Kaido’s arrival saved Perospero for the time being, which prevented Big Mom from personally looking for him. If Perospero had come across Big Mom while she was still angry, the outcome would have been unpredictable.
Queen was also worried about his captain’s reaction, but compared to Perospero’s unease, Queen was more relaxed. At most, he would be beaten for a few days. He was used to it, but it felt a little sad to say it out loud.
With the treasure map in hands, Olga was directing the navigators and helmsman to adjust their course.
There aren’t many genius navigators, but there are many who know a little about navigation. The reason why Olga was directing the route was because nobody else could understand the text on the map.
Alchemy Island disappeared over a hundred years ago, and the script they used was very different from modern script. It can also be classified as an ancient script.
Even though the regional civilizations of the pirate world have common language, each island has its own distinct culture with many dialects and local scripts.
These scripts also share some similarities. The pattern on the treasure map belongs to one of the ancient scripts, although it differs from Alchemi’s script, both are pictographic scripts.
And with her understanding of Alchemy’s script, Olga was able to make an educated guess and translate the characters with a high degree of accuracy. Moreover, there are multiple ways to write the character “茴,” and similar variations exist in other ancient scripts as well.
Even if she can only recognize half of the characters, she can still roughly guess its pronunciation and meaning based on the context before and after it. Although there may be differences, the general direction will not be wrong.
Previously, the merchant gave this as a gift because they didn’t even recognize what it was. Everything related to ancient times was something the World Government did not want to circulate.
Alchemi Island has already disappeared, and there are more than one similar islands. Therefore, many of the texts have been lost and only a few places that specialize in historical research can interpret them.
However, whether or not they could translate these texts did not affect their ability to read the map. By comparing the location of the islands and ocean currents, they could still find their route. But knowing how to read would make it easier and more convenient.
“Why do I feel it’s a scam?”
Queen held onto the map with a doubtful expression. He had joined them because he is an expert in treasure hunting, but how could he prove his expertise? By nitpicking on things. After all, if he couldn’t nitpick on anything, he wouldn’t be much of an expert at all.
“Tch, old man, you can’t even understand these texts. How do you know it’s fake? Anyways, we’re just trying our luck, why not go and take a look?”
“You’re still too young to know the dangers of this world, brat.”
Among all the officers, Acier is the only one who never has any conflict with Queen. They both share many similarities in their personalities, such as narcissism and blind confidence, and of course, it’s also because Acier can’t defeat Queen in combat; his strength is roughly equivalent to that of an ordinary foot soldier.
In fact, it would be more accurate to say that Acier’s strength is less than that of an ordinary foot soldier. He still hasn’t lost weight, and his physique doesn’t offer any advantage in battle.
Meanwhile, Olga is doing well within the Beasts Pirates due to her status as apprentice and crew’s pet.
“But what is written on this?”
“I don’t really understand it much, but from what I gather, it’s likely referring to a valuable treasure that grants eternal life.”
“Treasure that grants eternal life? That sounds even more like a scam.”
Occasionally, there are such rumors in the sea, such as the legendary Golden Apple. However, those are all just rumors. Acier’s Pure Gold is one of the ways to achieve eternal life, but no one knows if Pure Gold has limits.
Op-Op Fruit’s immortality operation is currently the most reliable method, but only the fruit’s user or those who have undergone the operation know the specifics.
Many treasure maps have strong gimmicks, such as treasure that can buy the world or secret to eternal life. Queen has seen these types of things before.
However, he was only making idle remarks. He has no intention of returning at the moment and face Kaido’s special training.
The pirate ship, flying the Beasts Pirates’ flag, sailed on the open sea. In the New World’s waters, a pirate flag is the best pass. As long as a pirate crew was strong enough and didn’t provoke or run into reckless pirates in their territory, they could generally travel peacefully.
This is an unwritten rule among the major pirates. If they fought every day, there would be no benefits for anyone, whether it’s for their territory or for themselves.
Many things can be negotiated without touching the bottom line, such as Kaido and Charlotte Linlin’s negotiation for bananas. Through this method, everyone gets what they need. Pirates who only rely on fighting to solve their problems are of the lowest level.
After sailing for some time, Arceus and the others were already close to their destination. At this time, the sky was covered by clouds, but it was just that, there were no signs of rain.
In ordinary sea areas, the emergence of extensive cloud cover is typically an indication of an approaching storm, but this is the New World. All the conventional knowledge concerning seafaring can be challenged.
Olga is currently calling Acier for help because there are a few words she can’t figure out. She was only 8 years old when Alchemi disappeared, and she never learned all of Alchemi’s language, so she doesn’t recognize some of the more complex characters.
After the incident, Alchemi disappeared, and Acier didn’t continue teaching her those things. Instead, they studied new languages together.
With Acier’s help, she finally figured out the meaning of the last sentence.
“Midnight wings cut through the clouds, as moonlight guides the way towards the final destination. That should be the meaning.”
“Midnight? Moonlight? Do we have to wait here until midnight?”
“Maybe?….This treasure map is incomplete. While it indicates the location of the last island, it only guides people to the nearby waters, after which there’s only this one sentence.”
“Then let’s wait. Since we’re already here, waiting one night won’t hurt.”
They dropped the anchor and waited for midnight to arrive. Thick clouds covered the moonlight, but when midnight arrived, a crack opened up in the sky, and a beam of moonlight cascaded towards the horizon in a straight line.
Vaguely, they could see something flying past through the clouds, which created the crack in the clouds.
“No matter how many times I see it, nature is truly strange.” Olga sighed at the strange sight.
However, Queen’s focus was on something else compared to Olga. He had a feeling that those clouds were strange and did not seem like normal clouds.
At that moment, a piercing cry echoed through the sky, and then a dark figure fell onto the Beasts Pirates’ ship.