"Can you hear any specific sounds?"
In the dark cave, Roger and Rayleigh walked deeper inside.
They stopped at one spot, where a body leaned against the wall nearby.
Only when they got close could they see it was a person with greenish skin, big eyes, and a body about the size of a normal young boy. When Roger saw him, he frowned.
"No more sounds after that, but I do know this guy."
Roger looked at the body half-leaning against the wall and said to Rayleigh.
"Huh? You know him?!" Rayleigh was shocked. This was their first time in the Jaltzburg Kingdom, and Roger knew someone here?
And it didn't make sense that Roger knew him but he didn't!
"Back when we fought the Kraken, didn't I tell you about that Zero guy?" Roger said in a low voice. "Zero looks just like this person, only much smaller."
Zero!
Hearing that name, Rayleigh was stunned. They didn't have as much information as the World Government, but they knew Zero was no ordinary person.
From that brief meeting with Zero during the Kraken fight, Roger had sensed his danger. Though he had slashed Zero in half with one strike back then, he didn't think that was Zero's full power.
After all, Zero had still been smiling and talking to him even after being split in two. Who in the world could be that creepy, not caring at all about dying?
So Roger had always believed that was just a clone of Zero. And now, they found a life form similar to Zero here?
"Could this be their hideout inside?" Rayleigh said. "Is this darkness in the sky from Zero?"
"Anyway, we'll know if we check it out." Roger looked into the dark depths and strode forward.
If he was curious, he should just go in and find out!
That was how Roger and his crew lived—following their true desires as their guide forward.
Rayleigh glanced again at the body half-leaning against the cave wall but said nothing more. He just quickly caught up to Roger's steps.
It got darker and more eerie inside, but no longer damp. The passage narrowed, starting at several meters wide and shrinking until it was barely enough for two people side by side.
Rayleigh had to walk behind Roger. They found no more odd things along the way, unless you counted the cave walls that seemed stained red, like they had been soaked in blood for countless years.
"Watch out."
As the passage grew smaller and darker, Roger suddenly spoke.
The cave had been dead silent before, even their footsteps seeming swallowed up. Now, Roger's sudden voice made the whole dark space stir, echoes bouncing endlessly. Rayleigh followed Roger's warning and got ready.
What had Roger seen?
Rayleigh noticed Roger's hand already on the hilt of Ace's sword. Was he prepared to fight?
But when Roger stepped ahead, Rayleigh suddenly lost sight of him. He hurried forward, and in a blink, he entered a new world.
It was like a huge cavern, no longer a straight tunnel but a vast space reaching far up, as if they had fallen into hell.
And some light from who knows where lit the cavern just enough to see inside.
Yes, Roger was in this world too. But strangely, even though there was no barrier between here and before, it felt like two separate realms.
That total darkness had cut them off at their previous spot, so anyone entering would vanish into it.
And the most shocking thing was the countless bodies packed inside the cavern—mostly human ones, with some like the green-skinned person outside.
The bodies formed a square shape, crammed into a ditch. In the middle of that square ditch stood a tall altar, surrounded by cave walls carved with strange statues that mixed holy, eerie feelings.
The statues' eyes all stared at the central altar, which had a huge round disk on top.
But the disk was badly damaged. The golden disk was covered in black spots, and against the countless white bones and bodies around it, it looked utterly creepy.
"Is this... an ancient ritual site from this country?" Rayleigh frowned and looked at Roger.
"Look, isn't that a piece of the Shikon Jewel?" Roger pointed it out to Rayleigh.
Rayleigh looked and saw a small Shikon Jewel fragment stuck on the huge golden disk. It seemed to be what kept the last of the gold shining on it.
"After the Shikon Jewel broke and scattered, some pieces just spread meaninglessly to corners of the world, while others got pulled by special forces."
Roger said, as if he was starting to understand. "This place is connected to this Shikon Jewel part, so it drew that broken fragment here, right?"
"Then it must be a really old ruin." Rayleigh said.
At least in the known history so far, there were no real reports of demons appearing, or the Shikon Jewel. The world's earliest history went back to the beginning of the Tree of Knowledge, about five thousand years ago.
Even with the blank century missing, Roger and his crew didn't think these demons came from that lost time.
Could it be...
A ruin from thousands of years before?
But after thousands of years, any ruin should be wrecked, right?
"Isn't this exactly the kind of adventure we want?" Roger couldn't help laughing. "The sea is full of wonders like this, that's why we chase freedom!"
"Come on, let's see what this altar holds!"
Roger walked forward. The ditch was very wide, with no bridge. He planned to jump across, but as he braced to leap, a huge pressure came from somewhere.
Roger froze in place. Rayleigh watched, unsure what was happening, and tried to jump over but was stopped by Roger.
"This altar wants us to walk over the bones to enter, like it's saying a king must stand above endless death."
Roger's ability to hear all things gave him some insight, so he held back Rayleigh from jumping.
"Let's walk across!"
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