The next day, Sakazuki brought Karol into town.
This time, he wasn't searching for anything specific—rather, he tried to subtly gather information about the island's history and any unusual features by chatting with the elderly.
But after half a day, he hadn't gained much. It was simply too ancient.
So ancient that the passage of time had eroded all history, leaving behind only a single phrase passed down through generations.
"Birka is the Primordial Light, the origin of all things, the source of everything."
As Sakazuki walked through town, he felt a headache coming on—there were absolutely no leads.
His Observation Haki had scanned the area repeatedly. There were no ruins, no hidden chambers, nothing of the sort.
Both Sakazuki and Karol sensed a group of children fighting behind the town.
One of them was none other than Enel, whom they had met yesterday. The two of them walked over.
At the back of Birka Town, in an open area.
Enel panted heavily, eyes cautiously watching the group of kids closing in on him. He had let his guard down...
He'd been playing another prank on that dumb kid who always bullied him.
But he hadn't expected to run into that dumb kid's big brother while escaping.
Even though he had turned and run the moment he spotted him from over two or three hundred meters away, he still got caught. The age gap between a three-year-old and a twelve- or thirteen-year-old was simply too much.
The group of little brats who had chased him down began to surround him.
With his big brother backing him up, the five-year-old kid shoved Enel to the ground and looked down smugly:
"Hmph, Enel, thought you were fast?"
"Let's see you run today!"
"What, nothing to say?"
"You dare steal my apple? I'll show you what happens!"
Enel remained silent. He knew there was no way he was getting out of this beating.
He glanced down at his new clothes and felt a sting of heartache. Damn it, it was his first time wearing new clothes...
The five-year-old leader smugly waved his hand and barked at the surrounding three- and four-year-olds:
He raised his fist, preparing to throw the first punch.
At that moment, Sakazuki's emotionless voice rang out:
"Do you have a death wish?"
A massive shadow suddenly loomed over the group of children.
The five-year-old leader turned around—and saw a man towering over him, seemingly endlessly tall.
With powerful muscles and a cold, terrifying expression, the man's gaze was fierce enough to make the child freeze up in fear:
The older brother of the five-year-old quickly pulled him back and tried to act tough, glaring at Sakazuki and Karol.
"Who are you people?!"
Sakazuki glanced at the oldest child without saying a word.
But the atmosphere grew noticeably colder. The older brother couldn't maintain his composure. He looked down at Enel.
"This time, you're off the hook!"
Then he grabbed his little brother and took off running without daring to look back.
Karol reached out to help Enel up and smiled at Sakazuki.
"You didn't traumatize them, did you, Sakazuki-sama?"
Sakazuki raised an eyebrow, replaying his words in his head.
He had only meant to scare them, and he had used a calm tone, hadn't he?
Why did those kids act like they'd seen a ghost?
He stopped thinking about it and turned to Enel.
"How'd you get caught?"
Enel turned his head away and muttered reluctantly:
"Tch. That guy was just big. Otherwise those dumb kids wouldn't have caught me."
Sakazuki exchanged a glance with Karol and asked:
"What's this about stealing apples? Shouldn't there be some Extol in your pocket? Didn't you notice it?"
Enel stared at the ground and shuffled his feet.
"I noticed. I hid it."
"The apple was from before."
Sakazuki gave Karol a signal.
Karol held Enel's hand and followed Sakazuki out of town.
Enel blinked, surprised, then started walking and asked:
Sakazuki's indifferent voice came from ahead:
Enel's mind went blank.
He was dragged along for a while before the words finally sank in.
Back on the warship, it was mealtime again.
In the kitchen, the chef was busy with loud clanging and sizzling.
Enel sat in the dining hall outside, surrounded by many Marines who were handing him all kinds of little gifts.
They were treating him like an ordinary three-year-old.
This made Enel, whose mind was far more mature than his peers—comparable to a six-year-old—blush in embarrassment.
But even more than that... this feeling was really nice...
In the office, Sakazuki and Karol were chatting idly.
Karol was puzzled about what Sakazuki was looking for, and Sakazuki answered directly:
"I'm looking for some ruins. There's a set of blueprints hidden inside."
