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It was a skull, a wolf's skull.
After spending nearly twenty days in the mink race country, Robin had gained a much deeper understanding of animals. So the moment she saw the skull's features, she immediately made a judgment.
The skull was enormous, buried near a swamp. After B.I.B. pulled it out, it turned out to stand over half a meter tall.
This area, called the Dark Swamp by the mink race, lay between the Right Rear Forest and the Right Flank Forest. It covered an area of more than one or two hundred meters across and emitted a foul, rotting stench.
A corpse buried in a swamp was not particularly unusual by itself.
But there was something different about this skull.
After examining it, Robin preliminarily concluded that the remains were at least five hundred years old.
The swampy terrain made movement inconvenient for Robin, so she asked the ghost-like B.I.B. to investigate further while she called over the two nearby Fire Gun squad members.
Before Robin could even ask anything, the two mink, a horse mink and a rabbit mink, both cried out in shock:
"This is a mink race skull!"
So it really wasn't a wild beast… Robin thought to herself.
The horse mink circled around the enormous wolf skull in amazement.
"I've never seen such a gigantic mink before…"
"I'll inform Lord Duke immediately!" the rabbit mink declared decisively before leaping away at high speed.
…
Not long afterward, Inuarashi hurried over after receiving the news, with Liam accompanying him.
"What's going on?" Since his sparring partner Inuarashi had run off, Liam naturally had nothing else to do and came along to take a look.
Robin briefly explained the situation.
"Remains from at least five hundred years ago?"
The moment Inuarashi heard that, he seemed to think of something. His expression changed drastically.
He strode over to the massive skull by the swamp. Behind his newly replaced sunglasses, his eyes filled with shock and uncertainty.
"Could it be…?!"
His reaction immediately drew Robin's and Liam's attention.
B.I.B. floated back from the opposite side of the swamp and shook its head, indicating it had found little of note.
Inuarashi reached out and carefully felt around the giant wolf skull. Finally, his fingers stopped beneath the back of the skull.
His pupils contracted sharply as he stared fixedly at the spot beneath his fingertips.
It was a crack.
Near the base of the neck, on the back of the skull, there was a gash nearly half an inch deep and over ten centimeters long.
Inuarashi took a deep breath and slowly stood up.
Looking solemnly at the ancient wolf mink skull nearly a meter tall before him, he said gravely:
"This is the skull of the 'Wolf Lord'… That wound, which nearly beheaded him, is the clearest proof."
"Wolf Lord?"
Naturally, this was the first time Robin and Liam had heard the name, but the reactions of the two Fire Gun squad members were far more intense.
The horse mink exclaimed in shock:
"The legendary king of the mink race? The strongest mink warrior in history, the Wolf Lord?!"
The rabbit mink said in disbelief:
"Why would the Wolf Lord's skull be in the Dark Swamp? The stories I heard as a child said that the Wolf Lord left Zou Island to adventure in the outside world…"
Inuarashi sighed.
"Nekomamushi and I only learned later that no one actually knew what became of the strongest mink warrior from centuries ago, the Wolf Lord. One day, he simply disappeared…"
The dog-headed Duke suddenly stopped speaking.
His brows knitted tightly together as he fell silent for a long time.
Robin found it somewhat strange. Inuarashi looked as though he had more to say, but did not wish to continue.
Liam and B.I.B., however, already had some guesses.
This so-called Wolf Lord from centuries ago probably had some connection to Wano Country, perhaps even directly tied to the Kozuki clan. That was likely why Inuarashi was hesitant to reveal too much in front of Liam and Robin.
The mink race clearly had a closer relationship with the Kozuki family, and Liam did not particularly mind.
Still, seeing Inuarashi looking so preoccupied, Liam figured the Duke probably wasn't in the mood for fighting anymore.
Looks like I'll have to play with the more violent and battle-loving Nekomamushi tonight instead, he thought.
"First, let us bring the Wolf Lord's skull back and give it a proper burial," Inuarashi said in a heavy voice, brows furrowed.
Then he turned to Robin and earnestly requested:
"I'll leave the investigation… and the archaeology to you. I'll send more members of the Fire Gun squad here. If there's anything you need help with, please give them instructions freely."
As for the Guardians, there was no need to involve them. The Guardians only operated at night, and after all, Jolyne Cujoh needed to rest at night too.
"I'll do my best," Robin nodded. "But I also have a favor to ask of you."
Inuarashi said, "Please, go ahead."
Robin glanced up at the evening sky.
"The full moon is approaching. I've heard that the mink race becomes stronger beneath a full moon… Could you and Nekomamushi continue sparring with Giorno until then?"
Inuarashi let out a soft breath and smiled as he nodded.
"Of course. How could I refuse the chance to exchange blows with a powerful fighter like Giorno?"
After Inuarashi left, Liam looked at Robin.
Robin raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"I'm the captain, after all. Looking out for my crew is only natural, isn't it?"
…
When Sicilian arrived with the rest of the Fire Gun squad, what they saw was Jolyne Cujoh standing on tiptoe, her long legs straight and elegant, her graceful upper body leaning slightly backward as she wrapped her arms around Giorno's neck and hung against him.
Their faces were pressed close together, and who knew what they were doing…
The hard-boiled lion mink was utterly speechless at the sight.
He really wanted to walk over and kick them both while scolding them for being so weak-willed, especially Giorno.
What was wrong with him?
A real man should never indulge in love, that thing which softened one's fighting spirit!
But after thinking about it, he realized he simply couldn't beat that monster Giorno.
So he and the other Fire Gun squad members could only pretend they hadn't seen anything.
…
As night descended, Liam looked up at the sky.
Behind the faint clouds and mist, the moon had already become nearly full.
In just a few more days, it would be the night of the full moon.
Then he would finally get to witness the legendary Sulong form and see exactly how powerful it truly was.
Nekomamushi soon arrived to continue the battle.
Having slept through the entire day, the moment he opened his eyes at night, he could hardly wait to fight Giorno again.
The longer they spent together, the more Nekomamushi secretly admired this pirate called Giorno.
Day and night, he and the old dog had fought him without rest, yet Giorno seemed like a man forged from iron, never collapsing, never tiring.
Sometimes Nekomamushi even wondered whether this kid had properly slept at all during this period.
Although Nekomamushi never met daytime Inuarashi, judging from Giorno's condition at night, the brat's strength had hardly changed from the beginning. He still completely overwhelmed him with absolute superiority.
Which meant that during the day, the old dog was probably experiencing much the same thing.
Nekomamushi had long since realized that unless it was the night of the full moon and they transformed into Sulong, neither he nor the old dog stood any chance against this kid.
During their sparring, Liam asked,
"You should know about your 'Wolf Lord,' right?"
"Hm?"
Nekomamushi slashed out with an Electro-coated claw. Only after Giorno explained did he learn what had happened during the day.
As the two continued exchanging blows, Nekomamushi said in a deep voice:
"The mink race has been allied for generations with the people of a certain country. We're friends as close as brothers… And according to our records, that relationship began during the era of the Wolf Lord centuries ago."
Liam nodded thoughtfully.
So the friendship between the mink race and the Kozuki clan began during the Wolf Lord's era centuries ago?
"MROW?!"
Nekomamushi suddenly yelped loudly, snapping Liam's attention back.
Only then did Liam notice that a layer of glowing energy had entwined around his right fist.
"It worked?" Liam said in delight. "I can shock people now, too?"
Nekomamushi hurriedly slapped at the singed fur on his body and shouted while hopping around:
"What do you mean by 'worked'? That's not electricity at all! That's obviously fire!
"And we furry minks hate fire the most!"
(End Of This Chapter)
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