The country of Wano is a mountain. At its base, a hollowed-out cavity had been carved, half submerged in water, half dry land.
The land section housed the red Poneglyph. The submerged half? That was where Pluton lay hidden.
The ancient warship rested beneath the waters directly in front of the Poneglyph.
When it was originally designed, the opening was made lower than the Poneglyph area, so the water only covers half the space.
When Roy lit the surrounding flames, the silhouette of Pluton emerged from the depths.
It was indeed a ship. But its "cannons" were something far more intriguing; the barrels were aimed at the sky. The meaning behind this was now clear.
The cannons were not meant to destroy an island. They had a completely different function.
"Hahaha! I get it now, I finally understand. So that's what they meant when they said Pluton could destroy an island with a single shot. They weren't afraid of destruction at all; they were afraid of this! How laughable!"
Roy stood by the shore, laughing loudly. Law and Robin looked at him with puzzled expressions.
Robin, who had read the Alabasta Poneglyph, knew that Pluton was hidden in Wano. Law never imagined that one of the legendary Ancient Weapons would be here.
As for Sukiyaki, he was utterly clueless. He only knew his duty was to guard this place. He had no idea what Pluton was for.
The rumors of "one shot to destroy an island" had nothing to do with him; the Kozuki family simply awaited the one who would open the country and hand Pluton to them.
"Isn't Pluton meant to annihilate islands? Is the legend… wrong?" Robin asked.
She had followed Crocodile in the past, and he often spoke of Pluton's power, able to annihilate an island in one shot, a terrifying battleship.
Could it be that this 800-year-old claim was false, and Pluton couldn't actually do that?
"A legend is just legends. The World Government didn't want anyone to know this ship's true function, so they spread lies. Pluton was never a weapon of destruction, it's something far greater! Hahaha!" Roy laughed.
"Then what is Pluton's real purpose?" Law asked curiously.
Roy turned to the three of them, smiling, and spoke just two words:
"Island making."
"Island...making?" the three repeated in unison, looking completely baffled.
Roy had always suspected, Pluton was truly built for destruction. The Heavenly Sky Weapon Uranus clearly existed for that purpose. Would Pluton really share the same role, to destroy the world?
If Pluton truly held word-ending power, why did Joy Boy hide it? Wouldn't it have been more useful to wield it against his enemies?
Both Alabasta and Wano had protected Pluton. Not as a tool of war, but as "A ship of hope."
Its cannon didn't fire projectiles. It didn't raze land.
It created.
Not just any island but a special one.
"Can a ship really make an island?" Robin asked skeptically.
"Yes."
"To create an island, you'd need continental plate movements or an undersea volcanic eruption. How could a ship do that?" Robin frowned.
"You've been to Skypiea, haven't you? You should know how a sky island is formed," Roy said with a grin.
"You mean… it creates sky islands?!" Robin gasped.
"That's right. Pluton isn't a ship to destroy the world; it's a vessel to carry humanity's hope. When the Great Flood comes, and no land remains except the Red Line, there will be only one place left for humans to survive, the sky islands."
"Natural sky islands form when volcanic particles combine with special clouds in the atmosphere. If we could artificially make them, then even if the world floods, humanity could survive, and if they were connected into one whole, everyone could live in the sky together! Hahaha!"
Roy's words left Law and Robin stunned, their minds reeling as if struck by thunder.
"Joy Boy left history on the last island, Laugh Tale. Roger once said that One Piece is 'one whole.' I finally get it now. This is what he meant."
"Sky islands. Connected into one. Linking the world together so there's no Red Line, and no Calm Belt, in the sky, you could go anywhere." Roy laughed.
When he saw Pluton, he finally confirmed his theory. Its cannons were like a generator; they couldn't fire shells or destroy islands. Instead, they could draw energy from the sea to produce artificial clouds and create sky islands.
The world would be connected as one, no longer bound by dangerous seas, and life could flourish safely above.
The Ancient Kingdom might not have been land-bound at all. Perhaps it once floated among the clouds, shattered now into scattered sky islands.
"But… sky islands are natural phenomena. Can Pluton truly replicate that?" Robin asked.
"Look around. Where are we?" Roy smiled.
"Wano."
"Wano sits atop magma veins, and it has the world's largest reserves of seastone. The magma here contains all the elements needed to form a sky island. Once Wano opens its borders, Pluton can use its magma along with the freshwater stored in these seas to create sky islands."
"This place might have been where Joy Boy and his allies made sky islands 900 years ago. But the war forced them to stop. After their defeat, they hid Pluton, waiting for the future to awaken it. The 'One Piece', connected as one, how childish, Joy Boy. Hahaha!"
Roy laughed until tears came. There was no gold, no silver, no power, only hope. Joy Boy had sought to give the world a chance to live when the seas swallowed the blue planet.
A way for humanity to escape the coming flood, to ascend beyond the drowning world.
As for Poseidon, Roy recalled Joy Boy's letter; he failed to fulfill his promise to take Fish-Man Island to the surface.
The truth was simple. Pluton carried the world's hope, something the Celestial Dragons could never accept.
They held the power to destroy the world with Uranus, so of course they would want to erase Pluton, the bringer of hope.
Never underestimate human greed. Reality can be more twisted than hell itself. At least now, Roy understood Pluton's purpose and knew the road ahead.
...
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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