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Before them was a breathtaking island.
Its shape resembled a great crown set upon the sea.
The part of the crown facing their ship was its back half—a ring-like band of land encircling a vast interior and stretching out into the ocean.
It formed a beautiful, secluded bay.
The crystal-clear water reflected the ruins of a forgotten time. Collapsed buildings sank beneath the surface, where schools of colorful fish now swam.
A gentle slope climbed from the water's edge toward the front of the crown, rising steadily into a dense, primeval forest.
And beyond the forest, in the island's center...
The faint outline of a massive, ruined city was just visible.
Further still, a sheer cliff face shaped like a hand—the very spires of the crown—jutted straight into the clouds.
It stood as a silent shield against the ocean winds.
This was Elegia, the once world-renowned Island of Music.
"It's Elegia!"
"So this is the place."
Jin and the others gathered on the deck.
"The damage is severe," Robin observed, her voice low. "It's hard to imagine what kind of destruction happened here."
She had changed into an outfit more suited for exploration—a crisp shirt paired with long pants and short boots, still maintaining her sharp, sophisticated style. The inner layer, however, was a daringly low-cut top, and she'd tied the corners of her overshirt in a knot at her waist, revealing a hint of her midriff.
Her face was striking, her skin a natural, snowy white.
A lifetime of scholarly habit had given her an insatiable curiosity for all things ancient. Though Elegia's destruction was recent, it was a city with a long and storied past—one that had even been documented in the libraries of Ohara.
Her eyes gleamed. Perhaps she would find ancient texts here, mysteries waiting to be solved.
"I wonder if there's any treasure up there?" Carina said, her own eyes sparkling.
She had sky-blue hair and a deep blue jacket that hugged her slender frame.
Beneath a pair of black shorts, her long, pale legs were exceptionally slim. She wasn't particularly tall, perhaps half a head shorter than Robin, but her lean build made her seem anything but small.
And though she, like Nami, was only fifteen and not yet fully developed, her chest already showed promising signs of things to come.
Her black eyes, at this moment, shone like a starry night sky.
Tashigi blinked, her vision now sharp and clear. With Law's help, she had undergone a minor procedure on her eyes and no longer needed glasses.
"When Captain Smoker and I were first stationed in Loguetown, I heard about this place," she began, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "In the classified Marine archives... it seems Red-Haired Shanks wasn't the one who destroyed Elegia."
"Eh?" Nami asked. "Then who was?"
"The files were fragmented," Tashigi said, "but they mentioned one name... Tot Musica."
"The Demon of Music."
Nami gasped. "A demon? Are there really demons?"
She glanced around nervously, her body tense.
Jin just smiled. "So-called demons are just a product of human desire and will."
"Alright," he said. "Let's make landfall."
After Ai scanned the area, they dropped anchor in a deep part of the bay, near a mottled, moss-covered stone pier.
With a clatter of chains, a series of links shot out from the ship's side, embedding themselves deep in the stone. A layer of translucent candy coated the chains, forming a sturdy bridge.
Carina and Nami watched, amazed. It was so cool.
Jin stepped onto the island. His eyes swept over the silent landscape. It had the dead, oppressive feel of a place long abandoned.
"Kuma," Jin said, speaking to the insignia on his wrist, a direct link to the carrier's internal space. "There are no Marines here. You can come out."
A moment later, Kuma appeared, wearing his familiar bearskin coat.
"Just in case," he said simply.
Kuma was currently one of the most wanted men in the world. If his location were to be leaked, the consequences would be severe. He knew this, and so he never showed his true face when he was outside. It was his own quiet way of being gentle.
Nami and Carina looked at him curiously and whispered to Robin, who just smiled.
It was better for them not to know.
It wasn't just Kuma. Whenever they were in a port or a crowded area, Robin and Law would also adopt a slight disguise. The Munch-Munch Fruit could temporarily alter one's appearance—though the process was a bit nauseating.
Law's situation wasn't so bad; his bounty was relatively small. But Robin and Kuma were on the World Government's blacklist.
It was better to be safe than sorry.
"You all explore the area," Jin said. "I'm going to check out the interior."
And then he was gone.
His Observation Haki, having evolved along with the demonic carrier, had grown immensely in both quality and range. The moment he'd set foot on the island, it had spread out with the wind, blanketing the entire area and already sensing a subtle stirring.
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Inside the castle.
Uta, who often gazed out at the sea, had been the first to spot the ship. She was both terrified and excited.
Elegia had been destroyed.
Only she and Gordon were left on this island.
For a little girl who had seen all the wonders of the sea, it was a cruel fate.
Worse, she had been betrayed and abandoned by the friends she had respected and loved most.
Loneliness, sadness, grief... these emotions had filled her heart for years.
But Gordon had been there for her. He had taught her music, and slowly, she had begun to emerge from the darkness. But a smile had yet to return to her face.
Physical wounds can heal.
But what about the wounds of the heart?
And now, strangers had arrived.
Even if they were pirates, their presence brought a flicker of life back to this dead island.
'Maybe... maybe they'll have news of Shanks,' Uta thought.
The name brought a complex storm of emotions—love and hate, intertwined.
In Gordon's telling of the story, it had been Shanks and his crew who had destroyed this city, who had abandoned her and sailed away.
She hated them for it. But as she had grown older, a part of her had begun to suspect the truth, though she wasn't yet ready to believe it.
"A ship?" Gordon's heart sank.
He quickly got to his feet. He and Uta walked through the long corridor and out into the open.
"Look! A ship! And bonfire smoke!" Uta said, pointing toward the coast.
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