"Hahaha! That was genuinely hilarious," Jerry couldn't help laughing once everyone had moved away from the cliff face. "I didn't expect you guys to nearly die from uncontrollable laughter."
Deuce rolled his eyes but refused to admit defeat. "Just wait—next time I'm definitely throwing rocks at whatever fishing spot you set up!"
"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed," Jerry grinned while delivering a perfect comeback. "I won't need to dig any fishing holes anytime soon."
Everyone either stood or sat on the ground, watching their verbal sparring with mild entertainment while gradually recovering from their exhausting ordeal.
After a few moments, Deuce looked around to confirm everyone had recovered and spoke thoughtfully, "Most of the inscriptions on this island are written in ancient characters..."
He paused meaningfully. "So we might have come here for nothing."
Deuce raised his hand and pointed toward a specific location. "Especially over there—there's what looks like an entrance, but we can't decipher the writing and can't figure out how to get inside."
Following Deuce's gesture, Jerry spotted an inconspicuous but substantial doorway. At first glance, the entrance appeared to be seamlessly integrated with the mountain wall itself.
After studying it carefully with his enhanced eyesight, Jerry noticed a stone tablet positioned beside the door, also covered with ancient script.
Seeing this intriguing discovery, Jerry immediately activated his Observation Haki and approached the tablet with focused intensity.
After a moment of concentration, he paused his chin-stroking and spoke with deliberate care, "Those of the D clan who possess the power of the Nika Fruit are welcome to enter. All others—people and animals alike—are forbidden."
"Eh!? The D clan? Nika Fruit?" Everyone present was stunned to hear Jerry deliver this translation so casually.
Deuce noticed where Jerry's gaze was fixed and blurted out, "You can actually understand what those characters mean!?"
"I have no idea how," Jerry shrugged with characteristic nonchalance. "That sentence just appeared in my mind the moment I looked at it."
Everyone fell silent, unable to determine whether he genuinely understood the ancient language or was simply making elaborate guesses.
Deuce pondered this revelation while pulling out his notebook to record the information. Then he pointed at the massive mountain wall and observed thoughtfully, "The material of this cliff face looks remarkably similar to the stone used for Poneglyphs, and it's also covered with ancient script."
His expression grew more serious. "Could it be that the events recorded here are also from the Void Century—that blank period eight hundred years ago?"
Hearing Deuce's speculation, Jerry swept the area with his enhanced Observation Haki.
He nodded with confirmation. "Your guess is correct. It seems to record a great war from eight hundred years ago, along with the story of a man named Joy Boy."
"Joy Boy..." Deuce tapped his forehead with his index finger and murmured with growing recognition. "I seem to have heard that name in the legends of certain races..."
He continued with obvious recollection, "Although those peoples are generally small in number, they're basically all telling stories about this particular person—waiting for some legendary liberator to appear."
Obviously, this was information Deuce had gathered during previous voyages, though he hadn't paid much attention at the time. The rumors had been vague, but he'd written them down while collecting material for his adventure novel.
"I remember Yamato mentioning that what Oden recorded in his diary confirmed Wano Country would welcome someone who would defeat Kaido after twenty years," Ace observed after long contemplation. "The basis for Oden's prediction should be here, but since we already defeated Kaido ourselves, I can't be sure whether these writings are genuine prophecies or elaborate nonsense."
Jerry smiled lightly at all this talk of liberation fighters, his tone carrying obvious disdain. "What does it matter anyway? Even if there is some destined savior, does it have to be one specific person? Are others supposed to just wait helplessly for 'him' to arrive? If 'he' doesn't come, everyone should just lie down and die? What kind of ultimate brainwashing is that?"
Jerry paused and rolled his eyes with growing suspicion. "Could this actually be... a ruling strategy employed by the World Government or other powerful groups?"
"Boss Jerry, what do you mean by that?" Skull asked curiously while still lying on the ground, apparently too comfortable to stand up.
