"So this is… a Poneglyph…"
"There are this many…"
Spread out before Olvia and the others were several massive Poneglyphs!
One of them came from Shandora, and another had been retrieved from the flowing sands of Alabasta. Ren finding that Poneglyph in the desert had been something of a coincidence — he had originally only planned to make a rubbing of the one in the Alabasta royal palace.
Besides those two, there was also a red Road Poneglyph that nobody had ever heard of.
This Poneglyph had existed in "the former Wano Country" all along — the very one Kaido held in the original story. Now it had naturally fallen into Ren's hands.
However, Ren wasn't interested in the Road Poneglyphs and their waypoint nature. Buggy and the others had even contacted him specifically, planning to send over Big Mom's Road Poneglyph as well, but got turned down.
Later, Buggy's crew had specially photographed the text on it and transmitted the images to Enkanomiya.
Where had these scholars ever seen so many Poneglyphs before? Their eyes were practically glowing at this moment, and they looked like they wanted to throw themselves onto those stone slabs right then and there.
"Apart from these, there are also some photographic materials." Keiko pointed to a stack of documents nearby.
There were actually quite a few photographic records, including ones of the Poneglyphs from Alabasta and Fish-Man Island. There were also some ancient texts from "Wano Country" that might prove helpful for their research.
"Then, let us begin our research right now!" Dr. Clover's voice was trembling.
What lay before these scholars was far more than a few stones and some documents — it was an inexhaustible treasure trove!
Since these scholars were eager to get to work, Keiko naturally didn't want to dampen their enthusiasm. After having someone record their identification information, she left with Iris and Robin.
Olvia had also been implanted with the Great Serpent Mark. Although she couldn't bear to part with the daughter she had just been reunited with, she wasn't too worried either. After telling Robin to be good, she let Keiko take her away.
"Um, sister… where are you taking me?"
Robin looked at the elegant, beautiful older woman walking ahead of her with some insecurity, asking cautiously.
Years of living under other people's roofs had made this child extremely cautious. Even when others showed kindness, Robin was quick to feel afraid.
Right now she looked like a kitten that had suddenly been dropped into a completely unfamiliar environment, wanting to curl herself into a tiny ball.
"I'm taking you to see some other labs." Seeing her pitiful appearance, Keiko softened her tone. Her personality had always been fairly quiet and gentle, but years of research work had given her a more decisive edge.
"Can't I study history with Mom and the others…"
"That's not it. Research into ancient culture is certainly important, but Lord Ren wants you to also look into some other areas of study. I've heard, Robin — you passed the doctoral exam with a perfect score at just eight years old? That's amazing!"
"Mr. Balzeb told you that?"
At the mention of Ren, Robin's eyes lit up again and her voice grew more spirited. Keiko, on the other hand, was puzzled by the name.
"Mr. Balzeb?"
"Um, Mr. Ren told me his name is Balzeb… Is it okay to call him that? Or should I call him 'Lord Shogun' like Mom and the others?" Robin asked in a small voice.
"No need. Since Lord Ren said so himself, Robin can just call him whatever you like," Keiko said.
In truth, Ren didn't care much about titles. People like Keiko and Yukiko didn't really need to address him as "Lord" — they simply did so out of genuine gratitude from the bottom of their hearts.
Robin nodded as if she half understood. Then she heard Keiko ask:
"Robin, do you like reading?"
"Yes! Since I didn't have any friends, reading in the Tree of Knowledge was the happiest time. Dr. Clover and the others were very good to me too. Even though I had no money, they still lent me books for free."
After some more conversation, Robin and Keiko were no longer as distant as before, and the little girl gradually opened up.
"But now, the Tree of Knowledge is already…"
"What matters isn't the tree itself, but history and knowledge, right?" Keiko winked at the dejected child. Although Robin hadn't left behind many happy memories from Ohara, she still held deep feelings for the Tree of Knowledge — the only place that had ever accepted her.
"Yeah!"
As they talked, the two arrived at another laboratory — or rather, it would be more accurate to call it a factory. Massive machines hummed with energy, and enormous robots stood silent as if in deep slumber.
"So cool! Robots — there are so many of them!" Robin was quickly captivated by the machines. If this were her from twenty years later, she might not have been so impressed. But now, at just eight years old, Robin had very little resistance to things like this.
"This is the research center for the Autonomous Machines. They've gone through many iterations by now. That said, the core technology hasn't really had any major breakthroughs," Keiko said with a slightly troubled expression.
From the first-generation tiller machines to the later Ruin Drakes, the technological gap wasn't actually that large.
The Ruin Hunters were more advanced than the Ruin Guards in terms of aerial mobility, while the Ruin Cruisers series was distinguished by their ability to transform.
"So cool!" Robin's eyes sparkled.
Dr. Clover had previously bought a Ruin Guard through some channel — most likely to guard against attacks from the World Government or the Marines. But in the end, it was destroyed in the Buster Call without ever having a chance to activate.
Robin had been very curious about that big machine back then. She never imagined she'd end up in the very factory where these machines were built, and she was absolutely thrilled.
However, her excitement was somewhat different from a boy's fascination with machines. Right now, Robin was simply curious about this big thing and wanted to study how it worked.
Keiko had originally planned to take her to see some other labs, but most of the remaining ones dealt with Lineage Factor research. Even the ones that didn't mostly required test subjects, which was rather cruel. So she temporarily gave up on the idea.
After all, even just experimenting on small animals could leave a child with psychological scars.
What Keiko didn't know, however, was that the little girl in front of her was no ordinary child. This was a terrifying woman who could tell bloody jokes without changing expression.
She was also the person Ren considered the best candidate — aside from Vegapunk — to serve as the Fatui Harbinger known as Doctor.
A few test subjects? That was nothing at all!
[
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