Mio left the palace helplessly.
Outside, he turned to Robin and asked, "Are you sure? Pluto is really in Alabasta?"
Robin nodded seriously. "I'm not mistaken. The Poneglyph not only records Pluto's location, but also mentions another historical text located in Alabasta. Both are at the same site."
"Do you know exactly where that place is?" Mio asked.
Robin pointed in a direction. "Based on the historical text's instructions, if I'm correct, the location lies directly in line between the coast of Alabasta and the capital. The midpoint between those two places should be where the other Poneglyph is located."
Without another word, Mio picked Robin up and sprinted in the indicated direction.
Gripping tightly onto his clothes, Robin asked, "Captain, the historical text says Pluto has been stored for a long time… What if it's already broken?"
"Even if it is, we still have to check," Mio replied calmly. "But what if it's not? What if it's still intact?"
If Pluto was indeed still intact, Mio would absolutely take it for himself. And even if it had broken down over the centuries, it would still be worth investigating. At worst, he could head to Water 7 and try to retrieve the blueprints for Pluto's construction.
It would be a real loss if one of the ancient weapons' design documents were truly destroyed, as in the original timeline.
Mio dashed through the desert, leaving the capital far behind. After running non-stop for nearly five or six hours, he finally reached the destination.
But what he saw made him frown.
In front of him lay a massive pit filled with quicksand. Within the swirling sand, a dark corner could barely be seen protruding from the center — it looked like the edge of a Poneglyph.
"This is going to be a pain…" Mio muttered to himself. The quicksand made it far too dangerous to go down; there was a real risk of being swallowed alive.
And the terrain around them was just sand — nothing else. Even if he brought everyone from the ship to help, they wouldn't be able to extract what was buried down there.
Unless he had access to massive manpower and resources. Or… Crocodile.
If it were Crocodile, manipulating the sand would be effortless.
But…
"Captain, what should we do now?" Robin asked after climbing off Mio's back, staring at the deep pit with concern.
"We can't get it out for now. We'll have to come back later," Mio said slowly as he looked at the exposed corner of the ancient stone. Thanks to his Replacement Fruit ability, he could theoretically switch places with something down there and investigate it up close. But the problem wasn't getting down — it was getting the thing out.
To do that, the surrounding sand would have to be removed, and the quicksand's flow made that practically impossible.
Only someone with Crocodile's Sand-Sand Fruit power could pull it off.
"Crocodile should be in the New World by now. That complicates things," Mio muttered to himself.
If Crocodile were still in Alabasta, Mio would drag him here without hesitation and force him to use his powers. If Crocodile refused, Mio would cripple him. Simple as that.
But unfortunately, Crocodile was no longer here.
Pluto was right in front of him, yet he couldn't take it. That left Mio feeling incredibly frustrated.
"Looks like we'll have to come back here another time," Mio said with a sigh.
He then turned to Robin. "Take some photos of the area and memorize the location. Since we can't take Pluto now, let's at least make sure this place stays hidden."
"Understood." Robin was visibly disappointed at not being able to study the Poneglyph, but she quickly took out a camera and began snapping pictures of the surrounding landscape, recording every detail so they could find it again later.
After she finished taking photos, Mio picked her up again and drew Raikiri from his waist.
He unleashed a controlled slash, aiming at the side of the sandpit. The energy erupted on impact, causing the sand on the left side of the pit to collapse and flow downward rapidly.
Soon, the exposed corner of the Poneglyph was completely buried beneath the cascading sand.
Though the pit wouldn't be fully covered, the thick layer of sand would be more than enough to hide everything underneath.
With that done, Mio and Robin began their return to the capital.
"Besides Pluto's location, did the historical text mention anything else?" Mio asked as they made their way back.
Robin glanced at the camera and looked at one of the photos she had taken earlier. "Yes. It recorded Pluto's origins. Apparently, it was built by a group of skilled shipwrights. And it says the blueprints were left behind."
"Hmm. Nothing particularly new," Mio nodded thoughtfully.
But then, something occurred to him.
Alabasta's Poneglyph recorded Pluto.
Skypiea's Poneglyph recorded Poseidon.
That meant there was likely another Poneglyph somewhere that recorded Uranus, the third ancient weapon.
It was highly possible — but where it might be, Mio had no clue.
He shook his head and chuckled softly. "Well, that's that for the Poneglyph. Next, it's time for us to leave."
"Where are we going next?" Robin asked curiously.
"Battleship Island," Mio replied with a small smile, rubbing her head gently.
Battleship Island — the home of the Millennium Dragon. That's what Mio was after.
Of course, if given a choice, Mio wouldn't choose the ancient dragon. It was far too old and not suitable for training or combat. But its genetic material was still extremely valuable.
Millennium Dragons existed in various parts of the world, but the one on Battleship Island was the only one whose exact location was known.
More importantly, near Battleship Island was Dragon's Nest Island, the Dragon Cave — a legendary lost island that surfaced only once every thousand years. During that time, dragons from all over the world would return to the island.
Right now, the timing wasn't right, so there wouldn't be any adult Millennium Dragons there. However, there would be dragon eggs.
Mio remembered this clearly from the original story. Whether Dragon Cave was submerged under the sea or risen above it, the eggs always remained — alive and waiting.
If he could find the island, he might be able to steal those eggs and take them away.
He shook his head again and pushed the thought aside. For now, they needed to get back to the capital.
Although he had said they were ready to leave, Mio planned to wait another day or two. After all, Doflamingo's people hadn't arrived yet, but he expected them to show up soon.
From what Doflamingo had said during their last contact, the Donquixote Family had already started expanding in the Grand Line. Their influence should be growing.
But Mio wasn't sure how far they'd gotten yet.
"Battleship Island is just ahead of Alabasta," Mio murmured. "Once we get back to the capital, we'll need to buy a nautical chart and a permanent Log Pose."
Regarding female characters, Mio thought to himself that there weren't many suitable ones at this point in the timeline. Most were still too young. Tina and Hancock were just little girls, and Kuina had only recently been born. If he wanted to develop romantic plots with characters from the original story, he'd have to wait a while.
Even Momonosuke's sister, Hiyori, was only six years old at the moment.
So for now, he'd focus on his current goals: gathering resources, upgrading his strength, and exploring what this world had to offer.