Chapter 128: Truth of the World

"Once upon a long time, there was a boy named Toby."

Sitting in front of Luffy, Ace, Baby 5, Monet, Sugar, and many other children was Kujaku, who was reading them a children's tale.

"Born a slave, he was to serve his master forevermore."

"Slave?"

Luffy tilted his head.

"What is that? A food?"

"Idiot!"

Ace bumped Luffy on the head, causing Luffy to cry in pain as he rolled on the ground.

"Slave is a person who is forced to work for a master!"

"Whaaattt?! That sucks!"

Chuckling at Luffy's antics, Kujaku continued reading.

"Toby's master was a bad person. He gave Toby only a small amount of food and expected Toby to work every day without any rest."

Kujaku flipped to the next page.

"Toby wished for a freedom. He wanted to break free from his master. He wanted to escape and travel around the world. Then came, the warrior of freedom."

Kujaku was about to flip to the next page, but paused as she saw Monet covering up Sugar's ears.

"What are you doing, Monet?"

Monet looked at Kujaku in suspicion.

"...I'm not going to let you corrupt Sugar."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We're not going to be swayed by your slithery words, cultist!"

"Ehhhh?!"

Baby 5 turned to Kujaku in bewilderment.

"So that's what you were up to?!"

Kujaku couldn't help but sweatdrop.

__________

"...Is this true?"

In front of Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin, sheets of paper were found. On top of them, the translation of Poneglyphs were scribbled, and these were the works of Charlotte Cottage, the three-eyed man who was currently Big Mom's husband.

"Joy Boy's decision to become a pirate arose from his disagreement with the ideal of the Ancient Kingdom. As the tension between the Ancient Kingdom and 20 allied kingdoms escalated, Joy Boy traveled across the world to seek those who were willing to teach the world true freedom."

"I, I'm not sure if it's true or not! But that's what I read off of them!"

Linlin humphed as she moved onto another sheet of paper, ignoring the cry of Cottage.

"The war began with the invasion of the Lunarian Kingdom by 20 allied kingdoms. Lunarian Kingdom, located atop the Red Line, was in proximity to the Ancient Kingdom; the takedown of Lunarians served as a blatant taunt for the Ancient Kingdom. Hmm..."

Humming in thought, Linlin continued reading, before her eyes widened in realization.

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"And so... the Ancient Kingdom directly clashed with 20 allied kingdoms. Though they paled in number, they had vastly superior technology that granted them the upper hand. Said technology, having mimicked the 4 god fruits, was termed as 'devil fruits.'"

"Are you drunk again, Rayleigh?"

In Sabaody Archipelago, there was a wooden building named Shakky's Rip-Off Bar. Inside the building, a white-haired man was mumbling his words as he drank heartily. Though a woman of short black hair behind the counter sighed, the man didn't seem to mind.

"The war seemed to be going in the Ancient Kingdom's favour... until the 20 allied kingdoms whipped out Uranus out of nowhere. Though many were sacrificed to operate it once, it was enough for 20 allied kingdoms to change the tide of the war."

The white-haired man, Silvers Rayleigh, chuckled.

"Imagine my surprise, Shakky, when we came across those Poneglyphs. Apparently, in the past, the world was connected. Instead of islands, there were continents. Though the Red Line stood tall, there were open passages down below that allowed people to move past it with ease."

"And?"

"The existence of Uranus. The way in which 20 allied kingdoms changed the tide of the battle. The Ancient Kingdom being filled with devil fruit users. Today's world where sea consumes the majority of the world. The ruins and evidence of civilizations found deep in the sea.

Everything clicked, and we concluded in the end... that the sea level rose abnormally. And if our speculation is correct, this was done by Uranus."

Rayleigh shook his head.

"Thankfully, the use of Ancient Weapons requires a vast amount of energy. Though I am not sure how 20 allied kingdoms of the past managed to gather the energy, one thing is for sure: they aren't able to operate it as many times as they want."

At last, Rayleigh seemed to have gotten Shakky interested in the topic. Leaning herself forward and placing her elbow atop the bar table, she asked.

"Then, just who made those Ancient Weapons? And why?"

Rayleigh grinned.

"Joy Boy."

"Joy Boy?"

"The man who is known as the first pirate, and... the wielder of a fruit that gave him the rubber-like properties."

Rayleigh lifted the glass of alcohol and watched as the liquid inside swirled.

