Chapter 134: Interpreting History

If Garen’s combat system was derived from League of Legends, then his experience system was most likely lifted straight from some MMORPG: the experience required to level up increases exponentially, eventually reaching a point where a player could grind monsters until they dropped dead from exhaustion.

However, the Warlord of the Sea, Crocodile, had enough strength that he alone filled the experience bar Garen needed to climb from level nine to ten.

The system's level-up notification arrived right on cue:
"You have reached level ten. You have received a random level-up reward:
[Turtle Stance]:
'Upon activation, every third basic attack will heal you for 2.5% of your maximum health and grant a temporary shield that absorbs a certain amount of damage, lasting for 5 seconds.'"

This skill originated from the game’s champion, Udyr the Spirit Walker, who could harness the special energy of four primal animal spirits to gain different abilities. The [Turtle Stance] Garen obtained represented the spirit of the turtle, a symbol of resilience and recovery, providing a guarantee of vitality for the hero.

Aside from the skill effects being slightly different from the game, Garen’s version of the Turtle Stance lasted only five seconds. However, considering the cooldown was a mere six seconds, Garen could remain under the protection of the Turtle Spirit almost perpetually during combat. The health regeneration it provided might even exceed his own innate passive ability.

In other words, if Garen were to face Crocodile again, the latter would find that his opponent had not only caught up to him in raw power but also possessed the ability to stand his ground and heal until he literally exhausted his enemy.

Unfortunately, Crocodile would never get to experience that.

Garen looked at Crocodile’s corpse on the ground with a touch of sentiment, then took two seconds to wipe the image of the fallen mastermind from his mind. He was busy experimenting with his new skill; how could he have time to pine for an ambitious man who deserved to be executed ten times over?

"Turtle Stance!"

As the skill was activated, the special energy of the Turtle Spirit manifested on Garen. A flash of green light enveloped him, and the faint, flickering silhouette of a giant green turtle appeared around his body.

The turtle’s appearance lacked the majestic aura one might expect from a "Spirit Beast." Instead, it perfectly replicated the crude, scribbled art style of the game. Its lines were outrageously simple, though the intense shade of green was certainly eye-catching.

Immediately afterward, Garen was wrapped in a shield capable of absorbing damage. Its appearance was that of a semi-transparent sphere composed of many hexagons—it looked somewhat sci-fi. However, the shield also inherited the turtle's main color palette, emitting a faint green glow in all directions.

Garen, draped in a turtle silhouette and glowing with green light, felt his excitement freeze, and he couldn't help but cover his face in helplessness.

"This skill..."
"I’ll use this as sparingly as possible in the future..."

...

Deep beneath the royal tomb, in the secret chamber housing the Poneglyph.

With a heavy thud, the massive stone door of the chamber was opened once again. Garen couldn't help but look surprised at the scene inside.

The cushion he had laid out for Robin was in total disarray. Robin, rendered powerless by the Seastone handcuffs, was leaning weakly against the Poneglyph stone, her body trembling violently as she struggled to stay upright. Her hair was messy, her clothes disheveled, and her forehead was slick with sweat. Her skin was flushed, as if she had just finished some strenuous exercise.

"Robin?" Garen asked, puzzled. "Don't tell me... you were trying to escape like this?"

With Seastone, the stronger the individual, the more they could resist its effects. Robin clearly wasn't strong enough; the moment she touched the stone, her energy was sapped, leaving her as limp as a noodle. In her current state, where even walking was a struggle, she could never have pushed open that stone door, even if she had crawled to it.

"..."

Robin breathed heavily and glared at Garen. "The Poneglyph only has writing on one side. You put me against the blank side just now."

"Haha..." Garen laughed sheepishly and stepped forward to gentlemanly support her unsteady frame. "Your former boss, Crocodile, is dead by my hand. So, do you still want to leave?"

Robin glanced at the large hand resting on her shoulder and sighed helplessly. "Do I have a choice now?"

She mocked herself with a bitter smile, then tremblingly raised her shackled hands before Garen.

