Chapter 82: Prelu
Holy Land - Mary Geoise - Room of Authority
Saint Topman Warcury, the Warrior God of Justice, dressed in a dark suit, bald, with a handlebar mustache, frowned as he looked at the photos sent back from the Grand Line.
"To think a country that has been abandoned for many years was hiding something like this..."
"The initial report that came in was only about some statues of various races united against the World Government."
Saint Marcus Mars, the Warrior God of Environment, stood to the side with his arms crossed, his gaze firmly locked on the photos on the table. "The Poneglyph, and the replica sword and shield... these things must be brought back," he said in a distant tone.
Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, the Warrior God of Finance, wearing a simple white kimono, leaned back on the sofa. While maintaining his cursed sword, the Shodai Kitetsu, he said with indifference, "Twenty-eight different sets of footprints, left about sixteen or seventeen years ago. Does this mean the secret there has long since been leaked?"
"It should be Roger and his crew, right? They had 28 members in total, and the timeline matches up," Saint Jaygarcia Saturn, the Warrior God of Science and Defense, said coolly, leaning on his cane.
Saint Marcus Mars glanced at the others and said in a deep voice, "In that case, should we send more people and expand the scope of the excavation? There might be more of these things in the underground of other areas on the island. They may not be as important as the Poneglyph and these items, but they cannot be underestimated."
To this, Saint Topman Warcury leaned back on the sofa and retorted coolly, "That's too much trouble. Just have Sengoku launch a Buster Call. Let the warships plow over the island once, and then send people to investigate afterward." The firepower of a Buster Call was enough to blast open the top of any underground space, exposing all the secrets within.
Saint Shepherd Ju Peter, who had not spoken until now, also expressed his opinion. "Dispatching a large number of personnel to search for a long time will easily make people realize that place is unusual. Furthermore, there's a risk of Marine soldiers leaking information. It's better to use a Buster Call. Afterward, we can just have the agents and soldiers who were supposed to be disposed of anyway conduct the investigation."
"In that case, then we'll inform Sengoku..."
Marine Headquarters - Marineford.
"Launch a Buster Call?" Fleet Admiral Sengoku stared at the now-disconnected Den Den Mushi on his desk, his expression uncertain. But he quickly returned to normal. He picked up his Den Den Mushi and began to summon the five Vice Admirals who would carry out the order.
Half an hour later, ten massive warships, of a scale far exceeding other vessels, set sail from the military port of Marineford. Each warship carried about a thousand Marine soldiers, along with various flag officers and colonels. These ten warships, under the leadership of five battle-hardened, elite Vice Admirals with distinguished military records, would inflict indiscriminate, devastating blows upon the people and objects on an island deemed treasonous and a threat to the rule of the World Government.
Several days later, high above the Grand Line, inside Avant Heim.
Dorry and Brogy sat cross-legged, looking around at the scenery inside the cloud cave with great interest.
"I heard about the existence of Sky Islands when I was a kid, but since there was no ship in the world that could carry us up there, I've never seen one with my own eyes."
"I never thought that after more than a hundred years, I'd be able to board a similar existence in this way. I guess you could say my wish has been granted!"
"Kabababababa!"
For a moment, the entire cloud cave echoed with the heroic laughter of the giants.
On the other side, Kuina, led by Uta, was wandering through the various spaces inside the cloud cave, familiarizing herself with everything in advance. Kuina had been invited by Louis long ago and was considered a partner by Uta, so Uta had even picked out a room for her in the cloud cave.
As they walked, Kuina's attention was drawn to the slender, beautiful figures carrying barrels of booze. She reached out and tugged on Uta's sleeve, asking with great curiosity, "Are they the ones responsible for taking care of this place?" She had noticed that these beautiful figures all had a pair of white wings similar to Louis's. The only difference was that Louis's wings were larger and grew on his back, while these figures' wings were smaller and grew between their hips and lower backs, not looking as if they could be used for flight.
To this, Uta nodded and then explained in a low voice, "They are Louis's ability's creations. They are 'Flügels,' the same as the 'Fantasy Species' beneath our feet. But with Louis's current fruit development, he can't yet create the Flügel he envisions. So, he used wood and machinery to create complex structures, creating these prototype versions."
Then, as if she'd remembered something, Uta pulled Kuina closer and complained in a whisper, "Their bodies are filled with many kinds of weapons and are made of various mechanical structures, so Yelena and I suggested calling them 'Ex-Machina.' But every time, Louis ignores us, saying the name is inauspicious." Uta pouted, looking quite dissatisfied.
On the other side, Louis's mouth twitched. Uta was saying that on purpose; she knew he could hear everything going on in here. But Louis pretended not to hear. He still wasn't very keen on renaming these prototype Flügels to "Ex-Machina."
Just then, the graceful figures brought the barrels of booze and placed them on the table in front of Brogy and Dorry. The two giants were taken aback, then laughed loudly and said to Louis, "There's more? Thank you so much!"
Then, Dorry opened a barrel of booze, placed it in front of Louis, and gestured for him to toast with them. However, Louis shook his head at the two of them and then took a cup of tea from the side.
"You don't drink?" Brogy was instantly stunned.
To this, Louis nodded and replied with a smile, "That's right. I don't care for smoking or drinking." It wasn't because of the strange rule from that "eye legend" series next door, where minors could kill and commit arson but couldn't drink or gamble. He purely disliked the stuff.
Dorry and Brogy were astonished. They couldn't figure out how a pirate could not drink. But they just chalked it up to Louis's personal preference, didn't dwell on it, clinked their cups with his, and drank together.
Just then, a series of heavy footsteps sounded, attracting everyone's attention.
THUD... THUD...
Immediately after, a tall, dark figure walked along the passage and into the cloud cave, appearing before everyone in the main hall. A man, nearly six meters tall, completely covered in a mask and leather, with black wings growing from his back and his face obscured, slowly walked toward the group.
"Long time no see... Louis!"
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 20+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!