Looking at the book in his hand turning to ashes, Sakaski gently put it down and continued to pick up the next one, not in a hurry, searching them one by one.
Finally, after sifting through all the books, he found nothing. Only scattered paper scraps remained, not a single complete book.
Time... Sakaski sighed and walked into the next room, which must have been built by the owner of the ruins privately.
It looked like a personal basement, with no extra space. The study just now only had a table and chairs, and the room with the murals had nothing at all.
Carol was still in the first stone chamber admiring the ancient murals, while Enel followed Sakaski, observing everything.
Another two rooms yielded little; one contained some tools, and the other, some gold ornaments.
Entering the fourth room, it was clearly different from the previous ones. The door of this room was larger and more ornate than the others.
Creak!
The sound of rusty friction echoed as the door was pushed open, revealing a huge bedroom. On the left was a three-meter-long table with a two-meter-long battleship model on it.
On the right was a large bed, but it had already collapsed. Shell-like items were hung on the walls.
Directly facing the entrance were a table, a chair, and... a skeleton slumped over the table, its hand gripping a pen.
Sakaski ignored the skeleton and first headed towards the model display on the shelf. The enormous model was made of gold and placed on a golden base.
Two ancient characters were engraved on the base. Although they differed from modern script, they could still be vaguely discerned as "Zhen Yan."
There was a large drawer beneath the base. Pulling it open revealed a stack of blueprints. Sakaski's eyes lit up as he carefully picked them up. They were undamaged.
It was indeed paper made of special material, with each blueprint bearing a numerical code.
The first sheet showed a sketch of a model. Flipping through the pages, each one depicted detailed parts and where they corresponded.
Even without any foundation in mechanics, as long as there were enough people, a battleship could be built with these detailed blueprints.
Turning to the last page, there were no parts, only a drawing: the colossal "Zhen Yan" battleship soaring in the sky, looking down upon the island below.
Endless black smoke billowed from the top of the "Zhen Yan," connecting to the dark sky, and a black thunderball, larger than the island, descended towards it.
With such an image, there was no need to guess the island's fate or the battleship's destructive power, capable of annihilating an island in one strike.
Sakaski neatly organized the blueprints and placed them on the floor, then took down the "Zhen Yan" model and placed it on the ground, leaving only the golden base on the table.
Placing his hand on the golden base, his arm transformed into scorching magma, engulfing the golden base. With a pull of his hands, a meter-long golden briefcase appeared, placed on the table to cool.
He walked to the table directly facing the room's entrance. It was evident that the skeletal figure had been writing notes before death, with a large black stain in the middle.
Likely suffering from a severe injury, they had coughed up blood while writing their journal and died.
He gently pulled out the notebook, which was not fragmented, and looked at the records within.
"Destiny? 800 years later? Utterly laughable!!!"
"A single word, destiny, buried a kingdom."
"Handed over willingly!!!"
"Incomprehensible! Incomprehensible!! Incomprehensible!!!"
"Idiot!!!"
"Damn you, Joy Boy..."
"... I hate it!!!"
The middle of this page was heavily stained with black, making much of it illegible, leaving only these fragments of information.
Sakaski mused, Joy Boy, destiny, 800 years later, and... a great kingdom.
However, blindly following destiny was indeed laughable.
Flipping forward, it was clear this notebook was not for daily entries but for the owner to record significant events at intervals. The pages were few.
For example, the first page with its crooked handwriting:
"Today, I heard my father speak of our clan's history. It turns out we once had such a glorious past."
"Infinite Bas, able to grant life to mechanical dolls at will, and those colossal super battleships."
"Were our ancestors gods?"
"I am a descendant of gods!!!"
"Heh heh, I've decided. From now on, I will definitely build a flying super battleship and travel to the place of infinite Bas."
"So, today's goal! Master kinetic energy conversion!!!"
The handwriting on the second page had already become somewhat neater.
"Today, I encountered another race my father spoke of."
"They have something on their heads that looks like two antennae. So strange, I don't know if it's hair or part of their body."
"It's said there are four different races, but those two races have gone to distant Blue Sea."
"I really want to meet them."
By the third page, the handwriting was quite proficient.
"The wisdom of our ancestors is truly incredible. Even after studying for so many years, I still feel it's endless."
"I also understand why our ancestors migrated."
"Whether it was the living mechanical dolls or the colossal super battleships, they consumed too many resources."
"No wonder the surface of the moon has those giant craters; its interior might have been hollowed out."
"I need to design a battleship that doesn't consume so many resources."
"However, the resources on Sky Island are too scarce."
"So... to the Blue Sea!!!"
By the fourth page, the handwriting had become somewhat sharp.
"Fifteen years have passed unconsciously."
"During my travels in the Blue Sea, I not only found the materials but also encountered the other two races."
"It's truly peculiar, a city made entirely of gold. If it were me, how many battleships could I build with that?"
