XX-level Hokage

Mashiro smiled with satisfaction, then turned her gaze to King Neptune of the Mermaid Kingdom and Vivi, the acting king of Alabasta.

"Neptune, Vivi, I'm entrusting the construction of the 'Ocean Kingdom' to the two of you. I hope you can quickly develop a detailed plan and put it into practice."

“Yes, Lord Mashiro!” Neptune and Vivi answered in unison, their eyes shining with determination.

After making the arrangements, Mashiro got up and left the meeting room. Shortly after Mashiro left the meeting room, Vivi followed her.

"Lord Mashiro." He moved closer to Mashiro and said with a slight, seductive gesture.

"Why is it you here? Didn't Bra come?" Mashiro said with a light laugh, looking at Weiwei, who was wearing a blue dress.

Compared to a year ago, Weiwei is now more mature and beautiful. Her long, light blue wavy hair, which reaches her waist, is styled very smoothly, and her figure is graceful, with her hourglass shape becoming more pronounced.

"My husband hasn't been feeling well lately and was worried he wouldn't be able to handle the long journey, so he asked me to come in his place. He also asked me to convey his regards to you, Lord Mashiro," Weiwei replied.

"Is that really all?" Looking at Weiwei, Mashiro suddenly smiled, a smile tinged with ambiguity. Weiwei blushed slightly and remained silent.

He truly lives up to his title as the ruler of a nation. However, Mashiro quite likes this kind of cleverness.

"By the way, Vivi, have you ever heard of the name Nefit D. Lily?" Mashiro suddenly asked.

She suddenly remembered that when she traveled back in time before, she had mistakenly entered a garden that seemed to belong to Im.

There were two things that seemed out of place in the overall garden: a huge straw hat and a painting.

The straw hat is nothing special, just an ordinary-looking hat.

The painting is rather strange. It depicts a woman, but her face is deliberately obscured. At the very bottom of the painting, there is a line of text: Nefit D. Lilly.

At the time, Mashiro didn't pay much attention, but now that she'd met Weiwei again, she suddenly remembered that Weiwei... also had the surname Nefit. "Nefit D. Lily?! That's the name of our Nefit family's ancestor!" Weiwei exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this name.

"I only recently heard my father mention these things by chance. 800 years ago, Lily's ancestor, along with 19 other kings, created the World Government and became one of the 'Original 20'."

However, unlike other kings, she did not remain in Mary Geoise as a member of the Heavenly Dragons, but returned to her homeland to continue the name of Nefit. However, Lily's name cannot be found in historical documents after the "Void Century".

I believe that Lili's ancestor never returned to Alabasta; her brother was the later ruler of Alabasta. Three days later, Mashiro embarked alone on her journey to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.

She was dressed in a black tracksuit, exuding a cold and powerful aura.

At this time, Mary Geoise was in turmoil. After losing the Five Elders and the Knights of God, the world nobles living in Mary Geoise were gripped by panic.

They hurriedly urged the World Government leadership to find a solution and repeatedly contacted the Navy, asking them to send more troops to protect Mary Geoise.

But all of this was in vain. The World Government's top brass were also in a state of utter panic, having placed all their hopes on Im.

They repeatedly petitioned Im for instructions, but Im seemed to have vanished without responding.

On the other hand, although the Celestial Dragons contacted the Navy, the Navy's attitude was very cold.

They didn't seem to intend to fight against Mashiro for the sake of Kanryu, after all, loyalty is futile in the face of absolute power.

Mashiro quietly arrived at the gates of Mary Geoise under the cover of night. She looked up at the towering castle that seemed to reach into the clouds. She knew that this castle held too many secrets and powers, and what she had to do was to uncover them all.

Immediately afterwards, Mashiro walked towards the castle.

The guards at the city gate tried to stop her, but Mashiro simply waved her hand, and the guards froze as if frozen in ice, unable to move.

Mashiro arrived at the castle's main hall without any hindrance. The hall was empty except for a few dim lights flickering. She looked around and then slowly walked deeper into the castle.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from the stairs. Mashiro quickly turned around and saw a group of soldiers in black armor rushing towards her. Seeing this, Mashiro made a "one" gesture with her hand.

In an instant, all the soldiers were cut in half.

Mashiro continued forward, her figure swiftly traversing the castle, leaving a trail of death in her wake. Finally, she arrived at the deepest part of the castle—Im's palace.

The palace gates were tightly shut, as if telling some unspeakable secret, and then Mashiro pushed the gates open.

The palace was empty except for a huge throne in the center, inlaid with countless gems and pearls, radiating dazzling light. Mashiro slowly walked to the throne and sat down.

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared behind her.

Chapter 198: The Lost Century (Part 1)

"A new face," a very old voice came from behind Mashiro.

Mashiro turned her head and saw an old man in a white robe standing not far away. "Likewise, you're a new face to me too," Mashiro said calmly.

When Mashiro was living in Mary Geoise as the Queen of the Sorrowful Palace, she had met many Celestial Dragons, including the Five Elders and Im, but this was the first time she had seen this person.

