Liam looked at his palm and muttered thoughtfully, "What was that just now? It feels like after getting shocked over and over these past few days, I somehow got shocked into unlocking it…"
Nekomamushi shouted, "Don't calm down that fast!!"
"Why are you whining? Come on, again!"
"Stop setting things on fire! I hate it~~!!"
"You're not afraid of electricity, but you're scared of fire? How is that reasonable? What exactly is going on with your fur-covered mink bodies...?"
...
And so, Liam continued his routine, beating up dogs during the day and punching cats at night...
Meanwhile, Robin led the Fire Gun squad to conduct archaeological investigations around the island during the day, then returned to rest at Den Den Mushi City Castle at night. Nekomamushi had guessed wrong; Liam actually did make time to rest.
During their twenty-something days on Zou Island, every few nights Liam would sneak back to Den Den Mushi City Castle under the cover of darkness to take a bath and relax.
With B.I.B.'s reminders, Sister Robin always knew exactly when he would return and would prepare a lavish meal for him in advance.
Arms created by the Flower-Flower Fruit (Hana Hana no Mi) pulled the blanket up and tucked it around them. Robin's damp, long hair was scattered messily as she rested her head against Liam's shoulder, listening to his steady and powerful heartbeat, before unknowingly drifting into a deep sleep.
...
The next day, Robin and the others made a new discovery near the Dark Swamp.
This discovery seemed to owe itself to Zou's twice-daily bathing routine at dawn and dusk. Each time it drew an enormous amount of seawater from the sea to wash its back, the flood would sweep through the Dark Swamp area, causing subtle changes and exposing certain things, things the mink tribe had simply never paid attention to before.
"Another one of these stones..."
Robin picked up the stone fragment that the Fire Gun members had carefully wiped dry. It was made of a material similar to the first fragment they had found, but this one had no Ancient script engraved on it.
Instead, there was a certain pattern on the stone, though blurred and indistinct due to the passage of time.
"A wing?" Robin carefully examined the fragment. Rather than a mere stone, it looked more like part of some larger stone tablet. The blurry pattern on the broken slab resembled just one corner of a complete image.
Strangely, when the Fire Gun members saw the symbol, all of them froze for a moment, and Sicilian immediately turned and left.
Went to find Inuarashi, huh...
B.I.B. withdrew his gaze and looked toward the stone tablet in Robin's hand. The wing pattern Robin had identified, if its guess was correct, was clearly part of the Kozuki clan's crest.
No wonder the Fire Gun members were so shocked, and Sicilian rushed off to find Inuarashi.
Robin didn't understand the history behind it, only carefully studying the newly found stone tablet. She had some guesses regarding its purpose, but couldn't be certain.
Not long after, Inuarashi hurried over once again.
The moment he saw the pattern on the stone tablet in Jolyne Cujoh's hands, he became completely certain that it was indeed part of the wing of the divine bird symbol in the Kozuki family crest.
Holding the stone tablet, Inuarashi stared at it blankly in a daze. Robin couldn't help asking curiously, "You recognize this pattern?"
After a long while, Inuarashi handed the tablet to Sicilian and said to Jolyne Cujoh, "This is the family crest of the Kozuki clan, who have been close allies of our tribe for generations... Jolyne Cujoh, since you can decipher Ancient script, and by such fate happened to pick up a stone tablet bearing the Kozuki crest from hundreds of years ago, then I think there are some things... perhaps you should see for yourself."
Hearing this, Robin's heart skipped a beat. Instinctively, she felt this might be related to a Poneglyph.
"Sure, but can Giorno come too?" she asked with a smile.
Inuarashi nodded. "Naturally."
At the side, Sicilian couldn't help saying, "Lord Duke, they are pirates after all…"
Inuarashi raised a hand to stop him, then looked carefully at Jolyne Cujoh and asked her the same question she had once asked him:
"Can I trust you?"
Robin smiled and nodded. "Naturally."
...
As Inuarashi, Robin, and the others headed toward Whale Forest, they passed through Kurau City, where Liam was currently playing with three young mink children.
Dog-Headed Man had run off halfway through another fight, and Nekomamushi was once again fast asleep, so Liam naturally had to find some other entertainment.
