Kozuki Sukiyaki felt his soul tremble with terror. He didn't know where Shiki had come from, but he realized this man could take his life in an instant.
Sukiyaki did not possess the same backbone as Oden. His body went limp, and just as he tried to escape through a secret floor passage, his body suddenly stopped obeying him.
The surrounding air seemed to come alive, lifting his body into the void and dragging him outward until he was face-to-face with Shiki. His body was bound by an invisible force, forcing him to confront the pirate.
"What... do you want to ask?" Sukiyaki stammered.
"The Ancient Weapon is in Wano, isn't it?"
?!
In that split second, Sukiyaki's pupils dilated. "What... did you say?"
"Looks like I asked the right question." A smile spread across Shiki's face.
The expression on Sukiyaki's face right now was a glaring billboard screaming: How did you know?
"Tell me where the Ancient Weapon is. I'll spare your life. Your son won't have to die, and neither will your people."
"If you don't speak..."
"What... what do you want with an Ancient Weapon? It is not a good thing."
"Whether it's a good thing or not, is it the place of an old fossil like you to say?" Shiki said coldly. "You have only one path: lead me to Pluton!"
"Doing things so crudely all the time won't work."
Beltz descended again and spoke: "Where do you think the successive Shoguns of Wano would hide something as important as an Ancient Weapon?"
Hearing this, Shiki's smile widened. "You mean, it's right here in this very place?"
If it had been guarded by Shoguns for generations, the safest place would naturally be the Shogun's Palace where they resided!
!
Sukiyaki looked like a man whose soul had been laid bare. His face was grim, and he was even more shocked to realize that even Oden had fallen to this man.
Was it possible that the secret Wano had guarded for eight hundred years was going to be leaked in his generation? But his life and the fate of Wano were in Shiki's hands; he was helpless.
"I... understand. I will take you there."
"Wouldn't it have been better to start with that?" Shiki finally released Sukiyaki, letting him drop back to the floor.
Sukiyaki steadied himself and first asked: "What happened to Oden?"
"Don't worry, he's fine. He's just locked up," Shiki said. "If you can prove your worth, I might consider releasing him."
"I hope... you are a man of your word."
Sukiyaki sighed. In truth, he didn't hold much hope. Wano had natural barriers that even the World Government couldn't breach, yet he never expected it to be broken one day by this blonde man.
Ideally, the Shogun of Wano should be a master of martial arts, but in his generation, the previous Shogun only had him as an only son. Thus, regardless of his martial prowess, he was destined to succeed the title. He hadn't trained rigorously, finding more interest in crafting dolls and blades instead.
He regretted it now. If he had trained hard since childhood, he wouldn't be so easily handled by Shiki. But it was too late for regrets. When Kozuki Oden fell to this man, Wano no longer had any military force capable of resisting Shiki.
He led Shiki and Beltz to the secret passage within the Shogun's Palace and began the long descent.
"How long do we have to walk?" After descending for a significant amount of time, Shiki couldn't help but ask. "Are we going underground?"
"Exactly," Sukiyaki replied. "However, when you see it, it might not be what you imagine." He sighed. "Because I have only heard that Pluton is there; I have never actually seen it myself."
"Oh?" Shiki was curious. This made it sound like things weren't as simple as they seemed.
Eventually, they reached the very bottom of Mount Fuji. There, they saw... the ocean!
"Seawater?" Shiki asked. "What is this? Why is there a city inside the seawater?"
"This is the Wano of eight hundred years ago," Sukiyaki explained. "It was so long ago that I am not entirely clear on the details, but eight hundred years ago, Wano was not on a mountain, but at the foot of it."
"Then one day, as if to defend against something, the people of Wano built massive mountain walls on both sides of Mt. Fuji. They moved to the top of the mountain, creating the Wano we know today."
"The Wano of eight hundred years ago was submerged by continuous rainfall. It is said that the Ancient Weapon Pluton lies dormant within it, but I have never seen it, let alone been able to bring it out for you to see."
"..." Shiki stared at the city within the seawater, lost in thought.
Sukiyaki glanced at Shiki's expression. Seeing nothing unusual, he tried to continue: "To retrieve Pluton, one must destroy the mountain walls surrounding Wano. But if that happens, the natural barrier protecting Wano will vanish."
