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Liam currently had quite a few Devil Fruit chips stored away in his possession.
The Shiro Shiro no Mi (Castle-Castle Fruit), Jiki Jiki no Mi (Magnet-Magnet Fruit), Goru Goru no Mi (Gold-Gold Fruit), Baku Baku no Mi (Munch-Munch Fruit), Impact Fruit, Bubble-Bubble Fruit…
The Castle-Castle Fruit had basically been handed over to Vane for use; after Liam learned the technique of "Full-Body Transformation," the Munch-Munch Fruit no longer had much value to him; as for the Magnet-Magnet Fruit, firstly, Liam didn't understand electromagnetism well enough to manipulate lightning with it, and secondly, he knew nothing about meteorological science. In short, aside from occasionally using it to look cool, he had already grown tired of playing with it. The Impact Fruit, on the other hand, was currently Liam's new favorite. If he wanted to use a Devil Fruit ability, that would be his first choice…
As for the Bubble-Bubble Fruit, ever since snatching it from Jiabode, one of Haiyna's subordinates, it had been pretty much the same as the Gold-Gold Fruit that had been tossed aside to gather dust, Liam barely used it at all.
But barely using it didn't mean he wasn't skilled with it.
When B.I.B. pressed the triangular chip covered in bubble patterns into Liam's chest, a thought stirred in Liam's mind, and an enormous quantity of soap bubbles immediately burst forth from his entire body.
...
Inuarashi and the other mink race members of the Fire Gun Team watched in astonishment as the soap bubbles pouring out from Giorno's body surged toward the enormous Dark Swamp.
"But that's a swamp! What's the point of using soap bubbles?"
"Even the massive amounts of water Zou uses for bathing can only occasionally wash a pebble or two up from the bottom of the swamp, ah, it's washing away! The swamp is really being washed away!!"
The Fire Gun Team members were utterly dumbfounded as they watched those seemingly light and powerless soap bubbles completely wash away the filth coating the swamp's surface. The entire massive Dark Swamp visibly "sank" by several degrees because of it.
Unbelievable. Soap bubbles were actually washing away a swamp. Did that really make any sense?
"This is a Devil Fruit," Inuarashi said, clearly well-informed. "Devil Fruits themselves are reasonable."
The Fire Gun Team members all nodded as though enlightened, but then reminded him:
"Lord Duke, please pull back your tongue hanging out in shock…"
"Let's go take a look first." Inuarashi quietly withdrew his dog tongue without changing expression, composed himself, and walked toward Giorno and Jolyne.
Robin and B.I.B. observed the swamp's surface together.
"There's no need to wash it away this quickly. Just clean it little by little…"
If they accidentally washed away historical relics that might emerge from the swamp, stones, bones, and the like, it would be a terrible loss.
"Got it."
Liam immediately slowed the output, spraying tides of foam only from his hands now, gently washing layer after layer across the already lowered surface of the Dark Swamp before him.
Slowly, large amounts of debris began to appear. Robin, B.I.B., and the voluntarily assisting mink race Fire Gun Team members ran over one after another to inspect them.
But most of it turned out to be ordinary stones, rotten wood, dead branches and leaves, along with animal remains and similar junk.
Ignoring the Fire Gun Team's attempts to stop him, Inuarashi also joined in to help.
...
The sun beyond the mist overhead gradually drifted westward…
And under Liam's uninterrupted bubble cleansing, the surface of the Dark Swamp sank lower and lower.
After an entire day, the group's efforts had not been without results.
At the very least, they had found more remains of the Wolf Lord. The giant skeleton had long since been shattered into pieces beneath the swamp, but at least now there was a chance to piece it back together and properly bury the ruler of the Mokomo Dukedom from hundreds of years ago.
"He's been using his Devil Fruit power nonstop all day…"
The Fire Gun Team members were merely helping inspect the swamp, yet after a full day of work they were already nearly exhausted to the point of collapse. But when they looked at Giorno, this human pirate was like an iron man who would never fall, steadily maintaining the streams of soap bubbles pouring from both hands without haste or pause… an entire day had passed, and not only had he never complained about being tired, he hadn't even shed a single drop of sweat. He even occasionally had the leisure to casually chat with his female Captain…
Since he was helping the mink race excavate their history, Sicilian chose to turn a blind eye to this lovey-dovey romance story. Hmph!
...
As the evening glow dimmed yellow, the Fire Gun Team members transporting another batch of Wolf Lord remains back to the city suddenly heard a strange noise. Looking up, they saw a vast torrent of water covering the sky as it came pouring down toward the ground,
They cried out:
"This is bad! We were so busy all day that we almost forgot it's time for Zou's evening bath!"
Huā lā lā,
Boundless floodwaters washed across the elephant's back, through forests, cities, and swamps… Part of the surging water was caught by Kurau City's flood drainage reservoirs, while even more spread and wandered across the giant elephant's back.
