In the New World, there is a giant elephant that has lived for thousands of years. It towers into the sky and walks on the sea day and night. No one knows why it walks, where it comes from, or where it goes.
Zou is a natural island formed on its back. This is the homeland of the Mink Tribe and the seat of the Mokomo Dukedom.
The Mink Tribe is belived to be an extremely xenophobic race that hates humans and will never allow any humans to approach their territory.
Because Zou is on the back of the elephant Zunesha, it has the unique geographical feature of moving independently. If you want to reach the island, you cannot use a Log Pose and can only use the guidance of a Vivre Card.
Otherwise, you can only try your luck, hoping that Zunesha will walk nearby on its own.
This peaceful island was invaded and destroyed by the notorious pirate Jack, causing heavy casualties. Today, it faces another disaster.
The one who took action was King from the Beasts Pirates, and Zou was one of his destinations.
A few days ago, the two men who were planning to go to Dressrosa met Zunesha walking nearby. Without any hesitation, they flew to the island on its back.
As a result, the ignorant Mink citizens became scapegoats and suffered an unprovoked disaster.
At first, they didn't know the purpose of King and the others coming here, but they were instinctively wary of outsiders.
Zou also has its own defense force. The "Musketeers" led by Duke Inuarashi and the "Guardians" led by Master Nekomamushi are composed of the most elite members of the Mink Tribe.
However, in order to go to sea to fight against powerful enemies, the two leaders took almost all the warriors with them and have not returned yet, leaving only a few members to guard their homeland.
Apparently, the tribesmen still knew nothing about what happened in Wano Country and were still waiting expectantly for their leaders' return.
Little did they know that disaster was waiting for them.
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New World, Zou, Kurau City.
The country that was once a paradise is now filled with corpses, fires rising into the sky, black smoke billowing, and bloodstains covering the land made of elephant skin.
Even Zunesha seemed to feel the human tragedy happening on its back and let out a scream, but was unable to stop it, just like when Jack wreaked havoc.
A dying Mink fell to the ground, crying bitterly. He stared at the two culprits and said, "The two kings will never let you go!"
King, whose hands were full of blood, was completely unfazed, as if he was doing an ordinary thing, and said calmly, "If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for being so weak but having to guard such a rare treasure!"
"Don't worry, you'll be able to see the kings you longed for soon!"
The Mink's eyes widened, and he was about to say something.
Laquila, beside him, waved her hand coldly, and immediately blood splattered out, silencing him forever.
In this massacre, the real executioner was Laquila, while King was responsible for setting fires to destroy all traces.
They were not worried at all about destroying the Poneglyph. After all, it is made of extremely hard special materials. It is invulnerable to water, fire, and even the erosion of time. In terms of pure hardness, it is even tougher than Seastone.
King told Laquila, "I'm going to look for the Poneglyph. You stay here to be on guard and check to see if there is anyone alive, not even an animal!"
Laquila nodded respectfully and obeyed.
King then spread his wings and flew towards the depths of the island.
Unexpectedly, they searched all the strongholds, including Inuarashi's medical office, but found no clues.
King suddenly realized, "I really took it for granted. How could the Minks put such an important item in such a conspicuous place?"
Then, his eyes turned to the tall and leafy Whale Forest, which was the territory of the Guardians.
Walking in the forest, King said, "This is a good place to hide things!"
Not long after, he walked to the Guardians' stronghold and was about to go in to search, but stopped and thought, "Those two Mink leaders are very thoughtful, and they will probably not hide the treasures where they live!"
Thinking of this, he gave up the idea of wasting time and turned around to search elsewhere.
Unconsciously, he reached the end of the forest.
King looked up at the huge hillside shaped like a whale. The Whale Forest was named after it.
"If it doesn't exist here, then we'll have to go to Dressrosa again!"
King was not discouraged at all. Kaido had given him such an important task. No matter how time-consuming and labor-intensive it was, he would complete it without compromise.
For him, it was nothing more than destroying another country or an island. As long as he could achieve his goal, he would not hesitate to kill tens of millions of lives.
"Huh?" King's pupils narrowed as he paid careful attention to the winding path on Whale Mountain.
These roads were not formed naturally but were trodden by humans, so there were no forks, only one road.
King smiled faintly and said, "It seems there is a cave inside the whale! Although these Minks speak human language, their thinking is as simple as animals and they don't have much human cunning!"
The confidence in his heart suddenly improved a lot, and King, faintly excited, immediately waved his wings and walked directly up the road.
He flew until he reached a hidden cave entrance, then returned to his human form.
"This is probably the Mink Tribe's secret forbidden area!" King couldn't help but smile and strode in.
The entrance to the cave is on the whale, but the secret tunnel of the cave continues downwards to the bottom of the whale.
"This is?"
Soon, a secret place with torches came into view, and a dark red square stone stood majestically in front.
King couldn't suppress the ecstasy in his heart at this moment. He stepped forward and touched the stone. It was engraved with obscure words and covered with moss and vines.
A heavy punch hit it, making a dull sound, but the surface of the stone was not damaged at all. The familiar hard texture made him 100% sure that the road sign in front of him was a genuine Poneglyph.
The Beasts Pirates also have one, so King could tell the real thing from the fake at a glance.
There are currently three Road Poneglyphs in the world, one in Wano Country and one in Totto Land, the territory of the Big Mom Pirates.
The world has never known that this third stone tablet is placed on the back of Zunesha.
King suddenly said, "I think the reason why the Mink Tribe rejects humans is to protect the Poneglyph!"
As for the last Road Poneglyph, it is said to have once appeared on Fish-Man Island 10,000 meters under the sea, but now it has disappeared, and there is no news about it.
Historically, only Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, had collected the text messages on the four stone tablets and had them deciphered by dedicated personnel before he successfully reached the final island, Laugh Tale.
Therefore, there is a saying circulating in the pirate world:
Whoever can find all four Road Poneglyphs and decipher the ancient text will become the next Pirate King!