"Hey, hey, hey, Luffy."
Although they had learned the way to Sky Island from the diamond-faced uncle 'Montblanc Cricket', Usopp was still trying to persuade Luffy with a panicked face.
"Think about it, if we fail, we'll end up like that big sailing ship we encountered before..."
"No problem, let's go!"
Facing Luffy's cheerful face, Usopp tearfully pointed to the Golden Merry docked nearby.
"Look at the Merry's delicate body, how could it withstand such a toss..."
"Indeed,"
The diamond-faced uncle nodded in agreement.
"Your ship is just an ordinary 'caravel' sailboat, I'm already surprised it made it this far..."
---
"What did you say, old man!"
Hearing someone badmouth the Going Merry, Usopp instantly flipped out!
"I'm just telling the truth. If you want to continue sailing on the Grand Line, it's best to get a new ship... never mind."
Seeing Usopp already fuming, the square-faced old man waved his hand.
"But this time, I can have the ape and gorilla escort you and reinforce your ship."
"Leave it to us!" X2
The gorilla captain and the ape captain pounded their chests loudly, and Luffy thanked them with a big smile.
"Oh, thank you very much!"
...
"But Luffy," Nami pointed out a serious problem, "if we stay in Jaya too long, the Log Pose pointing to 'Sky Island' will reset and point to the next island..."
"Yeah, yeah," Usopp sighed in relief and asked the square-faced old man, "Look, if we want to go to Sky Island, we need the 'Accumulated Emperor Cloud' and 'Knock Up Stream' to occur simultaneously!"
"How often does that happen? Once a month, a year, ten years—"
"It'll happen tomorrow."
!?
"There's no way it's that convenient!!"
Seeing Usopp's eyes nearly pop out in surprise, the square-faced old man asked back.
"Don't you want to go to Sky Island?"
"No... it's not that..." Usopp stammered, then loudly retorted.
"You're lying! ...Yeah, it's too strange."
"We just met today, and you're being so nice to us... even offering to reinforce our ship..."
"Usopp—"
Luffy hadn't finished speaking when Usopp cut him off.
"And!"
"You said these two rare weather phenomena would occur simultaneously tomorrow! That's too weird. You're clearly the descendant of that big liar—"
"Hey, dinner's ready!"
Sanji and the two captains, ape and gorilla, walked over.
"The ingredients are from the old man's place... what's going on?"
Phew~~
The square-faced old man let out a long breath and walked towards Usopp, who nervously assumed a fighting stance.
"What, did I hit the mark and now you want to fight—"
Smack.
A hand gently landed on his shoulder,
"I've lived here for ten years. I can sense all the weather patterns in this sea area with my eyes closed."
"I can't say it's 100%, but tomorrow is indeed the day when the 'Accumulated Emperor Cloud' and 'Knock Up Stream' will occur simultaneously."
"But..."
"Alright, I'm glad to meet dream-chasing fools like you." The square-faced old man patted Usopp's shoulder kindly. "Now, let's have a meal together."
"Because we're the same kind of people."
"Hehe," Luffy grinned, "Let's eat, let's eat!"
"I'll go get Miss Robin~~"
Chopper ran towards the Going Merry.
"Hmm? Is it time to eat?"
That was Zoro, who had just woken up.
"Usopp, you come too!"
As the square-faced old man walked past him, Usopp sat down on the ground, facing Roman with a dejected look.
"Roman, do you think I'm a pathetic coward?"
"Absolutely not."
Roman answered without hesitation. When Usopp looked up, wanting to say something, Roman just extended his right hand.
"If you're considered a coward, then what am I?"
"No... Roman, you dared to fight Crocodile alone..."
"That's different," Roman shook his head as he pulled Usopp up. "I dared to face Crocodile alone because I had already thought of a way out. In fact, if it weren't for the 'intelligence error' that Crocodile had Armament Haki, I could have retreated safely with my ability to become elemental and fly."
It seems that for Logia experts, Armament Haki is not necessary, but it is definitely useful!
Otherwise, it would be awkward if a Logia user couldn't hit another Logia user, but the other could grab them.
"But you're different, Usopp."
"Even when facing an enemy much stronger than you, you still won't back down for the sake of your comrades. You're much braver than I am."
"Roman, you really..."
Usopp, wiping away his tears, didn't know what to say, but Roman patted his shoulder.
"I know, you're worried about the Going Merry, right?"
"Don't forget I can use my abilities to protect the ship, and you should have faith in the Merry too."
"Yeah..."
"Go apologize to the old man."
"Sniff, sniff, old man! I shouldn't have spoken to you like that earlier~~~"
"Don't wipe your snot on me!!!"
——————
"Hahaha, you can hold your liquor well."
Faced with the hearty words of the gorilla captain, Zoro gave a wicked smile.
"I haven't even started drinking yet."
?
Invisible boasting is the deadliest.
"Hahaha, everyone eat up, we caught a big haul of saury today!"
The ape captain brought up plates of food.
"This Sanji guy's cooking is really good."
"Roman, eat some fish~~"
...
While everyone was having a lively celebration, only Nico Robin was engrossed in reading the logbook of 'Great Liar' Norland from 400 years ago.
"In the right eye of the skull, I saw gold!"
The diamond-faced old man suddenly leaned in, startling Robin. He pointed to the sentence in the logbook, "This sentence led the king to bring soldiers to this island, and when they didn't find gold, the king ordered my ancestor's execution."
"What does the right eye of the skull refer to? Is it a place, or does it refer to his own death?"
"That's why I've been diving day and night, trying to find the truth..."
"Uh, Roman, do you want to say something?"
Seeing Roman's expression of 'I know the truth, but you won't let me say it, so I'm holding it in,' Nami decided to make an exception.
"Do you know the truth behind this sentence?"
"Yes."
In an instant, everyone's eyes in the room were on Roman, and the diamond-faced old man, the gorilla, and the ape captain were all focused. Their countless days and nights of effort, could it be...
"First of all, Norland didn't lie."
Roman took out a map of Jaya Island—the place they were currently at—and placed it on the table. Then he used his finger to outline a new shape outside the island, forming a complete 'skull' map!
"In fact, the truth is just as you guessed, uncle."
"Four hundred years ago, when Noland left this island, it encountered a rare giant 'Knock Up Stream'."
"The upper part of the entire island, which is the skull's head and face, was blasted ten thousand meters into the sky! And the remaining mouth part is today's Jaya Island."
!!!
"Very... very exciting story," when it came to the moment of truth, the diamond-faced uncle himself couldn't believe it.
"And the gold? What about the huge amount of gold—"
"That involves the 'Void Century' over eight hundred years ago." Roman shrugged, "I don't know the specifics, but at that time, this place was called the city of 'Shandora', known as the City of Gold."
"Unfortunately, it was later destroyed by the allied forces, which is now called the World Government. — Leaving behind a ruined city and a 'small amount' of gold."
If everyone else was just listening to a 'legendary story', Nico Robin, who was slightly trembling, was different! Her lifelong dream was to understand the 'Poneglyph' of the Void Century!
"Of course, this small amount is compared to Shandora at its peak. In today's value~~"
Roman touched his chin.
"It should be worth tens of billions of Berries."
Ding dong,
In an instant, Nami's eyes turned golden, shining brightly.
"We're definitely going to this Sky Island!"
You don't think Sky Island is uninhabited, do you... Most of the gold has been taken by Enel to build the Ark, daring to rob him...
"In short, the City of Gold exists, located at the right eye of the original island."
Roman pointed to the completed map on the table.
"That's what Noland's last words meant."
---
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