A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

On the day of the execution, everyone in the Flower Capital applauded and cheered.

Crocodile is indeed very shrewd. In just three days, he has transformed himself into a positive image of a 'savior'. His 'usurpation of the country' that failed in Alabasta has finally succeeded in Wano Country.

With the help of his own subordinates, as well as Killer and Kaido, he quickly established a new regime in Wano Country, and adopted a strategy of winning over some and attacking others when dealing with the locals.

Recruit those with normal intelligence, ability, and pragmatism to serve you.

Then he dealt with all the blindly loyal samurai who still cared about the Kozuki clan, either killing them outright or sending them to Udon to mine. With Queen guarding them, those people had no hope of escaping.

This naturally includes Ashura Doji, who is currently a bandit. After all, under his rule, there is no need for bandits who do not engage in production and only know how to wreak havoc on the area!

Immediately afterwards, he issued a population relocation order, replanning various parts of Wano Country. This inevitably involved some holdouts who refused to leave. His solution was simple: he used his Devil Fruit powers to turn those areas into deserts, leaving them to die if they didn't leave.

Through continuous operations, Crocodile completely took control of the country, renaming it the Land of Sand. He even renamed places like Kuri and Udon, gradually erasing the traces of the Kozuki clan.

Three days later, amidst the cheers of the people, Crocodile officially assumed the throne of the Land of Sand.

Chapter 971 The Final Island, Kira's Speculation

The artificial magical spirit power, containing immense energy, fell from the clouds, completely shattering the outer walls of the Sand Kingdom.

After the dazzling light dissipated, the seawater, which had been deposited for over eight hundred years, poured down like a silver river, rushing towards the outer sea of ​​the Sandy Land, causing the surrounding waters to churn and coastal creatures to flee.

After an unknown amount of time, Mount Fuji, which had been submerged for so long, revealed its original appearance, and the ancient land of Kowa at the foot of the mountain was also presented to everyone.

Based on his memory, Kira explored down Kuri, but he never saw anything that resembled 'Pluto'. He was greatly disappointed, and his intuition told him that 'Pluto' must have been hidden by someone in some way.

However, with Ace's execution imminent, he no longer had time to investigate further and could only leave the matter to Crocodile.

'Pluto' is said to be able to destroy an island with a single shot, but no matter how powerful such a weapon is, can it compare to the magical spirit power that can destroy a country with a single shot?

If that thing isn't what netizens speculated—a record of an 800-year-old civilization, or something containing 'gigantic technology' or a 'bloodline factor gene pool'—but is merely a weapon, then it really won't be of any use to Kira.

Even if it records history, it's only good for Kira to learn the truth; it's of no use to him in the future.

Because he has already determined the future for this sea.

After calculating the time of Ace's execution, he piloted the Hope and left the Land of Sand. This time, Crocodile was also added to the crew. As for Kaido, he had already set off earlier.

On the Hope, Kira was pondering a mathematical problem: In three-dimensional space, given the coordinates of three points, is it possible to determine the coordinate range of the intersection center of any four points?

抽出纸笔，基拉旁若无人地开始了计算：“设四点的坐标分别为A（x1，y1，z1），B（x2，y2，z2）……，那么中心点位置就应该是O[（x1＋x2＋x3＋x4）/4，（y1＋y2＋y3＋y4）/4，（z1＋z2＋z3＋z4）/4]……”

After writing down the coordinates of the five points using letters and numbers, Kira sat quietly at the table, twirling his pen in his hand, but still unable to find a place to write.

"Oh no, I can't keep going! I've forgotten all my high school math..."

He looked up and glanced around at the people around him, and finally realized that they were all semi-literate people who could not be relied upon.

"Actually, you can't blame me, because in my memory, we never learned this kind of geometry problem in high school..."

After making an excuse for himself, Kira began to slump in a chair and do nothing.

Although I kept trying to build the corresponding mathematical model in my mind, this method was useless and always failed halfway through due to insufficient computing power.

"I remember a guy on Tieba analyzed it a long time ago. If we only consider a two-dimensional plane, Laugh Tale is likely to be on the side of the triangle. However, because the islands in the One Piece world may be in the sky or underwater, and because the Red Line and the Calm Belt are isolated, it is impossible to complete the exploration by going around them. In addition, there are issues such as island movement and periodic appearance (such as long island rings), so the calculation process becomes complicated."

"Furthermore, four points in space may not actually intersect, meaning they are skew lines. If we consider spherical geometry, they could even be on the seabed or in the sky..."

