In the desert, Crocodile's corpse opened his eyes and slowly rose from the sand. Pain knew that the first step of his plan had succeeded.
First, he would strip the Devil Fruit's energy from Crocodile's corpse to form a new Suna Suna no Mi, and then use the "Outer Path: Reincarnation of the Samsara" to bring forth the Preta Path.
Next, Pain only needed to complete the final step: have the Preta Path consume the Suna Suna no Mi, and Pain's plan would be complete. At that time, a brand new Preta Path would manifest in this world.
Pain willed the Preta Path to swallow the Suna Suna no Mi, observing the changes in the Preta Path. Pain was unsure if this final step of the plan would succeed.
However, Pain had heard from Rock that the Marine had successfully activated Devil Fruit powers by making inanimate weapons "consume" Devil Fruits. Compared to those inanimate objects, the Preta Path was not entirely inanimate. If it worked for inanimate objects, then the Preta Path, brought forth by Pain using the Outer Path, surely had no reason to fail.
Less than a minute after the Preta Path consumed the Suna Suna no Mi, the sand and wind around the Preta Path began to change. Centered around the Preta Path, the sand and wind within a five-hundred-meter radius rapidly gathered towards it, enveloping it, and then slowly settled into calm.
It was as if the sand and wind were bowing to a king; all the sand and wind remained undisturbed without the king's permission. Seeing these changes, Pain knew the plan had succeeded, and all his previous conjectures were correct. A Preta Path stronger than in his previous life had been born.
Attempting to use the Sand Preta Path's abilities through his will, he unleashed a "Sandstorm" just as Crocodile had in his lifetime, and a sand tornado appeared out of nowhere.
He then experimented with other Suna Suna no Mi abilities, all of which manifested without hindrance. As Pain willed the Sand Preta Path to use the Devil Fruit abilities, he also felt the miraculous nature of the Devil Fruit. Pain compared the Devil Fruit abilities used by Crocodile in his lifetime with those used by the current Sand Preta Path.
He discovered that Crocodile's use of Devil Fruit energy consumed his stamina. Once his stamina couldn't keep up with the energy consumption, he would end up like Crocodile before his death, powerless and collapsed on the ground. However, the Preta Path, brought forth by Pain through the Outer Path, showed no consumption whatsoever. It seemed as if it could unleash Devil Fruit abilities indefinitely, as long as its body wasn't destroyed. This discovery left Pain a little perplexed, unable to understand the reason behind it.
However, this was a good thing for Pain, so he didn't dwell on it. After testing the Preta Path's abilities again, he found that with his current Chakra reserves, there was a limit to the damage that could be absorbed by the "Sealing Technique Absorption Seal" used by the Preta Path. This limit had not yet been fully tested for its capacity; exceeding it would directly destroy the Preta Path's body.
The Preta Path has an ability called "Devouring Technique." If combined with Crocodile's "Sand Coffin" that he once used on Straw Hat Luffy, it should be a terrifying and effective Ninjutsu for killing opponents.
After organizing the abilities of the Sand Preta Path, Pain glanced at the desert, then turned and departed with the Sand Preta Path towards where the ship was docked. Pain believed that Rock could complete the task he had given him. In Pain's view, Rock's abilities were neither too strong nor too weak.
At least his life-saving ability was what Pain currently considered the strongest. After dealing with Crocodile, there should be no one in this country who could pose a threat to Rock.
In the underground ancient city, Rock's eyes met the calm gaze of the old man, awaiting a reply. The underground city fell silent. This silence lasted for about ten seconds before the old man finally broke it.
"To be able to take down Crocodile..."
"It means you all are quite capable..."
"I and they have studied the poneglyph here for many years. I won't stop you if you want to take these research results directly... But you must answer three questions and agree to one request..."
"If there are no issues..."
"I will present the deciphered results to you with both hands..."
The old man calmly made his demands. Rock pondered the old man's words. Although Rock didn't know what the old man's request was, he knew he had no right to agree or make decisions; such matters should be left to Pain. Rock could mercilessly kill the pirates from before because he knew they had committed many evils during his time among them.
