On the Moby Dick, Newgate held Gram's Vivre Card in one hand. Its edge was burning slightly. In his other hand, he held a Den Den Mushi.
"This time I really lost big. I lost a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, brother," Gram said helplessly from the other side.
Newgate replied calmly, "You're already lucky to be alive after fighting the Roger Pirates, Gram."
As for the Mythical Zoan, Newgate didn't care much. For pirates, taking from others or being taken from was normal.
"What about Zunesha? Should I keep following it?" Gram asked.
Newgate thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No need. If we meet again, we'll see. I'm not interested right now."
He had just finished a long fight with Shiki. He wanted some rest, not another big battle with Roger.
In fact, Newgate was a pretty easygoing pirate. As long as you didn't bother him, he wouldn't bother you.
After hanging up, Newgate tucked the Vivre Card away. Sitting on his "throne" on the deck, he looked at a figure not far away: Marco.
Newgate was very fond of Gram's son. Although the boy was a bit rowdy right now, he was undeniably clever and possessed great talent. One day, he might grow into a pillar of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"If you want an ability, wait until you're a bit older and go find one on the sea..." Newgate murmured to himself, letting the thought fade.
...
On the other side, the Oro Jackson finally caught up to Zunesha's back leg.
On the deck, Spencer looked at the giant leg, which was like a pillar reaching the sky. He said helplessly, "How are we supposed to get up there? Tie the ship to its leg and climb?"
"Are you joking? Look at that height. Climb?" Doringo looked at him like he was crazy.
Valthior suddenly looked at Sunbell, who had just climbed out of the sea.
Sunbell noticed and asked, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Haha, nothing. Just looking," Valthior said awkwardly.
Zunesha's height was almost like the Red Line. Hearing them talk about climbing made Valthior think of Fisher Tiger.
Not long ago, he saw news about that guy in some small newspapers. It said he was exploring the South Blue.
He probably wouldn't be caught and turned into a slave anytime soon.
"If we can't figure it out, we leave some people to guard the ship. The rest can try climbing if they think they can," Rayleigh suggested, then looked at Roger.
But Roger wasn't listening. He had his head tilted, like he was hearing something. His brows were slightly furrowed.
"You…" Gaban wanted to say something.
But before he could, Roger raised a hand. "Wait. I think I hear this elephant talking."
Roger could hear the Voice of All Things. It was a very rare ability. At least in this time, Valthior hadn't seen anyone else with it.
Sometimes, Roger could hear strange things—just like now.
"Opening the country? Open what country? What are you muttering about?" Roger scratched his head, then looked at the others. "unesha seems to keep repeating things like 'I have sinned' and 'open the country.' What do you think that means?"
"If you can't understand it, then forget it. No need to figure it out. Let's think about how to get up there," Rayleigh said, not caring at all as he changed the topic.
The others were the same. No one was interested in what Zunesha was mumbling.
But Valthior raised a brow, like he thought of something… "open the country." That should be about Wano.
From what he remembered, in the original story, after Zunesha heard the "Drums of Liberation," it talked about Joy Boy and then went to Wano. Later, Momonosuke said it wasn't time to open the country yet, and Zunesha left.
Putting that together, Zunesha was probably meant to help "open" Wano.
And this "opening" was likely physical. Wano was surrounded by huge walls built hundreds of years ago. Over time, rainwater filled the inside, forming an inland sea. This made Wano almost completely cut off from the world.
So when Zunesha talked about "opening the country," it was likely given a mission—to break those walls and open Wano by force.
But that didn't matter right now, so Valthior didn't say anything.
"Then let's start climbing. I'll go fir—" While Valthior was thinking, Roger and the others had already decided to climb.
But before Roger could jump onto Zunesha's huge leg, the giant suddenly stopped moving.
Then… it turned its head.
They couldn't see clearly, but everyone felt like the beast was looking at the Oro Jackson.
"Hey… it's not going to attack us, right?" Gaban grabbed his axe and swallowed.
"Even if the Oro Jackson is the best ship in the world, I doubt it could survive a hit from that," Rayleigh said, placing his hand on his sword.
Valthior thought of Jack's bad fate and swallowed. Cold air spread from under his feet, covering the deck with a thin layer of ice.
Even Roger touched Ace lightly, ready to draw his sword at any moment.
But then Roger suddenly froze, like he heard something again. He said in surprise, "Are you talking to me? Yeah, I can hear you… Hat? Oh, this straw hat? I made it myself a long time ago… D? Yes, I'm from the D clan. My name is Gol D. Roger. I'm a pirate!"
Everyone was confused at first, but quickly understood. Roger was talking to Zunesha!
Zunesha had noticed him.
These two were having a conversation.
Being able to hear the Voice of All Things, plus being a "straw hat," a member of the "D clan," and a "pirate"… it was like everything Zunesha was waiting for.
If Roger also had the Nika fruit, he would basically be Joy Boy himself.
No wonder Zunesha was excited.
"You're giving us a lift? You really are a nice guy... er, a nice elephant! Hahaha! Then I'll leave it to you!" Roger laughed in response.
Then he seemed to finish talking and turned to the crew with a proud look. "Sigh, I'm just that charming. First meeting, and I'm already friends with Zunesha. Don't worry, my friend will take us up. But I promised we won't hurt the Mink Tribe up there, so don't cause trouble!"
"We're just looking for a Poneglyph. As long as the Minks don't get reckless, we won't either," Rayleigh said with a wave.
Gaban then asked, "So how is it going to take us up?"
Valthior's pupils shrank. In a shocked tone, he said, ""It's coming... it's coming... Hey, if it doesn't control its strength perfectly, we're done for..."
Following his gaze, they saw Zunesha's massive trunk rushing toward them like a giant dragon.
It was clearly aiming to grab the Oro Jackson!
If it messed up even a little, it could crush both the ship and everyone on it.
Valthior didn't even dare imagine how strong Zunesha really was.
...
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