One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 164 Ancient Murals, the Truth of the World!
"Abyss Curse!"

Within the mirage, the domineering power of that single strike was reenacted.

Even if that black and red, swirling Conqueror's Haki wasn't real.

Even though there are more than 30 years between them.

But Chenlong could still glimpse, through the peephole of time, the power possessed by the David clan, a power sufficient to shake the sea.

Because he had already witnessed that incredible scene.

The blade's light instantly pierced through the surrounding rock walls, through the door in front of it, through everything in front of it—it flew towards an infinitely distant place, like wings of freedom.

"Clatter!" "Clatter!"

Then, Chenlong heard the sound of water.

Do not…

"It's the sound of ocean waves!"

He looked down and, sure enough, discovered it.

At this moment, the 'past' that kept repeating itself on this island ship named 'Abyss' seems to have come to an end.

The true appearance of the base of this temple, located at the bottom of the island, has been revealed.

The door was no longer there in front of Chenlong.

No—to be precise, it's not just the door.

The path leading to that door, the surrounding rock walls, and everything below had vanished.

From the last step where Chenlong was, there was only deep seawater below.

Then Chenlong finally realized what had happened.

"The ship has been cut open?"

Yes.

Because the ship was so enormous, Chenlong could not actually see the bottom of the 'Abyss' from the sky.

But at this moment, Chenlong, who was located inside the ship's hull, could see it clearly.

The ship's hull in the center had been cut open—its massive hull, from where he stood at that moment, was now only exposed to the seawater seeping in.

And what caused all of this must be...
"That stab just now?"

Looking at the extremely neat cut marks on the rock wall, Chenlong felt a sense of horror.

Although it was only the hull in the center of the ship, given the size of the ship, the cut-off section was still an extremely exaggerated part, far larger than Moria's Thriller Bark—at least as far as Chenlong could see at the moment, he couldn't quite see the exact end of the cut-off section.

"The power of the slash can actually reach this level?"

But then Chenlong thought about it again and realized that in the original story, Rocks had also the feat of cleaving the massive Gate of Justice in two with a single sword strike, so he understood.

"Truly worthy of being the strongest of his era."

With these reflections, Chenlong naturally gained a general understanding of what had happened on this island more than thirty years ago.

"The Abyss is the ship of that Davy D. Jones."

Chenlong was also aware of the legend of this Davy Jones.

He is said to be the first pirate, known as the 'Cursed One of the Sea'.

In fact, the legend of Davy Jones still circulates in some parts of the Grand Line, and there is even a pirate game called 'Davy Back Fight'.

Legend has it that this first pirate in history once subjugated the world as his subjects, hence the rule of 'Davy Back Fight' is that the loser must become the winner's subordinate.

In the original God Valley incident, it was mentioned that this Davy Jones seemed to have some kind of agreement with the world king 'Im', and even seemed to have been the 'world king' at one time.

This point is also mentioned in the prophetic song provided by Moriah—except that in that song, Davy Jones is not the 'King of the World,' but the 'First King.'

He is one of the most mysterious people in the entire pirate world, almost on par with 'Joy Boy' who brought liberation and freedom.

"He left something here for his descendants, hoping that his cursed descendants would fulfill their promise and bring that thing back to Joy Boy in some future era."

"but."

Chenlong's expression was somewhat strange.

Clearly, Davy Jones believed his descendants would be outstanding, which is why he left the items in such a dangerous place that was obviously hard to find.

But at the same time, he clearly did not expect that his descendants would be so outstanding.

Lox—or rather, 'David D. Gibbek'—was by no means a bound man.

He clearly did not intend to follow the instructions left by his ancestors, but instead chose to go his own way.

This guy said he was leaving the stuff to someone else.

Chenlong muttered to himself, already guessing the answer.

Lox mentioned meeting a remarkable fellow in the Valley of the Gods, someone he was even willing to risk everything for, which suggests that Lox, who is now here, has indeed experienced the Valley of the Gods.

Therefore, it can be basically confirmed that the 'amazing guy' he mentioned actually doesn't have a second choice.

