It was late at night, and the people of the village went back to their homes to rest. Lacs, who stood guard at the entrance to the village, finally fell asleep because he was too tired from the day's fighting.

Maya walked over and put a blanket over him. Then, walking in front of Lacs, quietly, down the stairs that stretched out of the village.

Nami had been keeping an eye on Maya's movements. After that, she walked towards the altar.

Frankie and Chopper fall asleep in the open with blankets back to back - Chopper also switches to the "fur strengthened" form, which is more fluffy and warmer.

At the altar, the relief of the shrine maiden has been destroyed, but some of the reliefs carved around the earthen platform that look like historical picture books have been left.

Nami took out the phone bug, took a picture by moonlight, and sent it to Robin, an off-site aid who had been in contact for a long time.

Soon, Robin's interpretation reached her phone bug:

The three princes, the shrine maiden, the moon, the bat, and the prayer ......

……

"Wha!"

"Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck!"

Luffy and Sanji, who screamed at the same time and "Uncle Ryu's Triple Company", shuttled back and forth in the cave, and finally stopped in front of a cave wall overgrown with glowing plants.

"Wha! It's so interesting! ”

"Idiot! What's interesting?! ”

Sanji couldn't stand this inexplicable situation at all, and even completely immersed in the atmosphere of an amusement park.

"Huh? What's going on over there? ”

Suddenly, Luffy seemed to see something.

At the fork in the road of a slightly wider cave, a stone monument stands.

"Hey, Sanji, how should this be read?"

"This ...... It's a 'giant gate', right? ”

Sanji read with some uncertainty - it wasn't that he couldn't even recognize words like Luffy, but he didn't know why there was such a stone tablet here, and why there were such words engraved on the stone tablet.

(Giant Gate...... Huge doors? ）

"Hey! Sanji! Look over there! ”

If you look in the direction Luffy is pointing, you can faintly see the night sky illuminated by the bright moon. Without any hesitation, the two of them ran over excitedly amid Luffy's cheers.

"Export, ah——!"

However, the only sights of the two people who rushed outside were the clouds and the moon, and a tower towering deep in the forest, and all that was left was the trees of the forest everywhere.

"Hmm...... It's outside, but where is it? If you can't go back to everyone, it doesn't make sense! Forget it, just run in the opposite direction from the place just now! ”

"Hey!"

Luffy, who was extremely excited, returned to the cave again, and Sanji had no choice but to continue to follow him back.

……

Fireflies fluttered.

An old castle is reflected in the lake in the dense forest where the Merry docks. And by the quiet lakeside, Maya was standing on the altar, staring blankly at the sky.

The seven stars of Azkar shine in the sky.

"What the hell is good! I ......"

Maya suddenly fell to her knees weakly, her hand clutching a chain made of jade.

Looking at this tearful girl, at this time there was only a relief of the shrine maiden carved on the altar.

Whimpering quietly, Maya called out the name of the person she was missing.

"Forgive me...... Saka ......"

……

Luffy and Sanji, who returned to the cave, continued to move forward while dodging the complex and dangerous traps in the cave, and after a while, they saw a stone tablet carved with similar words as before, but this stone tablet was more dark red as if it had been soaked in.

“emmmm…… I still don't know you at all! ”

"Well, it should be a 'greedy wolf', right? Greedy wolf? What do you mean? ”

Sanji didn't have the confidence to read the words engraved on the stone tablet - if Admiral Zefa was here, he would definitely blow up this kid's "dog head", because if there was only a separate "giant gate", it might not be easy to say, but when the "giant gate" and "greedy wolf" appeared at the same time, it was very clear what they had learned in theory class as students of the elite class of the navy.

And looking at this situation, not long after Sanji graduated, he had already returned a lot of knowledge to these teachers......

Of course, Sanji didn't have the heart to think about the meaning of these stone tablets and the words on the stone tablets at this time, because what was waiting for two people outside was still a tall tower in the dense forest.

"Is it another strange tower?"

Sanji suddenly realized that when he jumped down the cliff before, he didn't notice these two towers at all—but at this height, it shouldn't be......

"Nami——! Chopper ——! Are you around? Frankie ——! ”

Luffy shouted loudly, but no one answered at all.

“emmmm…… Then we'll go back! ”

After Luffy finished speaking without any sense of fatigue, he walked into the cave in high spirits.

After an unknown amount of time, after experiencing all the traps that seemed to be in the cave, such as quicksand hell, long spears raining, rolling rocks, etc., Luffy and Sanji finally came to the front of another stone tablet.

"It's 'breaking the army', probably...... But there's always a sense of foreboding......"

Sanji frowned and read the words on the stele.

"Oh! The exit is over there! ”

"You idiot really have the strength to be so alive all the time."

Although he was not physically exhausted, Sanji, who was already mentally exhausted, walked behind Luffy in a leisurely manner.

It's finally out.

"Oh! Find another one! ”

“…… Really. ”

Sanji sat cross-legged in front of the third "broken army" tower, and looked at the tower seriously.

The sky was already white, and it was about to dawn.

"I've been looking for this kind of thing for a long time...... It's a lot of concern. ”

"Hey, Sanji, I'm hungry."

As if there were three clicks of "knock", "knock", and "knock", Luffy was caught off guard and hungry.

The sun rose in the east, the sides of the tower began to be illuminated little by little, and all the creatures of the forest rose to the sound of the birds, and the night finally receded completely.

……

Naval Dojo.

