The next day, news of one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile, secretly scheming to seize control of a World Government–affiliated nation,
only to be "coincidentally" exposed and slain by the bounty hunter Hunter, spread across the seas with the release of the latest issue of the World Economy News.
The paper gave a detailed account of Crocodile entire plan, along with several decisive pieces of evidence. This left the World Government with no way to twist public opinion in his favor.
And since the Warlords had always been mercenaries to the Government, with Crocodile already dead and his crimes laid bare, the World Government naturally saw no reason to waste resources clearing his name.
Instead, they quickly distanced themselves, claiming complete ignorance and blaming everything on Crocodile own schemes.
In their official newspaper, they even issued a commendation to Sherwin for his act of "upholding justice"…
It was more or less like those situations Sherwin remembered from before he crossed over, when some scandals were dismissed as the fault of "temporary workers." Only this time, the World Government most likely really hadn't known.
The captain of the Alabasta Kingdom royal guard, Igaram, and the fifteen-year-old Princess Vivi, also addressed the citizens at the first opportunity, confirming the truth of the report.
As for King Cobra, who they claimed could not appear due to illness, he was actually leading Sherwin and his companions to the royal tomb where the kings of Alabasta had been laid to rest.
With the sound of ancient mechanisms grinding open, a section of grass deep within the tomb slowly split apart, revealing a staircase that descended into the depths below.
"Waaah… what a deep hole, meow!"
Klee Meow stretched her neck to peer down the stairway that seemed to have no end, blurting out something that nearly made King Cobra heart leap from his chest—
"If I tossed a Jumpy Dumpty bomb down there, it'd be super fun, meow~"
Sherwin, however, understood her way of thinking. When he was a kid, every New Year or holiday, he and his little friends had also loved throwing firecrackers into holes and pits of all kinds, even down the openings of sewer manholes…
Looking back now, it was a miracle that none of those mischievous brats ever got into real trouble.
"Don't worry, King Cobra. Klee just saying it. She actually very well-behaved."
Sherwin comforted King Cobra while lifting Klee Meow, who was still craning her neck to peer downward, and placed her onto his shoulder.
"That right, that right, Klee is super well-behaved, meow!"
The little ragdoll nodded her small head in strong agreement.
"Uh-hehe… everyone, please, follow me…"
Cobra let out two dry chuckles, decisively skipping over the part about blowing up his ancestors tomb, and led the group (and cats) downward.
They descended the long staircase, passed through a vast underground palace, pushed open a massive stone door large enough for a giant to enter, then walked down a not-so-long corridor, until finally arriving in a hemispherical stone chamber.
There were no excess furnishings inside. Aside from simple carvings on the walls and dome, the only thing within was a massive square monolith placed at the center of the room, its surface engraved with ancient script.
"This is the True History our Nefertari family has guarded for generations. As for the exact contents recorded upon it—no one knows anymore."
King Cobra introduced solemnly, carefully avoiding any mention of "Pluton."
For various reasons, both to Morgans and to Cobra, Sherwin group had concealed the fact that Crocodile, while plotting to seize the Alabasta Kingdom, had also been searching for Pluton.
Thus Cobra had no idea that Sherwin and the others already knew this True History was connected to the ancient weapon.
And furthermore…
He didn't seem to know that Robin could actually read the ancient script?Sherwin thought carefully—when the World Government issued Robin bounty, they hadn't said anything about her ability to read Poneglyphs.
In fact, the charges were simply "the destruction of six warships" and being "the surviving demon of Ohara who sought to bring ruin to the world." They hadn't mentioned at all that she could decipher the ancient language.
But that kind of cover-up only worked on ordinary people who didn't know much about the matter.
For forces like the Four Emperors, who had studied the Poneglyphs, they could more or less deduce the truth from Robin identity and the World Government bounty.
"So this is… the True History…"
Robin stepped forward, gently brushing her hand across the inscriptions. Since the day she escaped from Ohara at the age of eight, this was the first time she had once again come into contact with the ancient script and the True History.
"Wait! You can actually read those words?!"
Cobra panicked at once. He had wanted to step forward and stop her, but when he considered the difference in strength between the two sides, the leg he had moved faltered and retreated.
"Surely you don't believe Crocodile went through all that trouble—building Baroque Works and weaving countless plots—just for Alabasta, a country where over ninety percent is desert, do you?"
Sherwin sneered, shattering King Cobra last shred of illusion. "The ancient weapon was his true goal. The Alabasta Kingdom was just collateral."
Then he added calmly, "But we're not like him. We have no great interest in ancient weapons. Robin only wishes to uncover the truth of that missing hundred years."
"…The orphan of Ohara, then…"
Cobra only seemed to recall Nico Robin background at this moment. He cast a slightly suspicious glance at Sherwin, but said nothing further.
