After enduring the absurd welcoming ceremony, their conversation quickly moved on to business.
The technology Wobbegong wanted to learn were not difficult for Queen to explain. After arriving in Wano alongside Kaido, Queen had continued his virus research while also studying local technologies.
Although the country was isolated from the outside world and possessed its own unique culture and customs, its technologies remained highly advanced.
After all, throughout the seas, ancient technology was one of the hardest things to replicate.
Through his research into ancient records, Vegapunk had also managed to “revive” certain technologies.
Whether it was the energy capable of powering Ancient Weapons, robots with self-awareness, or the ability for inanimate objects to consume Devil Fruits, all of these were fundamentally technologies originating from the era of the Great Kingdom.
For this world to achieve technological progress, it requires more than just a scientist—it also needs an archaeologist.
“I see… By adjusting the composition of the P particles within Seastone in this manner, you can increase its ‘concentration,’ thereby strengthening its suppressive effect on Devil Fruit users…”
The P particles referred to PYROBROIN, a unique substance that exists only in this world. Not only is it found in large quantities within Seastone, but it is also present in the oceans, rivers, and even clouds.
However, the amount of P particles normally found in water droplets is too low to affect Devil Fruit users. It is the immense concentration contained within Seastone that forms the basis of its ability to suppress Devil Fruit powers.
“Alright. Wobbegong is always like this. Once he starts studying research materials, he gets completely absorbed and can’t spare attention for anything else for quite a while.
“Now then, what exactly did Kaido want the Boss’s help with? You can tell us, can’t you?”
“No rush. Boss Kaido will handle this matter personally once he returns. He’s a very busy man these days. There are many things that require his direct attention.”
Originally, Alber had been able to share part of Kaido’s workload. Although Alber’s personality was similarly extreme because of his past experiences, he was actually quite capable when it came to handling everyday affairs.
Now that Alber was gone and Queen frequently displayed his unserious side, Kaido naturally couldn’t rest easy. With no one else available, he could only handle everything personally.
Queen had informed Kaido that Sebastian and the others had arrived. Although Queen often seemed ridiculous, he genuinely possessed exceptional scientific ability and combat strength. If one ignored the process and only looked at the results, he was capable of getting things done.
Before long, Kaido returned to Onigashima.
“Sebastian, so it was you who came? I thought Nereus would make the trip himself. This is quite an interesting matter.”
“Boss doesn’t have time to run around everywhere. The apprentice from back then is now the captain of his own pirate crew. Times really have changed.”
“Worororo! A lot of things have changed. Be sure to tell Nereus that once I’m done with matters here, I’ll go visit him and catch up.”
When Kaido had been recruited into the Rocks Pirates, Sebastian was already one of Nereus’s veteran subordinates. In terms of seniority, Sebastian was actually older than Kaido.
Sebastian’s own strength was quite respectable, and in Kaido’s eyes he was far from a nobody. Coupled with the towering figure of Nereus standing behind him, Kaido naturally paid no mind to such things.
“Catch up? Are you planning to challenge Boss too?”
“Worororo, is it really that obvious?”
“Recently, there’s already been someone like that. That brat Bullet from Roger’s ship. But that guy is even more naïve. He doesn’t understand the Boss’s strength at all.”
A naïve and ignorant brat—that was Sebastian’s evaluation of Bullet. He had never witnessed Nereus fighting at full power and was simply imagining things based on Roger’s statement that Nereus was stronger than him.
“Bullet, huh? I’ll remember that name…”
Kaido’s thoughts at that moment were roughly: What kind of person thinks he’s qualified to do the same thing as me?
His desire to challenge Nereus came from acknowledging the latter’s strength. Even now, Kaido knew there was still a gap between them.
For Bullet to be doing the same thing as him was reason enough for Kaido to want to fight him.
“Alright, enough about that. As you can see, this place is still under construction. During the construction work, my men discovered something unusual underwater.
“So I’d like you to investigate and find out what’s down there.”
The construction of Onigashima was still unfinished. Construction projects could be seen throughout the area.
According to the reports his men had brought back, whatever lay beneath the water might be related to a Poneglyph.
A full year had already passed since Roger’s execution, and Roger’s unprecedented voyage had been completed two years ago.
The pirates of Paradise and the Four Seas still had no idea how to reach Laugh Tale. For them, simply surviving long enough to arrive in the New World was already a challenge.
But the pirates of the New World, especially people like Kaido and Big Mom, who had sailed for many years and possessed their own intelligence networks, had managed to gather fragments of information.
To achieve that goal, they first needed to find the Road Poneglyphs. At the very least, they knew that much.
That was why Kaido had sought Nereus’s help after discovering clues pointing to one.
Investigating underwater objects was as easy as reaching into one’s pocket for a Fish-Man, especially in the relatively calm inland seas of Wano Country.
After Kaido indicated the approximate location, Sebastian completed the investigation in a short time and reported his findings.
“A Road Poneglyph?”
“Yeah, that’s what it is. Want me to make a rubbing of it for you? Or just bring it up?”
“No, not yet. I’ll wait until I’ve found the other stones before having them translated. As for now… let it continue sleeping quietly underwater.”
If he made a copy of the text, he would have to worry about someone stealing it. Since Kaido hadn’t gathered all of them yet, obtaining just this one wouldn’t solve anything.
Simply knowing what was down there was enough. Without the help of a Fish-Man or Merfolk, nobody could secretly remove it from its current location.
Leaving it there provided a natural anti-theft measure. At the very least, it wouldn’t end up like Charlotte Linlin’s, which had been directly “stolen.”
As for whether a Fish-Man might do such a thing…
Nowadays, any Fish-Man with even a little fame served under Nereus. And if Nereus truly wanted to do something, Kaido knew he couldn’t stop him anyway, so there was no point hiding anything from Sebastian.
The people accompanying Kaido and Sebastian were all trusted subordinates. Kaido had no intention of making this information public.
For the time being, he intended to classify the matter as a Beasts Pirates secret. All that was needed was to assign a few trustworthy men to keep an eye on the sea above.
At that moment, however, a pirate wearing a horned headpiece ran over.
“Governor-General Kaido! A pirate crew has entered Wano Country by coming up the outer waterfall! They’ve already reached the Ringo region!”
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