"Very good." Garen nodded with a smile and finally produced the key to the Seastone handcuffs, much to Robin's chagrin.

Freed from the Seastone, Robin finally regained the strength to move independently. She pulled herself away from Garen’s arm, stood straight, and began to rub her long-bound wrists. Because she had been cuffed for so long and had been struggling, her fair wrists were marked with deep, blood-red welts that looked quite miserable.

"Are you hurt?" Garen asked, looking at the wounds he had inadvertently caused with concern. "Don't worry. When we get back, have the royal physician apply some medicine; it shouldn't leave a scar."

"You..." Robin didn't answer, merely looking at Garen with confusion. "Why aren't you asking about the secrets of the Poneglyph instead of caring about such trivial injuries?"

"Right... I almost forgot about that thing." Garen finally noticed the conspicuous square stone in front of him and asked with a serious expression, "Robin, have you deciphered the information on the Poneglyph?"

The air suddenly went quiet, leaving the two to stare at each other in silence. After a long hesitation, Robin sighed, as if having made a monumental decision.

"I have deciphered it. It records..."

"As long as you've deciphered it, that's fine." Garen had no intention of listening. He smiled and said, "Since you’ve gotten your wish, let’s get out of here."

"What?" Seeing a reaction that far exceeded her expectations, Robin's eyes filled with astonishment. "Don't you want to hear what is recorded on the Poneglyph?"

"The Poneglyph?" Garen shook his head and said with absolute sincerity, "I have zero interest in that."

"I don't believe for a second that one could conquer the seas just by relying on some so-called 'ultimate warship.' If I have time for archaeology, I’d rather go out and slay two more pirates to level up."

Robin didn't understand what "level up" meant, but she was still shocked by Garen's words. "H-how do you know that Pluton is a warship?"

Although the existence of Ancient Weapons was a widely spread legend, no one knew their true forms. That Pluton was a warship was definitely not a fact accessible to ordinary people.

"Er..." Garen paused for a moment, then uttered a sentence that left Robin utterly bewildered: "Because I can decipher the Poneglyph too."

"You can decipher it too?!" Robin’s emotions surged; she looked at him as if she had finally found one of her own kind, her eyes sparkling with a different light.

"That's right." Garen remained completely unruffled. He walked up to the stone with a solemn face and began to "read" it with great focus. As he "read," he muttered to himself, as if he really understood every word.

Robin held her breath, watching him with a mix of anticipation, excitement, and tension.

A moment later, Garen said in a deep voice, "This stone records the unknown Void Century of history."

"Er..." The expectant look on Robin's face froze. She desperately wanted to call him an idiot, but her instinctive grace as a mature woman restrained her.

Garen, however, stared intently at the stone, reading it word for word:

"Across the world, between the four seas, there once existed a great kingdom."
"This eternal kingdom was renowned for its immense power; it was a human federation representing light and justice, its brilliance shining upon the earth and illuminating the age."
"The name of this giant kingdom was..."

Robin couldn't help but hold her breath again, casting a look of utter shock at Garen. As someone who could decipher the Poneglyphs, she knew that the history Garen was describing had nothing to do with what was actually written on the stone before them.

However, the "Giant Kingdom" Garen spoke of was exactly what the scholars of her hometown, Ohara, had researched. Back then, the archaeologists of Ohara had refused to let Robin participate in the study of the Poneglyphs to keep her safe. It was only through her own insatiable curiosity and the fruit ability that allowed her to eavesdrop that she had heard snippets of the truth and barely learned of the kingdom's existence.

After Ohara was destroyed, the truth about the Giant Kingdom unearthed by the scholars had once again vanished into the river of time. Even Robin only knew of its existence; she had no idea what its name was.

But now, Garen was clearly speaking of the Giant Kingdom right in front of her, making her tremble with excitement.

Under Robin's expectant gaze, Garen solemnly uttered the name of that giant kingdom:

"The name of this giant kingdom is... Demacia."