You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/marvel6395
Ahead, in the direction of the giant elephant's head, a massive pillar-like object could be seen protruding in the distance, which was Zou's raised long trunk.
"The fire rain is coming!"
"Zou's taking a bath…"
As the enormous trunk sprayed a towering torrent of seawater onto its own back, inside the thousands of homes lining the streets of Kurau City on its back, the cries of the Mink Tribe residents rose one after another.
Hua la la!
A deluge of seawater poured down like a flood released onto this thousand-year-old city.
But the Mink Tribe residents were clearly already used to it. Including Wanda, the canine girl below the house where Liam had just been standing, everyone skillfully slammed their doors and windows shut, waiting for the wave to fall and pass.
Liam held Robin in one arm and carried Darcy in the other, then leaped high into the air.
"I…" Vegeta was speechless. The flood in front of him was already surging over everything, so he hurriedly ran toward higher ground nearby.
Tap, tap, tap…
In just a few steps, Liam carried the two of them through the clouds, climbing several hundred meters higher into the sky.
The little feline girl Darcy clung tightly to Liam's arm, rubbing her fluffy cheek against it a couple of times. As she rubbed, she couldn't resist sticking out her pink little tongue and licking it twice.
But soon, she was distracted by the scenery rushing past beside them. Looking down, she immediately let out a "Waaah~~!!" of amazement and started shouting excitedly.
Robin leaned in his arms and looked downward.
Below the elephant's waist, among the layers of clouds, some were white, some dark storm clouds, and in certain places lightning still flashed and thunder rumbled. The only constant was the thick mist surrounding the giant elephant that, for some unknown reason, never stopped walking.
And on the elephant's broad back, vast as land itself, the water sprayed from its trunk came crashing down like a heavenly flood, washing over the Mink Tribe city…
Soon, the floodwater was diverted from the city's central high point by several clearly modified drainage channels, flowing into rivers and reservoirs throughout the city.
"There's fish to eat!" Darcy hugged Liam's arm tightly. "I wanna go down and eat fish!"
Then down they went to eat fish.
The three of them swooshed downward. A few meters before landing, Liam stomped downward with a bang against the air, using Geppo to halt their fall, then landed lightly back on the ground.
After being washed by the flood, the whole city looked refreshed and brand new.
Naturally, it was also soaking wet.
Darcy broke free from Liam's arm, cheered, and jumped into the nearest river.
Soon, she popped her head out of the water with a sea fish clenched in her mouth, waving at Robin and Liam on the shore.
Vegeta stood on a rooftop watching this scene. "She really doesn't have Devil Fruit weaknesses anymore…"
Seeing it with his own eyes made him appreciate even more how peculiar the abilities of the JoJo Pirates were.
"Who's standing on my roof again?" The window beneath his feet opened, and Wanda said unhappily.
"Wanda~~!!" Darcy, catching fish in the river, waved energetically and said happily, "Come eat fish with me!"
Wanda's eyes lit up at the window. "Eh, Darcy? How can you swim now?!"
She jumped out of the window. After clearly seeing Liam and Robin, she gasped in shock.
"Hairless monkey tribe?!"
"No matter how you look at us, we're humans, right?" Robin said with a smiling expression.
"So this is what humans look like?!" The adolescent canine girl, who looked about fourteen, wore an amazed expression. She circled Liam and Robin twice, then couldn't resist coming closer and sticking out her tongue to lick Liam's arm.
She couldn't reach Liam's face…
Wanda then hugged Robin's arm and rubbed against it, exclaiming in amazement, before finally jumping into the river too, going off to play and catch fish with Darcy.
"Daybreak has come. Daytime is under the management of Duke Inuarashi and his Musketeer Squad."
Vegeta's voice made Robin, who had been smiling as she watched the river, withdraw her gaze.
Turning around, she saw Vegeta jump down from the roof and point toward a tall building in the center of the city in the distance.
"I'll take you to find them… Sorry, but you are pirates after all."
