Historical Poneglyphs.
The Void Century.
Oboro, Dom, Yuri, and Enel arrived in the ruins of Shandora, the legendary Golden City that had once been part of Jaya Island before being launched into the sky four hundred years ago. This sacred territory remained under the fierce protection of the Shandia, descendants of the ancient Shandorians who had built this magnificent civilization.
For generations, their ancestors had carried a solemn duty: to guard the stone tablet hidden beneath the golden city's crumbling foundations.
Oboro, possessing intimate knowledge of this place's history, immediately located the Historical Poneglyph after their arrival in what had become a ruined metropolis. He also led Dom and Yuri to witness the legendary Golden Bell, the massive bronze monument that had called to explorers across the centuries.
The sight of both the Historical Poneglyph and the Golden Bell profoundly impacted Dom. Here was tangible proof that the ancient legends held fragments of truth.
Yuri and Enel, however, displayed little reaction to these discoveries.
Their arrival swiftly attracted the attention of the Shandia Chief, who led a substantial force of tribal warriors to confront the intruders. Among them stood figures familiar to Oboro: the fierce warriors Braham and Kamakiri. These guardians had protected this sacred ground for countless generations, and they would never permit the Historical Poneglyph to fall into outsiders' hands.
However, Oboro had no intention of engaging them in combat. With swift decisiveness, he unleashed a devastating wave of Conqueror's Haki, instantly rendering the entire group unconscious to prevent any disturbance of his investigation.
"Legend claims that Historical Poneglyphs record the location of the final island, Raftel... Is this what we're looking at?" Dom asked with reverent excitement, running his hand across the massive stone tablet inscribed with ancient, weathered characters.
"No..." Oboro replied from behind him, shaking his head. "This tablet contains information related to the ancient weapon Poseidon."
"Poseidon?"
"There are thirty Historical Poneglyphs in total, four serve as Road Poneglyphs pointing toward Laugh Tale, nine contain crucial intelligence about ancient weapons and lost history, and the remainder, when assembled together, reveal the truth behind the Void Century," Oboro explained. "Generally speaking, these stone tablets fall into two categories: those that record vital information, and those that indicate specific locations."
"So... this Historical Poneglyph doesn't mark Raftel's location?" Dom said, beginning to understand.
Of course, for most pirates roaming the Grand Line, Historical Poneglyphs remained merely objects of legend with little concrete understanding. But Raftel, that name resonated with incredible power throughout the pirate world. After all, it housed the legendary treasure of Pirate King Gol D. Roger. Dom's excitement was entirely understandable.
However, the Hell Pirates' ultimate goal wasn't discovering the One Piece treasure.
In other words, Historical Poneglyphs held absolutely no intrinsic value to their mission.
"Should we take it?" Dom asked uncertainly.
"Of course," Oboro replied with a faint smile. "The Void Century, once its secrets are revealed, poses the greatest existential threat to the Celestial Dragons... From that perspective alone, it's worth claiming."
Stepping forward, Oboro placed his hand against the stone surface and began activating his system's transformation abilities.
All tablets containing Historical Poneglyphs were crafted from a mysterious, indestructible material, immune to fire, blades, explosives, or any other destructive force. They represented special artifacts intimately connected to this world's fundamental destiny.
Therefore, Oboro remained uncertain whether his soul's current strength and the system's capabilities would successfully load such significant objects into his inventory space, treating them like ordinary items.
As the system's power activated, an invisible soul wave erupted from Oboro's body. Though it caused no visible anomalies, all three companions present, including Enel, felt an unsettling chill, their minds becoming momentarily hazy as they sensed Oboro wielding some unfathomable power.
System: Error! Item's metaphysical significance exceeds transformation parameters. Conversion failed.
A moment later, the system notification echoed in Oboro's mind.
His eyes narrowed slightly. This marked the first time his system's power had encountered complete failure.
But the result didn't surprise him.
"As expected... it won't work," he exhaled, releasing his grip on the ancient stone.
Historical Poneglyphs represented cornerstone artifacts that defined this world's very structure, and the formation of the pirate era remained intrinsically linked to their hidden knowledge.
"It can be moved manually," Oboro observed, testing his air manipulation abilities. With a subtle gesture, powerful currents gathered beneath his fingertips, lifting the massive stone tablet slightly from the ground. However, they currently lacked a pirate vessel, and such an enormous object couldn't fit within his system's storage limitations.
In short, transportation presented a significant problem.
"Let's leave it here for now..." After brief consideration, Oboro made his decision.
"Use the recording device to document everything," he instructed.
"Understood," Dom nodded, immediately retrieving his equipment.
The most crucial aspect of any Historical Poneglyph was its information content, physical possession remained secondary to knowledge preservation.
This type of informational stone differed fundamentally from Road Poneglyphs that served as directional guides.
Moreover, the inscriptions here contained intelligence about Poseidon... Even though Oboro couldn't read the ancient script, its contents weren't secret to him.
Then he knelt down and examined a small line of text carved in a relatively hidden corner of the stone tablet.
This ancient message had been left by Pirate King Gol D. Roger during his visit over twenty years ago. It read, "I have come here and will carry this text to the farthest ends of the world."
Indeed, Roger possessed the ability to inscribe ancient script.
He had visited Sky Island more than twenty years ago, and it was Roger who had discovered the Golden Bell's location.
"Heh," Oboro smiled knowingly.
Regarding Historical Poneglyphs, their various guardians seemed bound together by an invisible force, dedicating their utmost efforts to maintaining secrecy and preventing disclosure.
Partly because they feared individuals with ulterior motives might steal or exploit this knowledge.
Secondly, they harbored deep concerns that the World Government, upon learning of these revelations, would mobilize every resource to eliminate them.
Finally, and most crucially, they waited for a prophesied moment, the arrival of Joy Boy, the Sun God who would bring dawn to the world.
But Oboro's intentions were far simpler: release the true history to the public... The more desperately the Celestial Dragons sought to conceal it, the more thoroughly he would expose it.
Nico Robin definitely wasn't the only person in this world capable of reading ancient script. Others existed who possessed fragments of this knowledge, and many individuals already understood portions of the truth.
For example... Doflamingo, Vegapunk...
Oboro's primary target remained the Celestial Dragons themselves.
As for how this world would transform and how it might affect other pirates, that wasn't his concern.
Of course, the information on this particular stone tablet couldn't be made public... because it directly concerned the mermaid princess, Shirahoshi.
If the Five Elders learned of Poseidon's identity, they would undoubtedly attempt to destroy Shirahoshi, and Oboro wouldn't allow them that opportunity.
If future chances arose to obtain other Historical Poneglyphs, especially those recording the World Government's crimes during the Void Century, Oboro would eagerly anticipate witnessing the Five Elders' and Im's reactions when such revelations became public knowledge.
Of course, even if he couldn't acquire them, it wouldn't matter. Such discoveries wouldn't affect his fundamental plans and actions.
Historical Poneglyphs represented valuable additions to his strategy rather than absolute necessities.
"Finished," Dom announced after completing his documentation, carefully storing the recording device.
"What about that Golden Bell... should we claim it?" he suggested.
"Let's leave it here... it's merely a symbolic artifact," Oboro replied with a slight curl of his lip.
"But this time, after four hundred years of silence, the one ringing it again won't be Joy Boy, it will be me."
"What I bring... may not be hope."
"But destruction..."
"The ringing of this bell both announces and foreshadows the impending transformation of this world's destiny. In that respect, there's little difference between Joy Boy and myself."
"Hehe..."