If the walls were destroyed, the water accumulated in Wano would flow out, allowing them to search for Pluton below. One couldn't exactly go searching through a submerged ancient city right now.
But the mountain walls were Wano's natural defense. For hundreds of years, Wano's safety relied on them. It was only now, encountering someone like Shiki who could fly an entire ship through the sky, that pirates were able to invade!
"That is a bit troublesome," Shiki said. "Even if I could pull the water out, there is just too much of it here."
One of the most broken aspects of Shiki's Float-Float Fruit was the ability to manipulate seawater. This was an invincible ability when dealing with pirates, especially those who had eaten Devil Fruits. But manipulating seawater was indeed more taxing than manipulating stone. Furthermore, the volume of water below was immense; draining it wouldn't be a short-term task.
"The most important thing right now is to confirm Pluton's location," Beltz reminded him. "We are both Devil Fruit users, so we must let those who haven't eaten one go look."
"Once Pluton is found, we can make further plans."
Shiki nodded and asked: "What do you think about destroying the mountain walls?"
"My view is that even if we find Pluton, there's no rush to activate it," Beltz replied. "Destroying the walls means the World Government's armies will have an unobstructed path."
He was gratified that Shiki asked this. it proved Shiki had taken his previous words to heart. He had told Shiki before that the World Government wasn't as simple as it looked. Besides the Navy and the Celestial Dragons' own forces, there was an "Ultimate being" hidden away—even Rocks was no match for that "Ultimate being."
In the past, Shiki wouldn't have cared about such things; he would have thought only of breaking the walls and taking Pluton. It was a pity both of them were Devil Fruit users and couldn't personally verify Pluton's location.
"Makes sense. Let's confirm Pluton's location first." Shiki turned to leave.
Sukiyaki breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, these two didn't insist on breaking the walls immediately to liberate the Ancient Weapon. This meant there might still be a chance to turn things around.
Returning to the surface from the secret passage, Shiki immediately gathered his subordinates. He found a few trusted men who hadn't eaten Devil Fruits, were good swimmers, and sent them down to search for Pluton.
At the same time, he had Sukiyaki step out to disperse the samurai who had come to "protect their master" due to the commotion at the palace. Although Sukiyaki wanted to cry for help, Kozuki Oden had failed—what could the other samurai do? This group was clearly a powerful pirate crew from the outside, not something Wano could handle. He could only hope they were men of their word: that once they found Pluton and took it away, they would leave.
Shiki and Beltz took the men back to the bottom of the mountain. He let the swimmers dive into the sea, searching for traces of Pluton among the ruins of Ancient Wano.
"Have you considered another problem?" While waiting, Beltz and Shiki sat on the stairs. Beltz asked Shiki a question.
"What?" Shiki said. "Spit it out."
"Since it's a weapon, is it possible it might malfunction? It's an eight-hundred-year-old weapon, after all; it's bound to have some issues."
"..." Shiki was somewhat speechless. They hadn't even found Pluton yet, and this guy was already worrying about repairs. "If it's broken, we fix it."
"What about the energy source?" Beltz asked again. "From what I know, Pluton is a battleship capable of destroying an island with a single shot."
"A ship like that definitely requires a massive amount of energy to operate. Is the energy left over from eight hundred years ago still sufficient today?"
"What are you trying to say?" Shiki asked bluntly, sensing an underlying point.
"My point is, there's no rush to pull Pluton out," Beltz said. "Taking Pluton out is effectively telling the World Government you have a weapon that threatens them, forcing them to hunt you down at all costs."
"At that point, you'll have the Ancient Weapon but won't know how to use it, and it might have numerous hidden defects that work against us. So, my view is to conduct research first. Once the timing is right and everything is ready, then we retrieve Pluton."
"..." Shiki frowned slightly, carefully considering Beltz's words.
The logic was sound, but preparing perfectly... who knew how much time that would take?
"Until then, use Wano as a base to expand your influence," Beltz continued. "Forget the World Government—the Roger Pirates are still out there, as are the remnants of the Rocks Pirates. None of them are easy to deal with."