Arceus and Barro spoke about many things, from the past of the Lunarians to its present. The two exchanged the information they knew from completely different perspectives.
To Arceus, this was merely filling in the missing pieces of the past.
Back then, Arceus had not always been awake. Recounting that epic history also held a bit of interest for Arceus, but whether the enemies of that era and the opponents they would face today were truly the same people was something even Barro could not say for certain.
As for Barro, the world had changed far too much. Everything from the past had become drifting smoke. He had witnessed the decline of the Lunarians, and today, he had learned that their former glory was long gone.
Although they had managed to preserve their bloodline for eight hundred years and had found a chance for revival, failure was still failure in the end.
The people he once knew were long gone. Although Arceus had been the faith of the Lunarians of that era, and seeing the sacred relic worshipped by his tribe transform into a higher existence was a fortunate thing, the sense of disconnect between eras was not so easy to erase.
As dusk descended, the clouds under the setting sun took on the appearance of flames. Looking at those crimson clouds, Barro’s heart was far from calm.
“Go take a look around this country. I know you’ll need some time to accept everything here. If you need anything, you can ask Shayna for help. She’ll handle it for you.”
“I understand. Then I’ll take my leave first.”
Barro formed a special symbol with his hands before his chest, then bent his upper body at a thirty-degree angle, stepping backward several times as he withdrew from before Arceus. After pondering for a moment, he spread his wings and flew into the sky.
“Dad, is that really someone from hundreds of years ago? He doesn’t seem that different.”
“Of course there’s no difference in appearance. Why did it take you so long this time?”
“Isn’t it all because of that idiot old man? He could fly, but insisted on taking a ship back slowly instead. Tyranitar almost got seasick. If King of the Beasts had been any smaller, the rocking probably would have actually made it faint.”
Yamato instinctively began criticizing Kaido to Arceus. Before she knew it, it had already become a habit.
“By the way, Dad, where’s father? I thought he should’ve gotten down here before me.”
Yamato had assumed Kaido was already here, but after looking around, she still couldn’t find even a trace of him.
“Haven’t seen him, but with his habits, he’s probably either in the wine cellar or at the training ground right now.”
That assumption was based on Kaido not wandering off somewhere else. If he had mysteriously vanished while on Onigashima, then those two places were the most likely locations.
And that was indeed the case. At the training ground, Queen had been cornered there by Kaido. For convenience, the dining hall and infirmary were located on either side of the training ground. Queen had been stopped by Kaido while fetching red bean soup.
“Boss Kaido, you’re back? Your bounty’s gone up to 6.5 billion now. Marines really are scared of you.”
“Worororo, I don’t really care about that bounty. But Yamato told me you captured Garp alive.”
“Slander! That’s slander, Boss Kaido! Young Miss is slandering me! You’re so wise, there’s no way you’d believe something that ridiculous, right?”
The spoon in Queen’s hand dropped to the floor. Hearing Kaido say something like that, he had already foreseen the misfortune likely about to happen.
“Of course I don’t believe it. If you could capture Garp alive by yourself, then Marines might as well have stopped existing years ago. He’s old, not crippled.”
Hearing Kaido say that, Queen let out a sigh of relief, but Kaido’s next sentence immediately ruined his mood.
“But Who’s-Who said you bravely traded several punches with Garp, and in the end, your Leech Seed restrained his movements. That’s a major contribution.”
“No, no, Boss Kaido, you flatter me.”
“Since you were so heroic this time, then spar with me properly. I’m really curious just how far you’ve progressed lately.”
“Huh?”
Before Queen could process Kaido’s logic, he had already been dragged into the training ground by Kaido. However, since they hadn’t entered the Reverse World, it was clear Kaido was only acting on a whim and had no intention of beating him to death.
A faint tremor spread through Onigashima, and Yamato, standing on the rooftop, immediately understood something.
“Alright, Dad, now I know where he went. I just don’t know who’s unlucky again this time.”
“If Mr. Kaido has no intention of going to fight Kuzan, then it can only be Queen. Young Miss, you should know that very well.”
Yamato did not go to watch in person. Instead, she picked up Rotom and opened Onigashima’s surveillance system. To avoid getting caught up in Kaido’s attacks, she chose this long-distance viewing method.
Meanwhile, above Onigashima, the archaeologists on this small Sky Island had originally been researching some fossils, but today, they welcomed a true ancient person.
“I think this creature was probably a pack-living small carnivore. Look here, these sharp fangs should’ve been able to easily tear through the flesh of its prey, and the claws would let them latch onto the backs of their prey.”
“I agree. And look here, I think they may also have been scavengers…”
The scholars of Ohara studied many different fields. Some had shifted to researching Pokémon, but others still insisted on exploring the original history.
These fossils had been brought back by pirates from a Prehistoric Island. This animal had already gone extinct even on the Prehistoric Island itself, much less in the outside world. Seperated by sea, it made the history of every island unique, giving them considerable research value.
But listening to their debate, Barro felt as if his worldview was being shattered.
“Those are the bones of a Karlri Flying Squirrel. They mainly eat nuts, but they’re actually omnivorous and also hunt small animals.
After skinning them, they taste delicious when roasted over open flames. They’re not some imaginary small predator you people made up…”
Barro recognized the bones at a glance and immediately rejected the scholars’ conclusions. He had originally intended to quietly observe, but their research truly left him unable to tolerate it.
“A Lunarian? May I ask who you are, sir…”
Seeing Barro arrive, the scholars of Ohara were not particularly suspicious. They already knew there were Lunarians here. The current Beasts Pirates had not hidden much from them; after all, they had even been invited to the Divine Blessing Ritual.
So in response to Clover’s question, Barro briefly introduced himself. But afterward, he noticed a problem; the way these scholars looked at him had become strange. It was not rejection or curiosity, but “greed.”
The next moment, a crowd of scholars swarmed around him.
“Um, excuse me, may I ask what your textile techniques were like back then? How did you produce fabrics?!”
“What were your eating habits like?!”
“Sir, please answer my question first! Why were the houses from that era shaped like this? Did these totems have some special meaning?!”
A group of scholars noisily crowded together. Barro had just made a mistake; he had directly stated his identity, that he was someone from eight hundred years ago, revived in this world through Arceus’s great power.
There was nothing inherently wrong with that. The people of Ohara already believed in Arceus’s immense power. The problem was that these people were archaeologists.
No evidence could possibly be more convincing than a living ancient person standing before them. They all hoped this ancient person could answer their questions.
“Enough!”
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