Hearing this, the members of the Roger Pirates all fell into deep thought.
Only Cobra still looked completely confused—what the hell was all this?
Pluton? Uranus?
Laugh Tale? I've never even heard of that!
Davy D. Jones, at least, sounded familiar—but wasn't he just a figure from legends? A pirate cursed by the deep sea?
How could a fictional character from a story be recorded on a Poneglyph?
Soon, Rayleigh was the first to speak:
"Based on the seven Poneglyphs we've already gathered, combined with what this one describes, we can now basically confirm some things."
"That's right. In an even more ancient era, the world wasn't like it is now. Instead, there was a vast supercontinent, along with several large landmasses and numerous massive islands," Gaban nodded.
"And during that era, there existed a highly advanced kingdom called 'Laugh Tale.' That nation possessed technology so advanced that even now it's beyond reach. Its innovations benefited the entire continent," Roger added.
Then Valthior continued:
"Many of the nobles in that country bore the initial 'D,' and were known as the 'D Clan.' Just like Davy D. Jones."
"Tch, looks like my ancestors were nobles too, huh? Ahahahaha!" Roger suddenly burst into laughter, his brain taking a wild turn.
But clearly, neither Rayleigh, nor Gaban, nor Valthior had any intention of humoring him.
After thinking for a moment, Shakky said:
"The king of Laugh Tale was chosen through a council from among seven great noble families. One of those elector families, the David clan, ascended to the throne during that era… So the final king of Laugh Tale was Davy D. Jones?"
"If the Poneglyph's records are accurate, then that should be correct," Valthior nodded. "Davy D. Jones was someone whose lust for power grew uncontrollably. During his reign, he weakened and suppressed the other six elector families with claims to the throne, eventually wiping them out. Then, relying on Laugh Tale's advanced technology and overwhelming power, he sought to conquer the entire world—to become its king, and make the David clan an eternal royal line."
"But what he didn't expect," Roger stroked his chin, "was that someone named Joy Boy escaped from Laugh Tale. To stop his ambition of conquering the world, Joy Boy became the first pirate in history. He traveled across the seas, gathering allies to oppose Davy D. Jones. The so-called Twenty Kings of today were probably among those allies, right?"
During the God Valley Incident, Roger had overheard a conversation between Rocks and the entity Valthior referred to as "Imu."
At the time, Rocks had asked Imu—who he feared more.
Davy Jones… or Joy Boy?
Back then, Roger hadn't understood what the name Davy Jones truly meant.
But now… he did.
That was a king who had once nearly ruled the entire world.
"Tch, we're still missing a lot of evidence, and we haven't seen the rest of the Poneglyphs yet," Rayleigh said with a smile. "But can we start making some bold assumptions now?"
"Yeah…" Roger nodded slowly. "Maybe the rough outline goes like this:
"Over eight hundred years ago, there was an incredibly powerful nation called Laugh Tale. Davy D. Jones was its king. His expanding ambition drove him to conquer the world. He suppressed opposition within Laugh Tale and established a dictatorship. This gave rise to a man named Joy Boy, who sought to stop what could have become a world-ending catastrophe.
"So Joy Boy set sail, becoming the first pirate in history. As he traveled the world, he gathered many companions."
"Among them were the so-called Twenty Kings of today. Together, they fought against Davy D. Jones—and likely won. Maybe they killed him, maybe they sank him to the ocean floor, or maybe he escaped. Either way, they won the war.
"But unfortunately, the desire for power caused this group—who might originally have stood for justice—to fracture. The traitors ended up winning, burying Joy Boy and his supporters in the dust of history. Those victorious traitors… are probably the current Twenty Kings.
"They seized control of the world… And that Imu—he might be the mastermind behind everything.
"At the same time, the aftermath of that war drastically changed the world's environment. Sea levels rose—or the land sank. Either way, within just over a hundred years, the world became what it is today."
"More or less," Valthior said after thinking it over. "But we shouldn't blindly assume everyone was simply corrupted by power. Based on what we know now, it's possible that at some point, Imu gained control over that kind of power you saw at God Valley—and secretly manipulated the other kings."
"That makes sense," Roger nodded thoughtfully.
It was now certain that Imu possessed some ability to influence or control people.
So perhaps the Twenty Kings hadn't truly betrayed anyone—maybe they had simply been controlled.
"We know about the Kozuki clan—they're from Wano, and they're the ones who created these Poneglyphs," Gaban said. "But who's this 'Lily' mentioned here?"
None of the previously found Poneglyphs had mentioned that name, so they were all puzzled.
Valthior, however, already had a guess.
He turned his gaze toward the young Cobra.
At this moment, Cobra was completely stunned.
He had just, by sheer accident… overheard an earth-shattering secret.
If this ever got out, the World Government would mince him into meat paste!
Then suddenly, something clicked in his mind. He exclaimed:
"Lily? Our Nefertari family is also descended from one of the Twenty Kings! And at that time, our ancestor was Queen Nefertari Lily!!"
Though young, Cobra was sharp.
With the Poneglyph hidden in his family's royal tomb, their historical refusal to move to Mary Geoise, and now the mention of "Lily"—
He could piece together quite a lot.
If what these pirates were saying wasn't fiction, then perhaps… his ancestor, Queen Lily, had actually stood against the current World Government?
"Do you know when the Nefertari family began ruling Alabasta?" Valthior asked.
"Of course! Since ancient times! The history of the Nefertari family has always gone hand in hand with Alabasta!" Cobra said proudly.
"Not necessarily," Valthior shook his head, his gaze deep as he looked at Cobra. "As you said, this is just my speculation. But it's possible the Nefertari family only began ruling this country over eight hundred years ago.
"Or… perhaps even earlier, Alabasta already had close ties with the great kingdom of Laugh Tale."
"Why would you assume that!?" Cobra frowned, clearly displeased.
"Because you're a 'D' too, kid," Valthior smirked. "The Nefertari family carries a hidden name. Your father definitely knows this. He must also still possess a letter left behind by Queen Lily.
"Kid… your full name is Nefertari D. Cobra."
Being told this out of the blue, Cobra found it unacceptable. He questioned, "How would you, a pirate, know any of this? Even I, as the Prince, am unaware..."
"Hahahaha!" Rayleigh burst into laughter and looked at Cobra. "Don't think you're actually more noble than him, kid. The man standing in front of you is also a descendant of the Twenty Kings.
"And not just that—he's the heir of one of the Five Elders' families, one of the highest authorities in today's World Government. His name is Jaygarcia Valthior. If you'd like, you can call him Saint Valthior."
"That's right!" Roger added proudly. "He's also the supreme cultural authority of our great Roger Pirates—Scholar Valthior! The secrets he knows are far beyond anything you can imagine, you little brat!"