A massive broadcast screen lit up above the Flower Capital, and countless Den Den Mushi across Wano relayed the voice to towns and villages through their smart snail networks.
"Today, Wano will abolish its policy of isolation!" Kozuki Oden shouted proudly, his orange kimono swaying in the breeze. "From this day forward, our gates will open to the world, and our country will stand as part of it! The towering waterfall that has long protected us, the barrier that sealed us from the sea—it will soon be gone!"
His excited words spread across the land, amplified by the relay Den Den Mushi. In every town, citizens stopped what they were doing, staring in disbelief at the images on the screen.
"Beneath our feet lies the vast, ancient Wano!" Oden continued, his voice brimming with passion. "When the waterfall recedes, we will stand once again on the land of our ancestors. Those who wish may remain in the present Wano, but those who yearn may descend and rebuild the ancient land below! That land will be the frontier where Wano meets the world!"
He raised his voice higher, full of fire. "The harder you work, the more you'll gain. The more you dedicate yourselves, the more land you'll claim in ancient Wano! Together, we will carve a glorious tomorrow!"
The warriors and common folk gasped at his declaration. Generations of isolation were being swept aside in a single speech. For the poor and landless, Oden's words were irresistible: new land, the right to trade with outsiders, and the promise of prosperity.
"There will be earthquakes in the coming days," Oden warned. "This is only the echo of Master Brook's work as he tears down the giant waterfall for us. Endure this small trial, and beyond it awaits a tomorrow filled with freedom and light!"
The crowds roared, spirits ignited. Stubborn nobles who dared object soon found their souls ripped away by Charlotte Linlin, their corpses enslaved by the Shadow Demon, Abefu. None dared follow their example.
Abefu himself was restless. In the northern cemetery of Ringo lay the remains of countless powerful warriors, buried with their blades. Shimotsuki Ryoma's corpse and the black blade Shusui rested there. If only the Shimotsuki family resisted Oden, Abefu would have the excuse he craved: to seize those corpses and swords for Brook.
But the Shimotsuki clan stood loyal, and Abefu's hunger would have to wait.
As Oden's proclamation spread, anticipation and anxiety swept through Wano. Some feared the earthquakes and the loss of the waterfall's protection. Others trembled with excitement at the prospect of reclaiming their ancestral land.
Underground, Redfield carefully lifted the crimson Poneglyph and carried it out of the secret chamber. It was soon secured aboard the golden ship, where he began deciphering it under Brook's command.
That night, the Hell Pirates feasted. Amid the laughter and clamor of the banquet, the captains debated how best to break apart the waterfall wall.
"Should we use Newgate's Tremor-Tremor Fruit?" someone suggested.
"Or Vegapunk's super-bomb prototype?" another offered.
Brook raised his cup and laughed. "We strike all at once! Newgate will quake the earth. The golden ship's electromagnetic cannons will thunder. We'll even fire the Pluton-imitation cannon. Every one of you—show the world your strength!"
He waved his hand dismissively. "As long as the seastone quarry survives, the rest can be rebuilt. The people of Wano will carve their future with their own hands. Pluton must rise within two days, so Vegapunk and his scientists have time to awaken it. A useless battleship helps no one."
"Understood, Captain!" the cadres bellowed.
"The god of the sea, Pluton!" one roared. "An ancient weapon that can sink an island with a single strike! Once it is ours, no one—not even the World Government—will make us bow!"
Excitement surged. None slept that night, whether pirate or citizen. The air was thick with anticipation.
··
Deep within the golden ship, in the captain's cabin, Brook sat cross-legged, listening. Antonio, his most trusted intelligence officer, bowed low before him.
"Brother Brook," Antonio said with barely contained excitement, "I finally found the island you asked about—Egghead! The scouts call it an island of the future, filled with broken machines and abandoned robots!"
Brook's eyes gleamed. "Robots? So the island really exists."
Vegapunk, summoned to the room, leaned forward eagerly. "An island of machines? My homeland is called the Future Kingdom, but even we have never seen such things. Tell me everything."
Antonio produced several photos. "The Seagull Newsbird confirmed it. Our expedition teams found fragments of steel giants scattered across the island."
Brook studied the images. Shattered arms of iron, rusted visages, hollow eyes that once glowed. He exhaled slowly. "Yohoho… Vegapunk, that island is no vision of the future. It is the past. A relic of the great kingdom that stood nine hundred years ago."
Silence gripped the room.
"What…? That far back?" Vegapunk whispered. "Robotics—already advanced in that lost age?" His mind reeled. He, hailed as a genius, had barely scratched the surface of what these fragments hinted at.
Brook's tone grew grim. "Who else do you think forged the ancient weapons? Who else could create war machines powerful enough to scar the world? Without vast industry and science, Pluton, Poseidon, and Uranus would never have existed."
He clenched his fist. "During the Void Century, the World Government erased the name of that kingdom and shattered its technology, dragging the world back into wooden ships and crude iron. They buried the truth so deep, only fragments remain—steamships, submarines, half-ruined designs found on forgotten islands."
Vegapunk trembled with awe. "To think… nine hundred years ago, they already had this level of science. Robots, flying ships… Perhaps even Gundams!" His eyes burned with obsession. "I must study everything. Every last piece."
------------
The design blueprints of Pluton had long been studied. With the aid of the Three-Eyed Tribe's Tianmulan and several historians, fragments were translated into a modern version. Vegapunk had poured years into the research.
But even with his genius, the current age lacked the rare resources and advanced industry required to fully replicate the ancient weapon. At best, he managed to construct a crude imitation—an incomplete, low-grade Pluton forged from Adam Wood.
