The ruins of the Flower Capital, devastated by the great war and yet to be rebuilt.
Robin led Sabo and the others to this place.
As they took in the sight of the flattened, scarred wasteland before them, Sabo couldn't help but recall the earth-shattering battle that had taken place here over a month ago.
"Was it here?" Sabo asked Robin calmly, Hiyori slung over his shoulder.
Robin nodded, pointing toward the ruins on the hillside.
"From one of the rooms here, there's a hidden passage. Back then, Kozuki Sukiyaki led me down through that route. The red Poneglyph of Wano Country is located in that underground chamber."
"Got it. Karasu, Lindbergh, go search for it."
At Sabo's words, Karasu and Lindbergh immediately began scouring the ruins.
Ivankov stepped forward quietly and said to Sabo, "Sabo, hand Hiyori over to me. You go ahead with your task."
Sabo didn't refuse, passing Hiyori from his shoulder to Ivankov.
The towering Kuma stood behind Ivankov, expressionless like an inanimate statue.
However, after searching the ruins for a long while, they still couldn't find the entrance to the underground chamber.
Standing atop the rubble, Sabo glanced around before suddenly leaping into the air, shouting.
"Move aside—I'll blast through the ground!"
Karasu and Lindbergh swiftly dodged away as Sabo, now midair, unleashed a devastating punch.
A torrential surge of flames erupted, forming a massive pillar of fire that shot downward like a nail piercing the ruins below.
This wasn't a named technique—just a casual strike.
Yet even this casual attack showcased Sabo's formidable mastery over the Flame-Flame Fruit.
The blazing pillar didn't scatter upon impact but instead bored straight through the ruins, plunging deep into the earth!
BOOM!
The ground shattered, layers of soil and rock collapsing.
Amid the billowing dust, the group soon spotted a broken, downward-sloping hole.
"There really is a hidden chamber. Wano Country's secrets run deep—unsurprising for a thousand-year-old nation. Let's head down!"
Sabo landed lightly and strode into the hole first, with Karasu and the others following closely behind.
Inside, they discovered a long, winding staircase descending at a steep angle.
Their footsteps were swift, yet it still took them half an hour to reach a vast, open space.
"The red Poneglyph!"
The first thing they saw upon entering was the massive, pale-red cubic stone monument placed at the center of the chamber.
Engraved upon it were ancient characters of unknown meaning.
Noticing extinguished torches on the surrounding walls, Sabo stepped forward, raising a flame from his fingertip to light them.
Soon, as seven or eight torches flared to life, the darkness in the hall was dispelled.
"Robin, we'll need your help. Please decipher this and see if it reveals the location of Pluton."
Sabo took a deep breath and smiled at Robin.
Robin nodded and approached the red Poneglyph, carefully beginning her interpretation.
Last time, they had been in a hurry and hadn't fully deciphered every word.
Kozuki Sukiyaki had only told her that the Pluton Battleship was in Wano Country but hadn't specified its exact location.
While Robin worked on the Poneglyph, Sabo and the others looked around.
Soon, Sabo was surprised to find a narrow passage, from which light was streaming in from the other end.
"What's that?"
Curious, Sabo walked over.
When he reached the end of the passage, he was stunned by the sight before him.
The passage ended at a transparent glass barrier.
Beyond the glass wall lay the dark depths of the ocean.
In those depths, enormous koi fish occasionally swam past—likely the same ones that scaled the massive waterfall in Kuri.
But what shocked Sabo the most was the sight of an entire sprawling city submerged in the dark waters, its architecture identical to that of the Flower Capital from long ago.
"Wano Country?"
The words slipped out in his astonishment.
"Correct. That is also Wano Country—but from eight hundred years ago."
Robin, still deciphering the Poneglyph, suddenly spoke up.
Sabo froze.
"Wano Country from eight hundred years ago? Robin, what do you mean?"
Robin walked over, and the others followed, equally stunned by the sight beyond the glass wall.
Standing before the glass, Robin gazed at the faintly visible structures in the water and explained:
"Kozuki Sukiyaki once told me that eight hundred years ago, Wano Country was much larger—several times its current size. Back then, its land was dominated by a towering, sky-piercing mountain called the Fuji Mountain, like a pillar holding up the heavens."
"Later, for unknown reasons, the people of ancient Wano built circular walls around the country, raising them higher and higher until the entire nation was sealed off—perhaps to fend off some catastrophe."
Robin continued her tale.
"Because of the massive encircling walls, rainwater accumulated over centuries with no way to drain into the sea. Over hundreds of years, the original Wano Country was completely submerged."
"The Wano Country we know today was built on the slopes of that pillar-like Fuji Mountain. Its people reclaimed land from the sea, expanding the nation's territory along the mountainside."
Sabo shuddered, murmuring, "So you're saying... we're inside this enormous Fuji Mountain right now? And beyond this glass wall lies ancient Wano—the land that was sealed off and turned into these deep waters?"
Robin nodded. "Yes. And Pluton is said to rest within the submerged ruins of ancient Wano. There are only two ways to free it from here!"
Sabo didn't interrupt, listening quietly as Robin went on.
"First, we could locate Pluton and drag it up from the depths of the ocean to the surface!"
"Second, break the outer sea walls of Wano Country, allowing the waters of this nation to flow into the open sea. This will reveal the ancient Wano Country and the Pluton Battleship will naturally make its appearance!"
"Break Wano Country's massive walls?"
Sabo was stunned.
He gradually realized what the enormous walls of Wano Country referred to.
It was the towering, cloud-piercing mountain range they had seen when they first arrived in Wano Country!
The mountains were thousands of meters high, and even the waterfalls cascading down from them possessed terrifying force.
Ordinary ships would be shattered to pieces by the impact of those waters.
Robin seemed to read Sabo's thoughts and quietly uttered two words.
"Zunesha."
"Zunesha?" Sabo's eyes widened abruptly before he deflated like a punctured balloon, his spirits sinking.
Zunesha was already dead—devoured whole by Caesar.
At Robin's mention of Zunesha, Sabo understood why Momonosuke, the ruler of Wano Country, had been able to command the giant elephant of Zou.
And Zou itself was a mythical beast exiled to the sea by Wano Country eight hundred years ago.
A creature of such colossal size—far taller than Wano Country's Mount Fuji—was likely the key to breaking through the nation's massive walls.
It was the key to Wano Country's opening and re-emergence into the seas of the New World.
And the key to the reappearance of the Ancient Weapon, Pluton!
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