Chapter 167 The Secret of the Final Island
Inside the captain's cabin of the Red Furs, Vale and Shanks sat facing each other.
After sleeping soundly for a whole day, Vale, whose energy had finally returned to normal, cooked herself a big meal to fully replenish her health. As she left the medical room, she also rescued Shanks from the increasingly oppressive atmosphere of the first mate and the ship's doctor.
Unlike Violet, who possesses a bug-like ability to recover, Shanks, even as one of the Four Emperors with physical abilities far exceeding those of ordinary people, still needs to heal his wounds little by little.
Compared to Shanks, whose collar was open and whose chest was wrapped in bandages, Valerie, who looked relaxed and without even a scratch or bruise, seemed more like the victor in that battle.
Without Shanks needing to say anything, when Shanks called Violet to the captain's cabin, Hongo tacitly used the excuse of exchanging medical skills to take Law away, while the remaining crew members of the Red-Haired Pirates went to check the damage to the ship caused by Violet and Shanks' battle at the request of the vice-captain.
This was a conversation involving only Val and Shanks.
Shanks, nestled in the captain's chair, seemed quite troubled about how to begin: "...How much do you know about the Celestial Dragons?"
She knew the history of the Don Quixote family, knew a lot of gossip about the Celestial Dragon families, knew who disliked Musgard, and who Musgard disliked...
Vera: "I know a little."
Shanks was taken aback, and gave the other person a resentful look for the answer that didn't go as he expected.
"800 years ago, twenty families jointly created the World Government. Of these twenty families, apart from Nefertari D. Lily who voluntarily chose to stay in the lower realm to continue the glory of Alabasta, the descendants of the remaining nineteen families formed the Celestial Dragons."
"They claim to be the 'descendants of the Creator,' control the intelligence agencies from CP0 to CP9, and control the Navy through funding and politics... In addition, within the Celestial Dragons, there are organizations like the Knights of God who can adjudicate and judge the Celestial Dragons, as well as the Five Elders who lead and control the Celestial Dragons."
"This is the perception of most people regarding the Celestial Dragons, but in reality, the Five Elders are not the pinnacle of power among the Celestial Dragons. Their monstrous abilities of immortality and immunity to injury and disease are not some so-called divine gift. Above the Five Elders, there is the true mastermind behind all situations in the world, the true master of the legendary Empty Throne."
After Shanks finished speaking, he handed Val to a piece of yellowed, tattered fabric that looked somewhat old. It had roses embroidered on it with red thread, and it was unclear what material was used to dye it. Compared to the fabric that bore the marks of time, it was surprisingly bright and vibrant.
Vieille can almost recall this pattern with her eyes closed.
Shanks continued calmly, "This rose pattern represents that person."
"That person?"
Vera noticed that Shanks used the word "that person" instead of "that family," but then Vera thought about it again. Shanks had mentioned the Five Elders' immortality at that time, which was also confirmed by Musgard. Since the Five Elders' power of immortality came from that person, it was normal for that person to also be an immortal monster.
Even a thousand generations can never compare to eternal absolute power, let alone for someone who has already transcended time, for whom the meaning of descendants and family is already very small.
Suddenly, an eye flashed through Violet's mind—an eye with concentric rings, hidden in the darkness, silently gazing at her every time her sanity dropped to its limit.
She suddenly recalled the shadow monsters that attacked her in the dark and when her sanity was low. Besides those strangely shaped monsters, there was also a kind of long, black hand that could steal fire.
That hand, if I think about it carefully, it's slender and delicate, very similar to...
Vera: "Was that person a woman?"
Shanks' expression turned serious: "What do you know?"
Although Shanks, who has been diligently gathering information about the Celestial Dragons, is already one of the most knowledgeable people about them on this sea, the name and appearance of the master of the Empty Throne are still secrets he has yet to uncover.
Shanks's innate curiosity, cultivated through his upbringing, made him lean forward, resting one hand on the table as he looked at Val: "How did you know?"
Violet followed the gaping opening of Shanks' collar, pulled wide open by gravity, and saw his bulging pectoral muscles, half of which was wrapped in white bandages, while the other half was a honey-colored hue from the sun.
Shanks' gaze shifted slightly upwards, his expression revealing genuine curiosity and anticipation.
"You don't know?" Violet asked. "Then do you want to know?"
Shanks nodded without hesitation: "Yes!"
Violet grinned. "But I don't want to tell you." After all, this was just her baseless speculation, and it would be too embarrassing if she guessed wrong.
However, she believed that in Shanks' eyes, she had also gathered a lot of information by actively investigating the rose pattern, much of which Shanks was unaware of.
Ha, who told Shanks to fight her before he'd tell her all this!
"Huh? Why?!"
Shanks stared wide-eyed in shock, as if he couldn't believe that Val would reject him.
He looked at Violet accusingly with his dog-like eyes, and after confirming that Violet would not be easily persuaded, Shanks changed his expression and said in a deep voice.
"Young lady, give me some face."
"..."
More than saving face, Valerie felt that Shanks needed to be realistic!
"hehe."
——
"Tell me, Violet, tell me! You see, when I took you to Elbaf to search for treasure, I took you there without hesitation. Aren't we friends and partners?"
