As Shirahoshi, who was not wearing the brainwave amplifier, covered her ears with both hands and squeezed her eyes shut to try to communicate with Zunesha, Sherwin and the Felynes, who were staring at the instruments in front of them, all diverted part of their attention to her.
Even Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, who had been withdrawn just moments ago, recovered a bit of their vitality and turned their gazes toward her.
Only Robin remained focused on the Poneglyph.
After a moment, Shirahoshi suddenly opened her eyes. "There a response!"
After cheering in delight, she suddenly froze, then turned her head toward Sherwin. "Um… Boss Sherwin, what should I say to Zunesha?"
"…"
Sherwin rolled his eyes speechlessly. While recording the changes in the readings on the instruments in front of him, he replied,
"Just ask it what happened eight hundred years ago—why Joy Boy apologized to the previous Mermaid Princess, and why Zunesha is being punished, things like that."
He wasn't actually all that invested in those questions, but since they had already made contact, and there was nothing better to do, they might as well ask.
After receiving the instructions, Shirahoshi immediately closed her eyes again and resumed communicating with Zunesha.
This time, the exchange lasted much longer. All the way until Robin finished translating the red Road Poneglyph, Shirahoshi still hadn't opened her eyes.
Judging from her tightly pressed lips and trembling body, it seemed she was hearing something truly astonishing.
After a while longer, Shirahoshi slowly opened her eyes. At this moment, however, her expression was blank, her gaze unfocused, as if she had been scared senseless. She even forgot to lower the hands that were covering her ears.
"Shirahoshi! Are you okay?!" Jinx, though usually sharp-tongued, genuinely cared about this "little follower sister" who kept changing her impression of her.
Tossing aside the data she was recording, she sprang up onto Shirahoshi shoulder, tapping the back of the girl hands with her small paws as she asked with concern, "Are you feeling unwell anywhere, meow?"
"Huh? Ah!" Shirahoshi finally came back to her senses. She lowered her hands, shook her head a few times, and then replied in a still somewhat dazed manner, "I'm fine… it just… I'm too shocked."
"What did Zunesha say to you?"
Robin also walked over curiously. After all, this was firsthand information provided by a direct witness of history—there was no way she wouldn't be interested.
Shirahoshi first took a few deep breaths to steady her emotions, then said with a solemn expression, "What I'm about to say—you mustn't be afraid…"
"..."
Those familiar words almost made Sherwin blurt out a response, but he knew this wasn't the time for jokes and forcibly suppressed the urge to play along.
"This world, eight hundred years ago, was not like it is now…"
As Shirahoshi continued her account, Sherwin and the others gained a rough understanding of what had happened eight hundred years ago.
Simply put, Joy Boy faction and the World Government faction fought a massive war.
Under the impact of that war, the global sea level rose instantly, giving rise to the island-centered civilization the world has today.
Before that, it should have been much like Earth, dominated by several connected continents.
Joy Boy apology letter and Zunesha punishment were also for a very simple reason… they lost.
Joy Boy, as the commander-in-chief, naturally had to bear the main responsibility, while Zunesha was likely one of the decisive factors in the battle outcome.
Unfortunately, it was extremely reticent about the matter and unwilling to go into detail.
As for the specific reason the two sides fought, Zunesha didn't say either. It was unclear whether it didn't want to say or didn't know.
After all, it felt more like Joy Boy pet or something similar—existing only to follow orders.
Of course, that kind of thing wasn't particularly important to begin with. Since what was being contested was the entire world, the reasons were probably limited to a few obvious ones anyway.
In the end, the result was simply that the World Government—more precisely, the allied forces of the twenty nations at the time—won, and the Celestial Dragons became the nobles of this world.
But still…
"That it?"
Sherwin curled his lips in boredom.
He had thought that the mystery Oda had been selling for over twenty years would hide some huge secret. And this was all?
The winner becomes king, the loser a bandit. Joy Boy lost, so the World Government became the ruler of the world—wasn't that completely normal?
As for the rising sea level that drowned most of the land…
Given the exaggerated combat power in the world of pirates, along with the ancient weapon "Pluton," said to be capable of destroying an entire island with a single shot, sinking a few continents and causing a global rise in sea level wasn't exactly impossible—in fact, the likelihood was quite high. Moreover, for certain Devil Fruits, altering terrain or manipulating nature wasn't particularly difficult.
Not to mention the mysterious "Uranus" and Imu—who knew what kind of heaven-defying abilities they possessed.
"So then why doesn't the World Government want people to know about the Void Century? Even if the rising sea level was something the World Government caused, they're the winners.
With methods like that, it should be everyone else who afraid, right? If they did it again, probably not many people would survive. Wouldn't that make their rule even more secure?"
Although high-pressure rule was inadvisable and would eventually blow up, given the way the World Government and the Celestial Dragons already behaved, compared to maintaining what little reputation they had left through suppression, it might as well be better to go all the way down a dark path.
Besides…
"Putting it this way, Fish-Man Island being the way it is now might not be as simple as it looks.
After all, fish-men have an overwhelming advantage in the ocean. A rising sea level is a catastrophe for others, but it barely affects you.
And since you were clearly on Joy Boy side back then, it very possible the World Government deliberately suppressed the living environment of the fish-men…
It just that as time passed, they may have forgotten the exact reason, with only the habit being preserved."
Sherwin rubbed his chin as he analyzed, while also reminding Shirahoshi,
"But there no guarantee that records related to this haven't been preserved among the core members of the World Government, so you might need to prepare yourself mentally—the petition from Fish-Man Island is very likely to fail."
Shirahoshi was stunned for a moment, but quickly said with a resolute expression, "If it fails, then we'll think of another way! We won't give up so easily!"
"So that means Zou, Wano Country, and Fish-Man Island were all allies eight hundred years ago, and our enemy is the World Government?"
Inuarashi had also finished processing this shocking news by then and shouted somewhat excitedly.
Sherwin could guess with his knee what he was about to say next, so he decisively cut him off and said bluntly,
"So what? That was already eight hundred years ago. You're not thinking of using an alliance from eight hundred years ago to demand that a little girl like Shirahoshi help you rescue Wano, are you? If you've read the recent papers, you should know that the Fish-Man race can barely take care of themselves right now. They don't have the spare capacity to help an ally from eight hundred years ago."
Then he pointed at himself. "As for me, I have nothing to do with Joy Boy. Or are you planning to invoke Zou name to make these kids help you?"
Sherwin stroked Klee Meow small head and asked with a mocking expression.
Inuarashi, having his words blocked, looked awkward.
The hot-tempered Nekomamushi, after being hit with such a retort, directly laid down harsh words.
"That won't be necessary! Once Lord Momonosuke returns, we can deal with Kaido ourselves!"
"Mm, that for the best."
Sherwin nodded in satisfaction. That was exactly what he wanted to hear being constantly thought about like this would only be troublesome.
Fighting Kaido was, of course, not a problem. Even without the matter of Zou, Sherwin and the Felynes would eventually go find Kaido to settle accounts, but Sherwin absolutely did not want to do it in the name of the Kozuki clan.