Deep beneath the surface of Wano Country, a world of shadows gave way to a brilliant, impossible light. As Kaido breached the barrier of scorching magma, he found himself staring at a subterranean realm that defied logic—a place where time seemed to have stood still.
Before him stretched a vast expanse of land dominated by dense, primeval forests. Using his Observation Haki, Kaido sensed the presence of countless powerful lifeforms. Giant birds cut through the air, and the heavy footfalls of ancient dinosaurs and gargantuan beasts echoed from the jungle floor.
"This place..." Kaido muttered, momentarily stunned by the sight.
As he hovered closer, he realized the forest was not merely a wilderness; it was reclaiming a lost civilization. Colossal stone buildings, some reaching heights of forty stories—resembling the skyscrapers of a distant future—were strangled by vines and moss. The architecture bore a striking resemblance to the Golden Township of Shandora on Sky Island, possessing an ancient, wild aura.
Coiling his massive dragon form, Kaido drifted over the ruins until a distinct, massive plaza caught his eye. Despite the thick overgrowth, the artificial craftsmanship was undeniable. The ground and walls were constructed from special stone bricks engraved with mysterious symbols—the very same indestructible material used to forge the Poneglyphs.
In the center of the plaza stood a ten-meter-high altar topped with a thirty-meter-tall stone statue. Intrigued, Kaido shifted into his human form and descended. Even with his own towering height, he felt small in the shadow of the monument. He ran a hand over the cool, undamaged stone at the altar's base, confirming it was the same legendary material from eight hundred years ago.
Around the base, a series of murals told a silent history:
The First Mural: Winged humanoids descend from the moon in flying ships toward a fiery fissure in the earth.
The Second Mural: These winged beings build a city and create human-like followers to worship them and labor on their behalf
The Third Mural: The winged people plant a giant tree within the earth's fissure, while the humans extract a mysterious energy from the depths to offer to their masters.
The Fourth Mural: A colossal, flame-spewing serpent emerges from the chasm, destroying the city. Opposite the beast, a silhouette resembling the Sun God Nika leads both winged and non-winged people into battle.
Kaido reflected on the Road Poneglyphs he had studied. He had previously assumed that "Full Moon People" were winged aliens and "Half Moon People" were mixed-blood Lunarians like King. However, these murals suggested the Half Moon People were entirely human in appearance.
A new theory began to form in his mind. Could these humans be the D. Clan? He pondered the symbolism: if a Full Moon is an 'O', then a Half Moon is a 'D'. Furthermore, if the Full Moon people had two wings, a "Half Moon" descendant might be a human with "half a wing," which also shares the 'D' shape.
While the mystery of the D. Clan intrigued him, Kaido's immediate priority was the energy mentioned in the murals—the world's primordial power. He transformed back into a dragon and soared toward the edge of the city.
There, he found a bottomless chasm that seemed to split the world in two. At its center stood a towering tree that functioned like the Sun Tree Eve, its crown emitting a soft, constant glow that illuminated the entire cavern. The vast energy he sought wasn't rising from the chasm itself; it was radiating from the tree.
"A glowing tree?" he mused. But the question remained: where was the Ancient Weapon Pluton?
A sudden realization struck him. Stepping onto clouds of flame, Kaido flew toward the summit of the radiant tree to investigate further.
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