Beckman rubbed his temples hard and, in a manner uncharacteristic of his past behavior, took a large gulp of liquor, attempting to escape the embarrassing scene of his captain by getting drunk.
Violet was getting a little angry from Shanks sticking to her. Law, who was by the island lord's side, tried several times to use his Devil Fruit ability to move Shanks away, but failed because of Shanks' powerful Haki.
Valerie abruptly stopped and turned around, causing Shanks to immediately stop in his tracks and stand still.
"Are you willing to tell me?"
"What are you going to offer in exchange?" Vale had only intended to distract Shanks and give him something to do so he wouldn't bother her, but after asking the question, Vale suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "You used to be Roger's crew member."
"Have you been to the final island?"
Violet had little interest in the treasure Roger left on the final island, and she couldn't understand why wave after wave of pirates risked their lives to set sail for Roger's treasure.
According to the stories circulating on the high seas about this legendary pirate king, Roger disbanded his fleet not long after landing on the final island. During his return voyage, he stopped for a while on a small island before surrendering to the Navy.
If this story is true, then Roger's only chance to put the treasure on the final island was that one time.
How much treasure could a ship carrying, constantly being pursued by the World Government and relentlessly changing its course to search for its target around the world, possibly carry? Violet couldn't say, but it was certainly far more dangerous than the search for Roger's treasure.
Hmm, as Violet pondered, another strange expression appeared on her face.
So far, only the Roger Pirates have reached the final island. Who spread the news that they reached the final island? Did the Roger Pirates boast about it all the way back?
Then another question arises: why do people believe a group of pirates so much? After all, based on Violet's experience dealing with most pirates, boasting is a very common character flaw among pirates.
Moreover, even the World Government acknowledged that Roger did indeed land on the final island and even broadcast his execution live in front of everyone. If she were working for the World Government, she would have used the power of public opinion to portray the Roger Pirates as a bunch of crazy liars who couldn't distinguish between fantasy and reality, instead of treating him with such a serious attitude. Isn't this just like protesting too much, blatantly telling everyone that the final island holds a huge secret that is extremely detrimental to the World Government?
Considering Shanks' respect for former Captain Roger, Valerie ultimately refrained from revealing her plan to deal with Roger to his face.
"Well, this..." Shanks scratched his head with a mix of emotion and nostalgia, "Actually, I didn't actually go to the island."
"You got off the ship at the last part of the journey?" What's the difference between that and going to the bathroom at the most exciting part of a movie?
"I didn't get off the ship."
"Then why..." Wilton paused, realizing what Shanks meant by "didn't disembark"—he hadn't gone with everyone else to the final island, hadn't disembarked?!
“Back then, cough…” Shanks thought of something funny and raised his fist to his mouth. “Well, originally, we were supposed to board Laugh Tale with the captain, but at the last minute one of my crew members fell ill, and I chose to stay on the ship to take care of him.”
After Shanks finished speaking, he tossed his cloak and leaned his arm back against the railing of the ship's side: "Anyway, sooner or later, I will personally lead my chosen companions to Laugh Tale."
So for Shanks, he didn't give up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; he just postponed the adventure a little bit.
Because Shanks' tone contained nostalgia and amusement, but not much regret.
"If you want to know about Laugh Tale, I'm sorry, but I think a mystery, an adventure, is only interesting if you unravel it little by little on your own."
"Moreover, I made a promise with a man to compete fairly for the title of Pirate King."
This isn't just a competition between Shanks and Luffy, but a competition among everyone vying for the title of Pirate King. Therefore, even knowing the coordinates of Laugh Tale, and even having gathered an entire crew, Shanks still has no intention of setting off immediately.
Competing fairly based on skill—that's the unique romance of pirates!
Similarly, even if Violet were to ask Rayleigh, he wouldn't answer her or get involved in the adventure stories of the younger generation.
...Vil has no interest in the position of Pirate King.
"So what's so special about the final island?" Is it because the soil is particularly fertile, or because there are different seasons on the same island that can meet the growth requirements of different plants?
“Hmm…” Shanks recalled for a moment, “That place was very bright, not like the warm yellow light of the sun, but rather a dim, cold light, like the moonlight.”
"And just getting close to that island made me feel very dizzy and have a headache."
This is also why Buggy fell seriously ill and went into a coma at the last moment. Back then, the weakest members of Roger's crew were Shanks and Buggy, who were still apprentices. Buggy was the first to collapse because he couldn't hold on, and then Shanks, who chose to stay on the ship to take care of Buggy, also fell ill.
Headache and dizziness... these are symptoms that appear when sanity is low, but as far as Violet knows, other NPCs do not experience a decrease in sanity due to darkness, except when they are near a player or have eaten food that lowers sanity.
Furthermore, given that their sanity level drops to the point where they would faint, there's no reason why shadow creatures wouldn't attack Shanks and his companions.
Vera: "Is something attacking you?"
Shanks glanced at Val again in surprise, then nodded seriously: "Yes."
"It was a kind of intangible, phantom-like image composed of a ball of pure white light."
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Author's Note: Finally, I've reached this point. A few words about the setting of the final island in this world [doge emoji]
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