Realizing everyone wanted to hear his theory, Jerry quickly organized his thoughts. "Well, first of all, this is pure speculation on my part. A long time ago, either the rulers of that era or someone seeking to gain power deliberately spread or promoted these liberation legends."
He gestured emphatically. "Just imagine—if legends about so-called liberation fighters spread among the masses and become accepted as truth and religious belief, what consequences would that bring?"
Everyone couldn't help but consider this question internally. Although they all had various opinions, no one spoke up, instead focusing intently on Jerry's analysis.
"I think there's nothing inherently wrong with having faith," Jerry continued, "but when it comes to personal oppression or loss of basic rights, it's definitely wrong to simply rely on outsiders or external forces to provide 'liberation' and resistance."
Jerry's expression grew more serious. "If these legends originated from the rulers themselves, once the stories spread widely, people place their hopes entirely on outsiders while ignoring their own potential and possibilities. The rulers would only need to defeat whoever the legends referred to—as long as they eliminate that person, they can rule without worry, effectively consolidating their power forever."
He held up a finger to make another point. "On the other hand, if the legends were spread by someone seeking to overthrow the existing order, then it's natural to assume they're laying groundwork among the people. Once they defeat the current rulers, they can naturally claim the supreme throne. Not only would they benefit during their reign, but even their descendants would inherit this advantage."
Jerry's voice grew more passionate. "Regardless of which side spreads these legends and ideology, once they truly take root in people's hearts and become unquestioned belief, will the people still have the consciousness to fight for themselves and resist to the bitter end?"
He shook his head with obvious frustration. "Perhaps they'll unconsciously think, 'I'm not the liberation fighter anyway, I'm not the legendary someone—resistance is futile, so what's the point?'"
Jerry caught himself before continuing a particular train of thought. "Just like a certain large guy from the Revolutionary Army. He has incredible ability but does nothing productive, always thinking about... ahem!" He realized he was getting sidetracked into complaints and shut his mouth.
After everyone digested his lengthy philosophical discourse, Deuce spoke first. "What you're saying does make logical sense, but not everyone is so rigid and inflexible, right?"
"As we all know, the World Government has ruled for eight hundred years," Jerry replied while scratching his ear. "I don't think I need to elaborate on that track record, do I? Of course, I'm just speaking casually here. After all, I've never played political games and have no interest in them."
Deuce felt something was both right and wrong about Jerry's analysis, but couldn't quite identify the issue. He could only shake his head slightly before returning to his rapid note-taking.
At this moment, Carrot—who had been scratching her head in obvious confusion—seemed to finally remember something important. She raised her right hand and asked, "Big Brother Jerry, is that Nika Fruit related to the Nika that little Bonney mentioned before?"
Jerry glanced at the ancient text covering the mountain wall and replied simply, "Possibly."
After his Observation Haki had broken through and upgraded, not only had his original abilities increased dramatically, but he'd also gained the capacity to "listen to all things" and adaptively translate unknown languages.
Therefore, Jerry now did have a general understanding of what the ancient script meant, though he needed to express it through his own vocabulary and interpretation—which could make his translations either remarkably accurate or contain significant deviations.
"We're definitely not the ones this place was waiting for," Ace observed while looking up at the sky, his words carrying obvious implications.
"It doesn't matter," Jerry replied with casual dismissal. "We can explore freely regardless." After saying this, he glanced calmly at a shadow lurking beneath the cliff face, swung his fishing rod over his shoulder, and turned toward the river.
Ace looked once more at the mountain wall and sealed entrance, shook his head with apparent resignation, and followed Jerry's lead. "Wait for me! I'm getting hungry!"
"Want to take another look around?" Jerry asked without stopping, pulling out a banana to toss over.
Ace caught the fruit and responded while eating, "No thanks—I've seen everything I wanted to see."
"Alright then, let's go fishing together," Jerry declared, throwing a spare fishing rod in Ace's direction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGaruda
You'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~