Clang—clang—clang—
As the massive golden bell was swung by the Shandians, its pure, resonant tones spread across the entirety of God Island, echoing all the way to Angel Island and even down to the other half of Jaya, ten thousand meters below.
Normally, a sound that could travel so far should have been deafening for Sherwin and the others, who stood so close to it.
Yet, miraculously, the ringing of this golden bell wasn't harsh at all. Curious, Haibara Meow and Purah Meow trotted a bit farther away to test it, only to find that the bell sound barely faded with distance.
"How amazing… it a pity we can't take it back to study, meow."
"Yeah, what a shame, meow."
Purah Meow and Haibara Meow both gazed longingly at the golden bell that produced such an enchanting melody, their eyes full of both regret and fascination.
After listening for a while, sherrmie suddenly pulled out her "Hunting Keyboard" and began playing along with the rhythm of the bell.
"Wow~ Big sister Shermie is incredible, meow!"
(=`=)"Big sister Shermie performance is truly the sound of heaven, meow!"
The praise came from the compliment team leader, Klee Meow, and a little yellow cat that could only stay ten meters away.
Just as the sound of the bell and Shermie music intertwined beautifully, a rustling came from the nearby forest. Moments later, a massive blue head slowly emerged from between the trees.
"It the Lord of the Sky!"
The Shandians immediately stopped ringing the bell, nervously drawing their weapons to guard the golden bell. Gan Fall divine soldiers also raised their defenses in alarm.
"Huh? You mean you guys don't know?"
Sherwin looked at the group of guerrilla warriors in surprise. Even Wyper knew the story of Calgara and Noland—yet they didn't know about the Lord of the Sky?
He recalled Wyper retelling of the tale carefully. Indeed, the creature that had once linked Calgara and Noland hadn't been mentioned at all.
So Sherwin reminded them, "It was raised by Calgara. From a certain point of view, it should be considered your sacred beast. Most likely, it came because it heard the familiar sound of the bell."
The Shandians looked at the Lord of the Sky in doubt, only to see that it was staring fixedly at the golden bell behind them—tears welling in its eyes.
"Ring the bell! Keep ringing it!"
Wyper decisively waved his hand, dropped his weapon, and once again joined his comrades in striking the golden bell.
The Lord of the Sky straightened up in joy, letting out a high-pitched, delighted cry that resonated through the heavens.
At that moment, Sherwin silently took out his Hunter Logbook and obtained a fragment from the Monster Pool.
Meanwhile, on the logbook record page, the fifteenth square—one that contained the Poneglyph inscribed with the history of the Sea King—lit up.
From this, it seemed that the fourteenth square most likely recorded the history of the Sky King.
However, that one was probably in the hands of the Celestial Dragons—or even Imu himself—making it nearly impossible to encounter before overthrowing them.
After ringing the bell for quite some time, a new issue finally stood before the Shandians and the Sky Islanders:
The four-hundred-year-long dispute over the ownership of God Island.
However, both sides needed some time to settle their own affairs first.
Gan Fall had to inform the residents of Angel Island about Enel defeat and handle the series of administrative problems that would arise from it.
Meanwhile, the Shandians planned to transport the golden bell back to Shandora, restore it to its rightful place, and bring the rest of their people to the island so they could finally return to their homeland.
Thus, the two sides agreed to meet again after settling their respective matters, to properly discuss how to resolve the issue—and they invited Sherwin and his group to serve as witnesses.
After thinking it over for a moment, Sherwin agreed.
Having already taken part in defeating Enel, he hoped the matter could end peacefully. Besides, he wanted to see if there was any way he could help.
After all, when it came to racial and cultural integration, someone who came from Earth like him might have a bit of experience to offer.
Of course, before that, the investigation team also had their own important task—
To dig up the buried gold.
…
After Sherwin and his group dug up the gold, they didn't take all of it with them—there was simply too much. The Dodo Advance couldn't possibly hold that kind of weight.
So, after taking only as much as they could carry, Sherwin decided to return the rest of the gold to the Shandians.
As for the gold that Sherwin group gave back, the Shandians simply stored it casually among the ruins of Shandora.
To them, gold itself held little value. After all, Enel had already melted much of it down to forge his ship, turning it into something no more special than any other metal.
So, not only did they not mind Sherwin returning part of it—even if his group had taken it all, they wouldn't have cared.
What mattered far more was that Sherwin had helped them recover the golden bell and their homeland, Shandora, and had defeated their greatest enemy, Enel.
Because of that, the Shandians spent the following days warmly hosting the investigation team.
Sherwin and the others didn't just relax, either—they helped the Shandians build new homes around the outskirts of Shandora ruins.
With the technical assistance of the Felynes, it only took a few days for the area infrastructure to surpass that of their previous home,
Everything was now more advanced, more organized, and far more comfortable.
So, when Gan Fall arrived a few days later with the Sky Soldiers—who had spent three long years as Enel forced laborers—and his mount, Pierre, every one of them was shocked at what they saw.
After the surprise settled, Gan Fall exchanged a few polite greetings with the Shandian Chief, and the two sides began their long-awaited negotiation.
From a logical standpoint, however, Sherwin didn't have much confidence in how this negotiation would turn out.
After all, things were different from how they had played out in the manga. Enel hadn't yet put his plans into action—he hadn't even finished building the Ark Maxim before Sherwin group defeated him.
Although Enel had ruled with violence for three years, Angel Island itself hadn't been destroyed.
Aside from the Sky Soldiers who were captured, ordinary Sky Islanders hadn't suffered too much.
They hadn't experienced that kind of despair that comes when death feels inevitable.
Moreover, thanks to centuries of propaganda from successive "gods," the Sky Islanders had long seen this half of Jaya Island as a divine gift—something to revere and long for eternally.
As for the Shandians, the situation looked different. The Sky Islanders weren't homeless—they could easily continue living on Angel Island even after returning the land to its rightful owners.
Enel had already expelled other Sky People from God Island before, and they'd managed to live just fine afterward.
So, whether they were Shandians or Sky Islanders, their mindsets and thoughts would definitely not be the same as in the manga.
They wouldn't have so easily let go of the four-hundred-year-old grudge between their peoples.
However, people in the world of pirates are still different from those on Earth.
The people here… should I say they have bigger hearts, or that they're more open-minded? In Sherwin view, a national hatred that couldn't be easily forgotten somehow seemed to fade after they fought side by side in battle.
Of course, part of the credit goes to Gan Fall, who had been consistently helping the Shandians over the past three years, and to his earlier exchanges with the Great Chief.
In addition, the presence of that guy Enel had drawn much of the hatred from both sides during these three years.
Because of this, the radicals among the Shandians led by Wyper were no longer as stubborn and single-mindedly bent on making the Sky Islanders pay as before.
Therefore, with both sides making concessions, even without Luffy — the so-called "Joy Boy" — the Sky Islanders and Shandians still managed to let go of their past grudges and decided to share this land together.
Perhaps there would still be a few extremists among them who wouldn't accept this outcome, and there would certainly be some friction in their interactions later on.
But at least, both sides had finally taken a solid first step, and Sherwin and his group could now leave with peace of mind.