Everyone froze the moment the dark hole appeared.
"Yehahahahaha, so there really is a passage. What are we waiting for? Let's go down."
Enel sounded excited as his body turned into lightning, shooting straight into the passage.
Crocodile followed right behind him without hesitation.
Yamato glanced at Portgas D. Ace and said, "Let's go too. We should see this ancient weapon that can influence the entire pirate world."
There was clear curiosity in her voice. She had no intention of claiming Pluton for herself, but witnessing something capable of rewriting history was worth it.
Kuro entered last, his expression unreadable.
When they all arrived underground, Enel raised his hand, forming a bright sphere of lightning. The darkness was instantly pushed back, revealing their surroundings.
"I didn't expect a place this big underground," Ace muttered, his voice filled with disbelief.
The space before them was enormous, comparable to an island in size. However, despite its vast area, the ceiling was relatively low, giving it a compressed, suffocating feeling.
"Huh? They said there was a battleship here. Where is it?" Yamato looked around, confused.
Enel drifted through the air while Ace scanned the area, but neither of them found anything resembling a ship.
"Did someone come here and take Pluton already?" Ace scratched his head.
"Yehahaha, what's there to worry about?" Enel said casually. "Even if the World Government took it, Ion Tempest wouldn't fear them."
Kuro frowned slightly as he observed the empty space.
Logically, Pluton should be massive. Moving something of that scale unnoticed would be nearly impossible.
If the World Government had acquired it, they would already control two of the three ancient weapons. There was no way they would stay quiet after the Marineford War.
And with Franky still holding the blueprints, even a damaged Pluton could be repaired using Vegapunk's technology.
Something didn't add up.
Just then, Crocodile's voice cut through the silence.
"What's wrong with this ground?"
The moment those words were spoken, Kuro's eyes sharpened.
"Are we… standing on Pluton right now?"
Everyone's eyes widened.
Without hesitation, they all moved toward one side of the space.
And then they saw it.
A colossal structure slowly revealed itself.
It was a battleship.
No, it was more like an island.
Its size stretched for kilometers in both length and width, large enough to house thousands of crew members and an unimaginable arsenal.
The hull was forged from an unknown black metal, its surface covered in intricate patterns resembling the ancient text of the Poneglyph.
It felt ancient, mysterious, as if it had endured centuries untouched.
The bow was sharp and pointed, like a blade aimed at the sky.
Across the hull were countless gunports and launch mechanisms. Just looking at the dark openings was enough to send a chill down anyone's spine.
If all of them fired at once, the destruction would be beyond comprehension.
At the center stood a massive cannon.
Its diameter spanned hundreds of meters, and its length stretched close to a kilometer.
The scale alone made it obvious why this weapon was feared as something capable of destroying an island in a single shot.
Unlike ordinary ships, the cannon pointed upward toward the sky, positioned at the core of the battleship.
Every part of the ship looked flawless, each seam perfectly aligned. The machinery embedded within it was unlike anything they had ever seen.
It was difficult to imagine what kind of civilization from eight hundred years ago could create something like this.
The battleship rested silently, as if suppressing the weight of an entire era.
Standing before it, they all felt insignificant.
"Is… this really Pluton?" Ace whispered.
Yamato tightened her grip on his hand. "It's… way bigger than I imagined."
Even Enel, who was usually carefree, stood there speechless.
He had once built the Ark Maxim to reach the Endless Land, but compared to this, it was nothing.
Crocodile walked forward slowly, placing his hand against the cold metal hull.
"So this is Pluton… the ancient battleship everyone in the world desires."
His voice carried a rare trace of emotion.
Once, this had been his ultimate goal. Even now, standing before it, his heartbeat quickened.
Kuro remained silent, his gaze fixed on the ship.
Even he had not expected something of this magnitude.
No amount of reasoning could truly capture what Pluton was.
Seeing it shattered every prior assumption.
Fortunately, they had found it first.
If the World Government had obtained this, the consequences would have been catastrophic.
But now, another problem emerged.
How were they supposed to move something this massive?
They were deep beneath Wano Country. To bring Pluton to the sea, they first had to get it out of this underground space.
Only then could they consider using Enel's powers to transport it to Ion Tempest.
The real challenge was the first step.
Kuro narrowed his eyes slightly.
After a moment of thought, a faint glint appeared in them.