The weather was clear and the wind was gentle. The Merry slowly sailed along the coastline and arrived at the east coast before dusk.
The ape had given them a map with their base marked on it before. Although it was a bit sloppy, they still found it after walking for a while.
"Whoa! Look! It's a castle!" Luffy, at the bow, pointed towards the castle built on the coast and exclaimed.
"Seriously!? Are those Ape-man guys that rich!?"
"Look closely. That's not a castle."
As the Going Merry drew nearer, the crew finally saw that the so-called castle was just a large wooden board painted to look like one. The actual house hidden behind it wasn't even half its size.
Strangely, the house looked like a cake sliced vertically in half, with only one side remaining, hence the need for the wooden board cover.
"What the heck? It's fake."
"Not luxurious at all. It's actually pretty run-down."
Seeing the half-house, Reiner was suddenly reminded of the other Jaya Island in the sky; there seemed to be similar houses there too.
Just then, two figures emerged from the house. Besides Masira the Ape-man, there was another person with long green hair trailing on the ground, and oddly proportioned thin limbs – Shoujou.
Reiner instantly recognized Masira's brother, the Undersea Exploration King, Shoujou.
"Everyone! Over here! Just dock the ship anywhere nearby."
"Coming!"
"Let's dock here then." The undead furled the sails and dropped anchor. The group jumped off the ship and were led into the house.
Thump.
The door was pushed open. Masira yelled inside, "Old Man! Guests are here! They're the ones who gave us the gold this morning!"
"Hm? Gave them gold?" Nami turned puzzledly towards Reiner. "The gold he's talking about is..."
"Ahem. Those two chunks we salvaged."
"Nani! You gave away both those huge gold chunks!?"
Nami puffed her cheeks discontentedly. Although she knew they needed to ask for help, wasn't giving away so much too lavish? This guy was such a spendthrift!
Reiner couldn't help but poke Nami's puffed-up cheek and grinned. "Relax. We're about to strike it rich soon."
Entering the room, Mont Blanc Cricket, with a chestnut growing on his head, sat on the sofa.
"Whoa! This rhombus-faced uncle has a bun on his head!"
"It's a chestnut, idiot captain."
Luffy scrambled onto the sofa, squatting beside Cricket and curiously poking his head.
"Such an impolite brat," Cricket remarked coolly, smoking a cigarette. "Let's get back to business. I heard from Masira what you want. You intend to ride the Knock Up Stream to find the Sky Island, correct?"
"Yeah, that's right!" Luffy jumped off the sofa. "Mister, can you help us?"
"Heheh. Such big dreamers. Putting aside whether Sky Island even exists..." Cricket paused, then said, "Even if it does happen to exist, the Knock Up Stream won't necessarily take you there. There's a ninety percent chance you'll end up smashed to pieces, ship and all. I appreciate the gold you gave, but precisely because of that, I won't help you with this."
"Hey Mister! Aren't you a big dreaming idiot yourself?" Reiner walked over, sat opposite Cricket, lit a cigarette, and said, "Sky Island exists. We've already obtained a map of Sky Island. As for the possibility of being smashed to pieces... don't underestimate the dreams of young people."
As he spoke, Robin stepped forward, took out the old, yellowed map, placed it on the table, and said, "I surveyed the island this morning. Combining that with Reiner's information, I deduced that a part of Jaya Island was blown into the sky long ago by a massive Knock Up Stream."
"Regarding the legend left by your ancestor... the city of gold hidden in the skull's right eye..." Robin produced another map of Jaya Island, folded it, and placed it together with the Skypiea map.
"Could it possibly mean this?"
Seeing the combined map on the table, Cricket couldn't sit still anymore. He jumped up, slamming his hands excitedly onto the table.
"This! This is!"
The others also gathered around. Under Robin's arrangement, the two maps merged into one, clearly forming the shape of a skull!
Mont Blanc Noland... called a great liar by the world. His story had been passed down for centuries, bringing shame upon his entire family along with it.
Cricket had originally resented Noland the most. He went out to sea as a pirate, but upon passing Jaya Island, a sudden impulse reminded him of Noland's words before his execution:
'I know now! The city of gold must have sunk into the sea! That must be it!'
Picture books depicted this scene, even portraying Noland as a simple-minded, comical clown.
Only Cricket knew the story passed down in their family: Noland, before dying, had cried out those words hoarsely, exhausted, then died filled with regret.
And so, he stayed on Jaya Island, continuously diving into the sea, searching for gold.
He wasn't trying to clear his ancestor's name; quite the contrary.
He decided to spend his entire life fighting against this man's legacy, to put an end to Noland in his generation!
"Wait a minute! Does that mean... what that big liar Noland said was all true!?" Sanji stared wide-eyed at the map. Liar Noland – he had heard that name countless times as a child.
"You know this legend too?"
"Mm. I heard the story constantly growing up," Sanji replied coolly.
