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In the sky, aboard the Black Whale.
Chrollo lay on a deck chair, silently reading the Navy Daily newspaper in his hand.
> [Due to the wanton plunder and numerous casualties caused by the Phantom Pirates' captain, Chrollo, within Alabasta, his bounty has been raised to 1 billion.]
This news didn't elicit much of a reaction from Chrollo. Since some of the original inhabitants of the Hunter x Hunter world had escaped from the Black Whale and joined the Navy, his bounty increase was only a matter of time.
What caught his attention was the news item directly below it.
> [Former Warlord of the Sea, Sir Crocodile, attacked King Cobra of Alabasta, resulting in the King's death. Alabasta is currently in national mourning. In accordance with Cobra's wishes, the throne has been passed to his daughter, Nefertari Vivi.]
Chrollo entered the [4-Dimensional Apartment] and stared at Crocodile, who was locked in a single room, falling into deep thought. Who?
Old Sand killed Cobra?
Old Sand is literally right here in this room reading the paper with me, okay?!
"What do you make of this, Old Sand?"
Chrollo handed him the newspaper.
Crocodile knew a great deal about the secrets of this world, so Chrollo wanted to fish some information out of him.
Crocodile, bound by thick chains, looked at the content of the newspaper, then looked up with a sneer of contempt. "Tch, what is there to think? It's obvious. Just another conspiracy by the World Government."
Chrollo nodded. "I think so too."
Then, a doubt flashed through his mind.
He clearly remembered that in the original story, Cobra's death should have occurred two years later, during the Reverie, killed by Imu and the Five Elders for foolishly mentioning the secret letter left by his ancestor, Nefertari D. Lily.
"What caused Cobra's death to be advanced by two whole years...?"
Cobra wasn't just the king of an ordinary nation; he bore the name of a descendant of one of the First Twenty, Nefertari D. Lily.
It could be said that his premature death would have a certain impact on the entire world structure.
One thing was certain: Cobra's early death was definitely related to the appearance of them, the Ryoka (Travelers).
"Is there a traitor among the World Government who also escaped from the Black Whale?"
"What are you muttering about over there?" Old Sand looked at Chrollo's face, puzzled.
"Don't worry about it," Chrollo replied. "One last question for you: How did you know that clues about Pluton might exist in Alabasta?" Chrollo narrowed his eyes.
Old Sand definitely knew something...
Otherwise, he wouldn't have talked about seizing Pluton to build the strongest nation.
Chrollo suspected that Crocodile knew something about the highly advanced "Great Kingdom" that disappeared into the river of history 800 years ago.
He might even possess some of its intelligence.
Crocodile fell silent.
"Not talking, huh? I have ways to make you talk~"
Smiling, Chrollo opened the cell door. Pakunoda, dressed in her suit, walked in gracefully. Chrollo placed his hand lightly on her shoulder, borrowed her ability, and then, with a wicked grin, slowly reached out toward Crocodile...
We don't know what content Chrollo obtained, only that after walking out the door... his face was filled with endless confusion and doubt.
Behind him... only Crocodile and the newspaper were left alone in the room.
---
On the deck, unlike with the Straw Hat crew in the original story, Robin's arrival didn't cause much of a stir.
No one cared about Robin's past, nor did anyone care if she was truly the "Devil Child" as the bounties claimed. They accepted her quite easily.
After all, the Troupe members on this ship... who among them wasn't a villain before?
In their simple way of thinking, being acknowledged by Chrollo meant being a member of the Troupe.
The Black Whale continued to sail through the sky, startling a flock of birds.
Nami stood at the bow, holding a Log Pose to check their direction. She asked Chrollo, who was spacing out, and Robin, who was elegantly sipping red wine, "Where are we going next?"
One wanted to hunt strong opponents, the other wanted Poneglyphs, so the destination had to come from them.
"How about we go to Skypiea next?" Robin suggested, raising a finger.
She shared a series of legends and intelligence about Sky Island with everyone. "Rumor has it—above the clouds in the sea area near our next stop, Jaya, there exists a legendary island... Skypiea."
"Skypiea floats above the clouds."
"To be precise... it's not just an island floating in the air, but an entire sea located in the sky, known as the White Sea."
Robin continued, "Based on what I've learned previously, there might be a stone tablet recording a Poneglyph there."
"It could be one of the nine Historical Poneglyphs we need."
Nami nodded. After the events in Alabasta, everyone was quite curious about the legendary Ultimate Truth of the World, so the importance of the Poneglyphs went without saying.
But the final sailing route depended on the captain's decision. Nami looked toward the corner.
Chrollo sat on a small stool, muttering incessantly, looking bewildered.
"What's wrong with him?" Nami asked, puzzled.
"The Leader might be thinking about something," Pakunoda explained with a smile, patting Nami on the shoulder.
"Thinking?" Suspicious, Nami slowly approached and leaned in to eavesdrop.
"The world is a giant lie... The world is a giant lie..."
"Laugh Tale hides the truth about everything... Laugh Tale hides the truth about everything..."
"What are you muttering about?"
With a mischievous grin, Nami popped up from behind Chrollo and slapped his shoulder hard—only for the spacing-out Chrollo to predict it a step ahead and dodge, causing her to face-plant onto the deck.
"Quiet. I'm thinking."
Two hours ago, Chrollo had successfully extracted the memory of that intelligence from Crocodile and learned this:
The reason Crocodile knew about the intelligence regarding Pluton...
Was because of one person... a true powerhouse—Douglas Bullet.
Many years ago, a 20-year-old Crocodile had encountered a 19-year-old former Roger Pirate, Douglas Bullet, on the sea, and they engaged in a fierce battle.
The battle ended in a draw, but the two bonded through combat and formed a deep friendship.
Crocodile had extracted this intelligence from Bullet!
Bullet told Crocodile that the Ancient Weapons included three weapons of mass destruction, named after gods from Greek and Roman mythology:
Pluton, Poseidon, and Uranus.
The specific forms and types of these weapons were unknown, but according to Roger's deduction: Uranus is currently controlled by the World Government, used to maintain their rule and the exalted status of the Celestial Dragons.
Poseidon lies dormant in the depths of the sea.
Only Pluton might have been brought to the lower world by the Queen of Alabasta, Nefertari D. Lily.
That was why Old Sand, after reaching adulthood, spent three years laying groundwork in Alabasta—to find Pluton and obtain the power to change the world.
Chrollo actually knew all this information since he was a transmigrator.
However, the next two sentences Bullet said to Crocodile in the memory were what caused Chrollo endless confusion.
In the memory, Bullet told Old Sand that while following the Roger Pirates, he had indeed seen the "One Piece" with his own eyes, but he didn't know what it actually was, or rather, he couldn't understand its true meaning.
He only knew that after returning, a vitally important diary concerning the truth of "One Piece," the Void Century, and the meaning of the Clan of D was burned by Roger's own order.
Roger left them with only three sentences:
"Do not mention to anyone what the One Piece you saw actually is—"
"We and Ohara made the same mistake—we knew too early. We cannot change anything. This truth needs to be 'inherited,' not 'conquered.'"
And...
"The world is a giant lie..."