“That’s normal. I’ve been imprisoned in the library by Lord Im for making a mistake and haven’t been out for hundreds of years. I only came out this time because of the riots in the royal city,” the withered old man said.

"Oh, that's perfect. I happen to have some questions I need to ask someone." Mashiro said softly.

"Although this is our first meeting, I can sense that the unrest in the royal city seems to have started because of you, and those five old guys still haven't shown up yet. This trouble is no ordinary one," the withered old man said, looking around.

"It's more than just 'great'; after today, the era of the 'Twenty Kings' will come to an end," Zhenbai said calmly. Hearing this, the withered old man merely frowned, offering no response.

"Can you tell me the history of this world?" Mashiro suddenly asked.

“To know these things, you should read history books,” the withered old man said calmly. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t tell me, I’ve already roughly guessed it,” Mashiro continued. “Oh?” The withered old man showed no sign of believing him.

"Eight hundred years ago, there was a great kingdom on the Grand Line. They possessed the three Ancient Weapons and intended to use their unique abilities to accomplish a great feat."

However, this behavior was seen by the other twenty nations at the time as a dangerous act intended to destroy the world, almost tantamount to demonic acts. Therefore, the twenty nations scattered along the Grand Line united, declared war on the Great Kingdom, and ultimately destroyed it, winning...

To prevent the reemergence of dangerous ideas like those of the Great Kingdom, the Twenty Nations decided to unite and form a World Government. After that, the kings, having gained control of the national treasures, began to call themselves gods, and their descendants called themselves Celestial Dragons.

Among them, the former king of Alabasta, disapproving of their practices, refused to become a Celestial Dragon and returned to his own country.

Afterward, the Celestial Dragons began destroying ancient scripts, erasing historical documents, and completely wiping out a century of history. Anyone attempting to revive the dangerous ideas of the Great Kingdom would be considered an enemy to be utterly unacceptable.

Initially, this was roughly my guess of history, and it shouldn't be too far off, but there were always a few key points I couldn't figure out.

As Mashiro spoke softly, the withered old man's expression gradually turned to shock and disbelief. Mashiro continued speaking to herself:

"The first question is, what is the great undertaking that the Great Kingdom wants to accomplish?"

Based on the known functions of Neptune and Hades, two of the three ancient weapons, that I have come across, I personally speculate that their original purpose was to eliminate the barriers between the Calm Belt and the Red Line, and to unify the four seas into one.

The reason is simple: the most dangerous place in the Calm Belt is the Sea King's nest, and only Poseidon can solve this problem once and for all. Pluto's effect is mainly reflected in the power of his main cannon. Therefore, there must be something that he needs to destroy. There are two possibilities: Laugh Tale and the Red Line. Laugh Tale is very difficult to find, so the Red Line is the key.

Compared to Reverse Mountain, Mary Geoise is more likely to be Pluto's ultimate target, as the Celestial Dragons' holy site is located there, which is a signal.

Why is this place called a holy land? Is it because their ancestors won a victory here eight hundred years ago? Or is it because the location of this place is so crucial that they chose to reside here, so that whoever inherits the ruins of the great kingdom must first pass the Celestial Dragons?

However, it seems that the Celestial Dragons of today have long lost this awareness.

Similarly, destroying Mary Geoise would naturally affect Fishman Island located beneath the Red Line, so the Fishmen needed to be relocated first. This led to the creation of Noah, who made a pact with the mermaid princess who was then the "Sea King".

The ocean currents at Upside Down show obvious signs of human intervention. This upwelling current, which completely defies common sense, could be the creation of Uranus, the "King of the Sky," after ruling out Neptune and Moro.

If we infer from this, could it be that Reverse Mountain was once an experimental product of the Great Kingdom as a means of connecting the four seas? Imagine if there were no Reverse Mountain, the passage between the four seas and the Grand Line would inevitably pass through the Calm Belt, which would mean that the Grand Line would be completely closed. Faced with this situation, it is entirely understandable that the Great Kingdom wanted to eliminate the Calm Belt and connect the four seas after eight hundred years.

I initially thought that the great kingdom was large enough to occupy the entire Grand Line, but I quickly rejected that idea, as there were already twenty kingdoms in the Grand Line at that time.

From this perspective, the actions of the great kingdoms are undoubtedly seen as an invasion by the other nations of the Grand Line! Therefore, they have ample reason to declare war on the great kingdoms and defend their homeland.

Therefore, based on my speculation and the historical texts I have, I can roughly deduce a vague chronological order.

1. The Great Kingdom used the Heavenly King to carve out the Reverse Mountain. 2. The twenty nations of the Grand Line united to discuss countermeasures.

3. The Great Kingdom discovers the Sea King of Fishman Island, explains its plan, and promises to help Fishman Island create Noah and send them to live on the surface of the sea. At the same time, the Fishman Princess also promises to help them eliminate the threat of the Sea Kings in the Calm Belt.

