"Exploring the 'unknown' is always thrilling, isn't it?"
— Many years ago, truly many years ago, when Rowan first set sail, he said these words to his companions.
Now, Rowan has traveled to many, many places, and much of the 'unknown' has become 'known' to Rowan.
This is an incredible feat, something very few people can achieve;
And at the same time, it's also a regrettable thing, something very few people can truly feel.
Now, another unknown thing has appeared before Rowan, so how can he not feel excited?
...
Honestly, Crocodile knows this feeling, but he dislikes it intensely.
After all, "the unknown" means "being outside of my control."
For an ambitious man like Crocodile, the excitement he felt when he first set sail pales in comparison to the satisfaction he gets from controlling everything.
— Or perhaps, "a sense of security."
After all, there is so much unknown in this sea, and just being able to bring the things around him into his knowledge is already a difficult task.
Crocodile clearly doesn't understand Rowan's emotions right now.
Why does an old monster who wreaked havoc on the seas eight hundred years ago still have that excited look from his first voyage?
It's truly annoying!
Crocodile frowned, but it wasn't annoyance at Ryan Rowan himself, but rather...
No, he didn't seem to have any reason to be annoyed.
...
Crocodile agonized to himself.
Rowan, however, took the lead, guiding Nico Robin, and followed by the two guards clearing the path, into the Seastone passage.
Even with Iron Cloud as a barrier, the extremely high concentration of Seastone in the construction instantly drained Robin of all her strength.
She leaned on the wall with one hand, barely managing to stay upright.
"This is truly a very... terrifying place..."
Robin murmured, amazed.
Indeed, for Devil Fruit users, this passage is a complete death trap!
Rowan nodded. "Honestly, the first time I saw this place, my eyes widened in shock..."
His words somewhat relaxed Nico Robin, and she habitually added,
"Such a deep passage, perhaps arrows will shoot out any moment now."
...
The group continued forward.
To their surprise, the inside of the passage was not as full of hidden dangers as they had imagined; there wasn't even a single basic trap.
As for the "arrows" Robin mentioned, of course, there were none.
The only obstacles hindering their progress were the Seastone that made up the passage itself and the pitch-black darkness.
"There should have been torches here."
A member of the White Beret, walking ahead, pointed to a spot on the wall not yet covered by Iron Cloud and surmised,
There was an indentation there, perfectly sized to hold a torch.
But the group clearly didn't have the luxury of dealing with such things now. Besides, there's a type of shellfish in Skypiea called a "Light-up Shell," which is much more practical than ordinary torches and can even indicate whether the surrounding air is dangerous by the brightness of its light.
This is a crucial function in a sealed space that hasn't been ventilated for a long time.
"The ventilation here is very good, and there's no toxic gas or anything like that."
Another guard said slowly, "This probably isn't the Royal Cemetery of Shandora."
Some scholars and scientists from the Four Seas Alliance had previously speculated that this passage most likely led to the ancient Royal Cemetery of Shandora.
Given that it's difficult for ordinary people to enter and seems to lead straight underground, this inference was quite reasonable.
However, the messages on the golden pillar outside, combined with their current observations, naturally overturned this theory.
Suddenly, Robin noticed a corner.
Using a special potion previously given to her by a White Beret, she cleared a small area and began to examine it carefully.
Similar to the markings on the golden pillar, there were what looked like scratch marks there.
Crocodile glanced over and asked, "Is that ancient writing too?"
"No, it's also... not entirely."
Robin thought for a moment, then finally explained, "There are a few errors in the ancient writing here, but combining the meaning and context, it's not difficult to see the original intent."
"—We are doomed."
This was the original meaning of this piece of ancient writing, but it seemed there were a few characters that were clearly incorrect.
Robin speculated:
"This might indicate that the person who wrote this ancient script was a different scholar, and this scholar's mastery of ancient writing was not as high as the previous one."
Robin did not doubt her judgment; it stemmed from absolute confidence in the research results from Ohara.
"Let's keep going."
Rowan looked around, becoming increasingly interested in what lay at the end of the passage.
...
Finally, after walking for about ten minutes, they reached the end of the passage.
There was a large door there.
—A door made entirely of Seastone!
This scale of Seastone construction, if converted to Berries, would be enough to make one immensely rich!
To put it mildly, if Vinsmoke Judge found this place and divided this Seastone in half, selling one half in batches and forging Seastone weapons with the other half, the revival of the Germa Kingdom would be within reach!
"This place doesn't seem to welcome Devil Fruit users at all..."
Rowan stroked his chin and noticed a very neat text label on one side of the door.
He turned his gaze to Robin and asked, "What does that mean?"
Robin looked and replied, "This is a... research institute?"
"A research institute for ancient writing?"
Rowan had indeed considered this possibility, but he was somewhat disappointed.
After all, the scholars of Ohara had already conducted research on ancient writing, and further investigation would not yield any groundbreaking progress.
But Robin shook her head. "Perhaps this research institute is using ancient writing to research something else."
This guess indeed piqued Rowan's interest.
At Rowan's signal, the White Beret and the Shandian guards placed their hands on the Seastone door.
They were not Devil Fruit users, so the Seastone would not affect them.
But just as they were about to push open the door, Crocodile suddenly called out to them.
"Wait."
His brow furrowed, as if he had thought of something. He quickly moved to the front and looked at Rowan.
"Haven't you noticed something?"
Rowan blinked. "Hm?"
Crocodile continued, "This passage has no dangerous traps, and there weren't even any misleading forks in the road along the way."
"The only difficulty we encountered in moving forward was actually the Seastone itself."
"So, is it possible—"
Crocodile paused.
"That the person who built this passage did so specifically to target Devil Fruit users."
"Or rather, that the things inside this research institute must not be seen by Devil Fruit users?"
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