"Since childhood?" Cricket glanced at Sanji. "That's a story from the North Blue. Are you from the North Blue?"
"Eh?"
"Isn't Sanji from the East Blue?"
Faced with the crew's confusion, Sanji seemed to recall some unpleasant memories, saying dismissively, "Just some past stuff. I am from the North Blue, but I came to the East Blue when I was very young and grew up there."
"If... if all this is true..." Cricket sat back down on the sofa, clutching his head and gritting his teeth.
"That world-famous liar... the man who disrupted my entire life..."
Hearing this, Luffy looked discontentedly towards Usopp.
"He's not talking about me, idiot!"
"So the city of gold didn't sink into the sea... it flew up into the sky." Cricket lowered his head, his fists unconsciously clenching tightly.
Thinking of all the years he spent diving, searching for gold, even acquiring numerous injuries... only to find the real city of gold might have been blown into the sky.
After a long while...
"Phew~~ But..." Cricket let out a long breath, relaxed his body, leaned back against the sofa again, and addressed the group:
"Even so, riding the Knock Up Stream is still a nine-deaths-one-life affair. Are you really sure? I'm not joking with you."
Cricket looked at Luffy and asked gravely, "You're the captain, right? Responsible for the lives of everyone on this ship. Are you certain you want to make this decision?"
Hearing this, Luffy's earlier excitement vanished. He looked back calmly.
Everyone smiled back at Luffy; he had already received his companions' response. He turned back to Cricket and stated firmly:
"I'm sure!"
"Thought it was one idiot, turns out it's a whole group of idiots," Cricket smirked, then yelled loudly, "Since that's the case, let's get to work! Have my two stupid sons help you modify your ship!"
Cricket stood up and looked towards Masira and Shoujou. "The ship is in your hands. I'll tell them about the Knock Up Stream."
"Got it, Old Man!"
"Leave it to us!"
"Heeheehee! We're going to Sky Island!" Luffy yelled excitedly.
Sky Island, Sky Island! Gold, gold! Adventure begins!
Reiner also couldn't help but feel excited. Wasn't this what being a pirate was all about?
In terms of personality, he and Luffy could be said to be polar opposites, but in reality, they were both the same kind of people.
Reiner had always known this was the reason Luffy had decisively invited him, not just his Devil Fruit ability... well, maybe couldn't say for sure.
Cricket explained the details about the Knock Up Stream to them. Its frequency wasn't low, occurring five times a month.
But they had no room for trial and error; failing once meant the ship and everyone on it sinking into the sea. Reiner had his undead hawks, so he could save everyone's lives.
But the Going Merry would be lost. Therefore, this attempt allowed only success, no failure. They had to make thorough preparations.
"So, if we sail straight south from this island's cape, we should encounter the Knock Up Stream that's likely appearing tomorrow, right?" Nami summarized.
"There's one more thing. Do you know where south is?"
Faced with Cricket's question, Nami simply pointed in a direction. "Isn't it that way?"
"Knowing here is useless. What about once you're out at sea?"
Nami suddenly realized something. The currents in the Grand Line were constantly changing; once at sea, they would lose their direction, unable to distinguish north, south, east, or west.
The Log Pose only pointed towards the next island, but their target was the current itself.
"There's a strange bird in the forest called a South Bird," Cricket said, taking out a golden statue. "Looks like this. Its beak always points south."
"You need to go into the forest and catch one before tomorrow."
"Forest adventure!" Luffy raised his hands excitedly, turning to Reiner. "Reiner! Dinosaurs, dinosaurs! Quick, I want dinosaurs!"
"Ah, I know, impatient," Reiner walked to the door and casually summoned three dinosaurs. Back in Little Garden, besides the T-Rex he found himself, he had also collected the templates for the Triceratops hunted by Zoro and Sanji.
Upon seeing the dinosaurs, Usopp and Chopper immediately jumped on excitedly.
Actually, it's possible without the South Bird, Reiner thought. The Log Pose takes three days to set for Jaya Island; before that, the needle is relatively stable. Since we can determine direction on the island, if we note the angle difference between true south and the Log Pose, we can navigate roughly the same way later.
But...
"Ah well. They're idle anyway. They can't help modify the ship. Let them go play," Reiner extinguished his cigarette, jumped onto a dinosaur, and the group, carrying catching nets, headed into the forest.
Until nightfall...
Chopper, Luffy, and Usopp, covered in dirt, looked up, gritting their teeth at the South Bird perched on a branch above.
"Damn it! It's actually mocking us!"
"This bastard! Don't let me catch it later!"
"I'm definitely gonna tear its beak off later!"
In contrast, the South Bird looked completely relaxed, even showing an anthropomorphic expression, looking down disdainfully at the trio below.
"Hey, Luffy!"
A voice called from the distance. The three turned to look. Reiner was riding towards them on a dinosaur, holding a South Bird in his hand. He smiled at them:
"I already caught one. Let's head back and prepare to depart."
(End of this chapter)
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