-Broadcast-
The revelation about the Road Poneglyphs hadn't come from dusty archives or scholarly research. Momonosuke's knowledge was born from failure, paid for in blood and humiliation during his failed assassination attempt on Onigashima.
"The information came from the Mink Tribe," Momonosuke continued, his voice hollow with betrayal. "After they surrendered to Kaido, they told me everything—about the Road Poneglyphs, about Zunesha's true nature, about..." He paused, struggling with words that felt like glass in his throat. "They said they had found the real Joy Boy. That their ancient debt to the Kozuki clan was finally paid. If we met again, we would be enemies."
The weight of centuries crashed down on his young shoulders. "Zunesha—originally served my family. Eight hundred years ago, my ancestors ordered him into exile, commanding him to walk the seas without rest as punishment for some forgotten sin. For eight centuries, that command held absolute. Until Kaido broke it with a single conversation."
Momonosuke buried his face in his hands, his composure cracking entirely. "Everything the Kozuki clan built, everything we protected, everything we sacrificed for—he took it all. The only way to reclaim our heritage is to defeat him in direct combat. And I..." His voice broke. "I'm not strong enough."
Luffy, who had been listening with uncharacteristic patience, tilted his head with genuine confusion. "Robin, is Joy Boy a person? If he made a promise to the Mermaid Princess eight hundred years ago and still hasn't kept it, that makes him a really bad guy, right? People should keep their promises."
Only Luffy could reduce eight centuries of mystery to such simple terms. Robin couldn't help but smile despite the gravity of the situation. "Joy Boy represents different things to different cultures, Luffy. In some histories, he's described as a will that resists oppression and yearns for freedom. Others call him the incarnation of the Sun God. Some see him as a liberation fighter who challenged the world's power structures." She paused, her expression growing thoughtful. "Eight hundred years is a long time—many details have been lost or deliberately erased. But one thing I'm certain of: the Final Island, Raftel, is intimately connected to Joy Boy's legend."
Momonosuke's head snapped up, his eyes bright with desperate hope. "There's another interpretation of Joy Boy—one I heard from Who's-Who, one of Kaido's Tobiroppo. He claimed that Joy Boy isn't a person at all, but a state of being. According to him, certain Devil Fruits can achieve 'Joy Boy awakening' under specific conditions." His gaze locked onto Luffy with laser intensity. "And that fruit... is your Gomu Gomu no Mi."
The revelation hit the crew like a cannonball. Even Zoro, who had been descending from the crow's nest, froze on the rigging, his usual stoic expression replaced by sharp attention.
"Who's-Who used to be a World Government agent," Momonosuke continued, his voice growing stronger as he shared intelligence that might actually matter. "CP9, specifically. Years ago, he was tasked with escorting a Devil Fruit from the East Blue—your Gomu Gomu no Mi, Luffy. But Red-Haired Shanks intercepted the transport and stole it. You know the rest of that story."
Luffy's hand unconsciously moved to his chest, where the scar from Akainu's magma still ached in cold weather. "Shanks stole my fruit from the World Government?"
"What Who's-Who discovered in prison changed everything," Momonosuke pressed on. "The World Government tortured him not because he lost a Devil Fruit, but because of which fruit he lost. According to the Gorosei, there is no 'Gomu Gomu no Mi' in their records. That name was a deliberate fabrication to hide the fruit's true identity: A Mythical Zoan Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika."
Robin's scholarly mind reeled at the implications. "A Mythical Zoan masquerading as a Paramecia..."
"The World Government has been hunting that specific fruit for eight hundred years," Momonosuke confirmed. "They've killed anyone who got too close to awakening it, all to prevent the return of Joy Boy. But here's the twist that broke Who's-Who's mind completely..."
Zoro finally reached the deck, his hand resting casually on Wado Ichimonji's hilt. "You've been building up to something. Just say it."
Kin'emon's sharp eyes had been tracking the swordsman's movement, and his breath caught when he spotted the distinctive black scabbard at Zoro's waist. Shusui—one of Wano's greatest national treasures, supposedly buried with the legendary samurai Ryuma. How had this foreigner acquired it? The questions burned in his mind, but his lord's revelation took precedence.
"Kaido is Joy Boy," Momonosuke said simply, and the world seemed to stop.
The words hung in the air like a death sentence. Robin's composed facade cracked entirely, her vast knowledge of history unable to process this contradiction. "That's... impossible. Everything I've learned about Joy Boy suggests—"
"I know how it sounds," Momonosuke interrupted. "But think about it logically. Who else could command Zunesha? Who else could break an eight-hundred-year-old compulsion placed by my ancestors? The Elephant Lord only obeys Joy Boy—and now he serves Kaido."
-Real World-
The Sky Screen flickered with renewed intensity, broadcasting this revelation to a world already reeling from previous disclosures. In Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki's face went ashen. On the Red Force, Shanks set down his sake cup with trembling hands. In Mary Geoise, the Gorosei erupted into panicked conference calls. If Kaido truly was Joy Boy, everything they'd worked to prevent for eight centuries had already come to pass.
-Broadcast-
"Who's-Who contacted me because he wanted revenge," Momonosuke continued, his voice growing distant as he recalled painful memories. "He blamed the Nika Fruit—blamed Joy Boy—for destroying his life. But when he learned that Kaido, his own captain, was Joy Boy's successor... it shattered what was left of his sanity."
A memory crystallized in the air above them, projected by the Sky Screen for all to witness:
-Flashback-
The scene showed a sterile medical bay deep within Onigashima. Momonosuke lay on a medical cot, his body wrapped in bandages, the aftermath of his fifth defeat at Kaido's hands. Kin'emon sat beside him, carefully tending to his lord's wounds with the devotion of a father.
Across from them sat a figure in distinctive saber-toothed helmet—Who's-Who, one of the Tobiroppo, his cat-like eyes gleaming with barely contained madness.
"I never thought I'd see a traitor among the Beast Pirates," Momonosuke had whispered, his voice raw from screaming during the battle. "Aren't you afraid Kaido will kill you for this betrayal?"
Who's-Who's laugh was bitter, hollow. "I've already experienced the fear of death in World Government prisons. Everything I do now is for revenge... though I've been aiming at the wrong targets for years."
The former CP9 agent's hands clenched into fists. "I thought I was just escorting a simple Paramecia fruit. Got robbed by Red-Hair, captured by my own government, tortured for years because they couldn't admit their precious Nika Fruit had slipped through their fingers again. My entire life derailed because of Joy Boy's legend."
His voice cracked with hysteria. "And now... now I discover that the captain I've been serving, the man I turned to after losing everything... he IS Joy Boy. The very person whose legacy destroyed my life now commands my loyalty. Do you understand the cosmic joke in that?"
Who's-Who's composure finally shattered completely. "I want to take back what I lost. I want the name Joy Boy erased from history permanently. Help me kill Kaido. You can return to Wano as its rightful daimyo, and I... I can go back to serving the World Government with the validation that Joy Boy is truly dead. It benefits us both."
The memory showed a man completely broken by irony, driven mad by the realization that fate had made him a pawn in the very legend he sought to destroy.
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