Is that so?
Vic had a vague suspicion in his mind. He realized that the Drum Kingdom, a major medical power, might have some special features. He recalled the underground space he had sensed with his Observation Haki outside the palace.
That's something he could only perceive after he cleaved the ground with his Observation Haki. This is also one of the limitations of Observation Haki; it's difficult to perceive things inside objects, and it won't work if the surface is too thick.
Unless there's a window-like opening, one can't perceive the inside. He thought he'd find some time to go and see what was inside. Vic guessed the entire royal family was unaware of that space's existence.
The group ate and chatted, but Wapol didn't say much, only responding when asked directly. Vic was right across from him, but Wapol barely dared to look up, and the food in his mouth felt like chewing wax.
After the banquet, the old king invited Vic to stay overnight in the palace, as planned. Vic, thinking of exploring the underground space, readily agreed, planning to go there late at night when it was quiet.
Vic didn't rest in his room; he practiced Armament Haki until late at night before Vic began his actions.
Vic activated his Observation Haki, sensing the locations of all creatures in the palace. Avoiding the guards and patrolling soldiers, Vic arrived at the palace's basement.
If we want to find that underground space, the secret passage must lead from the palace's basement. The entrance couldn't be somewhere on a snow-covered peak; that would be too easy to spot, and no one would design it that way.
However, Vic searched all four basements of the palace but found no secret passage. The basements were filled with various items, some for storing miscellaneous things, some for food, and some old weapons and equipment.
Vic used his Observation Haki to carefully sense every detail in the four basements. Apart from a slight color difference on one wall in the northeast basement, there was almost nothing unusual.
Vic stroked his chin, staring intently at the wall. Everything in front of the stone wall had been moved away by Vic, and the area where his Observation Haki could penetrate was entirely stone, so he couldn't sense the existence of the secret passage at all.
A typical secret chamber wouldn't have a door several meters thick, and apart from the two-meter-wide stone wall running from top to bottom being a different color, it was exactly the same as the other walls.
If an ordinary person brought in an oil lamp, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference in color. If it weren't for his Observation Haki sensing the difference in color, Vic wouldn't have suspected this wall.
"We've looked everywhere else. If there really is a secret passage, it can only be this wall. Let's dig it open first and see. If that doesn't work, we'll find a spot and keep digging towards that space!" Vic muttered to himself, touching the two-meter-wide stone wall that was a different color.
Without hesitation, Vic pulled out Allen and inserted it along the dividing line of the different colored stone wall, from the top wall to the ground, and dug out the entire piece of the different colored stone wall.
After separating, he stored the entire stone pillar into the Alternate Dimensional Space. Vic didn't stop and continued digging forward until he had dug ten meters ahead. Then, the feeling from Allen's knife tip was different; it felt like he had pierced nothing. Vic knew that the secret passage must be ahead.
Just as Vic had imagined, after storing the stone pillar in his space, a two-meter-wide opening appeared in front of him. Vic used his Observation Haki to sense it and found that, apart from the relatively regular opening, the traces of artificial excavation in the passage were very obvious, extending all the way to the underground space.
Vic didn't turn on the lights. With his Observation Haki, he could see every detail of the passage. The passage didn't lead straight to the secret room; it was winding and circuitous.
A few minutes later Vic arrived at this extremely well-hidden secret chamber, a place that even the current royal family probably didn't know about. If that were the case, this secret chamber might be several hundred years old, and it might even contain information from Void Century was previously unavailable.
Upon entering the secret room, Vic sensed its structure: the four walls were entirely made of stone bookshelves, filled with books of all sizes and thicknesses.
Vic was pleasantly surprised to see these books. They must contain many records of that era, and perhaps even more ancient historical events. This place may have never been open to the public, and the World Government couldn't destroy it even if it wanted to. It must be very valuable.
"Why are they all medical books? Aren't there any historical records or anything like that?"
Vic took out a lamp from his spatial storage, turned it on, and started flipping through the books on the bookshelf. However, all the books he turned to were medical books, some of which he had heard of before and others he had never heard of.
Vic was somewhat unwilling to give up. The ground was littered with medical books he had thrown away. He was still searching for books containing historical records on the bookshelves, but this time, Lady Luck did not smile on him. There were only medical books here.
"There's another level below, there's still hope!" Vic didn't give up. This secret room consisted of two levels, with a stone staircase leading to the next level.
Vic carried the oil lamp to the second secret room. In the diffused light, the first thing that caught his eye was a desk in the center of the room, with a chair overturned behind it.
There was also an old-fashioned oil lamp on the desk, and a notebook lay open in the middle of the table. A quill pen was scattered not far from the notebook. A thin layer of dust covered the table, the oil lamp, and the notebook. The neat books on the bookshelf formed a stark contrast with this messy desk.
Vic ignored the desk and went to the bookshelf to start reading again, one book after another. Looking at the familiar words on the pages, Vic couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. It was all medical books, nothing but medical books.
There are no books recording history or major events; they are all medical books recording various difficult and complicated diseases. Many of these diseases are unheard of, but for those that are known, these books provide more than one solution.
There are also many incurable diseases listed here, and treatment plans are available. This place is like a medical library, a holy land for medical students!
" Roger! What a pity. If you had discovered this place, perhaps you wouldn't have died! With Crocus's medical skills and the medical books here, you should have been able to cure that terminal illness, right?"
Looking at the bookshelves filled with top-tier medical books, Vic sighed with emotion. If it weren't for that one strike that created a large gap at the summit, Vic wouldn't have known there was a small medical library inside. It could only be said that Roger's fate was a matter of timing and destiny; although he became the Pirate King and possessed immense strength, he still lacked certain opportunities.
Vic sighed at the fact that he hadn't found any useful information among so many books. Then he went to his desk, righted the overturned chair, blew off the dust, and sat down.
Looking at the last remaining notebook, I still felt a little regretful. Although the owner of this desk left in a hurry, only the first page and the last page with text had some text left on it; the rest had all been torn out.