Chapter 257 - 115

Chapter 115Everyone looked up, their eyes drawn to the object shining brilliantly in the sunset at the top of the Giant Jack.It was an ancient bell tower!With a golden base and golden supports, a massive golden bell dozens of meters high hung from it!The bell was engraved with exquisite patterns in the Sky Island and Shandian style, and it was surrounded by sculptures of South-South Birds.Four decorative golden pillars stood around the bell tower, though unfortunately, one of them had broken and lay on the ground.That broken golden pillar alone was nearly as long as the mast of the going merry."Gold, it's all gold!"Nami's eyes had completely turned into the shape of Berries; looking at the massive golden bell, golden pillars, and golden base, she felt like she was about to faint from happiness."It's too much. If we moved all of this onto the going merry, the ship would definitely sink! What should we do, what should we do?"She never imagined she would one day have such a worry."An exquisitely crafted work of art with great historical value." Robin reached out, gently stroking the patterns on the fallen golden pillar, her eyes shining with a scholar's light."The sound Sky-chan wants to hear is this, right?" Luffy carefully set Vivi down, letting her rest against a stone, while he rubbed his hands together, eager to try. "I'll ring it!"Naturally, he wanted to ring it too.Who wouldn't have the urge to ring such a magnificent bell when standing right in front of it?Everyone was curious about just how melodious the sound of the golden bell would be.According to Gan Fall, this big bell had not been rung for centuries. Legend said the sound was beautiful."But there's no clapper?"Vivi looked inside the golden bell and asked in confusion.Gan Fall's gaze fell on the thick golden chains on either side of the bell, which connected to the golden frame at the top. "According to ancient legends, you only need to pull those two chains to make the clapper swing and ring the bell.""I'll do it!"Luffy volunteered.Since those two chains were thicker than his waist, Nami and the others with their small arms and legs would be lucky to even move them, let alone ring the bell.Chapter 162: You Are Where I BelongLuffy walked up the golden steps of the bell tower, hoisted a thick, cold golden chain onto his shoulder, gripped it firmly with his arms, took a deep breath, and surged with power from his waist.Dong~~~~~Dong~~~~~The golden bell, which had been silent for four hundred years, began to swing slowly with Luffy's movements.The internal clapper struck the thick golden walls, letting out a loud and melodious chime!Luffy found it a bit strange; even though the sound of the golden bell was incredibly pleasant and echoed through the clouds, as the bell ringer standing so close to it, he only felt that the sound was normal and exceptionally beautiful.The chime rippled outward like waves on water.The others couldn't help but look up, watching the magnificent sight of the golden bell swinging in the sunset and listening to the clear chime that had traveled across four hundred years of time, as if they were seeing the ancient Shandora civilization revive before their eyes.Nami: "What a beautiful sound."Leaning against the stone, Vivi was also completely immersed in the melodious chime, feeling the echoes of history carried on the wind."Is this history?"Robin looked up at the golden bell, her eyes flickering with a complex light.As a witness to history, Gan Fall was moved to tears, murmuring, "It rang. It finally rang again."Dong~~The long-lasting chime atop the Giant Jack spread throughout the entirety of Upper Yard.In the originally silent forest, countless South-South Birds seemed to hear a sound buried deep within their bloodline. They flapped their wings and flew high into the sky, circling as they found the best direction to look toward the source of the chime, just like the frozen golden statues around the golden bell.The Lord of the Sky straightened its upper body and looked toward the Giant Jack. Hot tears actually fell from the giant snake's eyes.As the chime rang out again, it let out an earth-shaking roar toward the sky, as if announcing to its ancestors that the promise they had waited four hundred years for had finally been fulfilled!Slightly further away, in Gods Land.The Shandians warriors and the Divine Soldiersunder Eneru were all covered in wounds. The lead warrior, Wyper, was struggling to lift his Burn Bazooka, aiming it at a Priest who was trying to crawl back up.Just then, the clear chime reached this brutal battlefield.Everyone was momentarily dazed, involuntarily stopping their movements.What a beautiful sound it was—so familiar yet so foreign.The eyes of the Shandians warriors instantly moistened as tears mixed with blood and sweat rolled down.Was this a celebration of their victory?Generation after generation of Shandians had fought, bled, and sacrificed themselves for four hundred years for this goal—to reclaim their homeland and have this chime, symbolizing their home and their promise, echo through the sky once more.Wyper looked up at the sky; through the dense foliage, he could see the massive snake shadow and the even larger Giant Jack.The chime was coming from there."Who rang the golden bell?"He murmured to himself, his heart filled with shock and confusion.At the same time, Zoro and the others, who were moving through the forest and following the sound of the bell, also heard the grand and distant chime."Is that a bell?" Usopp asked in surprise."It's coming from above!"Chopper pointed to the top of the Giant Jack.By the time they finally emerged from the forest and reached the edge of the basin, they happened to see Nami and Vivi worrying over a small pile of golden items."Where's