Grand Line, Enies Lobby.
This was the second time Taro had come to this place since the Buster Call.
Last time he visited, Taro never imagined that this would be the setting of the legend "Dark King destroys an island with a single shot."
Therefore, he hadn't paid much attention to the terrain of Enies Lobby,
but this time, he had come specifically to investigate.
Garp had mentioned that Vice Admiral Tsuru might have something for him, which made Taro feel a sense of urgency, leading him to head straight for Enies Lobby.
Currently, Enies Lobby was very small; of the entire area, only the fan-shaped Front Island could still be considered an island.
This part still had land support beneath the sea surface and served as the main gate of Enies Lobby.
The Main Island, connected to the Front Island, was suspended in mid-air above a bottomless abyss, with the Courthouse standing upon it.
Finally, there was the Sub-Island leading to the Gate of Justice via the Bridge of Hesitation, which housed the Tower of Justice, a symbol of "fairness and justice."
However, that was in the past!
Ever since the Straw Hat Pirates crew stormed Enies Lobby and the Marine launched another Buster Call, the island had effectively been destroyed.
The World Government seemed to have given up, tearing off its mask of "justice" and showing little interest in rebuilding Enies Lobby.
In view of the global situation after the Marineford War, Marine Headquarters took the opportunity to reduce the number of Marine Soldiers on the island.
Now, the scale of the garrison on the island had shrunk from over ten thousand at its Peak to around two thousand today.
Taro circled above Enies Lobby for a long time. This time, looking with intent, he indeed discovered some clues.
He had once seen a map of Fish-Man Island; its overall shape was like a round cracker with a bite taken out of it.
And that missing bite seemed to perfectly match the Front Island of Enies Lobby.
Enies Lobby was now surrounded by a circular waterfall. That missing part... hmm... was Fish-Man Island the part of Enies Lobby that had been blasted into the sea by Dark King back then?
If that were the case, then the "original" Enies Lobby was once the home of the Fish-Man Race?
Before being blasted by Dark King, the Fish-Man Race originally lived on the surface!
So, for thousands of years, the Fish-Man Race has had a deep obsession with returning to life on land?
Taro was a bit bewildered.
If the Fish-Man Race originally lived on Enies Lobby,
why would the Mermaid Princess need to make a promise with Joy Boy from the Giant Kingdom?
The logic doesn't hold up!
After pondering for a while longer, Taro felt that the timeline might need to be re-evaluated.
Because the Void Century lasted for a hundred years.
A hundred years is very long for ordinary humans—long enough for many things to happen!
Perhaps Dark King blasted Enies Lobby into the sea within the first few decades of the "Void Century," and that's why the Fish-Man Race could only live on the seabed?
And it was only after this that the promise between Joy Boy and the Mermaid Princess occurred?
The Giant Kingdom and Alabasta also shared a deep connection, so the Sand Country and Fish-Man Island should both have been part of the Giant Kingdom's faction.
Alabasta was also deeply connected to Dark King, yet Dark King fired a shot at Enies Lobby, where the Fish-Man Race—allies of the Sand Country—lived... What on earth was with this series of nested operations?
Was Alabasta an undercover agent? Or did they defect?
Was there internal strife within the Giant Kingdom's faction?
Taro thought it was very likely!
Because Alabasta suddenly switched sides to the World Government and became one of the original 20 nations after the Void Century ended.
Tsk, Alabasta is a key player!
No wonder Lord Imu suddenly became wary of Vivi.
It seems that Cobra's action of asking about the truth of history during the World Conference touched a sore spot for Lord Imu!
After scouting from the air for a long time, Taro dove down toward Enies Lobby!
This descent from the sky caused a brief commotion on the island; a shrill alarm blared twice before abruptly stopping.
The current garrison commander of Enies Lobby was a Marine Commodore. Upon recognizing the visitor as Taro, he halted the garrison's overreaction.
"Chief Staff Officer Zhou Ze, your sudden arrival at Enies Lobby is...?"
The Commodore stepped forward and gave a military salute.
Enies Lobby originally fell under the jurisdiction of Marine Headquarters. After Akainu moved the headquarters to the New World, it was taken over by Vice Admiral Momonga of Base G1.
Since he wasn't Taro's direct subordinate and Enies Lobby wasn't Taro's jurisdiction,
the Commodore cautiously addressed Taro as "Great Staff Officer."
Taro didn't recognize this man, but he felt the man's veiled attire looked somewhat familiar.
However, Taro could hear the restraint in the Commodore's tone and returned the salute.
"Don't be nervous, I'm not here on official business this time!"
"By the way, how should I address you?"
The Commodore saluted again. "Reporting to the Great Staff Officer, I am Shu of the Marine Headquarters, a Commodore under Vice Admiral Momonga!"
Taro thought for a moment but still couldn't recall who this person was, so he simply nodded.
"Commodore Shu, I'm just looking around. Is that alright?"
Hearing this, Shu assumed Taro had come on behalf of Headquarters for an inspection and quickly replied,
"Of course, Great Staff Officer. After you!"
A group of Marine Soldiers puffed out their chests and stood straight, saluting Taro in unison.
Taro felt a bit of a headache; he returned the salute and gestured to them before saying,
"Go back to your duties!"
Having said that, he walked further into the island.
Commodore Shu followed closely behind, beginning to introduce the progress of Enies Lobby's reconstruction, its defenses, and so on.
Taro had little interest in these things and responded half-heartedly.
If he hadn't been worried about causing a panic, Taro would have dived straight down from the air to investigate.
"Great Staff Officer, the edge is very dangerous. You..."
Taro walked quickly. After entering the Main Island, he stepped right over the guardrail at the island's edge and looked down. This move terrified Shu.
"Commodore Shu, what is down there?"
Taro watched for a while. Enies Lobby was an Island of Never-ending Daylight. Beneath the circular waterfall, as far as the eye could see, it was bright, yet the bottom was nowhere in sight.
Shu was stunned and shook his head. "This subordinate does not know..."
"Ah, Great Staff Officer!"
Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Taro leaning further and further until he fell straight down, causing him to cry out in alarm.
After falling several dozen meters, Taro hovered in mid-air and shouted up to Shu, who was peeking over the edge,
"No need to panic, I'm just taking a look! Go about your business!"
With that, he descended a bit further, moving beneath the Main Island.
Even at this depth, Taro still felt nothing unusual—not even the sound of whistling air currents.
Everything seemed frozen!
This was, in fact, the greatest anomaly!
He moved closer to the edge of the waterfall and reached out his hand.
"Splash, splash, splash..."
The seawater washed directly over his hand.
"Hmm, it's normal seawater. So why doesn't it flow outward? Instead, it falls straight down without kicking up a single spray?"
Taro thought for a moment and continued to descend.
He fell for a long time, yet still felt no surge of air. His surroundings remained bright, and the ocean current showed no change!
Holy crap, I've descended at least several thousand meters and still haven't seen the bottom. What the hell is down there?
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