Sherwin didn't care about the suspicion at all. He had already explained himself—whether Cobra believed him or not didn't matter.As for whether Cobra would spread this matter...
Since Robin had already boarded the ship, Sherwin had long prepared himself for the day her identity would be exposed. Until then, however, he would still try his best to "hide" her.
"Sherwin, come help meow!"
Haibara Meow, crouched at the corner of the Poneglyph, waved her paw at Sherwin.
Both Haibara Meow and Purah Meow, the two research Felynes, had rushed over as soon as Robin began reading the Poneglyph.
They seemed intent on chipping off some fragments for study. But after struggling for quite a while, they hadn't even managed to scrape off a speck of dust.
Sherwin himself was quite curious about the material used in the Poneglyph. Back before he crossed into this world,
there had been a widely held theory—that the stone recording the Poneglyphs was unbelievably sturdy, practically indestructible, with the reasoning being that not even the World Government could destroy them.
But if the stone was truly that hard, then how had the Kozuki clan ancestors managed to carve words into it in the first place? With the bizarre abilities granted by Devil Fruits, finding a way to damage the stone shouldn't be all that impossible.
Even if it truly couldn't be destroyed no matter what, the World Government could at least collect as many of them as possible and stash them away in the Celestial Dragons treasury or inside Imu Flower Room.
That why Sherwin actually leaned more toward another theory—that the World Government simply couldn't be bothered.
Though this theory made their actions seem contradictory, even foolish... but honestly, was the world of pirates lacking in illogical stupidity?
While grumbling furiously in his heart, Sherwin walked up beside the two Felynes, and then...
Sherwin pulled out his Hunter knife.
Even if the Poneglyphs in the pirate world truly possessed indestructible properties, Sherwin Hunter knife carried the same attribute.
In that case, it would come down to a contest—whether the rules of the pirate world or the Monster Hunter world were stronger.
Wrapping Armament Haki around the Hunter knife in his hand, Sherwin slashed down hard against the Poneglyph.
Clang!
For the first time in a long while, Sherwin experienced the familiar sensation of "blade deflection" just like in the inherited memories.
He carefully checked both the Poneglyph and the knife in his hand… neither had suffered the slightest damage.
"Tch, why didn't the miners pickaxes from the Hunters come along with me too?" Sherwin clicked his tongue in mild regret, then tightened his grip on the Hunter knife and began charging power—
Monster Hunter Style · Scarlet Heaven End (knife version)!
CLANG——!!!
This time, he finally managed to carve out a tiny notch in the Poneglyph…
As expected, the thing wasn't truly unbreakable. Its hardness was simply astonishing—far surpassing even that of seastone.
Shaking his slightly numb arm, Sherwin looked at his still completely undamaged Hunter knife and nodded in satisfaction.
Sure enough, his golden finger was still the more reliable one!
At the request of Haibara Meow and Purah Meow, Sherwin swung his Hunter knife several more times against the Poneglyph, striking ding ding dang dang sounds as he went.
In the end, he only managed to chip off a few fragments no bigger than grains of sand.
Cobra and Robin looked like they wanted to speak several times, but in the end neither of them said a word.
After all, despite Sherwin efforts, he had only managed to shave off a tiny corner. The text engraved on the Poneglyph remained completely intact.
After finally knocking off just enough fragments to barely satisfy the two Felynes research needs, Sherwin rubbed his chin in thought for a while, then suddenly pulled out his Hunter Handbook…
He had overlooked something earlier. As one of the pirate world unique "specialties," standing on the same level of notoriety as Sea Kings and Devil Fruits, the Poneglyphs might very well occupy a place in the compendium.
Sure enough, on the very last page of the Handbook, where it had previously been completely blank, a new section appeared: the Record Book.
The page displayed thirty boxes in total, each labeled with a number. The frames of boxes one through four were marked in red, while the sixteenth box was lit up.
Sherwin tapped the sixteenth box with his finger, and the page shifted to display the contents recorded on the Poneglyph before him… still written in the ancient script, untranslated.
Sherwin didn't really care that he couldn't read the Poneglyph, but after flipping through it for a while, he realized there was no fragment of a Summon Ticket to be found.
He vaguely recalled that in the game, the Record Book rewards were mostly decorative items—statues and the like, just for decorating your own room…
Given his golden finger stingy personality, there was probably no chance of getting Summon Ticket fragments.
If it could at least reward him with a talisman or a jewel, Sherwin would already be thanking the heavens.
There was actually another possibility—that after the carvings were completed, some kind of Devil Fruit ability had been used to permanently reinforce the stone.
The kind that wouldn't disappear even if the user died or if the Poneglyph was soaked in seawater. For example, Boa Hancock petrification persisted even after her death.
But for his setting, Sherwin decided to treat the Poneglyphs as nothing more than exceptionally hard stone.