Above a stormy sea whipped by fierce winds and rain, a merchant ship sailed steadily through the towering waves. Though the ocean raged around it, the waves seemed to dissolve into nothing whenever they neared the vessel, as if repelled by an invisible force.
"Is this… your doing?" Nico Olvia asked, sitting beside Sakura and lifting her coat to shield the girl from the rain.
"Nope! This is a ninja technique~" Sakura replied with a playful grin, her delicate face lighting up as she maintained the寅 (Tiger) hand sign, steadily channeling chakra.
A week had passed since Sakura boarded the ship. After revealing she was a former crew member of the Pirate King, the scholars on board had warmed up to her considerably. During their journey through the harsh weather of the West Blue, she'd taken the opportunity to train in chakra nature transformations.
Her chakra aligned closely with what she knew from the original story: Water, Earth, Yin, and Yang releases. Training her Water Release, with its fluid properties, was especially fitting in this pirate world surrounded by endless seas.
"Your identity is such a mystery," Nico Olvia said, studying Sakura's face. "One moment a pirate, the next a ninja. Got any other secrets up your sleeve?"
"Uh, I don't think so?" Sakura replied, hesitating slightly, her tone uncertain.
As the two chatted, a scholar emerged from the cabin carrying a tray of freshly cooked food.
"Hey, lunch is ready! Come and eat!" he called.
Sakura's eyes sparkled, but her excitement disrupted her chakra flow. The protective barrier around the ship faltered, and a massive wave slammed into the vessel, rocking it violently.
"Ah!" Sakura gasped, her emerald eyes dimming as she watched the food get swept overboard by the wave.
"Sorry about that," she mumbled.
"Haha, no worries, no worries!" the scholar laughed, ruffling Sakura's hair. Other scholars joined in, comforting her.
"Seriously, Sakura's way better than Seaton!" one teased.
"Oi, you looking for a fight, Teme?" another shot back.
"Ugh, you barbarians. Are you really scholars?" a third chimed in.
"Shut it, Leif, you scholar's disgrace! Today, I'll personally rid Ohara of you!" another roared.
The group of scholars bickered and laughed on the deck, their spirits high despite the perilous storm. These were people who had long since cast aside fear of death, united by their pursuit of forbidden knowledge. They sailed to reclaim ancient memories—twisted, diluted, and rewritten by time—for the sake of their children's future and the whispers of history that had yet to be fully silenced.
"This is one heck of a ship," Sakura said, touched by the scholars' camaraderie without realizing it.
As men of the sea and learned scholars, their "exchanges" carried on late into the night. Exhausted, they collapsed across the deck in a chaotic sprawl.
Full and content, Sakura curled up inside the cabin, wrapped in a blanket Nico Olvia had given her, and drifted into a deep sleep.
---
The next day…
"Dr. Nico, look at that!" a voice shouted from outside the cabin, waking Sakura.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she heard the creak of waves against the ship's hull and the cries of seabirds. Stretching with a yawn, she pushed open the cabin door and saw an island stretching endlessly before them.
On the island, colossal relics lay abandoned in a wilderness of beasts. Giant forests hid unyielding spirits, and a massive, awe-inspiring temple stood as a testament to the traces of something enormous that had once existed here.
"These are… creations of the Giant race!" Sakura exclaimed.
Even in the pirate world, teeming with strange races, only the Giants could have built and used structures of such exaggerated scale.
"Yes, this is what we set out to find," Nico Olvia said, her gaze distant as she reached out toward the massive relics.
For her husband's legacy, she had left her two-year-old daughter to chase the truth of history across the seas. Now, with both the interpreter and the text within reach, how could she not be overwhelmed with emotion?
"Wait, aren't you looking for the Void Century? What do the Giants have to do with it?" Sakura asked, recalling the ancient ruins where she'd obtained her Devil Fruit, and the apologetic words inscribed there.
"According to Ohara's research, after a great war ended, an ancient Giant clan called the 'Great Hammer Legion' was tasked with building a massive ship," Nico Olvia explained. "This voyage is about tracing their footsteps, to fill in the gaps in our understanding of the Void Century from their perspective."
As Nico Olvia spoke, the weathered merchant ship slowly approached the island. Once Uncle Seaton dropped the anchor, the scholars rushed off the ship, racing toward the distant temple.
"The West Blue's hiding a place like this? Hasn't the World Government tried to erase it?" Sakura asked, walking through the jungle alongside Nico Olvia, her Observation Haki scanning their surroundings.
"Instead of destroying relics hidden across the world, isn't it more efficient to just go after the people?" Nico Olvia replied, her brows furrowing with disdain.
It was clear the scholars of Ohara had faced their share of persecution from the World Government.
Suddenly, a red flash crossed Sakura's vision as her Observation Haki detected multiple lifeforms approaching rapidly.
"Hey, stop! Something's coming!" Sakura roared, halting the group of scholars, who quickly drew their weapons and stood on guard.
Boom!
Giant claws tore through the forest, sharp fangs splintered massive trees, and the "masters" who had guarded this ancient temple for years now loomed over the tiny humans with feral eyes.
"Monsters!" one scholar stammered in panic.
Giant apes, mammoths, black wolves, massive snakes, polar bears—each beast's enormous form crushed any hope of resistance.
"Sakura, run!" Nico Olvia shouted, her pupils constricting and sweat beading on her forehead as she reached for the girl beside her.
But Sakura, who should've been standing there, was nowhere to be found.
"Oh? So you guys were left here to guard this place?" Sakura's voice rang out from a distance.
The scholars, fleeing in terror, turned to look.
Somehow, the petite girl had already neutralized the threat.
The giant ape held her gently in its palms.
The black wolf sat obediently, letting her pat its snout.
The polar bear offered her a pawful of honey to share.
Even the mammoth and giant snake stood beside her, swaying as if sharing some ancient tale.
"Huh?!" The scholars' jaws dropped, their eyes nearly popping out.
Moments later, at the entrance to the massive temple…
"Bye-bye!" Sakura waved cheerfully as the giant beasts turned to leave.
"You're one surprise after another, kid!" Nico Olvia said, half-exasperated, as she grabbed Sakura's face and lifted her off the ground.
"Ugh, is that the point? Shouldn't we be exploring the temple now?" Sakura whined, her dangling feet kicking as her cheeks were squished.
"You're right. It's time to listen to the voices in the silence," Nico Olvia said, releasing Sakura.
With that, she strode forward, stepping into the darkness of the temple.
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