The Straw Hats had regrouped in a partially collapsed chamber deep inside the temple. Dust still hung in the air from the earlier clashes, and the distant rumble of Mihawk's terrifying slash still echoed in everyone's bones.
Luffy sat on a broken pillar, arms crossed, frowning. "We didn't come here for some stupid fruit fight. We came for one thing."
Zoro leaned against the wall, swords sheathed but hand resting on Wado's hilt. "The Poneglyphs."
Nami nodded, map spread across her lap. "The last island gave us the coordinates. This place was supposed to have one. A red one, maybe even a road Poneglyph."
Robin stood a little apart, eyes scanning the ancient carvings on the remaining walls. Her fingers traced the faded symbols with careful reverence. Suddenly she froze.
"…I found it."
Everyone turned.
Robin's voice was quiet, but the weight in it made the room feel smaller.
"It's not just any Poneglyph. This is a historical record etched into the stone itself. It says… this island was once a slave pit. A secret Marine facility used to forge cannons and weapons during the Void Century era. The slaves were worked to death here. Until… Rocks D Xebec shut it down. He destroyed the operation. The text calls him 'the mad tyrant who burned the chains.'"
She paused, swallowing hard.
"And there's more. Directly beneath the island, submerged in the sea, lies another pit. An underwater vault where many artifacts were lost when the facility collapsed. Possibly more Poneglyph fragments. Possibly worse things."
Robin's hands trembled slightly as she finished reading.
Luffy's expression darkened. His fists clenched so tightly the knuckles turned white.
"Slaves…" he muttered. "Making weapons for the Marines…"
Anger boiled in his eyes the same anger that had toppled tyrants before.
Nami stood up, folding her map with sharp movements.
"We're done here. We take what we need and leave. Everyone, follow me. I'll navigate us out. We're not staying on this cursed rock any longer."
The crew moved as one Luffy leading with purpose, Robin still visibly shaken, the others falling in behind Nami's lead.
The sand copy of Sanji walked among them, smiling gently, offering water and quiet encouragement exactly as the real one would have.
No one noticed the difference.
In a hidden alcove far from the Straw Hats, Toku stood alone.
Blood still seeped from the wound on his shoulder Mihawk's graze a painful reminder that even awakened invisibility had limits.
He spoke to the sand voices one final time.
"Make me a tonic. Something that restores any wound that penetrates my Germa-enhanced exoskeleton and skin. Just like Mihawk's slash. I understand now… there are far more dangerous people still lingering in this world. I have to be extra cautious."
The sand swirled at his feet, listening.
"In exchange, I'll give 10% of my blood. Whenever I drink the tonic, my health returns to normal. Take only a small drop at a time. If it finishes… you're on your own."
The voices accepted.
Sand coalesced into a small, dark vial thick liquid swirling inside like liquid night.
Toku bit into his wrist again, letting a measured amount of blood drip into the vial. The liquid hissed, absorbed it, then stabilized into a deep crimson elixir.
He drank it in one swallow.
The effect was immediate.
The shoulder wound closed. Torn muscle knit. Pain vanished. His body returned to peak condition in seconds.
Toku flexed his fingers, testing.
Anger still burned in his chest cold, focused anger.
He had underestimated the world.
Mihawk. Fujitora. Blackbeard. Even the hidden players like Imu and the Elders.
He would not make that mistake again.
The tonic vial disappeared into his pocket safe, precious.
Toku's lips curled into a sharp, predatory smile.
"Time to go hunting again."
He vanished completely presence erased, body gone.
Only the faint whistle of Binks' Sake lingered in the empty alcove as he slipped away, searching for the next fool who would stand in the path of his shadow empire.