But to force these unarmed archaeological scholars to do things they didn't want to do using coercive methods felt too against Rock's conscience. And it was precisely this kindness that saved Rock himself.
Furthermore, with this unfathomable old man before him, Rock was also very curious what confidence the old man had to make demands of a powerful individual. So, Rock calmly said,
"Tell me your questions... If I can answer them, I will... As for the request..."
"If it's within my authority... I can agree to it..."
Hearing Rock's reply, the old man gleaned an important piece of information from Rock's words: Rock's inability to make decisions. The old man didn't dwell on this point. He slowly opened his mouth and asked the first question.
"Who are you...?"
"Our organization is named Akatsuki..."
"It's a new organization..."
"Born to stand at the Peak of this world, find the end of the world, and reorder this world's system..."
"I am Akatsuki's Azure Dragon, Rock..."
"The leader is Akatsuki's Zero Burial, Pain..."
Rock truthfully answered the old man's questions. These questions were simple and would not remain secrets, so Rock answered naturally.
After hearing Rock's reply, the old man continued with his second question.
"The ancient weapon 'Pluton'... is a Treasure Trove that the World Government and various factions all desire... Once the information I decipher falls into your hands, the news might quickly spread throughout the world..."
"Facing these powerful enemies coming from all directions... what will your organization use to resist them!?..."
After asking this question, the old man's eyes gleamed as he awaited Rock's answer. Faced with the old man's question, Rock was momentarily stunned, and instead of answering, he asked the old man other questions.
"This is a very serious question... Since you worked for Crocodile... do you think his strength was enough to handle this problem?..."
The old man was somewhat disappointed by this reply, and the gleam in his eyes disappeared, but he still patiently explained his relationship with Crocodile to Rock.
"I did not work for Crocodile... I was merely fulfilling my mission and pursuing my dream... As for them... they are merely a group of research fanatics..."
"Crocodile and I merely used each other... I used his abilities and wealth... he used my knowledge, that's all..."
"Even if he obtained the deciphered poneglyph here... it would only be a part of it... For any powerful individual in this world, it would be a drop in the ocean... and not enough to attract the attention of various world powers..."
Hearing the old man's reply, Rock grasped the key point. This poneglyph was just one among many. These scholars had toiled here for nearly three years and had only deciphered this one. Even if this one was deciphered, there were still several other poneglyphs in the world awaiting decipherment.
"Wait... no..."
"Something still seems off?..."
Rock recalled the old man's changing expressions before and after.
"From the gleam in his eyes while waiting for my answer to his second question... to the disappointed look when I didn't directly answer but instead questioned him..."
Then he recalled the words in the old man's second question, "Once I deciphered."
"It's 'I'..."
"Not 'we'..."
"Which means..."
"Could it be that this old man had already deciphered some other poneglyphs?... Or even... more?..."
Thinking of this, Rock could not remain completely calm internally. Rock's voice trembled slightly as he solemnly answered the old man's second question.
"Perhaps you don't know... Our organization's true founding time is actually less than a month... Before that... I was just an unknown individual mingling among a group of small pirates... until Pain appeared..."
"He exuded an aura of mystery..."
"Like a riddle that needed to be patiently solved... making me involuntarily choose to follow him... He wields power that does not belong to this world..."
"And told me he came from the guidance of a god..."
"He proactively extended an olive branch... asking me to follow him to stand at the Peak of this world... and find the end of the world... Such a person... do you think he would fear the various powers of this world?..."
Rock involuntarily used honorifics when speaking to the old man and conveyed his true inner thoughts, which also served as a direct answer to the old man's question.
Listening to Rock's reply, the old man couldn't help but recall deep-seated memories.
"Once upon a time..."
"Roger also seemed to have similar grand declarations..."
"Once upon a time..."
"I, too, followed Roger to various parts of the world, just like Rock..."
"Once upon a time..."
"So many 'once upon a times'..."
As he thought, he couldn't help but fall into deep recollection...