Bathed in the meager sunlight of the morning, the assembled naval soldiers were already lined up neatly in the naval dojo with their hands behind their backs.

Besmarck - An "Iron Knight" wearing armor both offensively and defensively.

Bukangu - Possessing unrivaled strange powers, the pirates who hated him from his appearance of carrying two maces gave him the nickname "Captain Orangutan".

Then, Thoma, though still very young, earned him a reputation as the "Swordsman of Light".

Standing behind these three people is the Navy Master Saka, who defeated Luffy in yesterday's round, and he is standing on a high platform, inspecting the sailors downwards.

On Saka's waist, he wears a pendant like Maya, a girl from the village.

And then, Roronoa Zoro, stood silently beside Saka.

"It won't be long before the moment we look forward to is coming!"

Saka began his speech.

The Navy soldiers, like silent robots, stared at Saka on the high platform in unison.

"At that time, I, Saka, will grant you invincible strength! It is neither law nor order that determines good and evil in this world, nor God! What is it? It's power! Strength! ”

"A strong man with power is an all-powerful being, and he can dominate the world! The winner with power is the real justice! O my soldiers! ”

Saka's voice was high.

“………”

Sauron was still silent, and there was no reaction - theoretically, the content of Saka's speech, words like "dominate this world", were completely beyond the scope of a naval swordsman, but more like a dictator's speech, with Sauron's personality and three views, it was impossible to be so indifferent.

But—this also seems normal, after all, from the time Toma told him that Luffy was eliminated by Saka, until now, Zoro has not reacted at all - this in itself is the biggest abnormality.

Saka pulled out his long sword, the ornament on the sword's body, and suddenly flashed with a bewitching light, and the pair of fangs that seemed to be absent had become very clear.

"With me, for true justice!"

Saka raised his sword above his head.

From his body, there seemed to be a heart-stirring fluctuation - the eyes of the robot-like naval soldiers, nay, even the entire heart and soul, seemed to be sucked into the vortex of this ominous light.

"Let's use our own strength to cut a new world!"

Behind the gorgeous words of pursuing a better world, Saka's eyes were full of a strange murderous aura.

The naval swordsmen also drew their swords, responding to their master with the dazzling light of the tip of the sword held high above their heads. Besmarck, Bukanggu and the others screamed loudly - the atmosphere of madness had dominated the entire naval dojo.

At the same time as everyone clanged their knives against each other, and the silence showed that unusual enthusiasm, the body of Saurongu beside Saka shuddered and his eyes widened.

"I called you here to fulfill my ideals, Zoro."

Saka was the first to say this.

"Ideal?"

Sauron's voice was both stunned and annoyed, but he still didn't move, not even his gaze moving in the slightest.

"That's right! When the day of the Red Full Moon comes, that's when my dreams come true! I'll keep you awake to witness all this! ”

The silent and strange frenzy of the naval soldiers had no intention of stopping at all, and the seven demon stars on the long sword held in Saka's hand, the pair of scarlet fangs, continued to resonate with the fluctuations emanating from his body.

On the other side, the three orbs that Sauron threw into the dry well also began to vibrate, as if in response to the power on this side.

Boom......

The three orbs in the well vibrated and rolled into the deeper water at the bottom of the dry well, smashing the darkness like a bottomless pit with a muffled sound.

……

Nami, Chopper, and Frankie are eating breakfast around a table in the village square. Chopper devoured the dishes on his plate, which were simple but full of gratitude from the villagers, and were the best they could ever get their hands on.

"Isn't the wound painful anymore? Mr. French? ”

"Hahahaha, super I was already moving freely yesterday, Miss Maya! Look, look! ”

Frankie posed in his trademark bodybuilding pose, and while the damage to the modified part of his body could not be repaired completely because he didn't make it back to the ship, he was now able to do "just look miserable" thanks to the tools he carried with him.

Seeing that Frankie was in good spirits, Maya, who was pouring morning tea for everyone in a bird-shaped teapot, also showed a bright smile.

"After eating, you can go out of this island!"

As with yesterday's advice, Maya's mother-in-law came to the crowd again and spoke, and Lax followed.

What was originally a friendly dining table was suddenly surrounded by a solemn atmosphere.

"If Luffy and they, oh no, all of our buddies hadn't returned, we wouldn't have left this island, would we?"

Chopper said.

"Those two people can't be lost on the way to find Zoro, well, absolutely! And Luffy must have been happy to consider it an expedition! ”

Chopper is a little surprised by the old woman's unapproachability, while Nami holds her chin thoughtfully, and Frankie is sure to reason.

"So, as soon as you find your partner, ...... immediately"

"Is that how you want to get us out, mother-in-law? Still don't believe us? ”

Chopper took a deep breath and stared at the old woman, "Is it because we are pirates?" ”

"Not so! It is precisely because of trusting you and thanking you for your dedication that my mother-in-law will let you leave quickly for your sake! ”

Lax stepped forward as well.

"Hey, how do you say that if we don't leave, we're going to die?"

Frankie tilted his head.

"You must have heard the legend of the Seven Star Sword before you came to this Askar Island, right?"

Although her face was already full of wrinkles, the old woman's eyes were not cloudy like those of the elderly, but were extremely clear, staring at Nami deadly.

"Well, because Nami loves treasure!"

"Chopper! Don't say these irrelevant things! ”

Nami angrily warns the little humanoid reindeer.

"Is that really the case?"

"The Seven Star Sword, or the legend of this island, is not as simple as the treasure legend you imagined."

(End of chapter)