The battle was over.
The Baratie rocked gently now, no longer under cannon fire. Smoke drifted lazily across the waves. Don Krieg's shattered pride floated somewhere on the current, his ship nothing more than wreckage fading into the distance.
Luffy cheered with a full mouth, arms thrown around a half-eaten roast.
Zoro sat leaned against the railing, arms crossed, eyes closed.
Usopp wiped sweat from his brow like he'd saved the world.
And Sanji…
He stood near the galley doors, cigarette in hand, watching the open sea with a quiet gaze.
But Rex…
He wasn't celebrating.
He stood at the very edge of the Baratie's starboard side, gazing down into the waters below — silent, unmoving, like he could hear something beneath the waves.
The sea was calm…
But something ancient stirred beneath it.
[…Residual presence of Sovereign Break detected. Aura echo has resonated with nearby dormant structure. Seastone signature fluctuating beneath sea floor. Unnatural shape. Vertical flat surface. Estimated density matches… Poneglyph.]
Rex's eyes widened just slightly.
A Poneglyph?
Here?
In East Blue?
No… beneath East Blue.
He crouched, palm brushing the deck.
He could feel it now.
Not with his body.
But with something older.
Something within his blood.
Later That Night — After the Celebration
The Baratie was quiet again.
The sea slept under a dark sky freckled with stars.
Most of the crew had dozed off or drifted to their hammocks on the Going Merry.
But Rex remained behind.
Sanji, too, leaned on the railing, silently smoking.
They didn't speak.
They didn't need to.
Until Rex finally said, "There's something under this ship."
Sanji blinked. "Like a fish?"
"No," Rex said. "Something… ancient."
Zeff stepped out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a cloth.
"You felt it, didn't you?"
Rex turned.
Zeff nodded toward the lower dock.
"Follow me."
Beneath the Baratie — Hidden Dock Cavern
Zeff lit a lantern as they entered a stone-walled chamber tucked below the hull. The room was wide, damp, carved long ago into the cliff before the Baratie was ever built.
Rex's boots echoed as he walked inside.
Then he saw it.
Half-buried in the coral-encrusted wall…
Was a fragment of a Poneglyph.
Not a full cube.
Just a single stone slab, maybe two meters wide, cracked at the edge.
But the glyphs were intact.
Ancient. Flowing. Etched so deeply the letters still shimmered under torchlight.
"…How did this get here?" Rex asked, stepping closer.
Zeff knelt down, setting the lantern beside it.
"Stumbled on it years ago. Thought it was just decorative stone until a scholar passing through freaked out and offered me thirty million just for the corner."
"And you didn't sell it?"
Zeff shook his head. "Didn't feel right. Something about it… felt heavy. Like the sea was watching."
Rex knelt.
He didn't know the ancient language.
Not the way scholars did.
But something in the lines… the rhythm… spoke to him.
And suddenly, [Michael] responded.
[…Translation initiated. Fragment origin: approximately 800 years prior. Matching known linguistic patterns of Void Century archives. Selected phrase interpreted:]
"…The clan that walks without banners… feared by kings, followed by storms… bearers of unseen fists and silent justice… The Michaeler. The world shall forget them. But the sea remembers."
Rex stared.
His heart beat once.
Then again, slower.
"…The sea remembers," he whispered.
[…This fragment alone proves Michaeler existence is archived in global history. Poneglyph confirmation: undeniable. Memory not erased—merely buried.]
Zeff watched him carefully. "You know what this is, don't you?"
Rex nodded slowly.
"It's a whisper. From a ghost that shouldn't be remembered."
He stood up, the lantern light flickering behind him.
"…The World Government tried to erase them. But the sea never forgets."
Zeff lit another cigarette, shaking the match.
"They were warriors, right? Not pirates. Not kings. Just… peacekeepers."
"No," Rex said. "They weren't just peacekeepers."
He looked up toward the ceiling — the sea above.
"They were breakers of chains. Destroyers of war. Their hands didn't build thrones… they leveled them."
Zeff gave a quiet chuckle. "Figures you'd carry their blood."
"I don't carry it," Rex said softly. "I am it."
He turned to leave.
"Don't tell the others. Not yet."
Zeff nodded.
As Rex walked away, the glyphs glowed faintly under the lantern's flicker.
And the sea…
It whispered.
Above Deck – Later That Night
Nami found him standing near the edge again.
"You're always up here," she said gently.
"I like the wind."
She stood beside him, watching the moonlight stretch across the sea.
"…You were incredible today," she said.
He nodded.
"But there's something heavy in you."
He didn't answer.
So she added, "If there's a weight, you don't have to carry it alone."
He looked at her — really looked.
And for a moment…
He wanted to believe her.
But he couldn't.
Not yet.
"…Thank you," he said, voice low.
That was all.
But it was something.
She smiled.
And walked away.
Leaving Rex alone again.
But not empty.
Because below this ship, etched into stone beneath the water…
Was proof that he was real.
That the world may have buried the Michaeler name…
But it couldn't kill it.