Chapter 125 - 125. Pedro

Leo and Shinobu were welcomed warmly by the minks.

Zou was unique. A forest growing on the back of a prehistoric beast and a tribe taking it as their home.

They had lots to see and experience. Minks weren't barbaric, they were in fact quite civilized. They had their own culture and traditions.

The food here was also worth notice. The fruits were sweet and delicious. And they had a wine brewed from fruits indigenous to Zou. Leo really like it and requested for a few bottles.

Now the minks looked like an amiable tribe however Leo's spiritual sense picked up strong vitality from every single one of them. Even little kids were extraordinary.

Zou had two leaders. One ruling the day and the other during the night.

The day ruler was a dog mink, Inuarashi.

The night ruler, a cat mink, Nekomamushi.

These two represented the highest authority. Below them were the guardians and tens of warriors.

Leo met all of them. He was impressed by their battle strength. Each of the guardians had the strength of a vice admiral.

He suspected the rulers to be somewhere in between a vice admiral and an admiral.

Among the warriors of Zou Leo got along well with one named Pedro. He was a quite guy, but he had a sharp mind. Leo found common ground with Pedro.

They sparred sometimes and pointed out each others weakness.

On this day.

Leo hesitated for a while and asked, "Pedro, I know it's rude but I gotta ask. What happened to you? Why is your spirit so weak?"

Pedro was chugging on a bottle when he heard Leo.

He paused for a second and continued to drink. After finishing the bottle he put it down and said, "That's the price I paid to live."

Hm?

Leo looked at him confused.

Pedro watched the setting sun. His face was clouded with emotion, "I ventured out to the sea years ago with my friend. We were searching for Road Poneglyphs."

Leo frowned, "Road Poneglyph?"

Pedro nodded, "The World Government rules our world. They appeared 800 hundreds years ago. However their entrance was abrupt in the flow of history. Before their existence was a void of 100 years."

"No one knows what happened in that period. However their are this artifacts called poneglyphs, these artifacts hold records from that time. Among these artifacts are four special ones, called Road Poneglyphs."

"Each of them contain coordinates to different uncertain locations. Connect those locations on a map, those lines will cross at the center."

"That's where the last island is. Only the King of Pirates and his crew were able to step on that island in all these centuries."

"And that's Raftel!"

Leo was stunned. He was familiar with the story of the King of Pirates.

However was confused, "What does that have to do with your spirit?"

Pedro calmly said, "The Road Poneglyphs leads to Raftel where the secret of the void century lie. Every tough guy of the sea are searching for the end of the Grand Line."

"One of the Road Poneglyphs is in the hands of Big Mom, a Yonko. Me and my friend tried to get a copy of it but, we were captured. My friend he... died. As for me, I was spared because a mink in Big Mom's crew begged her."

"However she took my right eye and half of my life span."

Leo went silent.

Pedro looked at the last wisp of light fading away and said, "Someday, someone will come, to repeat that man's glory."

The night went by.

Leo and Shinobu were preparing to leave. The minks loaded their ship with fruits and several items found only in Zou.

"Thank you for your care for the past few days."

Leo bowed slightly to show his gratitude.

"Haha, it's fine. Come back whenever you want."

The one speaking was a big dog. He wore a sunglass and a blue cape.

This was the day ruler, Inuarashi.

Leo turned to Pedro and nodded.

Soon the platform was lowered.

...

Leo's mood was down.

Shinobu chuckled when she saw him like that and said, "You know there is a way to help him."

Leo raised his head and asked curiously, "How?"

Shinobu rested her head in her arms and said, "Don't you know resonance?"

Leo's eyes sparkled. Right, how could I forget that.

By resonating his spirit with Pedro's he should be able to heal his spirit to a certain extent.

He rubbed her cheeks and said grumpily, "Why didn't you say this when we were in Zou?"

Shinobu swatted his hands away and said, "I only thought of it now."

The ship moved towards it's next destination.

Mace knocked on the door.

"Come in, Mace."

Mace walked with a bunch of papers.

"Here is the information you asked for."

Leo took the papers and read it over

Mace hesitated and asked, "Captain, are we really doing this?"

Leo smiled, "Why not? You are the one who said I should rank up. This is the fastest way."

Mace laughed bitterly, "But those are that man's business."

Leo shook his finger and grinned, "It's all illegal, so it's fair game."

Mace resigned to his fate and went out.

After he was gone Shinobu smiled, "This won't be easy."

Leo shrugged, "I know. Anyway, I am hoping they would interfere."

He had improved tremendously after coming to this world. He wanted test how far he had came. So he was hoping someone with a high bounty would come after him for what he was about to do.

Leo looked out to the sea and grinned.

This is going to be fun.