4. The twenty-nation coalition declared war on the Great Kingdom.

5. The next step in the Great Kingdom's plan was to build another node on the Red Line, Mary Geoise, so they joined forces with the artisans of the Water City to build Hades.

6. A great battle ensued in Mary Geoise, and the Great Kingdom was defeated. 7. Joy Boy wrote a confession.

8. After learning the truth, the Kozuki family decided to carve the Poneglyphs and disperse them to various locations.

9. The former king of Alabasta learned the truth and understood the true intentions of the Great Kingdom. Therefore, he withdrew from the Celestial Dragons' camp and secretly collected the two Poneglyphs.

10. The Twenty nations established a World Government, and destroyed the nation because Shandora, the land of gold, preserved the Poneglyphs.

At this point, cold sweat broke out on the old man's forehead. "Don't...don't say any more," the old man said.

But Shirotsuki remained unmoved. He continued, "The second question is about the origin of the title 'Heavenly King'."

Based on the clues I have, "Sea King" grew up on its own, and Lone King was created by the artisans of Water 7. So if the Giant King's earliest power was only that of Uranus, then where did Uranus come from?

I personally believe it was created by the Sky Islanders, but the Sky Islanders I'm referring to aren't the same group of people living on the Sky Island now.

Chapter 199: The Lost Century (Part 2)

First, judging from the names alone, Aquaman controls giant sea monsters and has absolute dominance in the ocean. Hades was born for destruction, so it also fits his meaning. So what about the Lord of the Gates?

Its existence shouldn't just be something called Uranus that actually crawls on the ground. So, in the entire One Piece universe, what can represent the dominance of the sky?

I think the only possibility is Sky Island. The purpose of Sky Island's existence has always been unclear. Fishman Island exists because fishmen can only live underwater, which would be very inconvenient on land. But what about the Sky Island people? They don't seem to have any reason to live on Sky Island.

I once saw a mural on a Sky Island left by people known as the "Moon People." It depicted a peculiar sphere inside which was a manufacturing plant for some kind of robot. The mural showed that Sky Island people used to travel to the Blue Ocean by holding balloons. Therefore, it can be inferred that this prototype machine was likely always flying in the sky.

Therefore, I think Uranus is actually something like a giant spaceship.

Does this machine possess the ability to alter the weather and create upwelling currents that I mentioned earlier? I believe it does.

Since I rebuilt Ohara, many scholars from the ocean have come here, including a group of meteorologists who live on a small sky island. This small sky island was originally part of the larger sky island. This shows that the sky islanders are very knowledgeable about meteorology. They even invented a knot that can summon weather patterns. In addition, there are many different kinds of shellfish on the sky island, and their technology is extremely advanced. In this light, it is quite reasonable for them to have a sky island that can create air currents and change the weather.

Based on the above, I infer the following historical gaps:

800 years ago, the world consisted of several huge islands, on which many kingdoms were scattered. At this time, a man named Joy Boy appeared. Because he traveled all over the world, he was also known as the first pirate.

After traveling the world, he discovered a terrifying truth: the world would be submerged by a flood. Only by connecting these several independent, enormous islands into one continent, breaking down the geographical barriers that separated people, could humanity survive the flood and achieve freedom.

Because he united many like-minded people, he began to change the world.

However, Yang Yibo failed, and the rulers of the other twenty islands began to attack Yang Yibo due to a misunderstanding, believing that Yang Yibo's actions threatened their rule.

A war broke out.

Ultimately, Joy Boy failed, and the war between the two sides caused enormous damage to the world. The sea began to spread, threatening to engulf everything. In the end, the world became a short-lived, stable world composed of the Red Line and the Calm Belt.

This is also why Mary Geoise was built at such a high altitude, and why world governments have been building bridges across the sea for years.

Joy Boy felt both guilty and resentful about everything that had happened in the world. After replanning, he found another way to merge the continents. He put the method, or plan, on an island called One Piece, meaning to connect them into one piece.

To find this island, one must travel around the world and experience the preciousness of freedom; only those who truly understand this value are qualified to find it.

Meanwhile, out of remorse, Joy Boy wrote down his mistakes and sins on the megaliths in a script that was difficult to decipher, and scattered them all over the world. When these megaliths are put together, not only can this history be read, but the markings on them can also be combined to form a coordinate system, which points to the island where the Nepiece Project is located.

After Joy Boy's death, the stone tablets he left behind were scattered all over the world. One of them, which recorded the method of making Hades, fell into the hands of the ruler of a country at that time, whose ruler was named Nefit D. Lilly.

For some reason, Lily learned the truth, and as a result, she chose to leave the Twenty Lords with the stone tablet. I suspect that among the methods left behind by Joy Boy, the three ancient weapons must have occupied a very important position.

Therefore, Lily chose to remain on the ground with the stone tablet that recorded the method of making the Mozhu, waiting for someone to inherit the will of Yang Yiboyi.

Years later, a man named Roger finally arrived on the island and discovered the secret. When he saw it all, Roger laughed heartily, tears streaming down his face.