"And that great kingdom where various races coexist peacefully."
"It's so beautiful."
"In the Blue Sea, there's also a fruit that grants supernatural abilities."
"The Blue Sea people call them Devil Fruits."
"With my good friend Joy Boy, I saw the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia."
"It allowed me to find my next goal."
"The Rumble-Rumble Fruit, which can serve as an infinite energy source."
"Unfortunately, I've already eaten one, so my next goal is how to make inanimate objects able to eat Devil Fruits."
The handwriting on the fifth page was very mature but somewhat messy, indicating the notebook's owner's inner turmoil.
"Research into Devil Fruits has yielded a few successful cases through numerous experiments."
"However, the key to this success hasn't been found yet, but there are some leads."
"But what troubles me the most is the great kingdom of my good friend Joy Boy."
"It's expanding and developing too rapidly. I have a bad premonition; his thoughts are too far ahead. He will become the world's enemy."
"What should I do..."
The handwriting on the sixth page was very deep, showing how furious the writer was.
"I've given up."
"How could I have been friends with such an idiot for over thirty years!"
"Always speaking of destiny."
"That carefree, giant smile now looks so detestable."
"The winds of the world are shifting."
"I need to prepare early. If I can't salvage the situation, I must have some fallback."
As for the seventh page, it was the very first one he had seen.
Closing the notebook, the recorded information gave Sakaski a partial understanding of the world's truth.
He felt some sympathy for the notebook's owner's plight; a careless friend... and a friend who always spoke of destiny... the last two pages exuded a sense of exasperation.
At this moment, Enel's childish voice called out:
"Uncle, there's a box here."
Sakaski walked over, flicked his forehead, and reached out to pry open the collapsed board on the bed, retrieving a square box that had been crushed underneath.
Enel rubbed his forehead vigorously and shouted:
"What are you doing!!!"
Sakaski's voice drifted:
"Am I that old?"
Enel, covering his forehead, glared angrily at Sakaski:
"Hmph! Uncle! Uncle!!!"
Sakaski made a motion with his left hand as if to flick him again. Enel, frightened, quickly ran to the side. Sakaski's lips curved into a slight smile, which only angered Enel more.
Sakaski opened the box, revealing a strange fruit. It was a blue, spherical fruit with blue lightning patterns on top, lightning bolt symbols at both ends of the stem, and its surface composed of countless small, spiraling lightning patterns, resembling a dragon fruit in appearance.
With such obvious markings, Sakaski understood. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Enel craned his neck, trying to see what was in the box, but he wasn't tall enough. Finally, he couldn't hold back and asked:
"Uncle, what is this?"
Sakaski took out the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and casually tossed it into Enel's arms, saying:
"Logia-type, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Eating it allows one to transform into lightning."
Enel held the fruit in his hands, somewhat bewildered. Although he didn't understand what Logia-type or Rumble-Rumble Fruit meant, transforming into lightning was clear enough.
Such a precious fruit, Enel immediately became nervous, holding it tighter, afraid of dropping it and breaking it.
Watching Enel's reaction, Sakaski found it amusing and said:
"Why are you so nervous?"
Enel was naturally nervous; the fruit was so precious, he said somewhat indignantly:
"Take it away quickly! This thing is too valuable!!!"
Sakaski said:
"Want to eat it? You found it, so it's yours."
Enel froze:
"It's... mine?"
Sakaski nodded. Enel stood there, thinking for a moment, then ran out with pattering footsteps, heading towards the mural room.
Sakaski, meanwhile, continued his search, looking for anything else useful.
The mural room.
Since a mass of magma had been left behind, it was still quite bright. Carol, who was admiring the murals, sensed Enel's approach and turned towards the entrance:
"What's wrong, Enel?"
Enel handed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to Carol. Carol took the fruit and, looking at the lightning symbol, said:
"This is... the Rumble-Rumble Fruit?"
Enel nodded and said somewhat sheepishly:
"Uncle said whoever finds it gets it. I eating it would be a waste, so..."
Carol smiled and patted Enel's head, then crouched down and handed the fruit back:
"Brother doesn't need it. It's good for you to have some self-defense power by eating it, but remember not to go into the water in the future."
Enel felt the warmth of the large hand on his head and had a moment of clarity... he seemed to have felt this in a dream... a dream of envying other people's families... this warmth felt like an older brother, or perhaps a father...
He shook his head vigorously, casting the thought from his mind, and looked down at the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in his hand, then up at Carol's encouraging eyes.
Making up his mind, he bit down hard!
What is this!!!
An indescribable taste surged from his taste buds straight to his soul, sending shivers down his spine!!!
Just as he was about to spit it out, a large hand covered Enel's mouth, pressing his jaw and forcing him to swallow.
Enel looked despairingly at Carol's smiling face. Illusion! All of that was an illusion! He's definitely a demon!!! He definitely is!!!
No!!!!!!!!