One Piece: The Devil Fruit Collector-Chapter 264: Queen Lily, Tomb of the Sinner!

And the facts were exactly as Brook had surmised.

Just as the Straw Hat crew was rejoicing over the addition of a new companion—

In the royal capital of Alabasta, 'Alubarna', at the Royal Tomb of the Kings.

The King of Alabasta, Cobra, was leading the way.

Vivi followed closely behind him, looking around with some curiosity.

Even though she was the princess of Alabasta, she had never followed her father here before.

While curious, her gaze also drifted with some confusion to the figure trailing behind them.

That familiar dragon-head mask was naturally not unfamiliar to the people of Alabasta.

The Zodiac member, Tatsu.

However, this was exactly where Vivi's confusion lay.

She knew very well that Tatsu had returned to Alabasta not long ago and sought out her father.

Regarding Tatsu's arrival, Vivi was naturally pleased—bringing rain to Alabasta, as well as the favor of uprooting Crocodile back then, she certainly would not forget.

But pleasure aside, Vivi also understood that times had changed.

Today's top executive of The Zodiac, 'Tatsu', held a completely different status from the mysterious person 'Tatsu' who had appeared in Alabasta back then.

As a member of what was now globally recognized as the 'Most Dangerous Organization', and a powerhouse who had toppled an Emperor and was capable of destroying a country single-handedly—

Tatsu's very presence here was inherently a danger.

Once the World Government discovered that Alabasta had ties with the top executive of The Zodiac, the entire kingdom's position on the 'Wheel of the World' would be in grave jeopardy.

Therefore, based on her understanding of her father, Vivi was certain he shouldn't be meeting with Tatsu.

But the truth was exactly the opposite.

Not only had Cobra received Tatsu alone, but after only briefly confirming something, he chose to bring Tatsu here.

The tomb of the successive kings of Alabasta—the most sacred and mysterious place in the entire country.

As far as Vivi knew, even the royal guards didn't have the qualification to set foot here.

"This is the 'tomb' where the Poneglyph is stored—it records the location of the Ancient Weapon 'Pluton'. Would you like to go in and take a look?"

At this moment, after arriving at a certain tomb, Cobra proactively turned his head and spoke to Tatsu.

"!!!"

Hearing this, Vivi's eyes widened: "Poneglyph? An... Ancient Weapon!?"

The Poneglyph recording the location of an Ancient Weapon was right here in Alubarna?

She had never known of such a thing.

But what surprised Vivi even more—

"No need. We already know the location of 'Pluton'."

Tatsu actually replied like this.

Vivi almost doubted whether she had misheard.

Who exactly was the princess of Alabasta here? Even she didn't know the secrets of this place, yet they already knew?

And speaking of which, why hadn't her father asked her?

She wanted to go in and take a look too.

"That's true."

However, after hearing this, Cobra nodded: "Given your understanding of the 'World', I should have guessed as much."

He didn't seem surprised by Tatsu's words.

"Then, let's go—"

Saying so, he stepped up to a pillar and gently pushed against it.

Click!

The sound of a mechanism being triggered rang out, and a passageway leading further down appeared before the three of them, accompanied by a tremor.

"To the tomb at the very bottom."

As his words fell, Tatsu and Vivi also noticed the pattern carved above the newly revealed passageway.

It was a lily flower, and above the lily was a pattern of people gathered around a sun and a tree.

"That is..."

Vivi's eyes widened.

She recognized the pattern but wasn't quite certain of its meaning.

But before she could ask further, Cobra took the lead and descended.

Tatsu and Vivi followed closely behind, and the three soon arrived at the very bottom of the passageway.

What appeared before them was a tomb.

But unexpectedly—

Although it was the tomb of a former ruler of Alabasta, the tomb itself was extremely cramped, so narrow that the three of them even found it difficult to stand.

And inside the tomb, there were absolutely no gold or silver burial goods. Instead, countless sculptures of inverted falcon-headed figures and hound-headed figures were carved across every surface.

In the center of the tomb was a scale-like platform covered with ancient patterns, and upon it rested a sarcophagus.

The sarcophagus itself was dilapidated, and one could even see its contents through the cracks.

A luxurious long dress, a sword, a crown, and a... lily flower.

Yes, there was no corpse in this sarcophagus; it was merely a cenotaph.

And on the sarcophagus, its owner's name was inscribed.

[Nefertari Lily]

Yes.

The owner of this tomb, resting among the tombs of the successive kings, was astonishingly the founder of Alabasta, one of the Twenty Kings who established the World Government—Queen Lily!

"Ancestor Lily..."

Vivi covered her mouth, her face full of disbelief.

But then, an expression of anger surfaced in her eyes.

"How vicious..."

She looked at the furnishings around the tomb and said, her voice trembling with disbelief.

Without needing much explanation, Tatsu could also understand the source of Vivi's anger.

In Alabasta, the falcon and the hound are sacred symbols. Together with the scale, they symbolize death, karma, and redemption in a person's life.

In the traditions of this country, after a person dies, their soul is escorted to the underworld by the falcon, weighed upon the scale, and watched over by the hound.

If it is the soul of an ordinary person, they will quickly leave the scale, and the falcon and hound will allow them to enter the sarcophagus to find eternal rest.

If it is the soul of a sinner, the scale will sink, allowing the soul to be torn by the hound and pierced by the falcon's beak, until the soul's sins are worn light enough for the scale to naturally rise.

But what of this tomb's furnishings?

Such a cramped and narrow space, plus those inverted hound-head and falcon-head statues. The sarcophagus placed in the center of the scale, and even the sarcophagus itself shattered and ruined.

It was an extremely vicious curse—representing that the one within the sarcophagus would suffer eternal torment, their sins never to be redeemed for all eternity.

But it just so happened that Vivi now knew the owner of that sarcophagus was Queen Lily—one of the first and greatest queens recognized by all of Alabasta and even the whole world.

Even Vivi herself regarded this ancestor as her idol.

Therefore, this was enough to make the usually good-tempered Vivi angry.

"The people who built this tomb should all be... hmph, exiled!"

She said angrily.

But at this moment—

"Vivi."

She heard Cobra's voice.

Instinctively, she raised her head and looked at her father.

And right now, Cobra was gazing seriously at his beloved daughter. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"The builder of this tomb is Ancestor Lily herself."

He spoke softly, revealing that unbelievable truth.

"This is the tomb she secretly built for herself before heading to Mary Geoise to convene the first 'Levely'."

"She left her crown, sword, and ceremonial robe here, calling it the 'Tomb of the Sinner'—and issued an order that only the successive kings of Alabasta could know of its existence."

"This is also the final thing she did in the recorded 'history' of this world."

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