"You see, the Kozuki clan is most well known as world class artisans. Specifically, they are unparalleled in the art of… stone masonry. This talent runs in their blood; even now there are none who can match them." Cat Viper informed them.
"Stone masons… you mean…?" Franky asked.
"That's right. The Kozuki clan, eight hundred years ago, created the indestructible stone writings known as poneglyphs!" Cat Viper answered Franky's unspoken question in the affirmative.
The group was satisfyingly gobsmacked at the reveal of this piece of history, especially Robin who was always thrilled to learn something new.
Cherry scooped up Momonosuke underneath the arms, causing him to squirm from the sudden action. "What about you, pipsqueak? Are you just as talented as your ancestors?"
Momonosuke huffed when he realized his struggles were in vain and responded, "Of course I am! I just haven't had the time and opportunity to apply myself to the trade!"
"Is that so? I happen to have an interest in the art of stone working as well, ever since I encountered sea stone cuffs. How do they merge a stone substance with metal I wonder? Knowing could open up a whole new world of smithing applications for me." Cherry pondered, still not releasing the little heir to an entire country.
"How should I know? The Kozuki clan only concerns itself with stone, not hybrid materials!" Momonosuke denied.
"We can figure that out together! It's an adventure in craftsmanship!" Cherry insisted, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Ohhh, adventure!" Luffy got fired up, despite being uninvolved.
"I-it matters not what you want. I have no one to teach me and the ancient records of my clan's techniques are written in the same language as the poneglyphs, which my father was not able to teach me." Momonosuke said, but looked dour and disappointed to admit it.
"Oden-sama was not able to teach Momonosuke-sama his clan techniques and how to read the poneglyphs…" Kin'emon spoke darkly.
Immediately the mood plunged into frigid waters. The expressions on the faces of the samurai and the two mink leaders made it abundantly clear that something very bad happened to Oden.
Which is exactly why Luffy failed to grasp it at all and put his foot in his mouth, metaphorically speaking. "Why didn't he?"
Kin'emon opened his mouth to answer, but instead had to choke back a sob. The other four were in a similar situation, unable to get the words out. Thankfully, Luffy finally managed to put two and two together and tried to backtrack.
"No! I will say it!" Kin'emon shouted, trying to build his determination. "Oden-sama was killed, executed… by none other than the unrightful Shogun Orochi and his ally, Kaido! He nobly gave his life to save his servants, who would have gladly died in his place!"
That certainly recontextualized their quest to defeat Kaido with Law. Suddenly they weren't doing it just on Luffy's whim to fight the four emperors; now, it was personal. Now, Kaido had taken part in the death of their new friend's father.
"Forgive me for being rude and you don't need to answer, but why did they execute him to begin with?" Zoro asked. "Does it relate to the reason you're on the run?"
"It's as you've surmised, Zoro-dono," Kin'emon answered, getting a hold of himself. "Oden-sama certainly did commit a grave crime in their eyes. Kaido is trying to pry information out of us, because Odrn-sama rode on the pirate king, Gol D. Roger's ship, and reached the final island of the Grand Line, Laugh Tale! It was there that he learned the secret of the world!"
'There sure have been a lot of dramatic reveals in the last twenty four hours…' Cherry thought. Then she asked, "Is that how Roger learned to read the poneglyphs?"
"That's right," Dogstorm confirmed.
"We do not know any of those secrets, however. Oden-sama knew it would be dangerous for us, but in the end we were targeted anyway," Kin'emon said.
"Not that we would reveal them even if we did know," Kanjuro added.
'Isn't that obvious? Why would he say that?' Cherry thought to herself.
Although she had warmed up a bit to Kanjuro's presence, she still had what she would call a 'healthy' amount of suspicion towards him (and what Robin would call slightly obsessive). Though, certainly there was nothing in his demeanor or cadence to suggest he was lying or otherwise conspiring against her, or anyone else for that matter.
'Maybe Robin is right. He must remind me of someone I only half remember from my 600 years of life in some inconsequential way, so I'm just making up reasons to suspect him.' Even Cherry thought that she was getting a bit ridiculous about it.
'I can take care of him for you~ Nobody even needs to know~' Drunk Cherry bubbled up from the darkest recesses of her mind. 'Just a few bottles~ That's all it'll take~'
'Okay, one, that's some freaky ass shit, what the fuck. Two, you do some pseudo alternate personality shit like that again, then I swear I'll go stone cold sober for the next ten thousand years. Three, getting wasted is a terrible idea when I'm trying to get away with something, so no thanks.' Cherry chastised… herself?
"Since they mean to come after us even though we know nothing, there is only one choice for us! To fight!" Kanjuro said forcibly.
"Oden-sama left us with only one task before he died…" Kin'emon said.
"""Open the borders of Wano!!!""" Kin'emon, Kanjuro, Raizo, Cat vIper, and Dogstorm declared in perfect unison.
"Wano was a secluded country even before Kaido and Orochi took over, but now our people have no choice in the matter!" Raizo said.
"Our allies are sowing the seeds of rebellion back home, but we cannot gather the strength and numbers necessary to truly fight against our usurpers. Still, we must fight!" Kin'emon said. "And so we set out to sea in search of powerful allies to help us in our cause!"
"When Raizo arrived, we immediately started preparing for the inevitable battle. We minks have been with the Kozuki clan for ages past, and we intend to honor our pact," Cat Viper said.
"However, just a few ships worth of Kaido men did so much damage to us." Dogstorm spoke, clearly ashamed.
"Don't be that way! The enemy used a rotten tactic because they couldn't defeat you head on!" Franky defended.
"It matters not. War is war, and the winners are the winners," Dogstorm didn't make excuses. "But we did learn our lesson, and we still possess a trump card to use against Jack, should he ever be foolish enough to return. It won't be them who comes out on top next time."
"We may not even need to use that, Dog. Cherry over there made a sword for Pedro before she made our new limbs with Franky. The blade could pierce through wood as easily as flesh with Electro alone, no Haki." Cat Viper informed him.
"Truly?" Dogstorm asked, a bit surprised. "I never did get the chance to test out this new leg."
"I intend to make as many as I can before I need to leave for the tea party. It won't be enough to arm the entire country, but your guardians and musketeers? Easy enough." Cherry said. "Your blacksmith, Wayland, is making fast progress making his own variation, though."
The two minks and the samurai grew excited at this news. This meant the mink force that would go to Wano would be much stronger and their odds of winning not so slim!