"I guessed it."
Tilting his head to glance at the grim-faced King, Kōta stretched lazily. He took a slow sip of wine and then smiled, "It seems I guessed correctly."
Sitting up straight, the playfulness vanished from Kōta's face. He leaned forward, locking eyes with the giant king, and asked seriously, "Can you tell me what defeated the powerful Giant race and countless special species?"
"You know even this?"
The King's hands clenched his scepter tightly. He stared at the silver-haired youth before him, his eyes filled with shock.
"I know," Kōta waved his hand dismissively. "Not only do I know, but I've also fought with the Uranus, controlled by 'Im'."
"Im..."
"Uranus..."
Upon hearing this, the King shot to his feet. His aura, at that moment, couldn't help but surge outwards. The immense pressure seemed to twist the very space in the great hall around his terrifying, colossal form.
"You've seen 'Uranus' and even fought it."
The King stared at Kōta, his face etched with disbelief.
What was Uranus?
Perhaps, in this world, besides the old folks in the Holy Land of Marijoa, only he knew.
It was an existence that completely surpassed the peak of this world.
He hadn't seen it, but he knew from the records in the temple.
It was an ultimate weapon, capable of destroying the world, that their ancient Giant race had created by pooling the entire world's technology and imitating some unknown being.
If not for the sudden betrayal of that unknown being in the final battle, they would never have lost.
Yet, here stood this brat before him, claiming to have fought Uranus. How could he not be astonished?
Even if he didn't fight the unknown being, "Im," himself, being able to battle Uranus was enough to prove the power of the person before him.
However, when he recalled the silver-haired youth's ability, which even the Four Emperors couldn't escape, he felt a degree of understanding.
After all, this youth was now the undisputed strongest in the world. Being able to fight Uranus was indeed plausible.
But he knew that the Uranus the youth had fought couldn't have been its final form. In the history he understood, Uranus's ultimate form truly possessed the power to destroy the heavens and exterminate the earth.
If he had fought the person before him, the world wouldn't be so silent.
"No, there should be news."
As if struck by an idea, the King turned around, picked up a stack of newspapers from a metal bookshelf to the right of his throne, and pulled one out. He turned to Kōta and asked, "When did you fight Uranus?"
Kōta stroked his chin, thinking, and murmured softly, "I didn't record the exact time, but it should be about two months ago!"
"Two months."
He picked up the newspaper and read the news from two months prior, which reported a crack across the Red Line Continent in the sky for unknown reasons.
The King remained lost in thought for a long time.
He had seen this news two months ago, but since he hadn't witnessed it firsthand, he hadn't felt much. Now, however, one of the parties responsible for the crack was standing right before him, which stirred a complex mix of emotions within him.
When natural phenomena he took for granted turned out to be man-made, the King couldn't help but be astonished once more by the power of the silver-haired youth before him.
But still, the same logic applied. Even if he could fight Uranus, so what?
No matter how powerful the youth before him was, he couldn't possibly defeat Im, who had surpassed the gods.
Setting down the newspaper, the King's heart finally calmed. Leaning on his scepter, he returned to his throne, looked up at the youth before him, and asked, "Since you already know so much, why are you still asking me?"
"Didn't I already say it!"
"I was just guessing, guessing that one of the parties in the war 800 years ago was you."
Kōta glanced up at the King, raised his wine gourd, and took a gulp before smiling, "Since you know Uranus and Im, it means you have records of that history here."
Pausing slightly, Kōta still made his request, "Can my companions and I go and take a look?"
He himself wasn't particularly interested, but Robin was quite persistent about that history.
The King did not answer Kōta's request for a long time. It wasn't until Kōta yawned again that he finally spoke, "Only the Kings of the past Giant Kingdoms could enter. The history isn't explained in much detail, only some records related to Uranus and Im. If you wish to see them, I can grant you entry."
"Then I thank Your Majesty the King in advance."
Seeing that the King had agreed, Kōta stood up and bowed to him.
"There's no need for that," the King waved his hand. "I'm doing this simply to forge a good relationship with you."
It was indeed to foster good will. For a powerful individual like Kōta, who commanded space and could teleport, he wasn't sure if he could break through the temple's defenses and enter on his own.
But since he wanted to see, he would let them see.
The place was much as he described; it didn't record history but rather how Uranus was born and some information about Im, the unknown being.
These weren't secrets that couldn't be revealed. Kōta could look.
After all, Kōta already knew quite a bit, didn't he?
He was simply going with the flow, gaining the favor of the world's strongest, which could only be beneficial.
"Oh, right."
As if remembering something, the King suddenly spoke, "You don't need to keep calling me King or anything. I have a name. My name is 'Fabre', 'Joy Boy Fabre'."
"Joy Boy?"
Kōta's drinking motion stopped. He put down his wine gourd and stared at Fabre, "The legendary Liberation Warrior Joy Boy is..."
"He is our Giant race's god, the Great Sun God."
As if he had prepared this answer long ago, Fabre blurted it out, his face filled with pride.
"Don't listen to his nonsense."
Just then, a voice echoed in Kōta's mind. "I've met that Sun God. He's a very gentle and kind deity, benevolent towards all beings. He couldn't possibly be the god of the Giant race."
"Uh..."
Kōta was speechless. In his sea of consciousness, he asked the voice from the other shore, "Is the Sun God's name 'Nika'?"
"How do you know the Sun God's name?"
The voice from the other shore asked curiously.
Kōta didn't answer directly. Instead, he said again.
"Do you remember what I said about Devil Fruits!"
"I remember. Aren't they special products born from the desire for life?"
Seeing Kōta mention Devil Fruits, the voice became even more curious. "What does this have to do with the Sun God?"
In Kōta's mental world, he manifested his form. He looked at the voice from the other shore and waved his hand in front of him.
Before him appeared a golden, radiant Great Buddha, Nika's joyful figure, and a phoenix wreathed in blue flames, along with a catastrophe bat, an evil black tiger, and an eight-headed serpent, among others.
Looking at the scene before him, the voice from the other shore remained silent for a long time.
"You're not going to tell me that these beings have now become Devil Fruits, are you?"
Clearly, the voice recognized many of the figures in the scene before Kōta.