"He found many allies along his journey. They together made two constructs with the dream of freeing this world from what he considered dangerous ideals."

Rayleigh brought the glass to his lips and gulped down the liquid. Revealing satisfaction, he wiped his mouth and chuckled.

"Pluton, the battleship that is capable of destroying whole islands in a single shot. Uranus, the flying construct that gathers up the moisture in the outside world and pours it down. They planned on destroying the Ancient Kingdom, then Red Line, with Pluton. Then, Uranus would pour and submerge this world, drowning everyone who was exposed to it."

Shakky looked at Rayleigh in disbelief.

"...Joy Boy? Really?"

"Hahaha! That too was my honest reaction! A plan so ridiculous and dangerous that we couldn't help but think that he was nothing but a psychopath... we couldn't help but laugh at that. But listen, that's not the end of the story. How many Ancient Weapons are known today?"

"Three. Pluton, Po... I see."

Rayleigh nodded while enjoying Shakky's reaction.

"Poseidon. It was the title given to the mermaid princess of merfolks. She, being capable of communicating with Sea Kings, was given the task of ordering them to pull Noah, the Ship of Promise, to prevent innocent civilians from facing calamity. Everything seemed to be going well, until... Zunesha, he ended up delivering Uranus at the hands of 20 allied kingdoms instead."

Rayleigh placed the empty glass on the table and stared at it.

"All plans had to be stopped. Joy Boy sent apology letters, saying that the plan couldn't proceed. He began to set up another plan—one that ensured that a future person who dreams of true freedom like he does will be able to pick up this plan."

__________

"A-And...? What comes after, sir?"

Sitting on top of a giant whale that cried happily, two people... or one person and one skeleton could be seen.

The person's name was Crocus, who used to be a doctor who boarded Oro Jackson, Gol D. Roger's ship.

The skeleton, on the other hand, was Brook, the man who transcended death by eating the Revive Revive fruit. He was lost and trapped in Florian Triangle for a long time, but managed to find a way out after his persistent effort, and got to reunite with Laboon the whale, his old friend.

Currently, Brook was found asking Crocus in anticipation.

"The plan was simple. In the past, and the present still, there exists no way to operate Pluton and Uranus. Perhaps the World Government can utilize Uranus once if they managed to find a way to accumulate the energy for the past 800 years, but even such is not enough to meet the energy demand. Well... except for Joy Boy, I'd say."

"What about Joy Boy then? What made him so special?"

"...Human Human fruit, model: Nika. Being one of the 4 god fruits, one who managed to consume and awaken the true power of this fruit was said to gain... an endless bound of energy, truly befitting the title of the sun god."

Brook exhibited shock, with his opened so wide that his bones seemed as if they were going to fall apart.

"Then, One Piece is...!!"

"...Yes."

Crocus nodded grimly.

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"""One Piece is..."""

Linlin, Rayleigh, and Crocus, in different places and times, stated.

"""Joy Boy's heart!"""

Ba-Bump.

On the island shrouded by the mist, there sits a heart, encased by a transparent cube.

For some reason, even though its owner was long dead, the heart continued beating without knowing its end—as if waiting for a new owner to arrive.

__________

__________

Within the silent garden, the sensation of peace and oppression co-existed—all because of one individual's presence.

"...We were different yet similar, Rocks D. Zachs."

Reaching out his hand to let a butterfly sit on it, this enigmatic individual shrouded by veil, Nerona Imu, murmured.

"What both of us desired, in the end, was to exist as the sole ruler of the throne. It was the methodology of achieving such that made us different."

Through his shadowy figure, his red eyes swirled. Then, surprisingly, the butterfly on his hand began to move bizarrely—as if it was being controlled by him.

"Whether to achieve absolute control over the entire world and monitor every corner of it... or to present destruction to everyone but oneself. Nevertheless, the ultimate goal was to ensure that the ruler's power would remain absolute for eternity."

The butterfly flew up, albeit wobbly.

"However, Joy Boy. If not for Zunesha's error, we would've never found out about his scheme. And if I were to think that Lili may have sided with him..."

Imu's eyes gleamed coldly, and the traveling butterfly then exploded into pieces.

"No, I must be overthinking. Yes. Lili... she was one of the twenty. There is no way that Lili would betray Mu..."

Turning around, he whispered,

"...Right, Lili?"

In the middle of the garden, there was a figure of a woman, one that was covered by flowers from head to toe.