Chapter 264: [264] : [BONUS] – Unveiling the World’s Truth! The Energy War! The Mother Flame!

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The Voice of All Things—a very special Trait.

Anyone possessing this ability could, even without language, hear the ’Voices’ of all things—understanding their meaning and thoughts.

Roger, for example, upon first arriving at Fish-Man Island, heard the voices of the Giant Sea Kings, learning that the Mermaid Princess was their king.

He could even ’Hear’ the strong voice emanating from the Poneglyph.

With this ability, one could communicate with anything and everything, transcending the barriers of language and race.

The known users of this power—Roger, Kouzuki Oden, Momonosuke—were a mere handful, even rarer than the wielders of Conqueror’s Haki.

Luffy, of course, also possessed this Trait, but it was something he would have acquired later in his journey, and the process of it activating was not a quick one.

With a ready-made Trait available on Momonosuke, Rowen had no need to wait to equip Luffy’s, simply taking it directly.

The Voice of All Things was fundamentally different from the swordsman’s ability to hear the “Breath of All Things.”

What swordsmen heard was just: the “breath” of an object.

By cutting along that breath, they could sever anything.

In reality, they were hearing an object’s “lifeline.” By cutting that line, they could naturally cut the object itself. But that was the extent of it; they could not understand the object’s thoughts or meaning.

The Voice of All Things, from what has been shown so far, offered no direct boost to combat power.

But the ability to communicate with all things across language and species—theoretically, one could gain the support of all things, all races.

It just required immense time and effort, as well as opportune timing and location.

But regardless… It’s better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Obtaining the Voice of All Things Trait from Momonosuke was, in a way, making good use of a waste product.

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“Continue your research,” Rowen instructed Queen, Franky, and Caesar.

Then, he sent Kaido’s soul back to the underworld.

“Well then. Come with me,” Rowen said, smiling at Little Hancock.

Rowen was heading to Wano to liberate the country and obtain its ’Desire for Liberation’.

“Mm,”

Little Hancock blushed slightly and nodded firmly. She would never refuse any of Rowen’s requests.

POP!

Rowen activated his Paw-Paw Fruit ability, locking onto the coordinates of Wano Country.

A paw-shaped bubble of air enveloped Rowen and little Hancock, and they shot off into the distance at high speed. With the power of the Paw-Paw Fruit, no place on the vast sea was out of his reach.

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“Vegapunk…”

Rowen mused as he flew towards Wano Country, his eyes flashing with an astonishing crimson-black light.

Vegapunk, user of the Brain-Brain Fruit, a man said to possess a scientific knowledge 500 years ahead of the world. He was a super-genius scientist, a man Oda had modeled after Einstein from Earth.

His dream was to create a world where ’Energy’ could be shared freely.

And Rowen, having come from Earth, greatly admired this dream.

The most fundamental constraint on human activity and exploration was, in fact, a lack of energy.

This was true even in the One Piece world.

Whether it was Haki or Devil Fruit abilities, unleashing them required immense physical energy as fuel. Once stamina was depleted, no matter how strong one’s Haki or abilities, they couldn’t be used at all.

And among the Three Ancient Weapons, besides Poseidon, which was embodied by the Mermaid Princess, both Pluton and Uranus required a vast energy source to activate.

The Mother Flame researched by Vegapunk was such an energy source.

It could be said that a massive energy source was the key to unlocking the Ancient Weapons.

This was why, despite having Pluton’s blueprints and knowing the real Pluton was buried on Wano, Rowen had never schemed to obtain it.

Without an energy source, it was useless.

The power to completely destroy an island in a single blow, to cause the very sea level to rise… a powerhouse of Rowen’s level understood exactly what kind of terrifying energy that represented.

This was eradication at a fundamental level, not just shattering an island, but completely changing the structural fabric of the sea region.

Rowen’s Tremor-Tremor Fruit could achieve this, but it required continuous tremors, triggering seaquakes, airquakes, and earthquakes—destroying an island fundamentally through accumulated energy.

