The Silent Land of Gold · Shandora.
After many years of silence, it finally welcomed visitors once again.
But unlike before, when pirates had come, this time it was the Marines.
What felt faintly ironic was that when pirates arrived back then, they didn't take any of the gold. Now that the Marines had come, they intended to carry it away.
Beneath the enormous Golden Bell, a Poneglyph was embedded into the base of the structure.
"Poneglyph…" Isshō stood beside Ortoren and reached out to touch it. "They say it's indestructible. I wonder if that's really true?"
"To a certain extent, yes. Without special techniques, it can't be destroyed," Ortoren replied casually.
As far as he knew, the only people capable of leaving marks on this stone were the so-called "stonemasons."
"Admiral! Over here! There's another inscription in ancient script!" Hina called out, pointing excitedly at the golden pedestal next to the Poneglyph.
Isshō and Ortoren both turned to look. Sure enough, there was a line of ancient writing engraved there, and judging by its condition, it hadn't been carved very long ago.
"So someone was here before us?" Isshō asked in surprise.
"Yes. The Roger Pirates," Ortoren said. "They came here once. That inscription was most likely left by them."
"Then the Roger Pirates really did have someone who could read Poneglyphs and ancient script…" Isshō murmured. "I wonder what they wrote?"
"Kozuki Oden, from Wano Country," Ortoren explained with a chuckle. "He's serving as Whitebeard's Second Division Captain now. He's from a family of stonemasons in Wano. Legend says they were the ones who carved the ancient text onto the Poneglyphs, so it's only natural that the knowledge was passed down."
After a brief pause, his expression grew solemn. He stared at the inscription with a faintly pretentious air and recited,
"I have come to this place, to guide these words to the end of the world…"
As Ortoren finished speaking, Isshō looked puzzled at first. Then realization struck him, and he stared at Ortoren in shock.
"You can read ancient script too?"
Ortoren lifted his chin, his voice dripping with arrogance.
"Who do you think I am? I was the top student of the Navy's first officer training camp, with perfect scores in every subject. Every subject, understand? Not only unmatched in combat, but academically superior as well!"
Isshō had been brought into the Marines by Ortoren himself and had never attended any officer training camp. For a moment, he actually believed him.
"Our Marine schools teach ancient script?" Isshō asked in astonishment. "That's terrifying. Isn't that illegal?"
Hina shot Ortoren an exasperated look, then turned to Isshō.
"Isshō-san, don't let the admiral fool you so easily. It makes you look a bit too innocent."
"Huh?" Isshō froze, then immediately realized what was going on. Embarrassed and annoyed, he snapped,
"You bastard! Making things up at a time like this!" I never went to school, sure, but Hina did. If the Marines really taught this, how could she not know?"
Ortoren looked slightly awkward, but he still replied with forced haughtiness.
"Hmph. That's a privilege reserved for top students. You wouldn't understand."
"Smoker was also top of his class," Hina said flatly. "He never learned it."
"Hahahaha… I was just joking. Why are you taking it so seriously? You two are no fun at all."
Completely exposed, Ortoren let out an awkward laugh and walked off on his own, heading toward the Golden Bell to examine it instead.
Isshō and Hina didn't press the issue. They stood beside the inscription, trying to guess its meaning.
"If the Roger Pirates left this behind, what could it mean?" Isshō said thoughtfully. "Could it be the coordinates to Laugh Tale?"
"There are countless hidden treasures in the sea," Hina replied, her tone tinged with envy. "Alongside the Golden Country, there's also the Emerald Capital and the Sea of Gems. Could this be pointing to those two places? Did the Roger Pirates really find all three of the legendary treasures?"
Listening to their speculation, Ortoren climbed up along the side of the Golden Bell.
He didn't bother to explain.
He hadn't misread the inscription earlier. They could keep guessing all they liked.
Running his hand across the heavy Golden Bell, brushing away some of the dust, Ortoren's gaze grew faintly complicated.
"Mont Blanc Noland… you weren't some so-called King of Liars. You were a true adventurer," Ortoren murmured softly to himself.
As his words faded, the passage of time shifted the sun's angle in the sky. Its light fell upon Ortoren and the Golden Bell alike, casting their shadows far beyond Shandora, stretching across the White-White Sea.
...
Meanwhile, on the sea near Jaya Island in the first half of the Grand Line.
A small salvage ship was anchored quietly. Beneath the surface, a figure burst out of the water, gasping for breath, clearly just finishing a deep dive.
That man was the young Mont Blanc Cricket, a descendant of Mont Blanc Noland, the so-called King of Liars, four hundred years later.
He had spent his life searching for the Golden Land spoken of by his ancestor, determined to wash away the slander and humiliation that had clung to his family for centuries.
Yet despite staying near Jaya Island for a long time, aside from a few scattered fragments of golden artifacts recovered from the surrounding waters, he had gained nothing of real significance.
Climbing back onto the salvage ship, Cricket casually wiped the seawater from his face with a towel draped over the mast, then pulled a pack of cigarettes from his clothes.
He leaned against the railing, looking somewhat despondent, lit a cigarette, and stared out at the calm sea.
Just then, the previously clear sky suddenly dimmed, as if something had blocked the sunlight.
Cricket instinctively looked up.
In the next instant, he froze. His pupils rapidly dilated, his expression shifting into shock, then into something far more complicated.
In the clouds, he saw a shadow.
A man with horns on his head, reaching out to touch a massive bell.
The silhouette of that bell matched perfectly with the image passed down through his family.
That bell… it had to be the Golden Bell of the Golden Land.
Under his stunned gaze, the shadow in the clouds began to move. The horned man seemed to use a nearby striker to hit the Golden Bell.
The bell swayed in response, but only once. After standing there for a brief moment, the man turned and walked away.
At the same time, sunlight swept across the sky once more, and the shadow within the clouds gradually faded.
And just as the shadow of the Golden Bell was about to disappear completely, a clear, resonant chime rang out from the heavens, sending a shiver through the body, as if it had descended from a celestial palace above the clouds.
The sound crossed all distance, reaching the Blue Sea, reaching Jaya Island, reaching this very stretch of ocean.
"Ah…" Cricket's previously restrained expression collapsed entirely. Tears and snot poured uncontrollably from his face.
He broke down into silent sobs, then, almost immediately, burst into wild, unrestrained laughter.
"It's real… it's real…" Cricket trembled as he slumped against the railing, covering his face with both hands while tears streamed through the gaps between his fingers.
After a while, his shaking body finally steadied. On the vast, empty sea, Cricket suddenly threw his arms wide, as if embracing the entire world, and shouted at the top of his lungs,
"The Golden Land really exists!!! Mont Blanc Noland was never a King of Liars! He was the greatest adventurer of all!!!"
No one heard his voice.
But that didn't matter.
Cricket didn't need an audience. He was simply declaring it to the world.
...
Back in Shandora.
Hina watched her admiral walk down from beside the Golden Bell, her expression puzzled, and couldn't help asking,
"Admiral, why did you ring the bell?"
Ortoren curled his lips into a faint smile.
"Nothing in particular… I just felt it should be rung. Isn't that rather romantic?"
With that, he looked out over the Golden Land from on high and murmured softly to himself,
"I wonder if a bell toll from four hundred years ago can reach those who need it. If it can… then this trip was worth it."
...
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