"At first, many people were moved by my mother, and countless signatures were collected, but in the end, she was assassinated by her opponents."
Of course, Luffy already knew all this, and he also knew who the killer was.
Robin, unaware, apologized after hearing it:
"I'm sorry for bringing up something so sad."
"It's okay. It's over now." Fukaboshi looked at his sister and said, "Shirahoshi wanted to come to the Sea Forest just to pay her respects to her mother."
Sitting in front of Otohime's tombstone with her tail crossed, Shirahoshi's expression was dazed.
She was only six years old when Otohime died. Now, years later, her mother's voice and smile seemed vividly present to her.
"Shirahoshi."
Suddenly, Luffy smiled and said, "Your mother's wish was for the people of Fish-Man Island to live peacefully on the surface, rather than chasing a tiny ray of sunlight in this deep sea."
"Luffy?" Shirahoshi turned her head slightly, looking at Luffy perched on her shoulder.
Luffy jumped down from her shoulder, turned to Fukaboshi behind him, and asked, "Where's the Poneglyph?"
"In the middle of the Marine Forest."
"Was it red before?"
Hearing this, Fukaboshi shook his head. "Sorry, I don't know."
He was now twenty-two.
When Roger saw the Road Poneglyph here, Neptune had just taken the throne, Otohime hadn't married yet, and Fukaboshi hadn't been born.
Where had the red stone gone?
Luffy fell into thought.
After Roger became the Pirate King, he met Whitebeard and told him about the meaning of the D. Could it have been Whitebeard who took it?
After all, Fish-Man Island had been under Whitebeard's protection before.
When he entered the New World, he would ask the Whitebeard Pirates about it. He had Ace's Vivre Card and could locate it easily with it.
After a moment of reflection in front of Otohime's tombstone, they headed to the center of the Marine Forest.
There, Law spotted a square stone slab.
"This stone is different from any I've seen. It looks more like… a book?"
"Is there any reference to a man named Joy Boy?"
"Yes."
Robin nodded, sat on a nearby rock, stared at the stele, and said, "A man named Joy Boy left a letter of confession for the mermaid princess. It seems there was an agreement, but Joy Boy took medicine."
After a pause, Robin looked at Shirahoshi and then at Luffy, unable to hide her laughter:
"Luffy, once your fruit awakens, you're the Joy Boy, right? You're this generation's Joy Boy, and Shirahoshi is this generation's mermaid princess. That's incredibly romantic."
The mermaid princess here obviously refers specifically to Poseidon, the one with the ability to communicate with the Sea Kings.
Shirahoshi didn't understand and asked in confusion:
"What does that mean?"
Luffy thought for a moment: "About the agreement… I don't know what it is. Isn't it written there?"
Robin shook her head.
Riddles are so annoying.
Luffy cursed in his heart, Just explain it clearly! Maybe then I could finish it for you. If you don't explain clearly, how am I supposed to know?
Thinking this, Luffy said to Shirahoshi:
"The sun god from the previous generation and the mermaid princess from the previous generation are dead. Whatever agreement they had doesn't matter."
"Yes."
"Let's make a new agreement."
"Why?"
Shirahoshi tilted her head in confusion. "Luffy, you want to make a promise with me?"
"What dreams do you have?"
"If it's a dream… I want my mother's wish to come true. One day in the future, fish-men and humans can live under the same sun as equals."
That dream is difficult.
There is no real equality in the world, not even among humans.
By contrast, becoming the world's number one swordsman, finding ALLBLUE, drawing a world map—these are dreams that can be achieved.
"How about this?"
Luffy suggested, "I'll lend you my name and bring Fish-Man Island to the surface so you can truly enjoy the sun, instead of being stuck down here."
Hearing his words, Shirahoshi just widened her beautiful eyes in awe.
Fukaboshi showed a look of disbelief:
"Lord Luffy, are you joking with me? Bringing Fish-Man Island to the surface… is that really possible?"
Compared to equality, that's a hundred times easier.
Luffy thought sincerely and smiled:
"As promised, of course I won't be the only one paying. Shirahoshi, when I fulfill this promise, you have to join my crew."
"Join your crew?" Shirahoshi looked confused. "Luffy, what does that mean?"
"I want to take you to the outside world and seek adventures together. You must've gotten bored staying in that tower all these years, right? The outside world is exciting."
He said with a smile.
"Hehe…" Robin couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.
"Adventure!" Shirahoshi's eyes sparkled with hope.
"Wait! Wait! Shirahoshi!" her older brother said hurriedly. "This isn't a joke, Lord Luffy, stop playing around!"
"Are you going to make decisions for Shirahoshi?" Luffy raised an eyebrow. "She's your sister, not your pet."
"But Shirahoshi is only sixteen…"
Fukaboshi was speechless.
This is something no one could argue with—at least, he wouldn't know what to say for a while.
Shirahoshi nodded, smiling brightly:
"Then it's a promise! Luffy, when Fish-Man Island goes to the surface, you'll take me to the outside world for adventures!"
"Robin, engrave this agreement on it!"
Luffy laughed, pointing to the Poneglyph:
"Agreements from the dead are nonsense. This is an agreement between me and Shirahoshi. If you engrave it, no one can go back on it!"
Robin gave him a playful look, intimidating the others. Shirahoshi is young, what a mischievous man.
Could this be an adventure?
It's dangerous!
Still, she stood and said, "The Poneglyph stone is very hard—it's not something you can scratch easily."
"Don't worry, use this!"
Luffy stepped forward, took a dagger from Robin's bag, and fixed his gaze on it.
The power of the Gura Gura Fruit was linked to the blade.
Under the fruit's power, a circle of white light appeared on the surface of the dagger's blade.
"Now we're ready!"
Taking the dagger from Luffy, Robin was about to touch it in surprise but was immediately stopped.
"Don't touch it…! This is a high-frequency vibration. You can't see it clearly, but it's extremely sharp!"
Luffy was amazed—if she touched it, her fingers could be cut.
He took the dagger back.
"Forget it, let me do it. You just teach me how to write."
Saying this, he approached the end of the Poneglyph.
He then used his Armament Haki, and in an instant, the dagger turned completely black.
Seeing this, Robin guided him from the side.
Ancient text is just text—it's simple enough for Luffy to inscribe a paragraph.
As a result, Shirahoshi and Fukaboshi could only stare as Luffy etched a new paragraph on the extremely hard stone slab, after 800 years.
Luffy even gave the text a title:
New Era!
After finishing, he looked at Shirahoshi and said with a smile:
"This is an agreement, and no one can refuse it—not even your father, Shirahoshi."
"Yes~!"
Shirahoshi replied, beaming.
---
(End of Chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."
Finally, I am back