As the massive gate opened, a cold gust of air suddenly surged out from within.
Perhaps because the place had not been entered for a very long time, there was not only a chilling atmosphere, but also a strong scent of aged paper and ink.
"Sir, Lady Imu has issued an order. Nothing inside the archive may be taken out."
"We ask for your understanding."
Ezra D. Vale nodded slightly.
He had no intention of taking anything anyway.
"Understood."
"Then we will wait outside, young master."
With that, Ezra stepped into the archive alone.
The moment he entered, a series of clicking sounds echoed through the space.
All the lights inside the archive lit up at once.
His eyes slowly swept across the interior.
The archive was enormous, easily the size of two football fields.
The ceiling was a curved dome, smooth and vast.
Below it stood countless rows of bookshelves, packed tightly with books.
Ezra clicked his tongue.
"How long would it take to go through all this…"
Still, he walked toward the first shelf.
The first book that caught his attention made him pause.
"Chronicles?"
He raised an eyebrow.
Since there was no time limit, he simply pulled it out.
A thick layer of dust immediately fell from it.
"Cough… just how long has it been since anyone came here?"
He brushed the dust off and opened the book.
Although Ezra had lived in a world with pirates in his previous life and knew parts of the story, this level of history, dating back more than four thousand years in the Sea Calendar, was far beyond his knowledge.
His eyes widened slightly as he read.
"In the Sea Calendar year minus 3500, the seeds of the Treasure Tree Adam landed on the island of Ohara…"
"In the Sea Calendar year minus 3000, the Alubarna Palace of the Kingdom of Alabasta was established…"
Even more shocking entries followed.
"In the Sea Calendar year minus 2000, the Fish-Men discovered Fish-Man Island at the roots of the Sunlight Tree Eve."
Ezra's reading speed slowed as he continued.
But when he reached around one hundred years ago, he frowned.
There was a gap.
A very clear gap.
Information from around seven hundred years ago was missing entirely.
Or rather, it had been removed.
"So this is the Void Century again…"
He muttered under his breath.
After that point, the book simply ended as if history itself had been cut off.
Ezra closed the book and placed it back.
His gaze swept across the remaining shelves.
Most of them contained cultural records, geography, and even food and tourism from various islands.
He clicked his tongue in frustration.
"What is this, a travel agency?"
Every shelf seemed to be filled with nothing but "customs and traditions."
Ten shelves in a row. Still the same thing.
His expression darkened.
"If I see 'customs and traditions' one more time, I'm going to lose it."
Still, he forced himself to continue searching.
Time passed.
Shelf after shelf was checked.
Then finally, in a quiet corner of the archive, he stopped.
"Hm?"
He reached out and pulled out a book.
Blowing off the dust, he read the title.
"Rocks D. Xebec…"
Ezra's eyes sharpened.
"So this is Rocks…"
Finally, something that wasn't about travel brochures.
But another question immediately surfaced in his mind.
This place had supposedly not been accessed for five or six hundred years.
So how was a book about a pirate from only forty-odd years ago sitting here?
Ezra frowned deeply.
He did not open it immediately.
Instead, he checked the surrounding shelves.
As expected, everything nearby was still filled with meaningless "customs and traditions."
That only made the anomaly more obvious.
"Strange…"
After a moment of silence, he finally opened the book.
The first page already made his expression turn serious.
It was a photograph.
Rocks D. Xebec.
Black hair.
A wild, domineering expression.
A presence that screamed uncontrollable ambition.
But what caught Ezra's attention was not his face.
It was his eyes.
Crimson eyes.
The same color as Imu's.
The same color as his own.
Ezra's pupils narrowed slightly.
"…Who exactly is this guy?"
For a moment, even he could not hide his shock.
He continued reading.
Rocks D. Xebec, the tyrant of the seas over forty years ago.
A man who gathered monsters under his command.
Golden Lion Shiki.
Whitebeard Edward Newgate.
Big Mom Charlotte Linlin.
Kaido of the Beasts.
Along with many infamous pirates such as Silver Axe, John, and Ochoku.
At that time, the Rocks Pirates were an undeniable overlord of the seas.
Even Gol D. Roger could not defeat Rocks alone.
According to the records, Rocks gathered his crew on Hachinosu, the Pirate Island, more than fifty years ago.
His goal was simple.
To destroy the Celestial Dragons.
But everything ended in the God Valley Incident thirty-eight years ago.
Monkey D. Garp and Gol D. Roger joined forces and brought him down.
Or so the story said.
However, the book also hinted at something else.
Whitebeard and others did not fully commit to saving him.
Ezra exhaled slowly.
"Pirates are still pirates…"
"Friendship, loyalty… it's all temporary."
But something still felt wrong.
There was no proper biography.
No birth date.
No confirmed death.
Nothing.
Ezra's brow furrowed deeper.
"How is there no personal record at all?"
"Did Rocks really die in God Valley?"
A disturbing thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.
What if he did not die?
Ezra flipped through the book again and again.
Then, near the end, he found a line hidden in an inconspicuous place.
A single sentence that made his expression freeze.
"My little brother… I will always protect you."
Ezra stared at it for a long time.
The archive remained silent.
-----------------------------
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