"Even if the location of the four islands on the road sign is finally determined, it is impossible to sail directly to them, because sea navigation can only rely on the recording of the pointer. Normal navigation cannot reach a place without a magnetic field record. It may even require a vehicle such as a submarine or bubble wrap."

"So the only way is to gather four permanent pointers, and when they are reversed in pairs, that place is Laugh Tale!"

The existence of the 'Final Island' dates back 800 years, meaning that the four marked islands need to have a certain history, civilization, and heritage. Currently, only a handful of islands, such as Wano Country, Alabasta, Fishman Island, Skypiea, and Elbaf, meet this standard.

In reality, Kira prefers Skypiea, Fishman Island, Elbaf, and Wano Country.

As we all know, Skypiea is above Jaya Island, Fishman Island is beneath the Red Line, and Elbaf and Wano Country are both in the New World, so these four places may not intersect.

Now, the texts for three of these four locations have been obtained. Robin will need some time to decipher them, but Kira isn't in a hurry. Compared to the four marked islands, he's actually more concerned about the exact location of the final island.

Kira has always had a bold theory in his mind: the final island in the beginning was near Enies Lobby!

That's the place that was supposedly "extinguished" by the Heavenly King, and now only a pit remains!

That place might have been a very important location, but it was later destroyed by the Heavenly King. Then, when the lights were turned off, Nika gently blocked it with his hand, which saved a small piece of the island from being destroyed. This surviving island later drifted to the Devil's Triangle and ended up on the seabed.

Why is it called the Devil's Triangle?

Kira could only say that when he was reading the comics, he saw an unknown 'eye' appear there, suggesting that a giant sea monster was roaming around.

So why is it described as the seabed?

One reason is that Roger's dying words seemed to have a hidden meaning; another is that fans speculate that the ancient kingdom's prototype, Atlantis, was located underwater, and there are related legends that Atlantis was located in the Thriller Bark. In addition, Water Seven also has an underwater city that was buried at the bottom of the sea. Everything is so coincidental.

Here comes the point!

The location of Laugh Tale may be similar to one of the conditions for the formation of the surging ocean current: a 'submarine cavity'.

Kira knew that for the formation of the Sky Current, there needed to be a sufficiently large space on the seabed, with seawater constantly being poured into it from all around. Once the seawater reached a certain amount, it would erupt periodically under the influence of geothermal heat.

Laugh Tale may also be located in such an underwater space, where the seawater is emptied periodically, after which Laugh Tale becomes an 'accessible' area.

A similar situation to the Sky-Piercing Current also exists near Enies Lobby, namely the annual appearance of the 'Water God' Akula Ragna!

It's even possible that after the location of the 'final island' changed, the people of Wano Country began to 'close their country off' and elevate the country's status in order to better align themselves with the final island.

While this speculation isn't as logically sound as the theory that "a great flood once struck the pirate world, and Wano Country built the high walls to seek refuge," it's precisely because it's so unconventional that no one would guess it, making it more likely to be close to the truth!

……

Time flew by, and only one day remained until Ace's execution.

Marineford, Marshal's office.

Zhan Guo sat at his desk, his brows furrowed, rubbing his temples hard, but he could hardly relieve the unprecedented headache he was experiencing.

A few days ago, the Navy stationed in the New World to observe the situation had already lost track of the Whitebeard Pirates. That was to be expected. What really gave him a headache were the two pieces of news he received today.

One is the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates, who have once again formed a pirate alliance and are gathering a large force in the Sabaody Archipelago, eyeing the Marine Headquarters covetously.

According to reports from spies, they have deployed at least 20 large ships and 1 elite pirates there.

Another group, led by Shiki, including the Straw Hat Pirates, the Heart Pirates, the Buggy Pirates, Gildarts the Crusher, and Rayleigh the Dark King, has also formed an alliance and is currently in the Sabaody Archipelago.

Boom! ! !

Sengoku slammed his fist heavily on the table, and then his angry shouts echoed throughout the room: "These pirates... they're just too arrogant, too lawless!!"

"To appear so brazenly near the Marine Headquarters is simply an insult to our Navy!!"

Whether it was Chief of Staff Tsuru or the three generals, they all had gloomy expressions. Even Garp, who was usually always laughing and joking, now had a grim face.

The fact that this group of pirates gathered here at this time speaks volumes about their intentions.

