Pirates: Your emperor has returned!

Weiwei asked curiously, "Ancestor, what are we doing here?"

"Exploration".

Rowan replied with a smile.

Then, under a slightly curious gaze, he gently placed his hand on a stone brick on the ground.

The Sand-Sand Fruit power is activated.

Swish!

A grit of sand got into the cracks in the stone bricks and triggered a switch.

Boom!

A rumbling sound came from the ground not far away, and then it sank down, revealing an inconspicuous entrance.

“This is the secret room I created back then. Only Nefertari and I know about it. He has the key, but I don’t need it.”

Rowan looked back at the astonished crowd, took the lead and walked down, followed by the other three.

Crocodile also kept a close eye on things, noting the location of the stone brick and how to trigger the mechanism using the Sand-Sand Fruit's power.

But Crocodile immediately forgot about this method as soon as he stepped down the stairs.

Because there's no need for that.

This was just a simple basement with only a table, two chairs, and piles of old documents and books, but none of the historical texts that interested him.

But Cobra and Vivi were different; they were clearly much more curious.

After all, they had lived in this palace for many years, but had never heard of such a secret room!

Weiwei was still a child after all, and her eyes lit up with excitement.

"Wow, our ancestor's secret base!"

"Vivi..."

Just as Cobra was about to correct his daughter's terminology for the secret chambers of the two family ancestors, Rowan burst into laughter.

"That's right, this is the secret base that Nefertari and I used to have!"

Rowan laughed heartily, recalling, "We came up with quite a few good ideas here!"

He gently raised his scepter, pointed to both sides, and said:

"We agreed that the left side would be mine and the right side would be his."

"I am responsible for the overall strategic control, while he is responsible for the detailed policies of governing the country."

The three looked in the direction Rowan pointed and indeed saw the difference between the left and right sides of the room.

To Rowan's left were mainly maps and documents, with a blank space in the center, roughly where the maps were hung, where one-third of the drawings remained.

Time has eroded them, leaving these drawings and documents in a dilapidated state.

To the right of Nefertari's room were piles of books and folders.

They were all carefully preserved and stacked neatly, some even covered with cloth, which greatly reduced the traces of time left on them.

"Hahahaha, that's just his personality, so serious it's unbelievable."

Rowan went to the right side of the bookshelf that belonged to Nefertari and gently brushed away the dust.

"Even the most brutal battlefield will one day turn into a forest or a desert, but the words recorded in history books will become memories and live on forever."

He lifted a sheet and searched carefully on the bookshelf, saying slowly:

“Back then, the proposal of the ‘World Government’ was recognized by many countries and was taking shape, but Nefertari and I didn’t really like that kind of system.”

“Then one day, Neferutari suddenly came to me excitedly and said that he had come up with a plan to deal with it, but it was only a draft at the moment and he asked me to take a look.”

"I was busy going to war at the time, so this matter was delayed."

Rowan grinned and recalled, "Neferutari repeatedly told me that the plan was kept in the secret base, and everyone had seen it; I was the last one."

Weiwei asked curiously, "So, did our ancestor see it?"

"No."

Rowan smiled gently and shook his head, saying, "That was my last expedition."

He is narrating history, but history itself is what he experienced.

"I died in battle."

Cobra and Vivi fell silent, while Crocodile raised an eyebrow and continued, "So, you're here to find that draft plan from eight hundred years ago?"

"Correct."

Rowan nodded.

Crocodile seemed incredulous. "Hey, are you kidding me? The world order has changed countless times in the last eight hundred years. How could a mere draft plan possibly be useful?"

Rowan continued searching on the bookshelf.

“Little crocodile, you don’t understand Nefertari.”

Suddenly, Rowan's eyes lit up. He took a stack of documents that hadn't been bound yet from the bookshelf and continued, "He's a genius."

Luo Wen took the documents and sat down on the stool to the left of the table, and began to look through them.

The three people behind them couldn't resist their curiosity and came closer.

On the most severely eroded cover, the words "Four Seas Alliance" can be faintly seen.

Rowan took off the cover and casually placed it aside.

The text on the first page inside is much clearer.

To everyone's surprise, the first page contained only one sentence.

It was neat handwriting done with a fountain pen; it was a bit long, but the meaning was simple and clear.

"Rowan, if you look through this draft while I'm not around, remember one thing: tidy up one page at a time, don't just throw them away. Handwritten documents don't have codes, so tidying them up is a real hassle!"

"—Nefertari."

Rowan: "..."

After a moment of silence, Rowan suddenly burst into laughter, the sound filling his and Nefertari's secret base.

"Hahahaha, as expected of you, Nefertari!"

He waved his hands repeatedly and said, "Okay, okay, don't throw the chair. I'll help you tidy it up in a bit!"

"..."

silence.

There was silence; no one answered.

Rowan held the waving gesture for a long time, but no one could slap his hand away as he was used to.

"..."

Rowan turned around and saw Crocodile, Vivi, Cobra...

But he couldn't see that young best friend who wore glasses, liked to wear long robes, had a somewhat nerdy air, always had a serious expression, but would be the first to burst into tears when drinking.

"Oh, right."

Rowan remembered this incident.

He turned his head, staring at Neferutari's handwriting, and murmured:

"You're not here..."

[Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Genius from Eight Hundred Years Ago]

Vivi stared at Rowan with her dark eyes.

She had never seen an ancestor like that before.

From the moment Rowan emerged from the tomb, he left a profound impression on those around him.

To Crocodile, Rowan was an arrogant yet powerful monster.

To Cobra, Rowan was a great emperor worthy of the name of the ancestors of Alabasta.

For Vivi, Rowan was an ancestor who was sometimes stern, sometimes gentle as a breeze, and even a little childlike.

He can clash with the Celestial Dragons for the sake of the Icarus couple, and he can also excitedly participate in the traditional games of the Fish-Men.

In short, Vivi felt very happy getting along with her ancestor, who must have been very popular eight hundred years ago!

But Vivi had never seen Rowan's expression like this before.

It was a kind of... how should I describe it?

Dejected? Lonely? Helpless?

It even contained a hint of "taking it for granted".

……

Rowan picked up the cover he had casually set aside and gently placed it face down on the table.

Then, the first page was also turned upside down.

This way, when he finishes reading through these documents, all the documents are neatly arranged in order and can be easily put away.

Rowan didn't want to keep looking at a pile of papers, so this was indeed a good way to be lazy.

He smiled helplessly and said, "Are you satisfied with this?"

"..."

No one answered him, but Rowan seemed to have been prepared and didn't seem to care.

He beckoned the three people standing around to come over and study the draft plan left behind eight hundred years ago with him.

Full name: Four Seas Alliance.

Crocodile couldn't help but smack his lips.

"Tsk, what a waste of time..."