Pirates: I Rely Only on Myself

The abandoned undersea dock was a massive cavern, spanning over 20,000 square meters with a ceiling height of around ten meters. The cavern walls were carved with small alcoves, about a dozen in total.

Noah casually cleared away the layers of mud and stone covering the floor.

Docked at the submerged port was a submarine, now rusted and decayed with age.

Although he had low expectations for any treasure here, Noah didn't want to dampen his crew's spirits. "Spread out and search. Let's see if there's anything valuable left."

The group quickly dispersed, scouring the small alcoves, the wrecked submarine, and areas hidden under stones.

Kuro removed a rotten wooden door, donned a portable breathing mask with an oxygen tank, and entered one of the smaller caverns. Illuminated by his flashlight, the cavern revealed two rows of bookshelves, though the books were mostly clumped into unusable lumps.

Fortunately, some books were crafted from special sea-beast hide, resistant to seawater corrosion. Kuro picked one up and leafed through a few pages.

"Some unknown ancient script… Judging by the illustrations, it seems to be a book about plants."

Gathering all the sea-beast hide books, Kuro counted over two hundred volumes. He also found several ancient maps on the cavern's desk, depicting the Lost Sea as it appeared centuries ago.

In another alcove, Lilith discovered carvings on the stone walls, mostly in ancient script, though parts were inscribed in the common language, making some of it readable.

"Sea Circle Calendar 866, March: The Kingdom of Atlant was ambushed by the World Government. The First Fleet of the kingdom was annihilated…"

"May: The World Government launched a Buster Call against the kingdom. Our forces retreated, unable to hold their ground…"

"August: The island of Atlan, the kingdom's capital, was obliterated by a beam from the heavens…"

"September: The kingdom's guardian, Pulke, who had been lured away by a World Government ruse, returned to find the kingdom in ruins. Leading the surviving forces, he destroyed 17 Navy ships and killed Admiral Rubio…"

"October: The Five Elders arrived without warning. Unable to match their strength, Lord Pulke and the remnants of our forces were all but destroyed, and our citizens were slaughtered by the Celestial Dragons. In a final act, Lord Pulke awakened the power of his Storm-Storm Fruit, sacrificing his life to unleash a massive hurricane that eradicated all ships in the Atlan Sea…"

"November: I returned to Crab Island with six surviving comrades, to carve the history here."

Lilith turned to the section carved in ancient script. "Is this a Poneglyph?"

After relaying the information to Noah, he ordered the historical records copied down for future study.

The rest of the alcoves contained little of interest, though they did uncover some valuable technical documents left by the survivors. The most noteworthy was a set of instructions labeled "Atlant Deep-Sea Diving Techniques", detailing methods for crafting sharkskin swimsuits, artificial gills, deep-sea survival serum, and Sea King pheromone simulators.

Noah reviewed the technical documents. "These techniques could be incredibly useful for non-Fishman races."

While the sharkskin swimsuit was less impressive, the artificial gills, deep-sea serum, and Sea King simulator were advanced, with broad applications.

Galdino's wax gills and Ari's graphite gills were Devil Fruit creations that worked best for them personally; others could only use them for brief periods.

In contrast, Atlant's artificial gills were industrial products, usable on a larger scale.

Similarly, the deep-sea serum was essential for land-dwellers to dive safely into the deep ocean. Without it, divers faced severe limits in depth and an increased risk of decompression sickness and other dangers.

The Sea King simulator offered relative safety for divers, especially important in seas filled with monstrous creatures.

However, Noah noted a flaw in the Sea King simulator. Unlike Dr. Vegapunk's "Sea Cloak," which rendered its user invisible to Sea Kings, the Atlant simulator made the diver appear like a Sea King. While this could deter marine creatures in the Four Blues, it might attract aggressive Sea Kings in the Grand Line, which could perceive the user as a rival invading their territory.

Noah ordered his crew to document these technical details.

After confirming there was no other treasure, they decided not to leave Crab Island just yet.

Noah saw potential in the Lost Sea's isolated location.

A massive hurricane created by an awakened Storm-Storm Fruit user had turned this area into a near-impenetrable death zone. Today, only the occasional lost ship would stumble upon the Lost Sea by accident; few ventured here willingly.

With a radius of about 500 kilometers, the Lost Sea encompassed thirteen islands. Noah, using Observation Haki, noted these islands dotted the area, presenting an ideal opportunity to establish a secret base for the Noah family in the South Blue.

With Frevans' exiled citizens recovering steadily, Sixis Island was nearing its population limit. The expanding population also exceeded what could be accommodated on the floating islands of Sky Island. The Lost Sea, with its natural defenses, seemed an ideal new frontier.

Its violent storms offered a natural shield, and its cluster of islands provided enough space for expansion.

The largest of these islands was about 11 kilometers in radius.

Noah set to work, relocating each island to the calm "eye of the storm" at the center of the Lost Sea.

Through Observation Haki, Noah sensed that this calm area had once been the location of the Atlant Kingdom's capital, Atlan Island. Now, a deep, seemingly bottomless chasm lay on the seafloor—a silent testament to the destructive power of the Heavenly King weapon.

In the waters surrounding this chasm, Noah chose a shallow, rocky region to secure the islands, anchoring them firmly.

Next, he gathered massive amounts of rock and sand from nearby areas, reinforcing the islands' foundations to ensure stability.

Thus, the Storm Archipelago, a cluster of five main islands, was born.

With this, the establishment of the Storm Archipelago Governorate was officially underway.

Ari opened a wormhole to Sixis Island, transporting groups of strong and able workers to begin construction on the new archipelago.