The treasure chests naturally contained more than just gold. Anyone who had seen the underground warehouse, where gold had been piled like mountains and treated almost like rubbish, could understand how casually the Shandians regarded the precious metal.
These items had been deliberately stored inside treasure chests and buried deep underground. There was no doubt that whatever was inside these thirteen chests was likely far more valuable.
"What are we waiting for? Let's pull them up and find out!" Daz Bonez's eyes gleamed with excitement. He had never seen so much gold in his entire life, and the discovery had kept his adrenaline pumping.
Naturally, no one objected.
Raki quietly stood to one side and watched. They had already located all four treasure sites she knew about, so her task was essentially finished.
"Thank you very much, Raki," Rojen walked over and thanked her with a smile.
"This is what our Shandians agreed to do for you. Naturally, we should honor our promise," Raki replied.
"Heh." Rojen smiled and nodded without saying anything more.
According to Raki, there were eight treasure sites in Shandora, but with her guidance, they had only found four. Whether she knew anything about the remaining four, Rojen couldn't say. But it no longer mattered.
Their trip to Skypiea had already brought them an astonishing fortune of 13.5 billion Berries, and they still hadn't calculated the value of these thirteen treasure chests. That was already more than enough. Rojen and the entire Nether Soul Pirates were completely satisfied.
With Chaporos, Daz, and the others working together, the thirteen chests were hauled out one by one and placed on an open patch of ground.
"Thirteen in total. They're all made from some unknown iron, and they're incredibly sturdy," Trens examined them carefully.
"Can you open them?" Rojen asked.
"The locks seem to be different on every chest. Each one appears to require a different key," Trens answered.
Everyone exchanged glances. They could certainly break the iron chests open by force, but the problem was that they might damage whatever treasures were inside.
"Captain, I can give it a try," Daz Bonez suddenly spoke up.
Rojen's eyes lit up. Right, Daz's ability was related to metal. Opening these locks should be easy for him.
"Go ahead." Rojen didn't hesitate and stepped aside for Daz.
Daz bent down and placed his right hand over the lock. "Easy."
A second later, a smile appeared on his face as he activated his Devil Fruit ability. His finger suddenly elongated, transforming into a sharp blade that quickly curved and slipped into the keyhole. Then he gently twisted his finger.
'Click!'
The lock opened with a dull sound. Everyone's eyes immediately lit up.
"Hahaha! I never knew your ability could be used to pick locks, Daz!" Chaporos excitedly rushed over, shoved Daz aside, and immediately lifted the lid of the chest.
Daz rolled his eyes and walked away, continuing to open the locks on the other chests.
With Daz's Devil Fruit ability, the thirteen locks were practically useless. It took him very little time to open them all.
---
The group then began examining the contents of the chests one by one. Just as they had expected, the treasures inside weren't simply gold. In fact, there were very few objects actually made of gold. Most were ornaments, crafted with exquisite workmanship that was truly breathtaking.
Besides those ornaments, there were also several sheepskin scrolls covered in writing, along with hard stone carvings engraved with various images.
"Captain," Lordling, who had been examining the contents, suddenly picked up a damaged sheepskin scroll and walked over to Rojen.
"What is this?" Rojen glanced at it. He couldn't understand the characters written on the sheepskin.
Lordling's expression, however, was extremely serious, as if the information recorded on the scroll was of immense importance.
"This records the origin of the Poneglyphs!"
Those words made Rojen's pupils contract, and his expression immediately turned serious. He led Lordling to the side before speaking quietly, "Tell me what's written on the scroll."
"Mm," Lordling nodded and began explaining.
What she read next were the original words recorded on the sheepskin scroll, leaving Rojen deeply shaken.
"We are among the oldest people in existence. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that we are not people of this planet. We possess the proud wings of angels, which have bestowed glory and power upon us."
"The endless Land of the Moon is where we truly belong. But that place no longer belongs to us."
"On our journey to this land, disaster struck. An unexpected accident separated us. We reached the surface of this planet, but the others, my people, my brothers, were left forever upon that unreachable continent of clouds."
"But I believe this separation is only temporary. I firmly believe that one day, we will meet again."
That was merely the introduction. Lordling continued reading the historical records.
"Upon this land, we developed a history of our own. The Golden Bell, the Land of Gold. Using the most precious metal found upon this land, we built a city that astonished the entire world. Whenever the Golden Bell rang, I could see the people of this planet, the reverence and admiration in their eyes."
"We created our own history upon this land."
"Powerful warriors. The mighty Land of Gold, Shandora. We were proud. We were honored."
"But then a sudden war destroyed everything. The war brought disaster upon this planet. Countless civilizations perished, and countless people were wiped from existence."
"The world fell silent."
"It remained silent for a hundred years."
"Everyone waited for the world to recover, for it to awaken. Those who survived believed that when the world finally awakened, those who stood high above the rest would be stuffed into its mouth, torn apart, chewed to pieces, and swallowed."
"One day, a man who claimed to belong to the Kozuki Clan of Wano Country came to our city. He was gravely wounded, and he entrusted us with a black stone."
"He called this stone the hope of the world. It recorded the truth of that history, as well as the hope for the future."
"The warrior from Wano Country carried such earnest hope in his eyes that we could feel it ourselves. We respected him as a fellow warrior, and we agreed to his request."
"From that day onward, we placed this black stone beneath the Golden Bell. The warriors of Shandia must protect it from generation to generation."
"Perhaps the hope of saving this world lies within it. The truth that will awaken the people of this world, the history that we are forbidden to speak of, perhaps one day, it will spread throughout the world."
There were many more words written on the remaining portion of the damaged sheepskin scroll, but that part had been torn away.
Lordling stopped reading.
"The Land of the Moon… and the warriors of Wano Country." Rojen narrowed his eyes, a smile appearing on his face. "This world is getting more and more interesting."
(End Of This Chapter)
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