Two weeks later, at Jaya Town by the East Sea.
On the seaside of Jaya Town, there stands a solitary half-house, where a middle-aged man is currently seated cross-legged. He is wearing a wetsuit, with a makeshift diving apparatus placed nearby. The ground beneath him is damp, indicating he has just emerged from the sea.
The man sits quietly, gazing at the ocean, his thoughts a mystery.
Not far from him, a teenager is engaged in physical training, lifting a log. His breathing is heavy.
With a thud, the teenager drops the log and lies back on the grass, breathing heavily.
"Cricket, have you finished your physical training for today?" the middle-aged man asks, turning to look at the teenager.
"Yes, Father," Cricket replies.
The teenager seems to have rested enough and sits down beside his father.
"Father, is it true that our ancestor was the Great Noland? And is there truly a Golden Town, on par with the Emerald Capital?" the teenager asks, somewhat bewildered. Since their ancestor was executed by the king and left with the nickname of Noland the liar, their ancestor moved from their homeland to here, attempting to find the Golden Town mentioned by their ancestor.
"It is true. Our ancestor' diary has proven everything. Except for the Golden Town at the end, everything recorded in the ancestor' diary is real. If our ancestor hadn't reached the Golden Town, how could there be such detailed descriptions?" the middle-aged man replies firmly.
"Wow, I didn't expect there to be people here. It will soon become very dangerous here. You should go to the town for shelter," a voice suddenly speaks up.
"Who are you!? Whoever you are, leave quickly!" the middle-aged man and Cricket both looked alertly at Nicholas and Samofled whom Nicholas is dragging along with a rope.
This appearance would make anyone think that Nicholas is some kind of dangerous criminal.
Nicholas doesn't seem to care about the middle-aged man's verbal threat.
"You don't look too good. You only have about two years left to live, right? Is it because of long-term diving that your body has problems?" Nicholas asks, keenly observing the man's condition.
With Nicholas's opening, the atmosphere suddenly becomes quiet. The teenager, who was standing guard beside the middle-aged man, looks at his father with disbelief.
"Father, is what he said true!?" Cricket asks, his tone filled with urgency.
Looking at his son, the middle-aged man remains silent.
But this almost amounts to confirming Nicholas's words.
"Why didn't you tell me? We could have gone to find a doctor to cure you," Cricket's voice is filled with panic, almost on the verge of tears.
"Cricket, have you forgotten what I taught you? A man should not easily shed tears!" the middle-aged man smiles, ruffling Cricket's hair, resigned to his impending death.
"Do you dive to find the lost Golden Town?" Nicholas asks, observing the deep bond between father and son.
"Don't joke around. Where in this world is there such a thing as the Golden Town? The so-called Golden Town is nothing but a fantasy!" the middle-aged man replies, his voice heavy.
"A fantasy?" Nicholas smiled, coming to the side of the middle-aged man. "But, the Golden Town does exist! It's not a fantasy at all!"
With just a simple sentence, the middle-aged man and Cricket are both shaken. Nicholas's words undoubtedly affirm the existence of the Golden Town they and their ancestor have been seeking for so many years, even suggesting that their ancestor was not the so-called Great liar who deceived the world.
"Don't joke!"
The middle-aged man's voice trembled as he spoke, feeling that this was perhaps the closest he had come to proving that their ancestor was not the King of Tall Tales who deceived the world.
"Father, the Golden Village is real! This gentleman also said so, the Golden Village truly exists! Our ancestor didn't lie."
Cricket exclaimed excitedly, recalling how every day since he could remember, he had seen his father diving into the deep sea in search of the Golden Village. Though they had salvaged some gold over the years, it was nothing compared to what their ancestor had recorded about the Golden Village.
"Shut up!"
The middle-aged man abruptly turned around, roaring angrily.
"What Golden Village? It's just a false story concocted by the King of Tall Tales, Noland!"
He yelled hysterically, but his eyes were red as he stared at Nicholas, as if waiting for a response.
"Boom!"
At that moment, thunder rumbled, and fierce winds whipped up on the sea, emitting a mournful howl.
"Noland didn't lie. The Golden Village is real, and the reason you haven't found it all these years is because you were going in the wrong direction."
"The wrong direction?"
The middle-aged man murmured to himself, then suddenly looked up at the densely clouded sky.
"You're not completely foolish after all. Yes, the Golden Village didn't sink to the bottom of the sea but was swept into the White Sea by an unprecedented upwelling current. And Roger recently visited Jaya, so Noland didn't deceive anyone."
"Thank you!"
After a moment of silence, the middle-aged man spoke, then grabbed Cricket and left. Now that they had an answer, their next step was to attempt to reach the White Sea and see if the Golden Village their ancestor spoke of truly existed there.
After both father and son left, Nicholas sat quietly on the log, waiting for the arrival of the navy.
Dark clouds covered the sky, but the sea remained remarkably calm, showing no sign of a storm.
Two warships broke through the waves and slowly approached the coastline of the island, under Nicholas's watchful gaze.
Nicholas narrowed his eyes as he looked at the bow of the warships and saw two familiar figures -Yukimura and Issho.
Nicholas could understand Fire Yukimura's presence, but the appearance of Issho was somewhat surprising.
After all, according to the conditions Nicholas had set, the navy could only send a rear admiral at most.
While Yukimura's strength was top-tier among rear admirals, he was still just a rear admiral. Issho, on the other hand, was a bona fide vice admiral.
Nicholas scanned the decks of the warships carefully, using his Observation Haki to thoroughly examine them. After confirming that there were no abnormalities inside, he retracted his Haki.