Chapter 58: Aqua Laguna? The Only Answer!
Water 7 at night was as bustling as ever.
A group of revelers, arms slung over shoulders, chattered loudly as they headed to their next drinking party.
Meanwhile.
"Tap!" "Tap!"
The man wearing a rat-faced mask carried two rope-bound packages in his hands, walking along the streets of Water 7.
But the revelers passing by seemed completely oblivious to him.
"Buzz!"
Without a sound or presence, the man passed straight through one of the revelers.
"Door-Door Devil Fruit. What a convenient ability."
At this moment, Loy, beneath the mask, was sighing with emotion.
And on the light screen in his vision, the origin of this scene was silently explained.
[Door-Door Devil Fruit Level 3 - Can open a door to an alternate dimension and hide within it, while still possessing a view of the outside world.]
That's right.
After obtaining the Door-Door Devil Fruit, Loy decisively strengthened this extremely useful Devil Fruit to Level 3.
In this way, he had also completed his original objective in coming to Water 7.
"As long as there's enough time, Rat can meet with the main body, bringing other Clones, to refresh their status without anyone knowing."
This single gain was already enough to satisfy Loy.
So the question is—why did Rat appear at the 'Water Buffalo Bar' earlier?
There were two reasons.
"As I suspected, the Door-Door Devil Fruit's alternate dimension is shared."
This was the first reason—a shared alternate dimension meant that Blueno might discover Loy's secret, so he had to die.
And besides that, the second reason was...
"This Clone's next plan still requires your heads."
Murmuring softly, Rat looked ahead.
Unknowingly, he had already reached the edge of Water 7.
Before him were surging ocean tides.
Yet Rat's footsteps showed no sign of stopping.
He stepped into the ocean, surging waves beneath his feet.
But those countless waves could not affect Rat in any way.
This was the powerful aspect of the Door-Door Devil Fruit—within the alternate dimension, he would not be affected by anything in the outside world.
Then, until a certain moment...
"..."
Rat finally stopped his steps.
"According to the coordinates Mr. 4 gave, it should be around here."
He looked at the ocean before him—no islands, no research facilities.
The vast sea remained empty.
Just as Mr. 4 himself said—if he hadn't experienced it personally, he probably wouldn't have believed there was an island nearby.
In fact, Rat felt the same way.
He originally didn't believe he could actually find that research facility.
However, things were different now.
"What a coincidence."
Rat sighed, pulling a piece of paper from his sleeve.
"And it just so happens that the intelligence brought by these two CP9 agents recorded something interesting."
In fact, Rat, who had originally only gone to the Water Buffalo Bar to kill Blueno, hadn't expected to coincidentally encounter Fukuro and Blueno exchanging information.
Of course, Rat hadn't held much hope for that box of intelligence either.
After all, he knew that Blueno and the others' biggest objective for lurking in Water 7 was the 'Pluton blueprints'.
As for information about Pluton, Rat couldn't say he knew nothing at all, but he could also say he knew everything.
So, in his opinion, the probability of that box of intelligence being useful to him was small.
But the facts exceeded his estimation.
After flipping through that large box of intelligence, although most of the information in it was indeed worthless to him.
There was, however, a single page that he found quite interesting.
[Government and Marines Personnel Entry/Exit Records for Water 7 - Year - Sea Circle Calendar 1503.]
[Sea Circle Calendar 1503, April: Marines Colonel Doberman traveled to Water 7 to repair a warship, staying for 3 days.]
[Sea Circle Calendar 1503, May: CP9's action vessel traveled to Water 7 for routine maintenance, staying for 1 day.]
[Sea Circle Calendar...]
On this page, within a seemingly ordinary record from 14 years ago...
[Sea Circle Calendar 1503, July: DR. Vegapunk and his mechanical assistants traveled to Water 7 on a 'special scientific vessel' for scientific research and investigation.]
[Due to the 'Aqua Laguna' having just entered its ebb tide period, the special scientific vessel went adrift in the southern seas of Water 7. The Government dispatched five warships to search for a month without success. Finally, after the Government sent a high-ranking official to take charge and direct the search, the stranded DR. Vegapunk was successfully found in the nearby sea.]
Yes—on this page of intelligence, Rat saw the name 'Vegapunk'.
And the content within was quite interesting.
"Adrift for a month in the southern seas of Water 7."
The coincidence lay right here—the sea area where he was currently, the sea area Mr. 4 spoke of, was in the southern part of Water 7!
And if he ignored the description 'adrift', Rat could even summarize what this intelligence recorded into another sentence.
"Vegapunk once went missing for over a month near Water 7, with the Marines unaware of his whereabouts!"
This was why he had come here.
If his conjecture was correct, the month Vegapunk went missing was spent at the research facility on the small island Mr. 4 spoke of.
Then, this intelligence held immense significance regarding the location of that research facility.
Especially the most crucial words within it.
"The ebb tide period of Aqua Laguna."
Rat murmured softly.
Aqua Laguna is a super-large scale tidal wave that regularly strikes Water 7 every year.
Its origin is unknown, but its power is akin to that of gods, hence its name.
Aqua Laguna arrives around June each year and gradually recedes and disappears in July.
And due to the tidal and current influences brought by Aqua Laguna, the entire sea area near Water 7 undergoes corresponding changes at that time—thus, June is called the 'flood tide period' in Water 7, and July is called the 'ebb tide period'.
During these two months, the sea area near Water 7 is extremely dangerous.
Ships entering the vicinity of Water 7 during the 'flood tide period' are very likely to be swallowed by tidal waves due to rising sea levels.
Ships entering the vicinity of Water 7 during the 'ebb tide period' will be engulfed into the depths of the ocean due to the receding tide.
Only after the ebb tide period passes will the sea surface of Water 7 return to its original calm.
"Vegapunk arrived in Water 7 at the beginning of the 'ebb tide period', then went 'adrift' in the sea for a month, precisely when the ebb tide period ended."
"Mr. 4 said that when he encountered the Sea Peril, he also faced an enormous tidal wave, and the time was late June—so that tidal wave should have been the last 'Aqua Laguna' of that year."
"And after the Sea Peril, the time happened to enter July, Aqua Laguna entered its 'ebb tide period', which is why Mr. 4 survived and saw that small island."
This was too coincidental, so much so that the truth was almost laid bare.
"There is only one answer."
Murmuring softly, Rat tossed the two heads in his hands into the alternate dimension.
Then, he gently raised his hand.
"Creak."
The crisp sound of a door opening came, and he opened the door.
The salty sea breeze entered his nostrils, and Rat's gaze fell upon the sea surface below.
Then, without hesitation, he leaped down!
He believed the answer he had found.
"That is a small island that only appears during the Aqua Laguna period, when sea currents are extremely unstable."
"It arrives in the shallow sea with the 'flood tide period', appears on the surface during the 'ebb tide period', and then disappears after Aqua Laguna ends."
"The only explanation is that the island, from the very beginning... was in the sea!"
(end of chapter)