Now, for the first time, they were about to witness the original. Vegapunk could hardly contain his excitement, and neither could the scholars and scientists Brook had lured into his ranks. To them, following a pirate had opened doors the World Government had always kept locked.
This was beyond their wildest dreams.
By dawn, after the Hell Pirates finished their breakfast, countless citizens crowded along Wano's beaches. They had heard Oden's proclamation. Today, the waterfalls would be torn down, the inland sea would drain, and the ancient Wano would rise again.
Besides, to stay inside their homes was dangerous. The tremors could topple fragile dwellings. Better to stand beneath the open sky and witness history.
"Set off."
Brook's calm order echoed across the fleet. The flying armada swept over Wano's inner waters and soared toward the edge of the colossal waterfall.
Eight centuries ago, after the Great War ended in defeat, the people of ancient Wano had built a wall—an impossibly tall fortress encircling their homeland. The wall reached thousands of meters high, dwarfing anything men could imagine, sealing within it Pluton
But for reasons long forgotten, storms came. Heavy rain fell endlessly, drowning the ancient country and submerging Pluton beneath the waves. Forced to abandon their lands, the survivors climbed Mt. Fuji's slopes. There, above the waterline, they founded the new Wano—six provinces clinging to the mountain's flanks: Ringo, Flower Capital, Hakumai, Kuri, Udon, and Yo.
The overflowing waters spilled past the wall, cascading into the sea and forming the titanic waterfalls that became Wano's shield.
Onigashima itself had once been part of ancient Wano, a mountain peak swallowed until only its skull-like summit jutted above the sea, turning it into the island known today.
Now, Brook and his crew would break that wall. Once breached, the inland sea would spill out, draining away to reveal the ruins—and Pluton.
He had chosen carefully. The breach would be opened on the Hime side of the wall, far from Udon's seastone quarries. A single gap was all they needed. The rest of the wall would remain intact, still serving as protection.
··
"Captain Brook, destroy it from the outside!" Vegapunk advised, pointing at the roaring waterfall. "The inland sea sits higher inside the wall. If you strike from within, the water pressure may blunt the effect. Outside is cleaner."
Brook nodded. "Of course."
The flying fleet positioned itself at the waterfall's base. Carp the size of houses clambered up the torrents, oblivious to what was coming. They were the very same carp the Straw Hats and Big Mom's crew once used to climb Wano's falls.
"Golden electromagnetic cannon, ready!"
"Pluton Cannon No. 1—ready!"
"Gurarara~! I'm ready as well!" Newgate's booming laugh carried over the thunder of the falls. He would be the hammer to shatter this wall.
Brook raised his sword, his Conqueror's Haki swirling around him, shaking the air. "Shiki! Linlin! With me! Cut down this waterfall and open the way!"
He swung. A slash of sword energy greater than his four cadre's roared forward, cleaving the very heavens. Golden Lion Shiki and Charlotte Linlin followed suit, releasing their own stored might.
"Howl!!!"
The blades of energy carved into the torrent. Kaido, Ashura Doji, and the other fighters poured their own strength into the assault. The air itself quaked.
"BOOM!!!"
The impact was apocalyptic. The carp climbing the falls vaporized in the heat. The cascade split apart, revealing beneath it the sheer face of a black, ancient wall, scarred by a gash as deep as the earth.
More attacks followed, each opening jagged holes, the wall groaning beneath the pressure. The inland sea churned violently, waves surging into a small tsunami that battered the coasts of Hime.
"Five hundred million volts—ANNIHILATION RAILGUN!!!"
Redfield, his body glowing with absorbed lightning, unleashed a blinding beam. The discharge hurled the golden ship backwards, but the attack struck true.
"Pluton Island-Destroyer Cannon, fire!!"
Vegapunk shouted with manic glee, his sunglasses flashing as the imitation weapon roared. A blast of energy tore into the wall, and his assistants scrambled to record every reading. The cannon shook itself apart from the strain, but Vegapunk hardly cared.
"Three-stage strength! Maximum wheel! AIR SHOCK!!"
Newgate clenched his massive fist, his forearm swelling with impossible power. He slammed the air itself. Space cracked. The waterfall split wider, the wall shuddering as if the world itself would snap.
The attacks combined, one after another, hammering the same wound. Wano shook from coast to coast. Buildings toppled. The earth split. The sea itself surged outward, a tidal wave hammering Hime. Citizens screamed and scrambled for high ground.
And then—
"BOOM!!!"
The wall broke. A hole large enough to swallow mountains burst open.
From within, the pent-up sea crashed outward. Torrents poured from the gap, a deluge a thousand times stronger than any floodgate. The waterfalls began to vanish, shrinking as the inland sea drained away.
The coast expanded. Beaches lengthened. The ocean pulled back, unveiling the colossal circular wall that had hidden beneath the waves.
The inland sea was dying. The water level dropped visibly with every heartbeat, the receding waves revealing black stone that had been lost for eight centuries.
"Keep going!" Brook shouted, his sword gleaming as he carved deeper. "Do not stop until the wall is cut to its base!"
The Hell Pirates roared, throwing themselves back into the work. For two days and nights they labored, chiseling through stone that had endured the ages. The skies split with storms. The seas quaked. And finally, at last, the wall gave way completely.
The waters drained. The inland sea dried.
And there, revealed to the world once more, lay the ruins of ancient Wano.
The Hell Pirates descended eagerly into the newly uncovered land, their eyes searching for the one thing that mattered most: Pluton—an ancient battleship said to erase islands with a single shot.
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