Standing before him were three little mink kids: a dog, a cat, and a small rabbit.
Fourteen-year-old Dog Tribe girl Wanda, nine-year-old cat girl Darcy, and rabbit girl Garrote, who wasn't even two years old yet.
Battle beasts were still battle beasts, they weren't as "fragile" as humans. Many mink children could run and jump normally just hours after being born.
So even though rabbit girl Garrote was not yet two years old, she already looked quite capable and could even use the mink tribe's signature Lightning Strike technique…
Though her electric power was obviously far too weak. Even when the little rabbit gave it her all, it only made Liam, already well accustomed to electric therapy, feel the slightest bit of tingling. This left Garrote extremely depressed.
While teasing the three little mink kids, Liam suddenly sensed a Stand approaching. Turning his head, he saw Inuarashi, Robin, and B.I.B. walking over.
"There's something you want us to see?" Liam asked in surprise.
He naturally guessed what Inuarashi was referring to, but he didn't understand what had suddenly changed his mind and made him willing to bring Robin and him to see the red Poneglyph that the mink tribe had guarded for generations.
He had originally planned that if, by the day they left, there was still no chance to catch a glimpse of the Road Poneglyph, then he would simply have B.I.B. sneak into the secret cave in Whale Forest and casually take a look.
B.I.B. had perfect memory, so long as its eyes swept across any Poneglyph, there would be no need for rubbings at all. If Robin wanted to decipher it later, she could just directly access B.I.B.'s memory database.
But since Inuarashi was willing to personally take the two of them there, that was naturally even better. Liam wasn't exactly fond of sneaking around anyway.
"Lord Duke, can we go too?" little cat Darcy asked, poking her head out from behind Liam's leg.
Behind Liam's other leg, the even shorter rabbit girl Garrote also blinked with her innocent, dazed eyes.
Fourteen-year-old Dog Tribe girl Wanda thought these two companions were utterly spineless, how could they hide behind a human like that?
As she spoke, she stuck out her tongue and licked Liam's arm.
Hairless skin really felt amazing...
Inuarashi chuckled. "If you want to see it, then come along."
Darcy let out a cheer and stretched out a cat paw toward Garrote.
The poor little rabbit girl had absolutely no idea what she was trying to do, but Darcy didn't care. She grabbed Garrote's hand and smacked it against her own paw, then cheered again.
Liam wasn't surprised by any of this.
Among the entire mink tribe, regardless of age or gender, every single one of them could be described as absurdly loyal and courageous.
In the manga, when Jack the Drought came to Zou to capture the Wano Country samurai Raizo, he nearly slaughtered the entire mink tribe to extinction, yet not a single mink, man, woman, elder, or child loosened their lips and betrayed Raizo's hiding place in Whale Forest.
A race like this, even their children were warriors worthy of trust.
The group left Kurau City and entered Whale Forest, quickly arriving at the stronghold guarded by the Guardians.
"Lord Duke?!"
When the Guardians saw Inuarashi bringing people here, all of them were shocked.
Duke Inuarashi and Boss Nekomamushi were like fire and water, unwilling even to look at each other's faces, yet now he was actually bringing people into Whale Forest?
Inuarashi said gravely, "Wake that Monster Cat up. Just tell him... it concerns the Kozuki family."
The Guardians all shuddered.
"Yes, sir!"
Whoosh, whoosh…
Several Guardians immediately leapt away to notify Boss Nekomamushi.
Inuarashi waited for a while. Soon, from deep within the Guardians' camp in Whale Forest, Nekomamushi's loud shout rang out:
"What did you say~~?!"
Not long after, accompanied by a roar like a ferocious beast awakening, a monstrous silhouette about the same size as Inuarashi came charging out from deep within the forest.
Gripping his trident, Nekomamushi furiously thrust it toward Inuarashi.
"You mangy dog! You dare trespass onto my turf?!"
"Monster Cat! Stop fooling around at a time like this!"
Inuarashi roared, drawing his rapier and meeting the attack head-on.
Sword and trident collided, unleashing dense crackling currents of electricity.
(End Of This Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/marvel6395