"We never knew if the sea, like the starry sky, embraced everything, nor if its capricious temper could bear the dreams of all the world."
*Bang—!*
In the New World, in a certain uncharted sea, it was unusually calm.
The Thousand Sunny sailed slowly forward through the waves.
At the bow, Robin closed the book in her hands, picked up the juice on the coffee table in front of her, bit down on the straw, and took a gentle sip.
Then she tilted her head to the right and asked, "What do you think of this story?"
"An interesting story, not like an adventurer wrote it, but more like a poet," Kong Tai replied lazily, lying on the deck chair with his hands behind his head.
This was a story from the book Robin had bought, telling of a boy with dreams, his fantasies and longings facing the sea.
The boy had never been to sea. He yearned for it but also feared it. Facing the boundless ocean, humans were too insignificant. Although he prepared to set sail day after day, the preparation lasted too long, so long that he grew old without ever taking that step.
Robin had many such stories in her books, all firsthand experiences of the adventurers who wrote this collection. Although they were small stories, depicting the joys and sorrows of ordinary people, they were vivid and real.
"I'm glad you like it."
Robin chuckled, then looked ahead, taking a sip of juice, her eyes filled with longing. "Many people in this world want to go to the Giant tribe, to see the legendary island so different from human society. I'm no exception. I wonder if we can find the fourth Poneglyph there."
"Whether we find it or not, it doesn't matter," Kong Tai shrugged. "Even if it's not in Elbaf, we can just treat it as a journey of exploration. As for the fourth Poneglyph, it's likely in one of those few places. If it's not in Elbaf, then it must be with someone from the Whitebeard Pirates."
Kong Tai paused, a sharp glint in his eyes, and continued. "Of course, if it's truly not in Elbaf, then there's a high probability it's with the World Government, in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise."
"Mary Geoise?"
Hearing Kong Tai's words, everyone on the ship was stunned.
"Mhm!" Kong Tai nodded, picked up the juice in front of him, took a sip, and a smile appeared on his face. "When we thought about the Poneglyphs before, we subconsciously ignored the World Government. That's because the World Government had no desire to reach Laugh Tale. Moreover, the Road Poneglyphs are generally held by the Four Emperors, the great pirates. So, in our common understanding, no matter what the World Government thought, they wouldn't collect them."
"But..."
"What?"
Everyone looked at Kong Tai. Only Robin was stroking her chin, deep in thought.
Then she looked up at Kong Tai and said, "Is our common understanding wrong? Sometimes, the more impossible something seems, the more likely it is. Common sense can deceive most people, but if we think about it from another perspective, how could the world's greatest power be indifferent to the Poneglyphs!"
Looking at Robin, Kong Tai grunted.
Then he shifted his gaze to his curious companions and chuckled, continuing.
"Perhaps the World Government didn't care about Poneglyphs in the past, as no one had ever collected them all. But don't forget that a figure like Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, appeared in this world."
"After Roger was executed by the Marines in Loguetown, the world completely entered the chaotic Great Pirate Era. The World Government isn't foolish. Since one Roger could appear, another could appear. Since they know this, they must also understand the importance of the Road Poneglyphs. How could they allow a second Roger to emerge?"
Having said this, Kong Tai raised his juice cup and took a sip to moisten his throat before continuing.
"The prerequisite for a second Roger's appearance is the Road Poneglyphs. The two known ones are known to most pirates. The World Government cannot go to war to snatch the Road Poneglyphs from the Four Emperors for the sake of world balance."
"The third one is on Zou. Zou is a country that extremely dislikes humans. However, with the intelligence capabilities of the World Government, they must have visited Zou. Since they have been to Zou, they likely know where a Poneglyph is located."
"Of course, the military strength of Zou is not to be underestimated, plus the guardian Zunisha, the world's largest Sea King. The World Government cannot transport Zou's Road Poneglyph away silently. Just like facing the Four Emperors, they cannot go to war for a single Poneglyph."
"If we really consider it, Zou, with Zunisha's protection, is even harder to retrieve a Poneglyph from than from the treasure vaults of the Four Emperors."
"Since these three are not within the World Government's plans, there is only the last one, the one on Fish-Man Island. And it is precisely this one that is the last piece we are looking for."
"A Poneglyph right under their noses, I don't believe the World Government is unaware of it. Moreover, Fish-Man Island is a subordinate nation of the World Government, and Fish-Man Island is completely indifferent to Poneglyphs. They neither put it in the Dragon Palace for safekeeping nor hide it from everyone. Instead, they placed it directly in the Sea Forest where anyone can view it."
"With such a great opportunity, how could the World Government let it pass?"
"Their goal is very simple: to prevent a second Roger from appearing."
Hearing this, Ah Hua pushed up his glasses, his eyes behind the lenses lighting up. He then looked at Kong Tai and said, "As long as the Road Poneglyph on Fish-Man Island is hidden, the second Roger cannot appear."
"So, the last Poneglyph might indeed be in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise. If there is any place in this world with the highest defense and the most difficult to breach, it must be the Holy Land of Mary Geoise."
"Mhm!" Kong Tai nodded. "This is also something I've only recently considered."
Putting down his juice cup, Kong Tai sat up and looked at the small black dot appearing on the sea in the distance, smiling. "Whether it's in Mary Geoise or not, we'll know once we've truly seen it in Elbaf."
"We're here?"
Seeing Kong Tai's movement, everyone's eyes lit up.
Then they all stood up, ran to the bow, leaned on the railing, and looked out into the distance.
At the horizon, what looked like a small dot, then a long, continuous black line was emerging from below the sea level onto the surface.
No wonder the surrounding sea was so calm; it turned out Elbaf was a very vast island!
Even though they had some expectations, when they saw the slender black line, the coastline, that filled their entire vision, everyone was filled with astonishment.
They weren't unfamiliar with large islands. Alabasta was a very large island, but compared to the Elbaf before them, it seemed a bit small.