Robin smiled. "It's fine. That's understandable."
Liam was even more indifferent. Since Nekomamushi had slipped away, he actually wanted to go find Inuarashi and keep fighting.
As they walked, the Mink Tribe members who were more accustomed to daytime activities began appearing throughout the streets and alleys of the city. Just like last night's residents, they all looked curiously at the two humans being led by Vegeta, captain of the Heroic Traveler Group.
Robin pointed toward the distance ahead.
"Excuse me, what exactly is that?"
Liam and Vegeta both followed the direction of her finger.
In the distant forest stood a towering, curved structure that hadn't been clearly visible under last night's dim lighting.
It was an enormous whale-shaped "sculpture."
In that forest, and even in this entire nation on the elephant's back, it stood out like a crane among chickens. A single glance made it impossible to ignore.
Liam knew that inside the whale's tail was a cave hiding a red stone, the Road Poneglyph.
However, neither he nor Robin had Kin'emon and the others with them, especially not Momonosuke, the young lord of the Kozuki Clan. Forget about the cats, dogs, and Mink Tribe taking them to see the red stone; they probably wouldn't even leak a hint.
Earlier, when Liam sparred with Nekomamushi, even though Nekomamushi had accidentally used Ryuo (Flowing Sakura) and had been extremely emotional, he still hadn't mentioned Kozuki Oden or Wano Country even once.
"That is the Whale Forest, a place our people have guarded for generations." Vegeta solemnly reminded Robin and Liam, "Only that place cannot be opened to you two without permission from Old Boss Nekomamushi or Duke Inuarashi."
"I see…" Robin's gaze drifted, briefly meeting Liam's eyes, and she smiled faintly.
Back the previous night, the instant Robin followed Nekomamushi into this ancient city beneath the moonlight, throughout the entire range of the elephant's back, at the city's edges, in forests everywhere, and even near a gigantic swamp as vast as an abyss, small clusters of flower petals had suddenly appeared in as many deserted places as possible.
From each cluster of petals, a Jolyne Cujoh clone rose from the ground and opened its eyes.
Robin had long been curious about that giant "sculpture" under the moonlight, so naturally she wouldn't let the opportunity slip by…
One Flower Clone was currently walking along the vine-covered pathways on the giant whale's surface, curiously brushing its hand over the whale's weathered shell…
These were all historical relics, after all…
But after hearing Vegeta's words, Robin and Liam exchanged a glance, and with a smile, Robin canceled the Flower Clone walking atop the great whale.
The flower petals scattered apart, drifting away in the wind…
One petal, carried by the fierce high-altitude gusts, floated down toward the forest on the giant elephant's right flank. It swirled leisurely through the air before finally landing in the palm of a slender, delicate hand.
A Flower Clone standing atop a treetop caught the windborne petal while holding a fluffy squirrel in her arms.
The Mink Tribe only ate hairless animals, such as crocodiles and fish… They claimed they did not eat furry animals precisely because, sure enough, there were other animals living on the elephant's back.
Zou's morning shower had also washed through this forest with torrents of water. To keep the Flower Clone from being swept away by the flood, Robin had the clone take temporary shelter here, incidentally rescuing a poor squirrel that had panicked in the face of the rushing water.
Standing on the treetop, the Flower Clone gazed ahead.
Nearby was a vast swamp, likely the result of the recurring floods accumulating here over thousands of years. The flood from earlier had scattered mud from the swamp all over the surrounding area.
The Flower Clone jumped down, released the squirrel, and continued observing the unique culture of this thousand-year-old island.
The natural treehouses hidden among the forest, along with the various modifications and devices that made daily life more convenient, were all quite interesting.
The squirrel chirped softly behind her, following her step for step.
"No need to thank me." The Flower Clone smiled and waved at the squirrel.
But from this angle, she suddenly noticed that the squirrel seemed to be standing on something.
.........
"By the way, where's B.I.B.?"
In Kurau City, Robin and Liam were following behind Vegeta.
