Barro, traveling alone, had no need for ships or other means of transportation. What he needed were maps of the local countries, Log Poses leading there, and information on their current conditions.
The Twenty Kings who founded the World Government had, in later years, stopped promoting their own kingdoms and instead concealed them, completely separating themselves from their original nations.
The only kingdoms that could be confirmed were Alabasta and Dressrosa, and on present-day Onigashima, there just happened to be someone who had visited both countries and understood them fairly well—Nico Robin.
Barro did not intend to waste much time here, which meant everyone else had to work through the night. Arceus had always favored the Lunarians, so this kind of overtime work was inevitable.
“Excuse me, Sir Barro. Lord Arceus sent me to hand over the detailed information.”
Not long after, the person assigned to meet him arrived at the room where Barro was resting. But upon seeing who it was, Barro’s heart twitched instead.
“You couldn’t possibly… also be from Ohara, could you?”
“How did you know that, sir?”
“I met a woman earlier who looked a lot like you, just with different hair color…”
“Oh, that was my mother, Olvia.”
“Can I request someone else instead…?”
Barro was beginning to fear these researchers a little. Facing them gave him an urge to retreat.
“That’s not impossible, but among the Beasts Pirates, no one understands these two kingdoms better than I do. I can save the most time.”
Robin was not exaggerating. Perhaps Doflamingo understood Dressrosa more deeply, but he knew nothing about Alabasta.
Besides, Barro was not trying to learn about Dressrosa’s past. What he truly wanted to know was the Dressrosa after King Riku regained power, and in that regard, Robin was far more suitable than Doflamingo.
Faced with reality, Barro still chose the most time-efficient option.
Robin also did not excessively boast about her abilities. At remarkable speed, she summarized the information she had gathered and brought over several other items.
“This is Onigashima’s Eternal Pose. These are the Eternal Poses for Alabasta and Dressrosa. This is a map of Alabasta, with the locations of the ancient ruins marked on it.
“If possible, though, please help me fill out a questionnaire. You only need to check the answers.”
Robin had previously explained plenty of detailed information and was now organizing and packing things away. She did not even use the powers of the Flower-Flower Fruit, deliberately slowing down the process.
Since it was merely a questionnaire, Barro did not refuse. Thanks to it, Robin was finally able to confirm some historical information she had previously been uncertain about. Of course, most of Barro’s answers were simply “unknown.”
He was an ancient person, not an encyclopedia of ancient history.
Early the next morning, Barro bid farewell to Arceus and the others before flying off alone into the distance.
Meanwhile, in Wano Country, another rumor had begun spreading—the matter of Kuzan’s reward.
“Did you hear? Lord Arceus is planning to grant Boss Kuzan an ability.”
“Who doesn’t know about something this big? He was already a Logia user, and now he’s been deemed worthy of receiving power bestowed by Lord Arceus. He’s definitely going to get even stronger.”
“Who knows? All I know is that Tesoro’s already a dual Ability User. At this rate, there might be another one soon. Speaking of which, I remember the Quake-Quake Fruit was brought back by Oni Princess, and a few days ago Boss King also brought back two extremely powerful fruits.
“If we work harder too, maybe we’ll get a chance someday.”
Several pirates discussed the events soon to take place on Onigashima, with some openly revealing their ambitions.
“That empress from Kuja should probably get something too, right? She contributed a lot earlier.”
“And there’s Boss Who’s-Who and the others. One Garp ended up benefiting so many people. He really is quite the ‘hero.’”
“Hahaha! If the Marines heard that, they’d die of anger.”
The title of Marine Hero had instead become a joke among them, carrying absolutely no intimidation whatsoever.
“Speaking of which, will Boss Kuzan become a Calamity directly? Or stay as he is now? I think he could definitely shoulder the title of Calamity.”
“Maybe. Even if he doesn’t become one of the All-Stars, he’d still be a top senior officer like Lady Shayna. But if he really does become a Calamity… would he be the Ice Calamity?”
“Maybe it’ll be the Cold Calamity. Frost Calamity or Snow Calamity sound pretty fitting too.”
“Your naming sense really isn’t that great. I still think Ice Calamity sounds the best.”
According to the usual process, becoming a Calamity was supposed to happen step by step, but Kuzan’s previous résumé and his current achievements were both outstanding. Even if they made an exception for him, no one would really complain. Strength was the foundation of everything here.
Pirates interested in the matter gradually headed toward Onigashima, though their numbers were nowhere near as high as during the previous Divine Blessing Ritual. So many territories required oversight that the Beasts Pirates could not possibly remain concentrated on a single island at all times.
Meanwhile, something rather unusual was happening inside the Udon Quarry.
The Marines and pirates had always been hostile forces. Not only on the seas, but even inside prison, that mindset would not change.
Normally, the prisoners in Udon did not care about who the newcomers were, and Marines were rarely sent here in the first place. But this batch of prisoners was different.
“Hohoho! The guy frozen in that block of ice is Garp, right? My old pirate crew was wiped out by him. And now he’s become a prisoner just like me. That’s really exciting.”
“Isn’t that pink-haired brat the Marines’ new hero? The Marines are really useless, both of their heroes got thrown in here together.”
Mining was far from easy work, so these pirates often found ways to entertain themselves.
The imprisonment of Marines was a huge joke to them and had already spread throughout the entire prison.
Regarding what they were doing, Babanuki did not care. But anyone who failed to complete their daily quota would get beaten severely. This was a prison, not a vacation spot, and human rights meant nothing here.
“I’ve got another piece of news. Apparently, that pink-haired brat held them back, and that’s why Garp got captured.”
“Speaking of the pink-haired guy, where is he? I haven’t seen him.”
“Him? He went to help that jinx work. Pretty gutsy of him.”
There was only one person in the mine who could be called a jinx—Kozuki Momonosuke. Because of the conflict between Hiyori and him, anyone who dared help him would be targeted by the prison guards.
Later, after Doflamingo spoke with Kozuki Hiyori, she realized she needed to give Momonosuke a tiny bit of hope. Only by letting that hope build up before crushing it could the best results be achieved.
After that, no one knew what Kozuki Hiyori did in private, but Momonosuke finally gained a faint glimmer of hope. That did not mean, however, that Udon’s attitude toward him would change.
The premise of exchanging labor for food was completing the assigned workload for the day, and that workload was already Momonosuke’s absolute limit. Before Koby arrived, no one had dared help him.
Only when Koby saw a child doing such heavy labor did he, as a fellow prisoner, feel pity and choose to help Momonosuke with his work.
For a time, Koby’s image became much loftier in Momonosuke’s eyes.
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