"A City of Gold?"
I already knew what they were talking about. Shandora was once a city that thrived in Jaya before getting shot up towards the Skypiea thanks to the work of a Knock-Up Stream. They were later raided by some forces, before it perished, leaving a city of gold. However, the more pressing concern was the fact that there was also a Poneglyph within the city. Something that Roger was probably looking for while he was making his last voyage.
"What are your intentions with the lost city?" Stussy asked curiously.
"That isn't for you to care about," the Old man snapped.
"Alright, I won't question it. As long as you hold up your end of the bargain, Old man," I replied.
"What about you? Why are you looking for the lost city?" I asked Roger curiously.
"I heard stories of a Poneglyph here, but I haven't found it so far. I've covered the entire island with my Observation, but nothing has come out of it," Roger responded before drinking.
Pato, who had remained quiet ever since entering the hut, cautiously asked the Captain of the Roger Pirates.
"A-Are you Gold Roger?"
"Pato, it's rude not to recognize famous people, you know?" Stussy chided kindly.
"I'm not a child! I'm older than you!!" Pato protested loudly.
Roger roared in laughter with Rayleigh as they listened in the conversation.
"You sure got a lively little crew kid!" Roger commented,"but what's with the Racoon Dog?"
"His name is Pato."
"Where'd you meet him?" Rayleigh asked curiously.
"I killed Patrick Redfield and made him join our crew."
It was after I said that they looked at me with shocked expressions.
"Lonely Red? Where the hell did you meet him? I heard that he had holed himself within North Blue," Roger asked with a shocked expression.
"Well, he did, until he appeared in Jaya island."
"What was he doing there?" Rayleigh asked.
My thoughts blanked for a moment before looking at the struggling Pato, he had found himself back into the arms of Stussy, and was currently distracted by her when he noticed my gaze.
"What?" Pato demanded with an annoyed tone.
"What was Redfield doing in Jaya that day?" I asked Pato calmly.
"It's none of your business!" Pato snapped rudely.
Roger and Rayleigh snickered for a bit when they heard that, and Pato looked proud for saying that. However, that didn't last long because Stussy flicked his head in before lightly scolding him.
"That's not the way you should be addressing your Older Brother, you know?"
"He's not my Older Brother!" Pato argued.
"Pato" Stussy stated with a smile.
It was then, a radiant chill eminated throughout the room, it was brief. However its intensity was not left unnoticed by the entirety of the hut's occupants.
"Conqurer's haki?!" Roger exclaimed cautiously.
"No, this isn't that, this feels different," Rayleigh opposed, thinking while looking at Stussy cautiously.
"It's bloodlust," I commented back at the duo.
They all hummed in agreement as they continued to look at Stussy with a Cautious expression. I looked back at Pato before calmly asking him again.
"What was he doing there?"
Pato growled frustratedly before explaining in a frustrated tone.
"He heard that Roger was going to Skypiea, he said something about going there from Jaya, but I didn't believe him."
"So he was looking for me," Roger muttered thoughtfully.
Anyway, we needed to start making a beeline towards Shandaria, but the problem was how. I didn't want them to start questioning how I had managed to find the city's location so quickly. So I needed to create an intricate way of leading them towards the destination in a manner that wouldn't have raised suspicion.
"Do you guys happen to have a map of the entire island, we can make a start by marking some spots that have the potential of harboring the lost city," I asked politely.
The three men grunted and showed me a long paper that had essential information of the island. There was a lot to take in, so I decided to take my time and analyze the map carefully.
"Ken, get Brok and Kane over here quickly," I ordered.
He obeyed and quickly dashed towards the ship. I had formed a bit of a plan so that I could lead them into the lost city, but it would take time to execute. However, just as I was about to suggest what we could do to start the search, I was rudely interrupted by the Old man.
"Also, I think it would be in your best interest to avoid certain areas of the island."
This time, it was Roger who asked curiously instead of me.
"Why is that?"
"We aren't the only ones on this island, you know? There are plenty of other villages and tribes within the island. However, they are not as accomodating as we are," the Old Man explained.
"We'll keep that in mind," I commented while staring at various points of the map.
They had highlighted multiple points within the island that they had visited to look for the lost city. While, to Roger's credit, some of the areas were dangerously close to the lost city, most of where they had been looking weren't near it. If anything, there were closer towards the villages and tribes that the Old man was talking about.
"Do you have any ideas of where we should be looking?" Roger asked, closing in the map as he stared at various markings on it thoughtfully.
I started pointing at various locations around the island, as I explained the possible significance of those points. I also kept an eye out for a certain part of the island, it was supposed to be where a certain temple would be that guarded the Rumble-Rumble fruit. I wanted Ken to go over there and take the fruit by himself.
"We can start off at this point," I said while pointing towards a mountain that wasn't too far off from the city," the high point can give us a vantage point where we can see possible ruins down below, and then we can make our way from there."
"You think we haven't tried that? We already did the moment that we landed on Skypiea," Rayleigh commented while staring at the mountain with a frustrated expression.
"Have you tried looking at it with a dragon's sense of sight?"
"What's the difference? Observation haki can multiply our senses by a hundredfold," Rayleigh objected.
"Then why haven't you found the lost city?" I snapped.
"This little-" Gaban, who had just arrived in the hut, was about to make his way towards me menacingly before Oden appeared and stopped him.
"The pipsqueck is smarter than he looks, let's hear him out," Oden remarked.
"I thought I had told you to stop calling me that."
"As long as I am alive, you will forever be a pipsqueck, pipsqueck!" Oden replied.
I ignored him before I could start getting annoyed and turned my focus back to Rayleigh.
"You already know the limits of Observation Haki," I replied to Rayleigh, "What I'm offering is an increased detail towards what you already know."
Rayleigh and Roger immediately fell into contemplation as they continued thinking about the possibilities that could be, while I waited for them to think about it quietly. It was then that Ken had returned with Brok and Kane, along with other members of the crew. I didn't ask why he decided to bring them, but I wasted no time giving them instructions on what they should do from here on out.
"There is a ruined city that we're looking for," I commanded while pointing at a certain temple, "Why don't you guys go try looking for it in this area?"
Roger, Rayleigh and the Old man looked as if they wanted to say something, but I immediately eyed them to remain quiet for a while.
"Alright, but what should we do if it isn't there?" Ken asked further.
"Find something worth your while there, I'm sure that shouldn't be too hard," I responded casually.