In the Dark Swamp region, Zou had begun its bath time. Floodwaters surged across the land, and the mink race all leapt onto nearby tall trees to avoid the deluge. Looking up, they watched the figure who casually grabbed his female Captain and, with just a few strides, rose high into the sky…
How convenient, he could actually fly!
As for B.I.B., it remained standing where it was, allowing the floodwaters to completely engulf it.
As long as it had no intent to attack, its body stayed intangible, and the rushing waters simply passed through it. On the contrary, standing amid the roaring flood and witnessing the scene from such a perspective became quite a memorable experience.
Once the floodwaters passed, the Dark Swamp, now several levels lower than before, had become a complete mess. Much of the debris that had previously surfaced was buried again, while many things that had gone unnoticed before now emerged in other places.
Whoosh,
Liam descended from the sky together with Robin.
He continued spraying foam from both hands, slowly washing away the "filth" covering the swamp's surface, while Robin, B.I.B., and the Fire Gun Team members continued their search.
...
Soon, it was 6 PM. Sicilian and the other Fire Gun Team members began feeling sleepy and turned toward Duke Inuarashi.
Inuarashi said, "You all go back and rest. I'll keep investigating for a while longer."
"How can we let Lord Duke stay here alone, " the Fire Gun Team members hurriedly declared that they would stay as well, when suddenly they heard faint but irritable roaring coming from the other side of Kurau City, clearly from the direction of Whale Forest.
"Old Boss Nekomamushi has woken up…"
Not long afterward, apparently unable to find Giorno, Nekomamushi came charging over aggressively.
The moment the Monster Cat saw Inuarashi still present, his eyebrows shot upward as he roared like thunder:
"You mangy dog, why are you still here?! The nighttime is supposed to be my territory!"
Inuarashi remained calm. Patting the dirt-covered paw pads on his hands, he stared toward the swamp and said:
"Shh! Looks like there's a new discovery…"
"Hm?" Nekomamushi turned his head and stared fixedly in Giorno and Jolyne's direction. He even excitedly ran over to check, letting out a cry of surprise:
"This is?!"
Hm? There really was a new discovery?
Inuarashi hurried over as well.
...
Nekomamushi helped pull a skeleton out from the swamp mud and said in confusion:
"This doesn't look like Wolf Lord bones."
Liam temporarily stopped the soap bubbles spraying from his hands, leaned over for a glance, and said speechlessly:
"Wake up. That thing has a head, a human skull. How could it possibly be your Wolf Lord?"
Nekomamushi burst into laughter.
"Nya-hohoho! Good point!"
Robin murmured thoughtfully:
"A human around three meters tall…"
Although the remains were incomplete, both the head and feet were still present, and the skeleton was relatively intact. However, because parts were missing, it was difficult to determine the person's sex for the moment.
Inuarashi's expression grew serious as he said in a deep voice:
"A human of this height, lying together with the remains of the Wolf Lord from several hundred years ago…"
"Trying to say it has no connection to the Kozuki Clan," Nekomamushi said lightly while biting on his pipe, "there's no way that makes sense."
Robin said:
"I already had suspicions before, but after seeing this skeleton, that possibility has become even more likely."
The cat, the dog, and the other mink race members all looked toward her. Robin pointed at the Dark Swamp, where a huge area had already been cleared away, and said seriously:
"Beneath this swamp… there is very likely an underground tomb chamber. Over the centuries, the chamber collapsed, eventually forming this enormous swamp…"
"The stone fragments with ancient writing we found earlier, as well as the stone slabs carrying damaged Kozuki family crests, were probably parts of the tomb chamber itself, or, judging from the texture and material, possibly even parts of the coffins inside the tomb."
Nekomamushi and Inuarashi exchanged glances, each seeing the solemn gravity in the other's eyes, but neither spoke further about it.
They simply said:
"Keep digging. Whether it's really an underground tomb or not, we'll know once we clear everything out!"
The Fire Gun Team mink race members answered with solemn expressions:
"Yes!"
The members of the heroic traveler group had to guard Whale Forest, so they did not come over to help. Thus, with the cat, the dog, and the Fire Gun Team members assisting, they helped Jolyne Cujoh continue searching the ever-shallower swamp throughout the night under the cleansing wash of Giorno's Bubble-Bubble Fruit…
...
Later, as the night deepened further, B.I.B. made another discovery in one corner of the swamp.
Everyone watched as a long rectangular stone slab slowly floated across the giant pit left behind by the swamp toward them…
Several portions of the slab were broken off, and on the slightly raised side was a heavily worn Kozuki divine bird crest, with one corner of its wing missing.
Nekomamushi and Inuarashi looked utterly shocked.
That long stone slab was clearly a coffin lid!
"There's writing on the back…"
The black battle armor carried the damaged coffin lid over before the group. Its narrow eyes glowed faintly as it looked toward Robin.
…Ancient script.
(End Of This Chapter)