"What do you mean?" Nami asked.
Robin stood up, her voice calm, but her eyes deep.
"The internal structure of this stone statue is uniform, as if some force froze the entire human being's existence in an instant."
The entire city's inhabitants... were frozen in place at the same instant.
Luffy's expression turned serious.
He rarely gets this serious, but whenever he does, the fire in his eyes burns especially bright.
So everyone here... is dead?
"Uncertain."
Robin shook his head.
"Perhaps it was moved."
But in any case, something terrible must have happened.
There is a huge library in the center of the city.
The dome was so high that it seemed to go on forever, and the bookshelves stretched from the floor to the ceiling, densely packed with decaying books.
Most of the books had rotted into pulp, with only a few sealed with special materials still barely readable.
But there is a stone slab on the central stone platform.
The stone slab has not been eroded by time, and the inscriptions on it are still clear.
Robin stood before the stone slab, his fingers slowly moving over the words, his lips moving as he silently read aloud.
Her face grew paler and paler.
"I've been betrayed."
"Nineteen kings, they stole the power of the ' First King '."
"To preserve the truth, they stripped our city bare and exiled it to the ends of the earth."
But we left the seeds.
Awaiting the king's return.
The library was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat.
Robin's fingers trembled slightly:
" The Great Kingdom... was banished by those nineteen kings working together."
The entire Laugh Tale was forcibly cut off from the continent.
Roy stood to the side, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white:
"Just as Davy Jones said."
Luffy scratched his head. "So those 'kings'... are the Five Elders and Imu?"
"No."
Robin shook his head.
They are just containers.
The true 'kings'... are perhaps the nineteen kings who established the World Government in the first place.
That is, the nineteen thieves that Davy Jones mentioned.
Nami gasped.
So those nineteen guys...
It was there eight hundred years ago?
"They've lived to this day?"
Robin nodded.
Luffy was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What about Joy Boy?"
Robin turned and walked towards the top floor of the castle. "Come on, Roger left something here."
The top floor of the castle is a huge circular hall.
The dome has completely collapsed, revealing the gray-blue sky above.
In the center of the hall stands a stone tablet. The inscription on the tablet is in common script, written in a hasty and forceful manner, as if it were carved in a hurry.
"I am Gol D. Roger. I have arrived here and seen the whole truth."
"But I arrived too early. The answer here is beyond my expectations. Compared to the original King of the World, as a pirate, I prefer Joy Boy's story..."
Roger was here.
--Roger
Luffy stared at the stone tablet, remaining silent for a long time.
He reached out and touched the engravings on the stone tablet, his fingertips slowly tracing the three characters " Joy Boy ".
Zoro and Sanji stood behind him, neither of them saying a word.
Luffy suddenly smiled.
That smile was different from usual; it lacked some of the carefree spirit and contained something more indescribable.
" Roger, the Pirate King..."
Robin stood to the side and said softly:
Roger was here. He was the first person to reach Laugh Tale.
But he didn't take anything with him.
Roy walked up to the stone tablet, looked at the three characters " Joy Boy " thoughtfully.
Roy's finger lingered on the words " Joy Boy " for a moment, then moved away.
He turned to Robin: "What was the truth that Roger saw back then?"
Robin thought for a moment, "According to the inscription on the stone tablet, Roger said he 'arrived too early'."
He mentioned that Joy Boy hadn't appeared yet, but he didn't mention the truth of what happened back then; perhaps there are still secrets on this island that we don't know about.
"That must be it."
Roy was certain,
Roger wasn't the kind of person who would miss crucial clues.
His statement that he arrived "too early" indicates that he knew the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika had not yet found an heir.
But it's strange that he didn't mention those nineteen old men.
Luffy squatted on the ground, resting his chin on his hands, looking down in thought, a rare sight for him.
He thought for a few seconds and then gave up, looking up to ask, "So what exactly is the One Piece Roger was talking about?"
"Whatever it is, we need to find it ourselves."
Roy spoke calmly, but there was a glint in his eyes.
Robin looked at him. "You're looking for records about Davy Jones and the First King?"
"Right."
Roy sheathed Shusui, his gaze sweeping over the ruined city.
"Let Luffy investigate the story of Joy Boy and Nika."
But how those nineteen thieves stole, how they killed, and how they established the World Government —that's what I need to find out.
Luffy stood up and dusted off his backside:
"Let's split up! Robin and I will go find Joy Boy's things!"
Zoro leaned against the broken wall, arms crossed. "I'm going with Luffy."
I'll go too.
Sanji put out his cigarette.
"If this idiot falls into some kind of pit, someone has to pull him out."
Nami raised her hand. " Robin and I, I want to look at the things in the library."
Chopper looked around and finally ran over to Luffy.
Usopp hesitated for a moment, then followed Luffy.
Franky decided to stay at the port to inspect the still-operating mechanical systems.
Brook said she wanted to go to the top of the castle spire to see the view.
On Roy's side, Loki stood behind him, carrying Iron Thunder, his golden vertical pupils scanning the city skyline.
"I'll go with you," Loki said. "I also want to see how the former King of the World really failed."
Roy nodded.
"The rest of you are free to do as you please. Don't wander too far, and don't touch anything you don't understand."
He paused,
"Especially you, Luffy."
"Got it!" Luffy had already run quite a distance, his voice drifting back from the end of the street.
Roy led Loki toward the east side of the city.
The architectural style of the buildings on the east side is distinctly different from that of the central area.
The buildings here are shorter and wider, with rougher decorative patterns on the metal surfaces, conveying a sense of power.
Many stone pillars stand on both sides of the street, each carved with a different pattern, some like flames, some like flowing water, and some like Inazuma.
"This belongs to the Giant Tribe."
Loki's fingers brushed against a stone pillar.
"The ancient buildings in Elbaf also have these kinds of columns. But the ones here are older, and the carving techniques are more primitive."
Roy's Observation Haki was searching.
He found an entrance, hidden behind a low building.
Most of it was blocked by the collapsed metal beam. With a Telekinesis, he moved the beam aside, revealing a circular doorway.
Inside the doorway was a small stone chamber.
The walls are covered with murals, the colors of which have faded considerably, but the content is still discernible.