"One of the three Ancient Weapons, Pluton?"
Morgans instantly grew excited again, muttering to himself, "Big news. Another huge scoop."
At that moment, he realized he'd absolutely made the right choice in throwing in with Rowan's group. They knew far too much. Any random secret they casually brought up was enough to dominate the front page of the paper.
Nobody had ever actually seen the three Ancient Weapons, but legends about them had been circulating across the seas for ages.
Countless people had spent their entire lives searching for them.
And none had ever found them.
Had Crocodile really found one this time?
King the Wildfire couldn't help asking, "So Pluton really is in Alabasta?"
Robin shook her head. "No, it isn't."
Morgans immediately looked disappointed. What kind of headline was that supposed to be?
Robin continued, "But Alabasta has a stone tablet. It's carved in the ancient script, and it records Pluton's true location."
Morgans: "???"
"You know where Pluton is?"
This time, even Kaido straightened up. If they were going to go after the World Government, then obviously the more heavy hitters they had on their side, the better. And if they could get their hands on Pluton, their odds would go up even more.
"I do." Robin nodded. In truth, anyone who had read One Piece knew where Pluton was.
"Where?"
Robin pointed at the ground beneath them. Kaido looked puzzled, but King reacted first, his face full of disbelief.
"Wano? Pluton is in Wano?"
It was a genuinely shocking answer. Even Kaido looked stunned.
Pluton was in Wano, and he had no idea? He'd ruled Wano for nearly twenty years. Forget Pluton—he hadn't even seen the shadow of it.
"That's right. Pluton is indeed in Wano, and it lies beneath the country."
Robin said calmly, "But the ship is damaged, and it has no power source left. Right now it's just a pile of scrap metal that can't use the legendary power it once had. Unless…"
"Unless what?" Morgans asked.
"Unless we obtain the Mother Flame."
"And what is that?" Morgans felt like a clueless child at this point.
"It's an energy source developed by Vegapunk. It looks like a flame burning underwater. It can provide endless energy to the world, and it can also serve as fuel to power the Ancient Weapons."
Once he heard that it was something Vegapunk had invented, Morgans immediately found it easier to believe.
After all, that was Vegapunk.
King said, "As expected of a scientist beyond this era. To create something like that…"
Kaido added, "A scientist like that falling into the hands of the World Government is a damn waste."
Robin said, "Exactly. Which is why we absolutely have to get Vegapunk out."
Tobirama and Orochimaru were already working on cracking the secret of Devil Fruits, but if Vegapunk joined them, the time needed would almost certainly drop again.
After all, Vegapunk had already mastered the ability to create Zoan Devil Fruits.
And later on, he even developed Green Blood, which allowed people to use Paramecia powers.
If he joined their side, it would be a tremendous boost to building a Devil Fruit army.
So no matter what, Vegapunk had to be rescued.
Neither Kaido nor King objected to Robin's thinking. If Vegapunk joined their camp, it would be like adding wings to a tiger.
Kaido even said, "Tell me when you go to get him. I'll come with you."
"No need." Robin shook her head. "Your target is too obvious. If the World Government notices you, that works against us."
"We'll send a few unfamiliar faces to rescue Vegapunk. Even if the World Government notices, it won't implicate you."
"What we need right now is to build strength. It's not time yet for a full-scale confrontation with the World Government."
That finally calmed Kaido and King down, and they accepted Robin's plan.
After that, Robin began assigning tasks.
Morgans would return to his paper and immediately start using his network to locate Issho.
As for Crocodile and Pluton, those stories would stay off the press for now. They'd save them for the right moment and blow the whole world apart with a massive reveal.
Kaido and King would take the Beast Pirates and leave, withdrawing completely from Wano and returning to Onigashima to recover.
Shimotsuki Ryuma, meanwhile, would stay behind and oversee the situation in Wano.
Mihawk was free to leave Wano, but when the time came and they needed him, he would have to help them fight the World Government.
Mihawk agreed to that without hesitation.
A promise was a promise. He wasn't the sort to go back on one.
Before leaving Wano, Mihawk quietly asked Rowan whether he intended to revive Roger, the Pirate King.
He knew Roger had also been a master swordsman.
And he very much wanted to cross blades with him too.
"Maybe, if the chance comes," Rowan said after a moment's thought. "The problem is, I have no idea where Roger's body is right now. If you really want to fight him, keep an eye out for it."
Mihawk agreed.
Rowan opened an air door and sent Mihawk away.
And just like that, the matter of Wano was more or less settled.
What came next, Rowan had no intention of getting involved in. He was leaving it all to Ryuma.
The only problem was that while Ryuma might have been a peerless warrior, he was definitely not a qualified politician. Fixing everything wrong with Wano wouldn't be easy.
Fortunately, his direct descendants—people like Shimotsuki Yasuie—were still alive. As long as he found them, it would only be a matter of time before Wano returned to normal.
And in fact, that was exactly what happened.
Once Ryuma learned from Robin that people like Shimotsuki Yasuie still existed, and once he found Yasuie himself, the man was utterly dumbfounded.
His long-dead ancestor had come back to life, driven off Kaido, and saved Wano.
What kind of fantasy was this?
Had they all eaten something poisonous and started hallucinating together?
But once they repeatedly confirmed that Ryuma really had come back, and really had driven Kaido away, the whole place erupted into tears and wailing.
At long last, dawn had come to Wano.
Thank the ancestors.
The ancestor was truly an alive ancestor.
Yasuie immediately began mobilizing his people. In just a few days, he stabilized the crumbling country of Wano and set it on a path of recovery.
At the very least, the people of Wano no longer had to go hungry.
Yasuie was immensely grateful to Ryuma.
But the one Ryuma was even more grateful to was Rowan.
And as for Rowan—
at that very moment, he was in Cocoyasi Village, bringing Nami's mother, Bellemere, back to life.
~~~
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