"He chose to leave that thing to the Star Lord!?"

Beneath the dragon head mask, Roy could only manage a helpless, bitter smile.

"What kind of 'me' did he see in God Valley?"

Locus chose to leave the object that symbolized the unparalleled power of the sea, the hope of the world, and freedom to him.
He didn't know what happened in God Valley, but Rocks' choice was far too radical.

But obviously.

Inside the temple, where more than thirty years had passed, no one could answer his question.

Therefore, Roy quickly brought his thoughts back to the present.

Having tracked him down, he had grown accustomed to the secrets surrounding Rocks.

Moreover, he had at least witnessed the other party's movements firsthand this time and confirmed quite a few things.

And then again...
"It's been hacked to pieces, yet this ship is still alive—is it because 'Devil Fruit items' aren't living beings, so they're not so easy to kill?"

Chenlong muttered to himself.

But at this very moment
"Buzz!"

He saw the mirage rise again.

In the blink of an eye, the deep void and sea below him, as well as the sharp and exaggerated sword marks, all disappeared.

Before him, the passage and the gate at its end reappeared.

And Chenlong naturally knew that this was the 'past' repeating itself.

If nothing unexpected happens, another 'Locus' has emerged from the thick fog and landed on the island in the forest outside the temple.

But clearly, Chenlong had no interest in going through with it again.

So at this moment, he simply looked at the door in the distance.

Although he had no way of knowing what was behind the door, at least he now had time to observe the murals carved on it.

But upon seeing this, Chenlong raised an eyebrow.

"Like the murals in Elbaf?"

Because at this moment, he had already discovered it.

The murals carved on the door, surrounding it, are very similar to the ancient mural left in the land of giants, 'Elbaf,' in the original story—not only is the style itself ancient, but the key is that both are made up of different murals pieced together, seemingly symbolizing different 'eras.'

The difference is that the murals in Elbaf are horizontal.

The mural on this door is vertical.

The mural consists of five parts from bottom to top.

In the first part, Chenlong can see countless figures kneeling and worshipping something that fell from the sky, seemingly in prayer.

And what they worship is...
"Tree?"

Looking at the clear 'root system' and 'branch' structure on the mural, Chenlong could tell that it was a tree. But the tree was strange—because all sorts of things were constantly falling from it.

There are animals like cattle and sheep, plants like flowers and grass, and even people and things like fire and lightning.

The second part is still about that tree.

However, at this moment, the tree seemed to have taken root somewhere, with a soil structure underneath.

In front of that giant tree, a small human figure was carved.

The figure seemed to be holding a simple trident and was also kneeling before the trees.

But unlike before, at this moment, within the structure of the tree, as the little man knelt in worship, a dark shadow seemed to have suddenly appeared.

From within the tree trunk where the dark figure was, a round object seemed to fall, landing on the little man's head and embedding itself in a jet-black crown.

As a result, the little figure seemed to become even darker overall.

"."

Chen Long frowned, his eyes flashing with obvious astonishment.

He looked at the dark shadow, then at the little figure, and vaguely realized something, but he wasn't quite sure.

And the key lies in
At this moment, Chenlong can see the mural below the second section.

With the appearance of that 'shadow', something seemed to emerge from the bottom of the mural.

That appears to be the shape of waves.

That appears to be seawater.

Then comes the third part of the mural.

At this moment, the tree is still in the center of the picture.

The dark mass was still inside the tree trunk, but it seemed to have grown larger.

The surrounding environment has also changed.

The little man wearing a black crown was now sitting on a throne, holding a trident.

The throne appears to be built in an extremely high place, with clouds and mist visible all around.

Beside the throne were countless swords and various treasures—seemingly the 'spoils of war' that the king had collected along the way.

Beneath the throne, many figures, also wearing small crowns, were kneeling before him.

Like the first mural, the kneeling figures clearly represent various races.

What Chenlong was most interested in were the twenty little figures among them—their figures were very similar to the 'First King', and they seemed to represent 'humanity'.

Besides these, another significant presence was that of a giant race, and another being with a human upper body and a fish lower body also caught Chenlong's attention.

