"In detail, only Arton knows the full story. But for me, just knowing Sabo is still alive is good news."
"I do find it odd that he hasn't come back all these years to tell us he's okay. Given how close he was to Ace and Luffy—practically staking their lives for each other—I'd have thought he'd at least come tell us he's alive, even if he is with the Revolutionary Army now."
Makino spoke in puzzlement.
Whitey Bay nodded thoughtfully.
"Perhaps Sabo had his own difficulties," she said. "Or maybe, once you appear before Arton—since it concerns Sabo—Arton will reveal the reason. Makino, we must find Arton and ask for his help."
Whitey Bay finished, extending her hand to Makino.
"Mm, I'll do my best," Makino agreed, clasping Whitey Bay's hand. "Whether it's Ace or Sabo, it's best they stay alive."
In that moment, her gratitude for Arton's Diary grew even deeper—since without the Diary, she wouldn't have learned Sabo was alive.
Makino and Whitey Bay traded a smile, then turned to look at the new entries in Arton's Diary floating before them.
[Wait, the reason Sabo got away from the Five Elders and Imu wasn't just because of Ace's Flame-Flame Fruit.]
[More critically, Arabasta's King, Nefertari Cobra, sacrificed himself to buy Sabo the time to flee.]
"Huh? Arabasta? Isn't that one of the ancient kingdoms in the first half of the Grand Line, and a long-time World Government member-nation?"
"Why would that king sacrifice himself to save Sabo?"
"Isn't he supposed to be on the Government's side?"
Whitey Bay frowned.
Makino hazarded a guess. "Maybe it's because he learned about Imu's existence. After all, Imu—some hidden king of the world—shouldn't even exist."
Whitey Bay nodded.
"That's possible. Anyway, let's keep reading."
"We can keep an eye on Arton's new Diary entries and also watch him torment that World Noble. It's… not a bad way to pass the time."
She cast her gaze toward Arton, who was currently stomping on the Tenryuubito. Whitey Bay couldn't help feeling a surge of excitement.
She didn't even have a direct feud with the World Nobles, yet seeing one so high-and-mighty get trampled underfoot like this still thrilled her.
As for Boa Hancock, it went without saying—she felt it even more strongly. At this moment, the Pirate Empress trembled with emotion, hands clenched into fists. She even felt an urge to replace Arton and stomp on the Tenryuubito herself.
"That man—he truly dares to make a move against the World Nobles," Hancock thought, body shaking with excitement.
"Such an arrogant man… but letting me see this scene of him punishing a World Noble… I suppose I can forgive him for drawing those… pictures of me, at least for now."
However, upon noticing mention of Imu, Hancock's mood dampened somewhat.
"The King of the World, hidden behind the Government's veil… Because of that existence, the Government and the World Nobles remain… and that's why I had to suffer so?"
"Oh, if only I could turn that Imu to stone…"
Hancock clenched her fists, hatred swelling in her heart. Yet she also knew that for her to challenge Imu's might—the same might that obliterated the Lulusia Kingdom with a single strike—was an act of madness.
"If I possessed enough power, could I be like Arton, stepping on World Nobles as if they were insects?"
"Even Imu… would I fear it then?"
Hancock murmured, gazing out at the far horizon.
"Arton can remove tattoos, and he dares to assault the World Nobles… Maybe I shouldn't despise him so. Perhaps… I could even cooperate with him."
She mused, reconsidering. Unlike the scenario in Arton's illustrations, she still retained her proud personality in real life. But that old thought about petrifying Arton no longer held.
…
Gion: "King Cobra of Arabasta also ended up confronting Imu? But why was he even there?"
Kujaku: "Even though his nation is part of the Government, once he knew about Imu, there was no way they would let him live."
Smoothie: "How interesting. So, aside from Sabo, there was also a ruling monarch from a Government member-nation who discovered Imu's existence."
Black Maria: "If not just Cobra but multiple kings learned about Imu, the Government's days would be numbered!"
Koala: "So what's up with King Cobra?"
Vivi: "F-Father?! What… Why would Father be there? Is… is Imu going to kill him?!"
[Because King Cobra grew suspicious about some parts of history, he dug into a lot of archives. Eventually, all that digging led him to some puzzling leads… and so during the Reverie, he went to visit the Five Elders in the chamber of the Empty Throne.]
[He might have gone not just to visit but to basically call them out. Heading to the place of the Empty Throne, he'd likely already prepared himself to die.]
Vivi: "How could this happen?! Father, why would you go so far…"
Nico Robin: "King Cobra, investigating historical records, then confronting the Five Elders?!"
Gion: "That's what led Imu to appear? The man was a top-tier monarch, why meddle in extra affairs…"
Belo Betty: "He faced death for the truth. A truly admirable king."
Koala: "Better than so many rotten kings we've seen…"
[When Cobra uttered the name of his ancestor, Nefertari Lily—one of the original twenty kings who spurned the life of a World Noble—and pointed out there were only 19 weapons beneath that throne… that was when Imu finally showed up.]
[For Imu, Nefertari Lily is someone of deep concern. She was supposed to be an ally in toppling the Ancient Kingdom but refused to remain in the Holy Land as a World Noble.]
[Lily also took certain actions that left Imu extremely wary—like facilitating the widespread scattering of Poneglyphs.]
[There's no way Imu could ignore the name Nefertari Lily. Imu's sudden appearance surely stunned Cobra. He ended up learning from Imu that… If not for Lily's mistake, people in today's world wouldn't be able to chase the Ancient Kingdom's records.]
[Actually, Imu suspects that Lily's error was deliberate, so that the Poneglyphs ended up scattered for the future to discover.]
[That's roughly how Imu described it, as far as I remember.]
Smoothie: "This is explosive. The scattering of the Poneglyphs turned out to be the work of the Nefertari ancestors!"
Black Maria: "We'd never have known this if not for Arton."
Ain: "Just how many secrets is the World Government hiding…"
Nico Robin: "So the Poneglyphs are out there thanks to the Nefertari line? Arabasta must have at least one Poneglyph left behind. On the other hand, if Crocodile's plan had succeeded, King Cobra would've never made it to the Reverie anyway… That means somewhere along the line, Crocodile fails. Good—that's a relief for me and Princess Vivi. If Ms. Goldenweek and Ms. Doublefinger also realize that Baroque Works is doomed, maybe they'll join us, haha."
Monet: "So that's the Nefertari line of Arabasta… It's somewhat similar to Young Master's? Or not…"
Viola: "Cobra truly is a respectable king."
Gion: "All these revelations about Poneglyphs…?"
Vivi: "Our ancestor Lily… Why would she do that? No, more importantly, is Father… is he really going to be killed by Imu…?"