While splitting part of her attention to control the Flower Clone, Robin suddenly realized that Liam's Stand had been here just a moment ago, but ever since Liam returned, it had disappeared somewhere.
"Huh?" Liam himself hadn't really noticed either. He looked around, and sure enough, there was no sign of Blacky.
After sensing for a moment, he said in surprise, "How did it run all the way over there…?"
At the same time, Robin's pupils suddenly contracted, and she muttered softly, "This is…"
.........
The ancient giant elephant continued striding endlessly across the sea…
Before its mountain-like head, before its range-like trunk, before its cavernous eyes…
A black figure, invisible to the naked eye, floated there.
Compared to the giant elephant, the figure was incomparably tiny.
Black Battle Armor maintained a posture of steadily drifting backward through the air.
Tilting its head slightly, white light flickered faintly in its narrow eyes as it stared at this thousand-year-old elephant silently walking through the seas of the New World.
Then it slowly extended a hand.
.........
Between the Right Hind Forest and the Right Belly Forest lay a place the Mink Tribe called the Dark Swamp…
In the woods near the Dark Swamp, the Flower Clone picked up what the squirrel had been stepping on,
A stone.
A stone by itself was nothing unusual, probably washed here by the earlier floodwaters from somewhere unknown.
But Robin's pupils shrank sharply.
Because there was something carved on the stone.
Words.
Though the writing was already somewhat blurred, Robin could never forget that script, not even in death.
What truly shocked her was that this text was worn down.
And that something bearing this script was merely a small fragment of stone.
It was Ancient Script.
"How could this… "
Back in Kurau City, Robin's real body let out a quiet gasp.
Liam looked at her. "What's wrong?"
Robin pressed her lips tightly together. "Wait a moment."
She controlled the distant Flower Clone.
The Flower Clone exhaled softly, placed the fragment of Poneglyph stone in her hand onto the bewildered squirrel's back, then pressed the petal in her hand onto the squirrel's fluffy forehead.
On a street in Kurau City, Robin beckoned with her hand.
Flower petals surged in her palm, condensing into a squirrel with a blank, adorable expression.
The squirrel looked slightly panicked, yet stood motionless like a sculpture on Robin's palm.
"Don't be afraid," Robin said gently.
The squirrel, her Hana Jizai Clone, immediately calmed down.
Meanwhile, Liam and Robin focused their attention on the stone fragment resting on the squirrel.
Liam picked up the stone formed from flower petals, rubbing his fingers over the surface where several slightly worn square-shaped characters were engraved.
"Ancient Script?" he said in surprise. "That's weird. Why would something like this be here… What does it say?"
Robin took a deep breath and shook her head.
"The erosion is fairly severe. I'll need time to carefully decipher it before reaching a conclusion…"
"Preliminarily, it appears related to words such as 'hatred' and 'resentment'..."
Liam was full of question marks.
Was there ever a scene like this in the manga?
"Hey, what do you think?" He tossed the fragment lightly in his hand. "Big Dog?"
Hearing the commotion behind him, Vegeta turned around, only then noticing that a giant five-meter-tall dog-headed figure, Duke Inuarashi, had somehow appeared near Giorno and Jolyne without anyone noticing.
Wearing sunglasses, Inuarashi stared at the stone fragment.
Then, looking at Jolyne Cujoh beside him, he asked sternly,
"You recognize this script?"
.........
Before Zou's head, trunk, and eyes…
The pitch-black, ghost-like figure withdrew its hand.
Zou completely ignored it, remaining just as silent as it had for the past thousand years, continuing step by step, slowly walking across the sea toward some unknown destination…
The narrow eyes of the Stand Armor flickered faintly.
Staring at the ancient elephant, it slowly asked:
"What is your name?"
"And exactly what kind of…"
"Devil Fruit did you eat?"
(End Of This Chapter)
I am translating some new fanfiction (Haikyuu- Starting From Volleyball). Read it and support me.
PS— I will post 1 Bonus Chapter for every 100 Power Stones