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As they walked, Jin stood on Hajrudin's shoulder.
"Since you are the son of Harald," he said, "the blood of the Ancient Giants must flow through your veins as well. It's just that in Loki, it's a dominant trait. In you, it's recessive."
Hajrudin didn't quite understand, his eyes clear and guileless.
"In other words," Jin explained, "with the right circumstances, the right external stimulus, there's a good chance you could awaken that bloodline."
The dominant and recessive Ancient Giant bloodline factors in Hajrudin and Loki were, in fact, of great research value.
Jin then traveled to the Fisherman's Village in the east. They were whalers, primarily, catching massive, whale-sized fish. Fish weren't a rarity in the world of One Piece, but some of the Sea Kings the village caught were quite valuable, for things like ambergris.
Next, he went to the Artisan's Village in the southeast. They were masters of forging and other crafts, and they made the massive war hammers the warriors used.
"The giants once had a legendary crew," Hajrudin said, "the 'Great Hammer Fleet.' It was a hundred-man crew of ancient and normal giant shipwrights. They were invited to build a massive ship."
Jin remembered. The name "Great Hammer Fleet" was pronounced almost exactly the same as "Galley-La" in the common tongue.
"They left a letter for Elbaf, saying they had been captured," Hajrudin continued. "It's unbelievable. Who could possibly capture a crew of a hundred giants, including Ancient Giants? There's a rumor that they were frozen, trapped somewhere, unable to move."
Jin thought of the frozen giants on Punk Hazard. Things were getting interesting.
"The letter caused quite a stir in Elbaf," Hajrudin said. "Many people thought it was nonsense. The warriors of the giants are known for their strength. And the Ancient Giants... they're dozens of meters tall, incredibly powerful. They can toss ships around like toys. Who could possibly take down a crew like that? Many of the shipwrights were from this very village. They were the best in all of Elbaf. The ships they built could withstand any storm."
Jin suspected that the "Great Hammer Fleet" had been invited by Joy Boy to build the Noah on Punk Hazard. Only they could have constructed such a massive vessel. And the material they had used was the Treasure Tree Adam.
Some might think the Treasure Tree Adam was a single tree, but it was actually a species of tree that could grow to incredible heights. There was more than one in the world. But the one on Elbaf was the tallest, the oldest, having stood for tens of thousands of years.
Jin was also very interested in this material. He purchased a batch of timber, and some seeds.
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Three days later.
Knowing that Robin was interested in ancient history, and with Jarul's permission, Saul led her and Jin to a hollow in the Treasure Tree Adam.
"This is..." Robin said, stunned.
"The Harley Scripture," Saul said. "Legend has it that it was left by the god of Elbaf, a parable of three worlds. And this mural was painted during the Void Century."
The Void Century.
Robin walked up to the massive mural, her face a mask of awe. She began to read the text.
"[THE FIRST WORLD]!"
"A flame exists upon the land."
"Humanity is consumed by desire."
"They have touched the forbidden sun."
"The enslaved people pray."
"The 'Sun God' descends upon the world."
"The God of the Earth is enraged."
"With the Serpent of Karma, they swallow the world in death and darkness."
"They can never meet again."
Robin fell silent, pondering the words. She couldn't decipher their meaning. She glanced at Jin, knowing his mind worked differently. "What do you make of it?"
Saul was also curious.
"To understand myths and legends," Jin said, "you first have to strip away the embellishments and look at them from a human perspective. In the text describing the first world, we have a few keywords: 'forbidden sun,' 'Serpent of Karma,' and 'God of the Earth.' It's very mystical, very religious. But if we connect it to the history left by the Lunarians and the descriptions of the ancient people, we can start to see a clearer picture."
"The first line, 'A flame exists upon the land,' can be understood as: there is a powerful energy source on the land. The next three lines: people, for their own gain, began to excessively mine this energy, enslaving others to do so. The next four lines: among the oppressed, a 'god' appeared and led a rebellion. Obviously, it failed."
"The 'forbidden sun' can be seen as a creation of that energy. The 'Serpent of Karma' is the Red Line. And the 'God of the Earth' is some kind of disaster, like an earthquake."
"So, the full story is probably something like this: In ancient times, a greedy ruling class, in their quest for power, began to mine an energy source, enslaving a massive population to do so. The slaves, unable to bear the oppression, prayed for a savior, and a hero, known as the 'Sun God,' appeared. The rulers tried to suppress the rebellion, and a war broke out. During the war, a massive earthquake occurred, causing a tectonic shift, and the Red Line was formed. The ancient civilization was split in two by the Red Line."
Saul and Robin were both lost in thought.
Robin then turned to the next "parable."
"[THE SECOND WORLD]!"
"A breath exists in the void."
"The God of the Forest sends forth a demon."
"The sun spreads the flames of war."
"The people of the half-moon have a dream."
"The people of the moon have a dream."
"Humanity becomes a god after slaying the sun."
"The God of the Ocean is enraged."
"They can never meet again."
"And this one?" Robin asked.
"The keywords here," Jin said, "are 'void,' 'God of the Forest,' 'demon,' 'sun,' 'people of the half-moon,' 'people of the moon,' and 'God of the Ocean'."
"'Void' is space. The first line is probably saying that there is life in the universe. The second line... 'God of the Forest' has the connotation of 'spirit' or 'elf.' It's probably referring to the appearance of Devil Fruits. The 'sun' here refers to both the war brought about by the energy source, and a person who inherited the will of the 'Sun God.' The 'people of the half-moon' are the 'D' clan. The 'people of the moon' are obviously the Lunarians. And they had the same dream. So they were allies."
"That means the 'D' clan are likely the descendants or followers of the Sun God from the first world. They continued the war against the rulers, and for some reason, they chose to ally with the Lunarians. In any case, 'humanity becomes a god after slaying the sun.' This corresponds to the twenty kingdoms' attack on the Great Kingdom. The 'sun' here is probably referring to Joy Boy, who ate the 'Sun God' fruit. And the last two lines... obviously, some kind of disaster, like a tsunami, occurred, flooding the land and forming the Calm Belt and the Grand Line."
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