Back on the ground, Vic left the land where the temple was located without saying a word. The onlookers were still there, and the unconscious monks had all woken up. They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Urouge others behind Vic.
As Vic approached, they consciously made way for him, as did the ordinary residents who were watching the spectacle. This mysterious man was simply too powerful, his intimidating presence even stronger than that of the temple. Although Vic's figure was not tall, his approach was like that of a giant beast.
After Vic walked away, the monks surrounded Urouge, asking him all sorts of questions. The residents were also very curious; they wanted to know what Vic and Urouge had gone to do and what they had seen. This was probably the topic of discussion among the Birka People recently.
After leaving the temple, Vic moved into Enel's house, essentially forcing his way in. Enel, being a young man, naturally resisted, but Vic easily suppressed him.
Having witnessed Vic's power, Enel could only vent his anger in silence. However, he was pleasantly surprised to find that no one bullied him anymore after Vic moved into his house.
Vic only used Enel's house as a temporary base to see if there was anything special about the place. He spent most of his time searching for traces of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in the White Sea surrounding Birka, grasping at the last possibility.
If even this place is ruled out, then he really has no choice but to leave. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit is not meant for him; it belongs to Enel. In that case, he will take Enel, the source of all trouble, with him to protect Birka. Let's see if Enel can get the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in the ocean below. Maybe then he can even intercept it.
Enel had no idea that the man who wanted to live with him had already chosen two paths for him in life. He was now treating Vic very well, and he wouldn't get beaten up anymore.
One path in life is to find the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in these last few days, in which case he can continue to live a good life in Birka. The other path is not to obtain the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, but to take him to see the more wonderful ocean and stop being a frog in a well, so that he can stop being so self-righteous.
Regardless of which path leads, Birka will ultimately survive, and the people here will live on. Unless Enel truly possesses immense luck and obtains another powerful Devil Fruit even without the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, then it's truly beyond Vic's control. Fate cannot be defied!
However, several days passed in the blink of an eye, and Vic searched the entire White Sea outside Birka, but didn't find even a single Devil Fruit leaf.
Enel's residence showed no abnormalities, which greatly disappointed Vic. He had been testing his Lineage Factor all the way from Drum Island to Jaya, waiting for the arrival of the Knock Up Stream, and then waiting for more than a month after arriving at Angel Island before Birka finally approached.
I thought the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was in Birka's temple, but all my hopes were dashed, and I was only disappointed time and time again. As the saying goes, life is full of disappointments.
Vic thought he was the protagonist of this world, but reality slapped him in the face, reminding him that he was just an ordinary person after all!
Even powerful figures like Roger and Whitebeard ultimately died at the hands of the Marines. How much stronger could he possibly be than them, no matter how strong he became? And what about that mysterious Imu behind him? Just how strong was he? Vic sat on the beach in Birka, staring blankly at the surging white seawater.
Vic sat by the sea for a long time, thinking about many things. Suddenly, he had a sudden inspiration and took out the Divine Staff from his Dimensional Ring. This was a divine artifact related to thunder, which might be of some help in finding the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. This was his last hope.
"I never thought I'd have to rely on you in the end! I should have retrieved you after we arrived at Sky Island. I've wasted so much time and effort, from telling Gan Fall stories to getting hit three times by Urouge, and all that time!"
This time, the Divine Staff didn't unleash Void Lightning, as if it had a more important purpose. Vic felt the pulling force from the Divine Staff and smiled wryly; this kind of pulling force had never appeared before.
He had just complained that the Divine Staff had absorbed so much lightning yet hadn't changed at all, but now he realized it was all thanks to the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Although there was no trace of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit yet, Vic had a vague feeling that the pulling force on the Divine Staff came from the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Vic felt the downward pull on his Divine Staff and knew that the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was in that direction. If it was in Birka, it would be underground on the island; if it wasn't in Birka, it would be somewhere in the ocean below.
It's highly likely that it was in Birka, but there's also a possibility that it was below, and later somehow came to Birka and was obtained by Enel.
Holding his Divine Staff, Vic circled around Birka and finally ruled out the possibility that the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was in the sea below, because no matter which direction he was in, the pulling force of the Divine Staff came from the center of Birka, which spoke volumes.
"Could the Rumble-Rumble Fruit still be in the shrine? But where exactly is it? Why can't I sense its presence at all with my Observation Haki?"
Vic was puzzled. The Divine Staff was clearly pointing to the temple, but he had been to the temple and hadn't found anything unusual there.
Vic silently arrived above the central landmass, directly above the temple, using Geppo.
Vic felt a pulling force coming from directly below. After the series of actions before, Vic knew that the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was directly below the temple, but he wasn't sure how deep.
Vic didn't plan to dig directly down from the temple. Urouge and the other monks wouldn't agree, and that would inevitably lead to another fight. Anyway, with the Divine Staff guiding the way, wouldn't it be more discreet to start digging from the edge? Vic decided to do just that.
Vic found a relatively sparsely populated area near the temple, at the boundary between the Island Cloud and the small landmass. Vic planned to start from this place, digging down along the boundary first, and then digging into the land once the vertical distance was sufficient.
Vic unearthed a large piece of Island Cloud, which he intended to use as a cover to conceal the entrance to the cave; the passage below didn't need to be that large.
He used Dimensional Space to store the solid Island Cloud he dug out; when it was full, he could simply find a place outside to dump them. Then Vic began his mining work, determined to find the treasures inside.
"How strange! Why is it going downwards? This depth has long exceeded where the blueprints for the Ark Maxim are stored in the temple. Could there be a secret passage beneath the temple that I haven't discovered yet?"
How could such a place exist! It's already strange enough that there's one on Drum Island, and now another one? Who's so perverted as to keep digging holes?