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At the very center of the ruins of the ancient city of Shandora.
"This is truly incredible. The entire city has been reduced to rubble, yet the Poneglyph has somehow been preserved."
Nico Robin held a notebook as she stared excitedly at the Poneglyph before her.
At that moment, the sorrow caused by the destruction of the surrounding ancient altars seemed to fade away because, to her, being able to read a Poneglyph was the most important thing in the world.
However...
"... "
Amid her excitement, Robin glanced back at Youji in confusion. Ever since he had suddenly flown into the sky earlier, he had seemed unusually gloomy.
And that was indeed the case.
"The Gold Bell... not even the bell tower or its base is left. Yet, the Poneglyph wasn't taken. The target was really precise."
Beneath his mask, Roy's expression was unpleasant. He had long known about the existence of this Poneglyph, so he wasn't surprised.
But the problem was... Above this Poneglyph, there should have been a massive Gold Bell, the symbolic landmark of Shandora.
Yet clearly, the gold bell no longer existed.
Roy already knew the source of all this.
David D. Xebec.
Perhaps that name wasn't widely known. But if another name were mentioned...
"King of the World" Rocks D. Xebeck.
'Yes, Roy had confirmed it.'
The one who took the gold of Skypiea and who left behind that strange message after carving the entire island with a terrifying slash was precisely this man, the strongest pirate who ruled an era before the Pirate King Gol D. Roger reached the summit.
If nothing unexpected had happened, he would have likely been the source of the massive changes in Skypiea's storyline.
But what Roy couldn't understand was...
'When exactly had the other party arrived in Skypiea and who was the message meant for?'
"Could it be the butterfly effect? No, that doesn't make sense. The era when Rocks was active was before I arrived in the pirate world, and doesn't my Devil Fruit freedom plan go down the drain again with this?" Roy muttered inwardly.
He had long suspected that the situation in Skypiea might be different from how he remembered it, but seeing it confirmed still left him feeling regretful.
But just as he was brooding...
"There's another Poneglyph inscription here. It seems someone carved it later." Robin's voice sounded again from beside him, carrying a trace of surprise.
Only then did Youji notice that on a stone beneath the Poneglyph, hidden by grass and vines, there was another inscription written in Poneglyph script.
But if that were all, he wouldn't have been particularly surprised, as he could already guess who the author of those words was.
However, the key point was... In the next moment, he heard Robin softly murmur while deciphering the text; her voice was filled with confusion.
"Star Lord..."
The moment she spoke those words, Robin clearly felt...
Buzz!
The familiar surge of Haoshoku Haki that erupted from Youji beside her. The pressure alone forced the surrounding weeds to flatten instantly, and Robin felt as if she might faint again.
But in the next moment, that terrifying aura suddenly withdrew.
Then, Robin heard Youji ask, "What did you just say?"
For the first time, his voice was filled with an unprecedented gravity.
"... "
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Robin answered without hesitation.
"It seems to be a complaint left by someone who arrived later... someone like us. When he arrived, the city already appeared to have been destroyed."
"...And then?"
Youji nodded, showing no surprise.
This matched his guess and he could even determine exactly who had left those words:
"The Pirate King, Gol D. Roger."
In the original story, during his final voyage, Roger came to Skypiea and asked Kozuki Oden, a member of the Stone Mason Clan, to carve a message beside the base of the Gold Bell.
But now, the situation had changed.
Youji was almost certain that Rocks had taken the gold from here.
This meant that, when Roger arrived later... The scene he saw was probably almost identical to the one Roy saw today.
Therefore, Roger's message, which was originally supposed to be carved on the base of the Gold Bell, was engraved beside the Poneglyph instead.
But the real question was...
"What exactly did he write?"
That was the true key to everything.
According to Youji, the message Roger left should have been something like this:
"I have come here and brought these words to their final place."
It was one of those cryptic riddles he liked to leave behind.
But now...
"He mentioned two people. It seems more like he was expressing some kind of emotion," Robin said without hesitation.
She pointed directly at the Poneglyph on the ground and read its contents aloud to Youji.
"I never expected someone to make that guy make such a choice."
"Star Lord...what kind of existence are you, exactly? It really makes one curious."
"Unfortunately, I probably won't have the chance to meet you, will I?"
After finishing the message on the Poneglyph, Robin immediately turned to look at Youji, barely able to hide her anticipation.
"Lord Youji, do you know who carved this message? Who are the 'that guy' and the 'Star Lord' mentioned here?"
She was genuinely curious.
Although the exact date couldn't be determined, she was certain the inscription had been carved no more than forty years ago.
Which meant that both the person who carved it, and the individuals mentioned in it, were very likely still alive.
For Robin, anyone capable of writing in the ancient script naturally captured her complete interest.
However...
"...."
After hearing her question, Youji glanced at Robin. After a brief moment of thought, he finally spoke softly.
"The one who carved this message was Gol D. Roger."
"The 'that guy' he mentioned is Rocks D. Xebec."
Just those two names alone were enough to shake the entire sea. However, what Youji said next made Robin wonder if she had heard him correctly.
"As for the 'Star-Lord'..."
At this point, even Youji's voice trembled slightly.
"As the name suggests, Star-Lord is the master of the Twelve Zodiacs. He is... It's the codename of our leader."
Bang!
The notebook in Robin's hands instantly fell to the ground.
"Le... Leader...?"
The shock was so overwhelming that her mind stopped working momentarily. Only after a long pause did she finally grasp the magnitude of what she had just heard.
For the first time at sea...
A high-ranking officer of the Twelve Zodiac had spoken the organization's leader's code name.
And that name was...
Star Lord.
But Robin didn't know that Youji's shock at that moment was no less than hers.
Beneath the mask of Youji, Roy knew better than anyone that "Star Lord" was indeed the code name of the leader of the Twelve Zodiacs.
However...
That code name had only been decided upon two days ago.
And yet...
This message, which had existed for more than twenty years, contained that exact same code name!
"Wait... Could it be?"
After a brief moment of hesitation, Roy quickly realized an almost unbelievable possibility.
His gaze shifted toward the light screen within his vision, toward one particular entry in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.
[Modo Modo no Mi (Return-Return Fruit)]
[Devil Fruit Awakening · Unique · Time Field: Can rewind the time of all things within the field, including the user. Unlock cost: 30 billion Beli.]
[Note: This ability can only be used once. It cannot be blocked by any means. The amount of time rewound is completely random and cannot be controlled.]
That was the only possibility Roy could currently think of.
(End of Chapter)