He patted Raymond on the shoulder, looking utterly sincere.

"As a navigator, you need to keep up with the times and believe in science."

Raymond stared blankly.

"I believe in science... Believe in science, my ass!"

"You know something, don't you? You'd better explain everything to me later!!"

Stockton merely smiled without speaking, his gaze returning to the distance.

In the air.

Lin Nuo rapidly approached the giant creature in the sea.

The closer he got, the more he could feel the absurd scale of it.

Yet it was also moving through the water at an astonishing speed.

It was charging straight at the rocky wall of the Red Line without slowing down at all.

Lin Nuo's mind raced.

West Blue... the entrance to the Grand Line... before the Red Line... this size...

Could it be...

The instant that thought arose.

The colossal beast finally gathered enough strength.

It adjusted its angle slightly, aiming its round head directly at the wall that divided the world.

Then—

It accelerated!

It crashed into the Red Line with a deafening boom!!

Lin Nuo halted in midair, his pupils contracting slightly.

The next moment, a section of the crimson rock wall caved in, and cracks spread across it.

Enormous waves surged across the sea, sweeping in every direction.

Even from some distance away, the Quest for Knowledge and the White Shell were struck by the waves and shoved violently backward.

After the collision, the colossal beast shook its head, then...

It backed away for some distance and adjusted its direction again.

Once more, it began gathering strength.

Lin Nuo hovered in the air, looking down. There was no longer any doubt in his heart.

"It really is you..."

He murmured the name.

"Island Whale, Laboon."