Three Yonko, one Legendary, a new force no less powerful than the Yonko, and three Supernovas—this lineup, even if the Navy and the Seven Warlords of the Sea were to double their military strength, might not come out on top!

"What do we do now, Warring States period?"

"Now that things have come to this, we're in a bind!"

"beat!!"

"Even to the very last moment, we must uphold the 'justice' we bear!!!"

Chapter 972 Pre-Battle Gathering

Inside the extortionist bar in District 13, Sabaody Archipelago.

One of the pirate alliances that gave Sengoku a huge headache is gathering here for a meeting.

The attendees included the Straw Hat Pirates, Buggy and his crew, Law and his crew, Rayleigh, Gildarts, and several other mages who were already on the island. As for Shiki, he went to chat with his old friends Kaido and Big Mom nearby.

Now, Golden Lion has had the ship's wheel removed from his head by Law's surgery, regaining his normal intelligence and original Haki. He also has a bunch of large rare beasts under his command that have been improved with IQ drugs. In the upcoming war, he will definitely be a force to be reckoned with.

Kira and his group had just arrived here. When they landed on the island, Katakuri spotted his own ship and then happily ran back to his mother's embrace. So the only outsider left in the group was Crocodile. Fortunately, he wasn't lonely and was having a friendly chat with Mr. 3.

Now, Stinger and Roger are telling Kira and the others what has happened to them in the past two days.

Several days ago, Shiki formed an alliance with Luffy, Buggy, and Law. After Law performed surgery on Shiki, the group, guided by Buggy, arrived here and found Rayleigh and Gildarts.

Gildarts accepted the invitation to 'Operation Save Ace' because Buggy brought his guildmates and Ace was also his friend.

After discussing it further, the group unanimously agreed that Ace had to be saved, and that Whitebeard's fate could be ignored.

After hearing the story of 'Saving the Ace Alliance', Kira felt a strong urge to join in. The development of events had far exceeded his expectations, but fortunately, this deviation from the original plot was exactly what he wanted to see.

Kira could actually tell that, within this alliance, perhaps only the people in this tavern truly wanted to save Ace… except for Crocodile and Law.

The purpose of the alliance's initiator, Golden Lion, was not to save Ace at all, but to cause chaos in Marineford. This is the same as Kaido and Big Mom outside. Perhaps the three of them are discussing the formation of an alliance right now.

Golden Lion wanted to use the "Ace Rescue Team" to draw the pirates' firepower, while Luffy and the others also wanted to use Golden Lion's ability to quickly reach the battlefield and rescue Ace. Since there was no conflict between the two sides, they were able to maintain their alliance.

Sitting in the tavern, looking around, the scene before me showed no trace of the tension and solemnity before the battle:

Gildarts, Natsu, Gray, and others drink, sing, and dance to celebrate their reunion.

Happy, Rector, Frosh, and Chopper and Bepo, these adorable pets, are either holding fresh fish, holding cotton candy, or drinking beverages, playing happily like little kids who haven't grown up yet;

Sanji fawned over Erza, Lucy, Wendy, Nami, and Robin;

Crocodile seemed to have discovered Mr. 3's hidden talent. After mocking him, he arrogantly asked him if he wanted to go to his Sand Country and follow him again. Mr. 3 boldly said that he could consider it, but he would help Crocodile contact other Baroque Works members.

Buggy, with his red nose sticking out, boasted to Rayleigh about how loyal he was, while Shanks described himself as heartless and treacherous. Luffy, listening nearby, felt uncomfortable, and the two quickly started arguing.

Zoro and Cana were having a drinking contest. Dozens of empty bottles and several empty barrels were already laid out on the table in front of them. It was said that they had been drinking for a day and a night without even eating a peanut.

Law sat quietly to one side, holding his long sword, but his eyes would occasionally glance in Robin's direction—not at Robin, but at what Robin was holding: rubbings of three road sign texts.

These past few days, Robin has been translating road sign texts.

Contrary to Kira's original expectations, the road signs did not explicitly indicate the name of a marked island. Instead, they used riddles to subtly record the island's geographical location, history, culture, or environment, leaving people to guess and calculate.

In other words, after completing the translation, it is necessary to solve the mystery, and to successfully solve the mystery, one needs certain nautical knowledge and sailing experience!

It even involves astronomy!

Fortunately, Robin was born in Ohara, where scholars had long been exploring astronomy and had even created a simplified model of the World Globe, the Moon, and other planets in the Tree of Omniscience.

"I am bored……"