One Piece: The Strongest Trait System novel Chapter 270

Chapter 270: [270] : [BONUS] - The Location of Laugh Tale! Fulfilling Regrets! The Pirate’s Ritual!

New week, Lets Push!

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After Kozuki Sukiyaki and the other core members of Wano regained consciousness, Rowen’s Observation Haki could clearly sense a fundamental change in their emotions.

They had become far more obedient.

Rowen wasn’t surprised in the slightest. This was a core tenet of Wano’s Bushidō culture, something etched into their very bones.

On top of that, Rowen had installed Kozuki Hiyori as the new Shogun of Wano. Even if it was only a symbolic gesture, it was enough to earn the tearful gratitude of Wano’s core members.

Afterward, Rowen made a few more adjustments.

He stationed forces in Wano, with Ace and Yamato at their core.

Ace was tasked with distributing sufficient resources and overseeing the swift restoration of Wano’s production capabilities—all to manufacture as many war materials as possible for the final battle.

Through Wano, Rowen also established contact with Zou—while the Minks of Zou were fiercely xenophobic and distrustful of humans, they were Wano’s sole ally, and their Mink Tribe had ancient ties to the Kozuki clan.

The Road Poneglyph that the Kozuki clan had been charged with protecting was kept safely on Zou.

Through the Kozuki clan, Rowen successfully obtained the Road Poneglyph from Zou. He also acquired the ones held by Kaido and Big Mom.

Of the four Road Poneglyphs pointing to the final island, Laugh Tale—Rowen now possessed three.

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"How does it look, Nami?"

Rowen placed the rubbings of the three Road Poneglyphs before Robin. After Robin translated them, she relayed the contents to Nami.

Nami was now plotting the coordinates on a sea chart.

"It’s no good. We absolutely need all four coordinates. If Laugh Tale truly exists, then based on these points... the island isn’t on the surface," Nami stated seriously.

"Eh? What do you mean, not on the surface?" Luffy, who had wandered over, blinked in confusion.

The rest of the crew also looked astonished.

The legendary final island, Laugh Tale, wasn’t on the surface?

"If it were on the surface, three coordinates would be enough to pinpoint its exact location. But if we need four coordinates to find it, then it can’t exist on a flat plane," Nami explained, sketching a clear diagram on the chart.

Three coordinates could 100% confirm a point on a 2D plane.

But if a fourth coordinate was needed, then that fourth coordinate confirmed the dimension of depth.

In other words, Laugh Tale’s location was either in the sky, or in the deep sea.

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"That’s not too surprising. If it were just sitting on the surface, it wouldn’t be called the island that no one can find," Rowen commented, looking at Nami’s diagram with a smile.

Although the New World’s magnetic fields were incredibly chaotic, requiring special Log Poses to navigate, this world was filled with the miraculous power of Devil Fruits.

Devil Fruits that granted the ability to fly were rare, but they existed.

For one, Kaido’s Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Azure Dragon ability had allowed him to roam the entire world, even leaping from a Sky Island in a suicide attempt.

And Kuma’s Paw-Paw Fruit allowed its user to travel through the air. Kuma had once scoured countless islands, searching for a cure for Bonney’s illness.

After equipping Kuma’s Paw-Paw Fruit ability, the coordinates of the places Kuma had visited were also loaded into Rowen.

This was why, even after Kuma lost his consciousness, Rowen could use the Paw-Paw Fruit to help his comrades travel to suitable training islands.

The list was extensive; Kuma had indeed been to an astonishing number of islands.

Most importantly, there was that legendary pirate from the previous era, a man who stood alongside Whitebeard and Roger—the user of the Float-Float Fruit, Golden Lion Shiki.

This man had formed a flying pirate crew, with a base in the sky.

If Laugh Tale were simply on the surface, over so many years, it was impossible that these ability users, capable of reaching any corner of the world from the sky, wouldn’t have discovered its location.

Combined with the need for four Road Poneglyphs to confirm its location, there was only one possibility:

—Laugh Tale was either high in the sky, or deep in the sea.

And Rowen leaned more towards it being in the deep sea.

Again, the reason was simple. While flight-capable Devil Fruit users were rare, they weren’t nonexistent.

Plus, with the existence of various Sky Islands, including Weatheria—the small, constantly flying Sky Island where Nami studied meteorology, populated entirely by weather scientists—

If Laugh Tale were in the sky, it was almost impossible for it to have remained undiscovered for so long.

Therefore, Laugh Tale’s location could almost certainly be confirmed to be in the deep sea.

There was also the nature of Devil Fruits. Aside from Rowen, with his Strongest Trait System, anyone who ate a Devil Fruit was cursed by the sea, becoming completely unable to swim.

And neither the Roger Pirates nor the crew of the current Emperor, Red-Haired Shanks—a former apprentice on Roger’s ship—had a single Devil Fruit user.

This served as another piece of evidence supporting Laugh Tale’s location in the deep sea.

As for how a Devil Fruit user like Luffy, who couldn’t swim, was supposed to get to Laugh Tale—

—Ship coating was created for exactly that purpose.

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Luffy chose his own adventure, not getting any effective information about Laugh Tale from Rayleigh.

But Rayleigh, after retiring, had spent years on Sabaody Archipelago—an island incredibly close to Marine Headquarters and the Holy Land, Mariejois, a place frequently visited by Celestial Dragons—and had become a coating artisan.

From a logical deduction, it was hard to believe that was a mere coincidence.

Rayleigh was waiting for the new era.

Even now, after the Summit War, he had chosen to retire again, not joining the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet or the Straw Hat Pirates, still working as a coating artisan.

If Rayleigh had been to Laugh Tale, but arrived at the wrong time, unable to obtain the true Great Treasure, ONE PIECE, but learned of the information Joy Boy left behind—

—and knew he needed to help the new Sun God Nika, who held the key to the new era but was fated to be a Devil Fruit user unable to swim, by coating his ship so he could safely reach Laugh Tale...

THEN, LOGICALLY, EVERYTHING MADE PERFECT SENSE.

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"Shishishi! But as long as we find the last Road Poneglyph, we can go to Laugh Tale, right?"

Luffy showed no disappointment, instead flashing a wide grin. His laughter was infectious, making everyone else smile as well.

"That’s right," Nami smiled and nodded.

THUMP!

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