Sakazuki pressed his hands against his temples and massaged them to ease the headache.
There was no helping it—he'd kept his Observation Haki active for half a day, and it was draining.
There was a knock at the door. Sakazuki lowered his hands and called out:
Enel cracked the door open slightly, peeked inside, then walked in carrying a bunch of snacks and toys.
Karol found the sight amusing and asked:
Enel put all his snacks and toys on the sofa, turned around, and hesitantly said:
"That ruin you were talking about... I think I might know where it is."
Sakazuki blinked in surprise, then asked:
Enel scratched his head in embarrassment.
"I used to sneak food offerings from the altar in the town center when I was hungry... I think the space beneath that altar is hollow."
Sakazuki and Karol both frowned.
That couldn't be right—the altar was one of the locations they'd checked most thoroughly with their Observation Haki.
They hadn't found anything unusual.
Seeing their frowns, Enel froze, then suddenly remembered their sensing abilities and quickly said:
"You can't sense anything with that power down there. I found out by accident. I was hiding and fell—bam—sounded really hollow."
"I've gone there a few times at night. That slab under the altar is definitely hollow, but I couldn't lift it."
The two exchanged a sharp look. A method to block Observation Haki entirely... Sakazuki spoke:
"Can you take us there?"
"Sure, but it has to be at night. People can see the altar during the day."
"No problem. Come with me."
He signaled to Karol, who picked Enel up.
In a few swift steps, the two of them leapt from the warship and vanished.
In a corner of Birka Town, not far from the altar.
Sakazuki and Karol—still holding Enel—appeared. There was no one around.
Sakazuki lifted the cloud panel on the ground. His ability activated, magma gushed out and quickly dissolved the island cloud beneath.
Soon, a tunnel formed by magma was created and rapidly cooled.
It led directly to the altar.
Karol jumped in with the wide-eyed Enel in her arms.
Then Sakazuki grabbed the cloud panel and followed, replacing it over the entrance.
At the end of the tunnel, facing a stone wall, both Sakazuki and Karol wore serious expressions.
So it was true—this technique really could block Observation Haki...
The moment Sakazuki touched the wall, a faint weakness surged through his body.
But it wasn't severe—there was only a trace of Seastone...
He activated Armament Haki, letting it flow into the stone wall.
A faint vibration echoed.
The spot where Sakazuki touched began to crumble into powdered fragments.
Soon, a tunnel-sized hole opened up, leading into the ruins.
Karol began collecting the powdered debris.
This must be a special blend of materials mixed with Seastone powder.
That's how it could block Observation Haki's detection.
It would be worth researching later.
They stepped into the ruins.
Sakazuki activated his Observation Haki again, summoning a ball of magma to float above his palm as a light source.
Guided by his Haki, they went deeper.
Karol put Enel down and let him walk beside them.
Sakazuki pushed open the wooden door of a stone chamber at the end of the passage.
The old door groaned loudly, on the verge of collapse.
Inside, the room was empty—save for three massive murals, seemingly depicting ancient history.
The first mural showed a flourishing city filled with instruments and four types of angel tribes working together.
The first tribe was mining something, transporting it upward.
The second tribe used those materials to assemble small humanoid figures.
The third tribe pressed their hands against the heads of those figures.
Lastly, the fourth tribe led the small figures to perform some kind of work.
The second mural showed an empty underground city. The small figures stood aboard a massive warship, waving goodbye to the angel tribes flying into the sky.
The angel tribes were headed toward a large blue planet.
The third mural showed the four angel tribes reaching the sky above the blue planet. One tribe had snail-like antennae, and another had slightly larger wings—both remained in the sky.
The tribe wearing wolf-head helmets and another with human-sized wings descended toward the surface.
The three massive murals recounted the origins of the angel tribe and displayed the advanced technology they once possessed.
A mechanical city, life-giving humanoids, massive warships—it was all a testament to a once-glorious, awe-inspiring civilization.
They pushed open the door to another stone chamber nearby.
Inside was a massive bookshelf and a table with chairs.
Walking up to the shelf, they picked up a book.
Before they could open it—
Countless scraps of paper scattered to the ground.
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