Iris led Olvia and the other scholars toward Enkanomiya. Saul tagged along in a daze.
As for this guy, Ren didn't really have any good plans for him. In terms of combat strength, he wasn't particularly strong. As for intelligence — that didn't need mentioning. He was a giant, but he wasn't one of the giants from Elbaf. For now, they could only settle him in and see if he'd be useful somewhere down the line.
Fortunately, Enkanomiya had originally been built from Skypiea and the underwater ruins combined. Space was the one thing it had in abundance.
After arriving at Enkanomiya, Keiko — who had received advance notice — walked over slowly, her black-framed glasses perched on her nose.
Her long black hair was tied back. She wore a white lab coat over a white blouse and a fitted short skirt. The straps at the hem of the skirt traced faint marks against her skin.
Keiko first tilted her chin up and looked around. Not seeing Ren anywhere, she turned her gaze to Iris and the scholars with a hint of disappointment.
That wretched man — he didn't even come to see her! And she'd dressed up specially, too!
She was even wearing stockings with a special seam down the middle — not like ordinary ones — and her underwear was all pearls…
Keiko buried those grievances deep inside and spoke: "Little Iris, are all these people scholars?"
Her questioning gaze first fell on Saul's towering figure, then shifted to the tiny Robin.
"Everyone except the giant is a scholar from Ohara," Iris nodded and explained. "There's quite a bit of research material still on the way. Lord Ren should be bringing it over shortly."
Hearing that Ren would be coming soon, Keiko visibly perked up, her legs unconsciously pressing together.
"In that case, let's bring them inside first." She composed herself where she stood, then opened the door to the laboratory. "The giant gentleman will have to stay outside for now — the laboratory corridors aren't wide enough for him."
Enkanomiya had not only the massive laboratory but also an outdoor testing ground, which was perfect for Saul to work in for now. The original Skypiea had been large enough to house a several-hundred-meter-long Sky Lord with room to spare, so a twenty-meter-tall Saul was no problem at all.
The research institute's interior was actually quite spacious too — after all, many of the instruments inside were enormous. But that was the internal space. As for the corridors, they weren't nearly as generous — only about ten meters high.
Robin followed everyone into the institute. The wide silver corridors along the way amazed her, and she couldn't help but exclaim: "Wow, what a big laboratory…"
Keiko glanced at Robin. She rather liked this clearly intelligent little girl. Besides, she was already soaked through below from the walk over, so she was in an excellent mood and explained willingly.
"The institute has many different departments, and research topics are varied. Since you're all scholars from Ohara, your primary focus will naturally be deciphering ancient texts and recreating ancient technology. As for your previous historical research, I won't ask you to stop it, but I do hope you'll prioritize the former."
Hearing this, Dr. Clover and the other scholars all nodded. They had been planted with the Great Serpent Mark, so they naturally wouldn't resist anything Ren asked of them. Besides, Ren had also agreed to let them continue researching the Poneglyphs.
But there was a touch of helplessness on all their faces.
To think the World Government had gone to such lengths to pin the crime of resurrecting Ancient Weapons on them — and now it was going to become reality after all. How ironic…
But Robin still had some concerns. She now knew exactly why Ohara had been destroyed, and she couldn't understand why her mother and Dr. Clover and the others not only weren't stopping their Poneglyph research but were actually planning to resurrect the Ancient Weapons for real.
"Little girl, what's your name?"
"I… I'm Robin…" Robin saw that the somewhat strict but pretty older sister asking her name was a little intimidating, but she still answered in a small voice.
Keiko also noticed that this child named Robin didn't seem to have been marked with the Great Serpent Mark, so she patiently explained: "Robin-chan, when the World Government says you've resurrected the Ancient Weapons, you'd better have actually resurrected the Ancient Weapons. Do you understand?"
"Not really…"
"Think about it carefully, Robin. If the World Government is so afraid of the Ancient Weapons existing, then if we truly possessed the Ancient Weapons, would they still dare to move against Ohara?"
Before Keiko could continue, Dr. Clover took the lead in explaining.
Perhaps because of the impact of this incident, or perhaps because of the Great Serpent Mark, the scholars' way of thinking was slowly beginning to change.
"That's right, Robin. Only by holding power in our hands can we stop the enemy from acting rashly against us."
Robin nodded, half understanding. She was very smart, but she was still just a child after all.
But precisely because of that, Keiko actually had the highest expectations for her. Dr. Clover and the others were world-renowned scholars, but they were already old. It wouldn't be easy to suddenly shift them from archaeologists into scientific researchers.
Robin, on the other hand, was very young and highly adaptable. And the reason she had wanted to become an archaeologist was simply to integrate herself with the scholars inside the Tree of Knowledge — to get a little closer to her mother.
The group chatted as they walked.
They soon arrived at a laboratory with no current researchers.
"This is the research room prepared specially for you all." Keiko pressed her finger against the fingerprint lock by the door and said, "We'll need to enter everyone's identification information shortly. Someone will set up each of your access permissions then."
Enkanomiya's security level was extremely high. Just its hidden location was nearly impossible for outsiders to reach.
And even if someone did find Enkanomiya, breaching the research institute would be virtually impossible. The building materials had been mixed with large quantities of Sea-Prism Stone powder, making it incredibly sturdy.
The institute's internal security system appeared to be fingerprint-based, but it was actually a composite of Lineage Factor, iris scans, fingerprints, and multiple other elements. Unless someone had the Mimic-Mimic Fruit's ability or was a Nine-Tailed Fox Fruit user, it was impossible to fool the security system.
But a Devil Fruit user's powers would be affected by the Sea-Prism Stone here, rendering them nearly useless.
The only part of the entire institute with relatively little Sea-Prism Stone was the department dedicated to Devil Fruit research.
The silver door slowly opened, and the interior of the research room gradually revealed itself before Dr. Clover and the others. The dozens of scholars, including Olvia and Robin, were all struck dumb with shock.
"This is…"
[
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