Chapter 476: The Road Poneglyph
Charlotte only wanted to live a peaceful life with his children—and see the world together.
He roamed between factions, always maintaining a delicate balance.
Ambition? Charlotte never had much of it.
At first, he just wanted to survive.
Then, to live better.
Eventually, to be untouchable.
And now—to protect his family.
His ambitions were never grand.
He never dreamed of ruling the world.
All he ever wanted was to live freely, vibrantly, and without fear.
And that ambition… he had already fulfilled.
Now, there was no force in the world he feared—not even the Navy or World Government. Even if he couldn't defeat them, they had no way to threaten him.
Charlotte simply wanted to live on… with his Pure Gold body, he could witness the tides of the sea for eternity.
In truth, ever since he obtained Pure Gold, he had changed.
Gone was the fiery spirit of youth.
Now, he only wanted to live peacefully.
Even in a turbulent world, Charlotte had the confidence to stand and watch from afar.
He believed that the true protagonist of the future, Monkey D. Luffy, would eventually defeat the World Government.
With his foresight, he could shamelessly cozy up to Luffy, drag his entire family along, and survive until the final chapter.
But Charlotte wasn't that kind of man.
He would let the future sort itself out.
For now, he controlled the largest territory in the New World.
His children were rapidly growing in strength and skill.
It was the Golden Age of the Rockefeller Pirates.
As for how far they would rise in the future?
That depended on fate.
Setting the newspaper aside, Charlotte suddenly remembered something:
In his storage vault… lay a red Road Poneglyph.
He had almost forgotten about it.
Back then, Caesar had recovered it from the ruins of Wano.
When Charlotte first saw the red stone, he had been stunned.
Reaching into his castle bracelet, Charlotte pulled out the massive, glowing-red Road Poneglyph.
Thud.
The heavy stone landing drew attention.
Seeing the red slab, the Red Count, Barrett, Caesar, and many of Charlotte's children quickly gathered around.
"Dad, what is that?"
Back then, Caesar had handed it over without asking. But now that it was out again, his curiosity piqued.
Charlotte smiled and pointed at the stone.
"This is a map to Raftel, the island spoken of by the Pirate King. Without it, no one can reach Raftel—nor obtain the One Piece. Roger found the Final Island using these."
Everyone's eyes lit up.
Then came the excited questions.
"Dad, does this mean… we can go to Raftel anytime?"
Caesar's eyes sparkled.
With the map in hand, wasn't the One Piece within reach?
But Charlotte shook his head.
"There are four Road Poneglyphs like this one. Each one marks a part of the route. Only by having all four can you triangulate Raftel's location."
Everyone nodded, realization dawning.
No wonder Charlotte never used it—this one was incomplete.
"Do you really not know where the other three are?" Caesar pressed.
Charlotte gave him a curious look.
"Why? You that interested in Raftel?"
Caesar scratched his head nervously.
Charlotte read his body language easily.
"I'm just curious, Dad. After all, for over a year now, pirates everywhere have been chasing Roger's treasure. I just want to see if it's richer than ours. If it is, we'll just… take it."
Charlotte rolled his eyes.
He didn't know how much treasure was at Raftel.
But inside his castle bracelet? There was a literal mountain of gold.
Especially all the gold collected from Skypiea—it was staggering.
Honestly, the One Piece treasure might not even compare to what the Rockefeller Pirates already owned.
But Raftel might still hold other secrets—and that was what intrigued him most.
"So Dad… do you know where the other three Road Poneglyphs are?"
Caesar asked eagerly.
Charlotte thought for a moment.
"I know the whereabouts of two:
One is with Charlotte Linlin (Big Mom).
The other is on Zou.
As for the fourth… I'm not sure. Some rumors say it's on Fishman Island, but nothing's confirmed."
Charlotte furrowed his brow.
In the original story, only three were definitively revealed. The last one? He'd only seen online speculation about its location.
Hearing that, Caesar's eyes lit up again.
"If you already know… why haven't we acted? The Big Mom Pirates are no match for us. We could take hers easily. Then grab the one on Zou. Fishman Island is our territory—just search it properly!"
Caesar proposed excitedly.
The other children nodded in agreement.
Charlotte blinked, staring at them as if seeing Caesar for the first time.
When did Caesar become so… driven?
Scanning their faces, Charlotte saw something that gave him pause:
Ambition.
His children were growing.
They had their own thoughts, their own desires.
That was a good thing… but also dangerous.
Blind confidence could destroy the Rockefeller family.
Charlotte's expression darkened.
"What are you all thinking? Do you even understand what's written on this? If you can't read it, what's the point of collecting them?"
His words stunned everyone.
They looked closely at the stone—and realized they couldn't understand a single symbol on it.
"…Can no one read this?" Caesar asked bitterly.
"There used to be people who could. Now? Not necessarily."
Charlotte placed a newspaper in front of Caesar.
It was the article about Ohara being wiped out by a Buster Call.
"You're saying… the scholars of Ohara might've known how to read this," Caesar said, his voice low.
"Damn it. That 'dangerous history' excuse was just a lie. The World Government didn't want anyone to uncover the truth behind these ancient scripts… so they destroyed an entire island."
Caesar clenched his fists, furious.
---
Read up to 35 Chapters ahead on patreon.com/Fanglin
[Please leave a 5 Star review and power stone for this novel]
*Thank you*