This really is a warehouse.
Rowan's Conqueror's Haki spread out, finding that this was a huge warehouse covering a very large area.
It wasn't just the small area lit by the fire.
From the location, the entire Aden Kingdom palace, even the underground area including the square, had been completely hollowed out and made a part of this huge warehouse!
Such a huge space, if used to station troops, could at least guarantee the normal life of tens of thousands of people!
This level of warehouse is obviously too big for the "Aden Kingdom."
Rowan reached out and knocked on the wall next to him.
As expected.
This isn't just an ordinary underground warehouse. The materials used to build this warehouse are all excellent and strong, seemingly regardless of cost!
With the addition of these materials, this warehouse can withstand heavy artillery bombardment.
Even if Rowan wanted to attack this warehouse from the outside, he would need to use the full power of the Sand-Sand Fruit and spend a lot of effort to erode the walls.
This is simply a war-level bomb shelter!
But that's not what surprised Rowan the most.
What really caught Rowan's attention was the "things" stored in the warehouse.
Just as the fat uncle introduced, this is an "armory."
Rowan slowly walked forward and came to a weapons rack.
The rack held a row of ten spears, obviously standard equipment for an army, with uniformly printed patterns on them.
Rowan didn't rush to take a spear, but gently rubbed his finger on the weapons rack, and then silently looked at his finger.
There was dust, but not much.
This situation made Rowan even more curious about the role of this warehouse.
Logically speaking, a sealed space would be perfect for long-term storage of weapons.
And if the ancient books the fat uncle read were correct, these weapons must have been stored in this warehouse for thousands of years.
Humans entering a sealed space for thousands of years would only find death, but the fat uncle and the people of the Aden Kingdom were fine. Therefore, this warehouse must have some kind of ventilation system, and this system has been operating normally for thousands of years.
The dust Rowan found on the weapons rack also indirectly confirmed this.
But even the simplest ventilation hole would be unimaginable to ventilate for thousands of years!
What's more, the dust Rowan touched wasn't much, indicating that the ventilation system of this warehouse was designed quite skillfully, able to ensure smooth ventilation for thousands of years without letting too much dust into the warehouse!
Rowan can now be certain that the function of this warehouse is far more than simply storing weapons. If equipped with a certain amount of supplies or secret passages, it could completely serve as an iron-walled fortress during wartime!
He turned his wrist and grabbed a spear next to him.
He used force with his fingers, but the spear shaft showed no signs of breaking.
It can still be used?
Rowan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
A spear that has lasted for thousands of years but is still tough? What material is it made of?
Weapons of this material are stacked up in a warehouse!
Rowan used force on his shoulder, pulled the spear from the weapons rack, turned around and lightly danced with it, confirming that its killing power was still there.
He couldn't help but recall what the fat uncle had seen in the Aden Kingdom's ancient book—
"The relics of the old era are buried deep underground, but they will eventually see the light of day, because those things will come back sooner or later."
"On that day, I hope those 'relics' will not become your last resort."
Simple sentences, but they seem to hide a lot of content.
The old era? Does it refer to the era thousands of years ago?
That seems to be the era when the Alabasta ancient kingdom existed. The Alabasta palace was also built at that time.
Relics?
Does it refer to the large number of weapons stored in these warehouses?
Why call these weapons "relics of the old era"? And even keep them at a "sealed" level of storage!
And the next words in the ancient book are even more surprising.
"They"—naturally refers to those weapons.
Those weapons will eventually see the light of day, because "those things" will come back sooner or later.
What are "those things"?
The "things" that "weapons" deal with... are they enemies? Could it be the foreign enemies of the Aden Kingdom at that time?
This is indeed one of the possibilities, but it is the smallest of many possibilities.
After all, there is no need to build such an exaggerated war fortress as a warehouse for ordinary national-level foreign enemies, and there is no need to build a batch of weapons that can be preserved for thousands of years at all costs!
"On that day, I hope those 'relics' will not become your last resort."
——This sentence means that "those things" will come back sooner or later, and the person who said this sentence does not want people at that time to continue using the weapons in this warehouse.
Because that situation would mean that people have no other means!
What kind of terrible "things" were they, that people at that time hoped that later generations could have more means to deal with?
Suddenly, Rowan noticed the pattern on the spear, and then suddenly turned his head and shouted:
"Little Crocodile, come out for a moment!"
"..."
No one answered.
Rowan shrugged and continued to call out: "Look at the pattern on this, isn't it very similar to the outside of the Sea Stone Secret Room in Skypiea?"
As soon as these words came out, a sandstorm rose around them.
Crocodile's figure emerged from the sandstorm, took the spear from Rowan's hand, and carefully examined it.
The fat uncle was very surprised by Crocodile's appearance.
"Mr. [Sand Crocodile], why are you here too?"
Before Crocodile could answer, Rowan rushed to answer: "He has been following us all along."
Crocodile seemed not to have heard Rowan's answer and answered on his own: "Just a coincidence."
Fat Uncle: "..."
As expected of one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, what he does and says is not something we can easily understand.
On the other side, although Crocodile was very unhappy with Rowan's behavior, his attention was now attracted by the pattern on the spear in front of him.
Rowan's judgment was correct. The pattern on it was almost exactly the same as the one outside the Sea Stone Secret Room in Skypiea!
When did the Aden Kingdom get involved with Skypiea… no, with the lost city of Shandora?
Could it be that the inside of the Sea Stone Secret Room in Skypiea is also a huge armory?
Several possibilities flashed through Crocodile's mind, but he could not give an accurate answer.
After all, it was something that happened thousands of years ago. Who can know what the "world" was like at that time?
That time is too far away from now. Whether it is himself or Ryan·Rowan eight hundred years ago, we are at the same starting point on this matter.
But Rowan's voice suddenly rang out.
"Since we can't figure out what happened at that time, why don't we change our thinking and think about what they were 'worried' about thousands of years ago."
Rowan gently stroked one of the heavy cannons, looked at the manufacturer's pattern on the cannon, and turned his head to ask:
"What exactly did the people at that time use these weapons to deal with?"
You can read 50+ more chapter on patreon com/JYouyi