In the lowest deck of the Gale, inside one of the holding cells, Wapol lay collapsed on the bed, his eyes vacant.
After days of torment and with his Devil Fruit power restrained, he had tried to escape several times. When every attempt failed, he simply gave up.
He understood now—these people still found him useful, so they wouldn't kill him for the time being. And if he wasn't going to die, what was there to fear?
He had considered it long and hard before concluding that they must be after his Devil Fruit ability, or at least needed him for something that required his power.
So he decided to wait for the moment his power was unrestrained again before attempting another escape.
As he drifted into wishful fantasies of the future, footsteps echoed down the corridor.
Wapol blinked in confusion. It wasn't time for a meal, was it?
He knew better than anyone—he was the only prisoner on this level. No one ever came down except during mealtimes.
Mikita also followed her captain's instructions diligently, bringing him only two meals a day—just enough to keep him alive.
Moments later, the door creaked open, and a tall figure appeared against the light.
At first Wapol didn't care, but once he saw who it was, terror jolted through him and he rolled off the bed.
He scrambled forward on hands and knees, tears and snot running down his face as he begged:
"Lord Leno, whatever you need, just say the word! My ability is very useful—please, spare my life!"
"As long as you don't kill me, I'll do anything you want!"
Indeed, the visitor was Leno. He had come to deal with Wapol.
And he wanted to test his new backpack—he needed to confirm whether it could continually peel Devil Fruits.
Wapol's desperate wails inspired no emotion in Leno. The only reason he had kept the man alive was the concern that killing him would make the Munch-Munch Fruit vanish and force him to go searching for it again.
Besides, the ability could be synthesized into some rather bizarre new items, so Leno had tolerated him until now.
But now…
Wapol cried and begged for a long while. When he got no response, he cautiously lifted his head—only to meet a pair of cold, vertical pupils glowing red as they stared down at him.
His heart sank. His entire body trembled uncontrollably.
'Did I guess wrong? Is he planning to kill me now?'
It made no sense—if he wanted to kill him, why wait until now?
Before the thought could settle, Leno slowly raised a finger and pressed it to Wapol's forehead.
"White Thunder."
Pssh!
A flash of white light pierced through him. Wapol's shaking body froze, his pupils dilated, and within moments, life left him.
Thus ended the man who had lost his throne in the original timeline yet reclaimed it elsewhere—the so-called "Entrepreneur King"—dying quietly in a forgotten corner of the world.
Leno waved his hand, storing the corpse away, then swiftly walked out.
Up on the deck, he spotted Mikita mopping. He casually instructed her to clean the holding cell later.
The young dessert chef, still considered "on probation" by Leno, quickly nodded. Her eyes were full of awe.
Her captain could so casually decide the fate of a king—terrifying didn't even begin to describe it.
When she descended to Wapol's former cell, it was already empty except for a fresh pool of blood soaking into the floor.
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. The horror in her eyes reached its peak.
Very clearly, Wapol's fate had been sealed.
Forcing the thought away, she quickly began cleaning while warning herself never to step out of line. She must never betray him.
Meanwhile, lying beneath a parasol, Leno's full attention was fixed on his spatial backpack, eager to see what this so-called Devil Fruit transfer ability really entailed.
Just then, Robin led a squad of soldiers aboard the ship.
They placed several wooden crates on the deck, then bowed respectfully to Leno beneath the parasol before departing.
"What's all this?" Leno asked, noting Robin's unusually bright mood. She must have found something good.
"These are rare books King Cobra has read himself. He gifted all of them to me!"
"I see. No wonder you're so happy."
As Robin approached with a soft smile, Leno shifted slightly on his lounge chair and beckoned her over.
She rolled her eyes at him but still obediently curled into his arms, nestling her head comfortably against his chest.
"How was your harvest?" he asked, idly playing with her soft fingers.
Alabasta had a history stretching back centuries; the royal archive alone promised Robin significant gains.
"Mm. I learned a lot of useful historical information. But as for the Void Century, there was barely anything."
"That's normal. They put enormous effort into erasing it. It wouldn't be so easy to dig up."
Given the World Government's history, Leno figured countless islands and nations must have been erased to cover up the truth.
It was entirely plausible. Look at what they'd done in recent times:
To find a single infant, they slaughtered every pregnant woman on an island.
To stop a revolutionary officer from sending a message, they directly wiped out an entire nation.
Such monstrous acts could only be carried out by those so-called "gods" who saw all life as insects.
They had existed above the world for too long. To them, everything—people, kingdoms, history—was disposable.
If anything threatened them, they destroyed it, no matter the cost.
So Leno felt nearly certain—if not one hundred percent, then ninety-nine point nine nine nine percent—that his guess was correct.
"Mm. At this point, the only way to uncover what truly happened in that missing hundred years is by deciphering the Poneglyphs."
As she spoke, Robin suddenly rolled over atop Leno, resting her chin on his chest as she stared at him with unreadable eyes.
"On that Poneglyph in the royal mausoleum, I found the name of another Ancient Weapon. Combined with the one from Skypiea…"
"Can you tell me about them? About the Ancient Weapons? Besides the Sea King—are the others still out there?"