Chapter Sixty-Two: "The Lord of the Underworld"!

Time flew by swiftly, and two months had already passed.

Alabasta, having been deprived of rain for many years, suffered from severe desertification. The sun blazed with merciless intensity, and when the wind occasionally swept through, it carried with it a searing heat, making one feel as though they were trapped in a sauna.

Camille hovered in the air, watching as Luffy and Vivi’s group passed beneath him. Casting a fleeting glance at their receding figures, he tapped his foot lightly and vanished, reappearing on the ground in the next instant.

This time, Robin was not at Camille’s side. Upon entering Alabasta’s borders, Camille unleashed his vast spiritual sense to search for Luffy and his companions. Not only did he find them, but he also discovered something that left him utterly astonished—Crocodile’s partner turned out to be Robin’s mother, Olivia. The revelation left both Camille and Robin in a state of bemused disbelief.

Back when the three women gathered together on Amazon Lily, Camille and Robin had gone out in search of Robin’s mother. Their search did not take long; they found Olivia on that turtle island depicted in the Pirate King’s theater special. There, Olivia had also discovered a Poneglyph. With Camille’s and Olivia’s combined efforts, her strength had grown formidable—not inferior to that of the Seven Warlords, and nearly on par with the Four Emperors. Yet she rarely revealed her power, quietly traveling the world in pursuit of the Poneglyphs. Though the World Government was aware of her actions, after Camille’s uproar within the Navy, they chose to turn a blind eye to Olivia’s quest. Evidently, they had grown deeply wary of Camille—if they were to harm his mother-in-law, and risk provoking this harbinger of chaos, the fate awaiting them might be no different from what befell the Navy. Thus, they no longer interfered with Olivia’s search for the Poneglyphs.

Camille smiled wryly to himself; who could have foreseen such coincidence? That Olivia would come to Alabasta. Upon learning this, Robin hurried to her mother’s side. By now, Olivia’s strength was likely greater than any of the Four Emperors.

With a soft sigh, Camille resigned himself—there was little he could do about Olivia’s presence in Alabasta, except hope that the formidable woman would not take things too far with Luffy’s group. Robin knew this story well and could communicate with her mother, guiding Luffy and the others through tribulations that might even surpass those in the original tale.

Camille raised his right hand, shimmering with energy, and with a slight tremor, the sand at his feet quaked violently. A massive rectangular stone slowly emerged from the depths below—it was the Poneglyph that Luffy had once stumbled upon in the ruins.

Boredom had led Camille to flip through some manga, reminding him of the hidden Poneglyph here. He had nearly forgotten about it; were it not for revisiting the story, the monument might have slumbered in the earth for who knows how long.

The colossal stone’s emergence dealt a heavy blow to the local geology. With a thunderous crash, the ground subsided, and when the dust settled, the once-flat terrain had transformed into a vast pit, hundreds of meters across, burying the ruins below entirely.

Casting a sidelong glance, Camille paid no heed to the destruction he had wrought. With a gentle wave of his left hand, a powerful gust swept away the lingering dust. Placing the Poneglyph on the ground, he began to study it.

As he read, a frown creased Camille’s brow, vexation gnawing at him. Unlike the Poneglyph chronicling Alabasta’s history, this one detailed events from the enigmatic void century—the burial place of “Pluton” was also recorded. That was precisely the source of his annoyance: “Pluton” lay buried deep beneath this very stone, roughly a hundred meters down. Had the ruin remained intact, Camille could have followed the secret passage described above to Pluton’s resting place. But now…

Gazing upon the endless sea of yellow sand, Camille murmured, “Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

With a wave of his right hand, he stored the Poneglyph within his spatial ring.

He tapped his foot lightly and flashed into the sky. The Purple Emperor appeared in his grasp, and he scrutinized the ground below.

His brows knitted in concentration as he swung his blade four times in rapid succession. Instantly, four streaks of purple energy shot downward, forming a perfect square.

A deafening explosion shook the land. Sand and stone erupted into the air, a spectacle visible from miles away. Camille, hovering a hundred meters above, was shielded from the flying debris by a shimmering violet barrier.

When the wind had swept the dust away, the ground was laid bare. Four immense trenches, each a hundred meters long, a dozen meters wide, and unfathomably deep, had appeared before him. The friction of the sword energy had fused the sand and stone together; under the sunlight, the glazed surface gleamed—proof that sand, when subjected to intense heat, could indeed form a glass-like substance.

Descending along the fissure, Camille extended his spiritual sense. After dropping a hundred meters, he stopped.

His senses had already pinpointed Pluton’s location, and Camille was stunned—it was a humanoid mech.

Could the civilization of this nation have reached the stage of constructing mechs centuries ago? Camille found it hard to believe.

Reaching out with his soul’s power, he narrowed his eyes. In a flash, Pluton was whisked into his ring.

With a flicker, he vanished from the depths. Suspended in the air, he unleashed a flurry of sword slashes below. Amidst the cacophony, all traces of his unnatural handiwork disappeared.

Gently landing on the ground, Camille released the twenty-meter-tall mech from his ring and examined it with utmost seriousness...

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This was written over two lunch breaks—time is tight, and overtime is nearly over. Updates will resume as soon as possible.

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