Luffy?"Little Merry floated over and asked curiously.Nami finally snapped out of the temptation of the gold, looked around, and spread her hands helplessly. "He was just ringing the bell a moment ago, but he disappeared in the blink of an eye. He probably went to find the poneglyph, right? I didn't pay attention once I saw all this gold."Then, Vivi smiled and waved to everyone, and to their surprise, her body slowly floated up, hovering in the air just like Merry."Vivi, you can fly now too?" Usopp's first reaction was a Breath Dial.Vivi landed lightly back on the ground and smiled. "It's not a Breath Dial; it's a Devil Fruit. The Logia-type Wind-Wind Fruit.""The Logia-type Wind-Wind Fruit?!"Everyone shouted in surprise.What had happened?They had only been separated for a short while.Zoro crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Aren't there a bit too many Devil Fruit Users in our pirate crew?"Counting them up, there was Luffy, Chopper, Robin—did Nika and Merry count?And now there was Vivi too.Nami immediately retorted, "This is a Logia-type Devil Fruit; it's extremely strong!"Little Merry thumped its chest and promised in a childish voice, "It's okay! If anyone falls into the sea, Merry will definitely save you!"...Nami went down, saying she wanted to watch over that pile of gold. After Luffy finished ringing the bell, he realized the plan schedule was complete.So he called Robin over and they began searching the bell tower. Sure enough, they found a square black stone on the golden base of the bell tower.Luffy wiped away the moss and saw the text on the stone; having studied the ancient script, he recognized what it was at a glance."A poneglyph." Luffy looked at Robin and asked with concern, "Is this what you're looking for?"The excitement on Robin's face gradually faded. Looking at Luffy's concerned gaze, she smiled. "Although it's not the poneglyph I'm looking for, I'm still very happy."Luffy remembered what she had said in Alabasta.She had said the remaining goal in her life was to find the poneglyph recording the hundred-year history.But Luffy might have forgotten another sentence he had said."Then live on as my comrade, Robin!"Robin looked at the slightly disappointed Luffy and smiled, asking, "Luffy, are you worried about me?""Because you said..." Luffy naturally remembered what Robin had said."But you also said this." Robin reached out with her finger to block Luffy's lips, then leaned in and gave him a peck.Luffy: "???""I... what did I say?" Luffy suddenly felt his mouth go dry.Was this the difference between Nami and Robin?Robin didn't seem to have the shyness of a young girl at all. Her finger slowly lowered, and a soft touch and a pleasant scent enveloped him without any distance."If you forgot, then you forgot. It's enough that I remember."Robin took a step back and tucked a strand of hair, covering her reddened ears. She looked at Luffyteasingly. "Or do you want to do it again? Nami and the others are down there, so you can do it as many times as you like."Robin is so bold!Luffy didn't know about the things Nami had done, but he remembered the things he had done for Robin vividly."Let's decipher this poneglyph." Although Robinreally wanted to keep teasing Luffy, her heart wasn't as calm as she appeared.Chapter 163: Robin: How Dare He?The melodious lingering echoes of the golden bellseemed to still drift among the clouds, and the golden glow of the sunset cast a final layer of warmth over the ancient bell tower.Luffy and Robin's attention was now focused on the poneglyph engraved with ancient characters.Robin's slender fingers brushed lightly over the cold stone surface, deciphering it word by word. Her voice sounded exceptionally clear at the top of the open bell tower:"I am the one who weaves history, together with the chime of the bell tower, the ancient weaponPoseidon, who bears the name of a god, its location is...""It's another location of an ancient weapon. Luffy, we read that poneglyph in Alabasta, which mentioned the location of the ancient weaponPluton, situated in a place called Wano Country in the New World. This one here is the ancient weapon Poseidon, located in the so-called Fish-Man Island."Robin thought of Crocodile, the man who had plotted for years in Alabasta in pursuit of the ancient weapon Pluton.That was enough to show the attraction of Pluton.Owning such a weapon would be a temptation for anyone on this sea, wouldn't it?The World Government would surely go crazy if they learned of such a weapon's location.Robin's voice paused as she looked at Luffy with a searching gaze:"Luffy, are you really not interested in the locations of the ancient weapon?"She carefully observed Luffy's reaction.The existence of weapons bearing the name of a god symbolized destruction.Like Pluton, a terrifying weapon said to be able to erase an island from the map with a single shot. This kind of power is comparable to a MarineBuster Call, or even a more destructive, horrific existence."Yeah, I'm not really interested."Luffy rested his hands behind his head and said with an indifferent face:"I only look for the poneglyph because you want to know, Robin."Luffy didn't need things like external power.One's own strength was true strength; what was the use of being able to destroy an island with one shot?What happens after that single shot?Besides, the enemy wouldn't just stand there and give you the time to fire.After witnessing that move of the giants in Small Garden, Luffy knew that the power to destroy an island was not impossible for a person to achieve.Robin, of course, didn't know what Luffy was thinking.But his words made Robin's pupils dilate slightly as she looked at Luffy's pure eyes that held no trace of impurity. A warm current unexpectedly crashed into her heart.