To achieve that level of destruction in a single blow, the only thing Rowen could rely on was the Super Electromagnetic Cannon he had used at the Summit War—the fusion of his Munch-Munch, Magnet-Magnet, and Rumble-Rumble Fruits.

And to achieve a terrifying energy tide that could even make the sea level rise, he would have had to infuse that attack with his own transcendent Haki.

The reason Rowen hadn’t infused Haki into the Super Electromagnetic Cannon during the Summit War was simple: His stamina couldn’t handle it.

That single super-strike, which vaporized Kuzan and blasted a hole in the sea that couldn’t be refilled for a long time, required an astonishing amount of energy.

This energy didn’t appear from thin air; it used Rowen’s stamina as fuel.

Rowen combining multiple Devil Fruit abilities could unleash power beyond their individual limits, but the trade-off was consuming more stamina.

The more terrifying the attack from the combined abilities, the higher the energy consumption, and naturally, the higher Rowen’s stamina drain.

To launch such a super-strike, with his stamina and Haki at the time, he couldn’t afford to infuse Conqueror’s Haki into the attack.

Even without infused Haki, that one strike had consumed an astonishing amount of his stamina, forcing him to rely on the Munch-Munch Fruit’s ability to recover.

And for the Ancient Weapons, to unleash power that could completely, fundamentally destroy an island and make the sea level rise with a single shot—one could imagine the astonishing energy consumption required.

Even with Rowen’s current strength, and his physique that had surpassed the Emperor level and reached the Legendary-Class, to launch such a full-power strike would still require stamina replenishment.

Among the known energy sources, only the Mother Flame could bear the massive energy consumption of the Ancient Weapons.

And the Mother Flame—aside from a portion in the hands of the World Government due to the betrayal of one of Vegapunk’s satellites, York—the rest was on Egghead.

Both Vegapunk and the Mother Flame were things Rowen needed to obtain.

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According to the content of Vegapunk’s broadcast, 900 years ago, Joy Boy went to war with what is now the World Government.

The war lasted for 100 years.

And in that war, they used terrifying weapons that even Vegapunk couldn’t replicate, suspected to be the Ancient Weapons Pluton and Uranus.

In this century-long war, the sea level rose by 200 meters, and many continents had already sunk into the sea.

This 100-year war—was the Void Century in the history of the One Piece world.

The lands and islands they lived on now were just fragments of former vast continents.

Considering that at God Valley, the prizes for the Celestial Dragons’ Hunting tournament were the Paw-Paw Fruit and the Azure Dragon Fruit—both of which granted the user long-distance flight and the ability to make others fly.

The Paw-Paw Fruit could form paw-shaped air bubbles, allowing the user and others to travel freely through the air.

The Azure Dragon Fruit could control Flame Clouds, easily lifting an entire island.

And Rowen’s current physical energy was far stronger than Kaido’s—he could even lift a small continent with Flame Clouds, capable of holding a massive number of people.

Plus, the World Government had been building a giant bridge spanning the seas since its establishment.

And the World Government’s main base, the Holy Land Mariejois, was located at the world’s highest point, atop the Red Line.

From this… It was clear the World Government had always been preparing for the world to be completely submerged by the sea.

Undoubtedly, if they went to war with the World Government again, those sealed weapons that could cause the sea level to rise sharply would be brought out again.

And the foundation for these weapons to function—was energy.

Only by controlling the energy source could one control the strategic initiative of the war.

And that energy was on Egghead.

The method of creating it was in Vegapunk’s hands.

Therefore, Egghead and Vegapunk were both objectives Rowen had to secure.

This war—unlike in the original story, where Luffy and his crew accidentally stumbled into it, and Vegapunk’s research into the Void Century was discovered by the World Government, leading them to try and erase Vegapunk, and Luffy’s Nika form, triggering a war with the Five Elders—

Rowen was going to proactively start this war.

For—ENERGY!

Rowen’s lips curled into a strange expression.

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“Have the fleet prepare. Be ready to depart at any time.”

Rowen picked up a Transponder Snail, and through a super-strong signal, issued his order.

“Understood. A fleet of over a hundred ships has been assembled and can set out at any time,” Marco’s voice came through.

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