The library's guards never saw them coming.
Not because the Straw Hat crew was subtle—subtlety had never been their strength—but because the Revolutionary Army had disabled the Navy communication systems, cut off their reinforcement channels, and created enough chaos in the lower city that guard rotations were disrupted.
By the time Navy soldiers realized what was happening, Zoro and Sanji had already breached the main entrance. Usopp was providing covering fire from the rooftops. Nami was managing the escape route. Chopper was ready for injuries. And Luffy was moving directly toward the restricted section where the Poneglyph was hidden.
The Poneglyph chamber was exactly where Robin had predicted—underground, beneath centuries of architecture, protected by ancient doors that had been reinforced with modern locks.
It took Luffy exactly three seconds to break through.
Robin's hands trembled as she approached the stone tablet.
This Poneglyph was different from Alabasta's. Larger. More detailed. The carvings covered every surface, telling a story that stretched back through recorded history and beyond.
"Read it," Luffy said simply. "We don't have much time."
Robin's eyes moved across the ancient text, translating, understanding, absorbing. Her voice was quiet but clear as she spoke the words aloud:
"The Joyboy Kingdom possessed what they called the 'Void Technology'—knowledge so advanced that it allowed them to reshape geography, control weather, and manipulate natural forces. This knowledge was suppressed not because it was dangerous, but because it demonstrated that the government's authority was unnecessary. People with access to this knowledge didn't need rulers. They could create abundance on their own."
She paused, her eyes scanning further.
"The current government was built by those who feared this knowledge. They created the position of 'World Government' to centralize control. They established laws forbidding the study of ancient texts. They created the Navy to enforce these laws through military power. Every system of control in the modern world exists because the government is terrified that if people knew how to access the Void Technology, they would realize they don't need to be governed at all."
The implication hung in the chamber like electricity.
The government's entire authority was based on controlling information about a lost technology. Their military, their laws, their bureaucracy—all of it existed to prevent people from learning that they could be independent.
"Copy it," Luffy commanded. "Everything. Every word."
They were halfway through the documentation when the building shook.
Zoro appeared at the chamber entrance, his expression grim. "Navy. But not just patrol ships. Massive warship. Admiral-class vessel. They're moving into attack position."
It wasn't supposed to happen. The Admirals weren't supposed to arrive for another two weeks. But the coordinated intelligence gathering, the library breach, the communication disruptions—it had all triggered an early response.
"How long?" Luffy asked.
"Minutes," Zoro said. "Maybe less."
"Finish copying," Luffy ordered Robin. "Get it done."
He moved toward the chamber's exit, toward where the Navy assault would come. Sanji was already there, along with a dozen of Serra's rebel fighters. They'd barricaded the entrance with whatever they could find—it wouldn't hold long against military assault, but it would buy minutes.
Those minutes were critical.
The Admiral who descended from the massive warship was not Kuina.
This one was younger—maybe forty—with white hair and cold eyes that suggested he'd been designed specifically for destruction. His name, according to the Navy insignia, was Admiral Frost.
"Straw Hat Pirates," Frost's voice cut through the city like a knife. "You're surrounded. Surrender or be destroyed."
Behind him, the warship's artillery was already positioning. Navy soldiers were establishing perimeter positions. Escape routes were being systematically cut off.
But they weren't trapped. Not yet.
Serra appeared at Luffy's side. "The Revolutionary Army has boats ready at the south docks. We can get to them if we move now."
"How long until Robin's done?" Luffy asked.
"Three minutes," Nami called from below.
They didn't have three minutes. Admiral Frost was already moving, ice forming beneath his feet as he approached the library building with the casual confidence of someone who'd never encountered an opponent who could actually threaten him.
Luffy stepped forward to meet him.
The confrontation was brief and brutal.
Luffy's rubber technique met Frost's ice manipulation, and for a moment, they were evenly matched. But then Frost demonstrated why he was an Admiral—he shifted tactics, surrounding Luffy with walls of ice, cutting off escape routes, creating a enclosed space where his control was absolute.
"You're strong," Frost acknowledged. "But you're not trained in combat against someone of my level. You're reacting. I'm orchestrating."
It was true. The Admiral was dismantling Luffy's strategies before they fully formed, adapting faster, thinking further ahead.
But Luffy wasn't fighting alone.
Zoro appeared from the side, his swords moving with practiced precision. Sanji came from another angle. Usopp's arrows provided disruption. The crew coordinated in the way they'd learned through months of fighting together—not trying to defeat the Admiral, but trying to create space, trying to buy time.
"Go!" Luffy roared. "Get the Poneglyph information to the boats!"
Robin emerged from the library carrying the complete documentation, carefully transcribed. Serra's team was already moving toward the southern docks, along with the scholars and activists who'd been waiting for this moment.
"Movement in the harbor," a Revolutionary Army scout called. "Two more Navy warships approaching from the north. We need to leave now."
The boats were waiting—small, fast vessels that could navigate Water Seven's canal system better than Navy warships. But the passage was narrow, and Navy soldiers were already trying to block it.
Nami took the helm of the primary escape boat, and for once, she didn't bother with subtle maneuvering. She drove directly at the Navy blockade, forcing them to scatter, creating a gap just wide enough for their boats to slip through.
Behind them, the library was burning—not from Navy assault, but from the Revolutionary Army's own operatives. They couldn't let the Navy capture records of the Poneglyph's location. Better to destroy it than allow the government to suppress it again.
As the boats accelerated toward open water, Luffy was still fighting Frost at the library's entrance.
The Admiral was clearly toying with him now, having realized that victory was assured. The Navy warships were moving to intercept the escape boats. The library was burning. The operation had been partially successful but at tremendous cost.
"You've lost," Frost said, creating an ice spike directed at Luffy's chest. "Your knowledge is destroyed. Your allies are scattered. And you'll be dead in seconds."
But Luffy had already learned something critical from watching Frost fight.
The Admiral's ice manipulation was powerful, but it was based on external temperature control. And Luffy's body, through his rubber properties, had natural resistance to extreme temperatures.
Instead of blocking the spike, Luffy absorbed it—took the impact directly, let his body dissipate the energy through its elasticity.
The move surprised Frost enough to break his rhythm.
That break was all Luffy needed.
He moved past the ice, past the Admiral's defenses, and reached the docks just as the final escape boat was pulling away.
Behind him, Frost roared in frustration—but he didn't pursue. The Admiral understood something important: the Poneglyph had been read. The knowledge had been documented. And that documentation was already escaping.
The battle wasn't about stopping them anymore. The battle was about what would happen next.
As the boats navigated toward Revolutionary Army support vessels waiting in open water, Robin carefully protected the Poneglyph documentation like it was the most precious thing in existence.
Because it was.
"They'll want to kill us for this," Serra said, looking at the burning city behind them.
"Let them try," Luffy said, breathing hard from the confrontation with Frost. "The knowledge is out now. People know. And people who know the truth can't be controlled anymore."
Behind them, Water Seven burned. Ahead of them, two more Admirals were approaching. And in their hands, they carried documentation that would change everything.
The government had tried to suppress the Void Technology's secrets for eight hundred years.
That age was ending now.