Sea Calendar Year 1508, January 21
Apart from a brief return to the Kingdom of Rum for an annual family meeting, Noah and his team spent the rest of their time combing Auckland Island in search of the elusive Devil Fruit.
This was often the norm for Noah's Devil Fruit hunts. Even with tarot card divination, pinpointing an exact location wasn't always possible. And even when he did find an exact spot, the fruit's location could shift with people, animals, or natural events.
After extensive searches, he confirmed that the fruit wasn't in the volcanic area of Auckland Island but rather within its vast, snow-covered glaciers.
The glacier spanned nearly 200 square kilometers, posing a challenging expanse to search. Suddenly, a solution came to mind, and he turned to give an order. "Ari, bring Law over."
"Law? He should still be over on Turtle Island, but I'll go get him."
Moments later, Ari reappeared from a wormhole with Law at his side.
"What's the emergency, Boss Noah?" Law asked.
"How's the Turtle Island project progressing?" Noah asked.
"The predatory vines have been transplanted successfully, and with ample food, the island turtle's vitality is improving significantly. The next step is to replace the plants on the turtle shell with symbiotic vegetation that can further boost its energy supply," Law replied.
"Good work," Noah said, nodding approvingly.
Law scratched his spotted cap. "It's my honor to assist you, Boss."
"This time, I need you to use your powers to locate a Devil Fruit hidden under the ice."
"A Devil Fruit search?" Law thought for a moment and nodded. "You're thinking of a CT scan?"
"Exactly." Noah pulled a few Devil Fruits from his card library. "First, try running a scan on these as a reference."
"No problem." Law held the fruits and ran multiple CT scans, studying their properties. After several runs, he nodded. "All set, Boss Noah."
"Good. Let's get started."
Law focused his energy. "Room—maximum range!"
A massive surgical sphere spread out, covering a 1,500-meter radius.
"Enhanced CT scan…"
After a moment, Law opened his eyes, disappointed. "No signs of a Devil Fruit here."
Robin marked an "X" on the detailed map of Auckland Island to record the area they'd checked.
"How many more scans can you do at this level?" Noah asked.
Law calculated his stamina. "I should be able to perform about 80 more scans today."
"Eighty? That should be enough. With just 200 square kilometers of glacier, we're bound to find it soon."
Law began methodically scanning nearby areas. On his 17th attempt, he paused, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
"Did you find something?" Noah asked.
"Boss, there are outlines of several structures beneath the glacier."
"Structures? How deep are they?"
Law estimated. "About 142 meters down."
"That deep?" Noah raised an eyebrow, then transformed his body to emit intense heat, melting the ice beneath his feet and vaporizing it into steam.
Quickly, a hole began to form in the glacier.
He and Achino continued melting through the ice, finally reaching solid rock at around 145 meters. They worked together to clear the surrounding area, gradually exposing the hidden ruins.
To prevent the glacier from collapsing, Noah manipulated iron sand to form a ceiling and supporting pillars.
Robin examined some statues and ancient inscriptions, soon translating their meaning.
"This is a temple of the ancient Ankuda people. According to the Ohara Library records, the Kingdom of Ankuda was once a prosperous nation known for its gemstone craftsmanship. They famously sculpted the 'Tears of the Angel'…"
Observing the temple's position—about 50 meters below sea level—Noah speculated that the Kingdom of Ankuda had likely been submerged during the cataclysmic flood 800 years ago.
"The temple's inscriptions mention their worship of a Gem God and the rituals they performed," Robin explained.
"Can you find anything indicating where the capital of Ankuda was located?" Noah asked.
Robin continued studying the inscriptions on the nearby structures, finally uncovering a clue. "Each year, on April 9th, the king of Ankuda would travel west from the capital to worship at the Gem God's temple."
"So, the capital should be east of this temple," Noah deduced.
Ari interjected, "Big brother, should we dig up these gems?"
"No rush."
Noah and Achino began carving a tunnel eastward.
After progressing about 4.3 kilometers, they reached the remains of the ancient city of Ankuda, lying even deeper, around 110 meters below sea level—no wonder it had been completely submerged.
Within the city, many buildings were filled with jewelry and ornaments, befitting its reputation as the "Gemstone Kingdom."
The palace, in particular, was encrusted with resplendent jewels of every color.
Frozen shortly after submersion, the entire city remained remarkably intact, with many of the Ankuda people's bodies preserved in ice, not yet reduced to mere bones.
Law's voice broke the silence. "Boss Noah, I've found the Devil Fruit. It's in the palace."
Moments later, he used his spatial abilities to retrieve the hidden fruit.
"This fruit looks unfamiliar…" Robin muttered, puzzled. She had studied the Devil Fruit encyclopedia extensively, yet couldn't recognize it.
Noah, likewise, couldn't identify the fruit, so he took out The Book of Devils and scanned through it, only to find no matches for this fruit's characteristics.
Robin was stunned. "How can this be?"
Noah paused, pondering. "This place was destroyed 800 years ago. If this fruit has been frozen here all that time, it would make sense that it's not listed in any modern Devil Fruit encyclopedia."
Robin nodded thoughtfully. "That's true. The first official Devil Fruit encyclopedia was published in 1247."
"The World Government likely has the most comprehensive record of Devil Fruits, but they would never publish that information openly," Noah replied. He then whispered some instructions into Ari's ear.
A few minutes later, Ari returned with an experimental subject whose frontal lobe had been removed, and then brought Mary along.
Noah cut the Devil Fruit open and fed a piece of the flesh to the test subject.
Mary immediately sensed his mind. With no emotions left in his mind, the subject was defenseless against her Observation Haki. Within seconds, Mary understood the fruit's ability.
"Big brother, this is a Logia-type Devil Fruit, the Rock-Rock Fruit."
"What? A Logia?"
The group was astonished.
"A Rock-Rock Fruit?" Kro repeated, stunned.
Noah contemplated the potential of this Devil Fruit.
This fruit clearly surpassed the Stone-Stone and Sand-Sand Fruits. After all, sand is essentially finely ground rock.
He then glanced at the vast gems within the palace, realizing that someone in the Kingdom of Ankuda might have used the Rock-Rock Fruit to generate vast quantities of raw gemstones, establishing their kingdom's fame.
Having made up his mind, Noah borrowed Bege's Castle-Castle Fruit power to extract the Rock-Rock Fruit from the test subject and reclaim it.