"So it’s decided. Once the area’s secured, post guards here, and then move to bring those people under control."
Efficiency and decisiveness were etched into every move Aeridar made. If he thought of sothing, he’d act on it. No hesitation. No half-asures.
Without delay, the three allied pirate crews began combing through the massive square. Since only elite officers and trusted crewmates had made it this far, everyone present was highly capable, and their search proceeded with swift precision.
Naturally, Aeridar had no intention of joining the general sweep. Instead, he bypassed the mountain of gold at the plaza’s center and made his way to the far side.
That side, hidden behind the golden heap, held a three-tiered stone dais. A staircase of about twenty steps led upward, flanked at the base by two imposing statues: pure silver demons with wings folded against their backs.
Twisted ram’s horns curved from their grotesque faces; eyes glinted like blood-red rubies, and their bodies were etched with crimson markings. One gripped a massive executioner’s sword, the other an eight-sided war hamr. Each stood nearly three ters tall.
"Wow~ What’s this supposed to be? Demon Guardians? Guardian Demons?" Aeridar arched an eyebrow, gaze lifting as he took his first step up the stairs.
The first tier, about two ters high, featured two symtrical rows of gargoyle statues, each about 1.8 ters tall. Eight per row, two rows on each side, totaling thirty-two.
He knew full well: these weren’t just for show. These were soldiers prid to activate with the glove’s power, capable of tearing intruders apart the mont they were triggered.
The second tier stood even higher, four ters off the ground. There, gleaming silver weapon racks lined either side, holding eighteen cold weapons, swords, spears, daggers, and the like, crafted from gold, silver, or inlaid with gemstones.
Their blades still shimred with a deadly chill. Aeridar even thought he spotted a few famous blades among them, though he couldn’t be sure.
At the top sat a stone throne, lavishly carved with fearso beasts and ornate patterns, majestic and imposing.
But what truly commanded attention was the skeleton seated upon it.
Caked in dust and wrapped in cobwebs, it still wore tattered royal garnts, faint gold embroidery barely hinting at forr splendor. Upon its head rested a golden crown set with a massive, fiery red gemstone. Its right hand bore a black glove, identical in style to the Edvishen, and its left hand gripped a sheathed longsword. The black scabbard bore intricate silver filigree. Across its lap lay a long, ash-black wooden box, about half a ter in length. Though closed, the box wasn’t locked.
"This guy... was he so kind of king? Or a crown prince maybe...? And that ruby... what, twenty-five carats? At least..." Aeridar murmured with glee, eyeing the crown. Looked like his personal collection just got a new centerpiece.
Then he smirked, lips curling in dry amusent. "All alone on this platform? Playing the role of the lonely monarch?"
Grumbling aside, Aeridar stepped forward and picked up the box resting on the skeleton’s lap. Inside, he found a rolled-up parchnt, thick and yellowed vellum, covered in writing on both sides.
"Did he leave a will or sothing?" Aeridar mused, curiosity piqued as he unfurled the scroll.
The text wasn’t in so ancient dead language, it was modern, legible script. And what it said was surprising.
First, the skeleton was once the last heir to the throne of the Gamas Kingdom, a man nad Gamas Selt. No explanation was given for how or why he’d ended up dead here.
Second, it detailed the origin of the Edvishen, the sentient glove.
It had been crafted from the legendary Black Gold Silkworm’s silk, blended with threads from several other rare silkworms. Virtually indestructible, impervious to blades, flas, or water.
There were originally two gloves in the set. The left glove had been fused, through a special thod, with a Paracia-type Devil Fruit, the Animate-Animate Fruit, granting it the ability to animate the inanimate.
Effectively, this gave the glove two types of Devil Fruit powers. The catch? It drained the user’s stamina when used. But, no side effects. The right glove remained dormant.
Third, it revealed that the Gamas Kingdom had once pioneered the technique for making objects consu Devil Fruits. However, the process was unstable and had a high failure rate.
The Edvishen was the sole success after burning through six different Devil Fruits. The details of this process, along with groundbreaking theories on how Devil Fruits reappear, were written on the back of the parchnt.
Intrigued, Aeridar flipped it over.
The back was split into two sections.
The first was densely packed with formulas, technical terms, and mathematical data, far beyond his expertise. Clearly, this was the core of the technique that allowed inanimate objects to "eat" Devil Fruits.
The second section, however, struck a different chord. It discussed a bold theory and experintal notes on the reappearance of Devil Fruits.
At the ti, the Gamas Kingdom had been a global powerhouse; scientifically, militarily, and technologically. Their secret research into Devil Fruits had stretched on for years but yielded only shallow insights.
One conclusion stood out:
Every Devil Fruit was one-of-a-kind. No two identical abilities could exist at the sa ti. The only way a Devil Fruit could reappear in the world... was if its original user had died.
There is no universal pattern to the color or shape of Devil Fruits.
They resemble ordinary fruits in form, but unlike normal produce, every Devil Fruit, down to the very flesh beneath the skin, is etched with swirling vine-like spiral motifs known as karakusa patterns.
No one knows where Devil Fruits grow, nor how they are harvested. Not even the existence of the supposed trees or plants that produce them has ever been confird.
Just as the kingdom’s scholars were about to abandon their long-running research into the origin of Devil Fruits, one scientist, Alfred Clarence, put forth a daring hypothesis: Devil Fruits are not born as they are. They are ordinary fruits, transford after being possessed by so-called "devils."
But his peers dismissed the idea as pure fantasy, unscientific, baseless, and absurd.
So Clarence devised an experint to prove it. He spent his entire fortune acquiring a Paracia-type Devil Fruit and fed it to a condemned criminal. Afterward, he placed a variety of normal fruits around the convict, then ordered his execution.
The result shocked them all.
Upon the man’s death, one of the nearby fruits, a pear, underwent a transformation. It had taken on the sa traits as the Paracia-type Devil Fruit the convict had consud. A new Devil Fruit had been born.
The successful replication stunned the king and the other court scientists. From that point forward, the kingdom quietly began abducting Devil Fruit users to continue the experints.
Thirteen trials were conducted: eight succeeded, five failed. The successes proved the thod was viable; the failures, however, revealed that critical unknown factors still eluded them.
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