Let's go.
Roy turned and walked toward the doorway, his gaze sweeping out to the vast, ancient city to the east.
"The trail has ended here. We'll split up and search this area separately for ruins, ancient books, and remnants of technological devices, trying to piece together the gaps in our history."
Let's see if we can find the root cause of the Moon People's split.
Loki hoisted Iron Thunder onto his shoulder and followed closely behind as they stepped out of the stone chamber.
The ancient city, bathed in sunlight, remains quiet. The dilapidated stone pillars and simple buildings stand silently, the lingering charm of civilization from eight hundred years ago still present.
The two split up, one searching the area of equipment wreckage on the north side, and the other exploring the area of ancient book remains on the south side.
They are trying to unearth the deliberately buried truth in this forgotten land.
At this moment, the entire region of Laugh Tale...
The Straw Hat Pirates's exploration is also progressing in parallel, and more fragmented historical clues are gradually surfacing.
The ghost town of Laugh Tale is vast and well-organized. After eight hundred years of being sealed off, each area retains distinct ancient traces.
The Straw Hat Pirates members, according to their assigned roles, dispersed to various corners of the city, each unlocking fragmented historical clues.
The once blurred ancient threads are being pieced together little by little.
The northern part of the city was the core residential area of the ancient Moon People.
Luffy, Zoro, Usopp wandered among rows of ancient stone houses, the stone slabs beneath their feet covered with intricate ancient stone carvings.
With the thick fog gone, sunlight pierced through the dilapidated eaves and fell on the stone carvings, making the blurred characters and patterns much clearer.
Usopp squatted in front of the largest stone carving on the ground, carefully examining the patterns on it, muttering to himself:
These paintings...
It sounds like they're arguing?
Two groups of people stood facing each other in the square, each holding different tools.
Luffy lay down beside it, staring intently at the stone carving with wide eyes.
"The tools on one side were constantly digging and demolishing the mountain; they looked quite fierce."
On the other side, tools were being used to plant trees and repair the river, as if they were protecting something.
Zoro stood behind the two, his sharp gaze sweeping over the stone carvings throughout the residential area. Combining this with the images he had just seen, he instantly pieced together the key information:
"This should be the root cause of the split among the Moon People depicted in the mural."
The two groups have completely opposite ideologies: one prefers plunder and development, while the other prefers to safeguard stability.
As the three explored, they collected clues from the stone carvings, memorizing every recognizable detail.
All the stone carvings depicting daily life in the North District are confirming one thing:
The split within the lunar population was not an accidental dispute, but rather a complete eruption of long-standing ideological clashes.
Meanwhile, in the giant library in the city center, Robin and Nami made a significant discovery.
Most of the ancient books have long since decayed and turned to dust, but a few fragments made of special exotic animal hides and ancient metals remain intact.
Robin's fingertips gently traced the ancient text on the tattered scroll, and with his unique interpretive abilities, he quickly deciphered its core content.
Nami stood to the side, diligently recording every word Robin translated, growing increasingly alarmed with each note.
Radical Moon People believe that the resources of the Blue Sea are inexhaustible.
We should relentlessly explore and iterate our technology, and conquer all unknown territories by force.
Through continuous expansion and plunder, the ethnic civilization evolves infinitely, reaching higher levels.
"The conservative Moon People have personally witnessed the depletion of resources and the collapse of civilization on their home planet, and they are well aware of the cost of overexploitation."
They firmly opposed endless plunder and expansion.
They advocate setting aside radical technological research and development, respecting the natural laws of the Blue Sea, and coexisting harmoniously with this land.
Robin softly read aloud the core record from the tattered scroll, finally revealing the core contradiction that caused the Moon People's division.
Eight hundred years ago, the Ancient Moon People descended upon the Blue Sea were not a monolithic group.
From the very beginning, the conflict between the two factions' ideologies had already sown the seeds of future problems, and they were only barely able to maintain unity through their shared goal of pioneering and expanding the territory.
Once the Blue Sea order stabilizes, civilization takes shape, and external crises disappear, the internal ideological conflicts will erupt completely and become irreconcilable.
At the port ruins, Franky was lying face down in front of a pile of broken mechanical wreckage, his eyes blazing with fervor as he disassembled and analyzed ancient technological devices.
"This is amazing! They are completely different technological systems!"
Franky exclaimed loudly as he disassembled the parts.
"Some of these devices are primarily designed for resource extraction, military assaults, and territorial expansion; they are violent, efficient, and extremely destructive."
The other part focuses on ecological restoration, environmental stabilization, and nourishing life; it is gentle and stable, specifically designed to balance nature!
"This is definitely a technological system controlled by the two major factions!"
Radicals control war and mining technologies, while conservatives control ecology and survival technologies!
With all the clues from the three areas gathered, the group tacitly rushed back to the giant square in the city center to reunite.
In the empty square, everyone gathered in a circle, sharing the clues they had discovered during their exploration.
Through meticulous analysis, the most complete timeline of the rise and fall of civilization eight hundred years ago has been gradually revealed.
After the two major factions on the moon completely broke apart, there was no room for reconciliation whatsoever.
The conservatives, who uphold the principle of protection, are unwilling to participate in disputes, nor do they want to see the Blue Sea civilization they have built destroyed by internal strife.
They used their mature ecological technologies and environmental transformation capabilities to initiate the path of ethnic diversion.
A group of conservative Moon People modified their bodies to adapt to the high-altitude environment and settled in the Blue Sea at an altitude of ten thousand meters.
They gradually multiplied and evolved into the inhabitants of the Sky Island, living peacefully for generations, far removed from the conflicts on the ground.
Another group of conservative clansmen, in order to completely avoid the war,
They dived into the deep sea, modified their bodies to adapt to the underwater environment, built underwater cities, and eventually evolved into the first generation of Fish-Man Race, who took root in the deep sea and lived a peaceful life.
The two branches went far away, completely detached from the conflicts on Earth, all to continue the flame of lunar civilization and preserve the original concept of symbiosis.
The radical Moon People who remained on the Blue Sea continent did not experience the anticipated leap in civilization.
Without the checks and balances of the conservatives, their ambitions spiraled completely out of control.
Internally, due to disagreements over technological research and development direction, resource allocation, and territorial division, countless divisions and struggles erupted once again.
The originally unified radical group split into countless scattered forces, each carving out its own territory and establishing small kingdoms.
In their struggle for more resources and to expand their own power, these separatist forces have been waging wars year after year, endlessly plundering the land, resources, and lives of the Blue Sea.
The once peaceful, unified, and orderly early civilization of the Blue Sea collapsed completely.
The entire continent was plunged once again into a dark age of continuous war and devastation. Kingdoms large and small fought each other incessantly, and the war lasted for hundreds of years without a moment of peace.
After hearing the complete account, everyone in the square fell silent.
From the arrival of the Ancient Moon People and the birth of the first civilization in the wild Blue Sea, to the division of factions and the splitting of ethnic groups,
Then came the infighting among radical factions and the ensuing chaos. The first layer of secret history from eight hundred years ago has finally become completely clear.