Because these two races are closest to the central throne, and they seem to have received the 'King's' blessing.

From behind the king, two 'saplings' fell from the huge tree and landed in the hands of the two men.

Around these figures, countless races and people seemed to be jubilant, constructing buildings.

"The twenty kings who 'created the world,' and the two trees of the giants and fish-men, 'Adam the Precious Tree' and 'Eve the Sun Tree'?"

Compared to the first two parts, the murals in this part are clearly more meaningful.

All those little figures wearing crowns clearly represent the 'leaders' of a certain race in this world.

Those twenty humans were the ancestors of today's dragons, the 'twenty kings' who created the world.

The two trees that the fish-men and the giants obtained are clearly the cornerstones upon which they are now able to exist—the 'Adam Tree' of Elbaf and the 'Eve Tree' of Fish-Man Island.

From this, Chenlong can deduce the story recorded in the mural—that the 'first king' conquered the entire world with the help of a powerful fleet and the gift of the shadow within the tree.

By the way...

At this moment, the 'wave patterns' at the bottom of those murals, which seem to resemble seawater 'wave patterns,' are still present, and they have clearly increased in height.

The original 'earth' and the part where the giant tree's roots were located have completely disappeared.

The seawater there was only a deep, dark expanse, as black as an abyss.

In that abyss, one could still see the wreckage of some ships and figures that had fallen into the sea.

obviously.

The jubilation and submission of various races depicted in this section of the murals must have been the result of a long period of 'war'.

Immediately afterwards, Chenlong began to look at the fourth part of the mural.

In the fourth section of the mural, the 'king' wearing a crown appears to be fast asleep.

Beside him, the previously simple building had transformed into a vast and magnificent kingdom.

Even with the simple brushstrokes of the murals, Chenlong could still discern the former prosperity of that kingdom.

But in a corner of the kingdom, the twenty 'little kings' had already quietly approached the giant tree while the king was fast asleep.

At this moment, the huge tree was almost completely occupied by the dark shadow within it.

The little kings seemed to kneel and pray to the trees, and the shadowy figure then bestowed upon them twenty smaller crowns.

In this mural, the seawater that was originally still peacefully at the bottom of the mural seems to have begun to change, and it has begun to occupy a quarter of the picture with the naked eye.

In this part of the sea, there seem to be hideous monsters living beneath the surface of that magnificent kingdom.

Finally, there is the last part of this mural.

Unlike the previous four murals.

Inside the fifth mural, the enormous tree was completely filled with shadows.

Even Chenlong could see that the dark shadow had already faintly exceeded the framework of the tree, as if it could detach itself from the tree—its appearance seemed to vaguely take the form of a 'demon' with bat wings and a pointed tail.

Below the shadow, the figures of the twenty kings had also turned into pure black, with one of the long-haired figures even showing some traces of a 'demon'.

The murals are surrounded by obvious signs of war—the once magnificent kingdom is gone, replaced by ruins.

People of countless races scattered and fled, and even the sun fell from above them.

The world seemed to have fallen into darkness at that moment.

And beneath that dark world, the seawater finally surged up completely this time.

Within the entire scene, only the area where the twenty kings and the giant tree were located was still above the sea.

The rest of the world was already covered by seawater.

And at the other end of the mural.

The 'First King' still held the trident and was fleeing in a huge three-masted sailing ship.

At this moment, the dark color on his body, which had seemed to be bleeding all over, had disappeared.

He took off the crown from his head and hugged it tightly to his chest.

He and the giant ship disappeared into the thick fog—that became the 'final scene' of the mural.

The mural ended there.

And at this moment.
Chenlong: "."

Chenlong said he needed to take it slow.

Yes.

Even without deciphering the ancient text, Chenlong knew very well that the information depicted on this mural was so vast that it was almost unbelievable.

Even if it's just a fragment or two that he can understand or guess at this moment.

He was almost certain that the mural depicted one of the key secrets that the World Government had intentionally hidden.

That is—the truth of the world!

(End of this chapter)