Green moss covered nearly half of the bell tower, yet it could not conceal its magnificent nature.
The legendary Golden Belfry shimmered brilliantly beneath the sunlight.
They were getting closer!
A profound sense of history washed over them.
In some indescribable way, it was as though echoes of the past were reverberating through the air, recounting one stirring chapter of history after another.
Unexpectedly, Rocks, who had always possessed an almost obsessive fixation on treasure, didn’t become blinded by greed this time.
He silently stepped forward, raised his hand, and wiped away the moss covering the base of the bell tower.
As he looked at the writing beneath it, his pupils trembled slightly.
“As expected, this is also part of that lost history!”
Rocks spoke softly.
“Ancient Weapon, Poseidon!”
Ren stepped forward.
“What?”
Rocks froze for a moment.
“I said this records information about the Ancient Weapon, Poseidon.”
Ren repeated himself.
“You…”
Shock visibly spread across Rocks’ face.
“You can actually read this ancient script?!”
“I can understand some of it.”
Ren nodded.
Rocks remained stunned for a long moment before suddenly bursting into laughter.
“Wahahahaha!
I knew it!
No wonder you’re a scholar from Ohara.
You really are secretly researching the Poneglyphs!”
Excited, Rocks patted Ren on the shoulder.
“Several years ago, I encountered a man in the West Blue who had a clover-shaped hairstyle.
He was also a scholar from Ohara, and he was searching for something along the way.”
“You must be talking about Professor Clover.”
Ren immediately picked up the conversation.
“That’s right, that’s right.
His name was Clover.”
Rocks nodded.
From that moment on, Rocks became completely convinced of Ren’s identity as an Ohara scholar.
As for the legendary Poseidon, Rocks wasn’t particularly interested.
At this moment, he was instead thinking about how to move the Golden Belfry.
Unfortunately, even with his monstrous strength, he couldn’t carry away such an enormous bell tower by himself.
“Ren, did you happen to copy some kind of spatial storage ability before?
Something that could store…”
Rocks scratched his head helplessly.
There was a mountain of treasure right in front of him, yet he couldn’t take it away.
That feeling was genuinely unbearable.
Ren immediately laughed helplessly.
“If I had an ability like that, I wouldn’t have suggested storing the remaining gold here in the first place.”
Rocks scratched his head.
Then, suddenly, he drew his sword.
“Since we’re already here, we can’t possibly leave empty-handed!”
With that, he leaped into the air and slashed at the Golden Belfry.
Slash!
Slash!
A sharp flash of light swept through the air.
One of the golden pillars on the left side of the Golden Belfry was severed cleanly at the waist, the cut as smooth as a mirror.
“Wahahahaha!
Now that’s settled.
Let’s go!”
Rocks hoisted the golden pillar onto his shoulder and strode away, leaving a deep footprint with every step.
…
…
The Altar Anchorage
The very first thing Rocks did after returning to the ship was chop down the main mast.
He then planted the golden pillar he had brought back in its place.
Ren grimaced.
He had a feeling this was terribly unreliable.
Still, in the end, he went along with his free-spirited captain.
Using his lightning-powered metalworking ability, he firmly welded the golden pillar into the position of the main mast.
“Wahahahaha!
I’m a damn genius!
From now on, all our ships are going to use this exact design!”
Rocks planted his hands on his hips and laughed heartily.
“My god!
It’s so dazzling!”
“It’s practically blinding my bear eyes!”
The moment Black Bear Big Bear and Brown Bear Little Bear returned to the ship, the golden mast flashed so brightly that they could barely keep their eyes open.
“Captain, you…
you…
where on earth did you get this thing?”
Black Bear Big Bear couldn’t help asking.
“Don’t ask questions you shouldn’t ask.”
Rocks glared at him.
The fewer people who knew about the Golden Belfry, the better.
Especially these two idiots.
Who knew when they might accidentally let the secret slip?
The Rocks Pirates remained on the Sky Island for an entire week.
Everything was finally ready.
All the treasures within the Golden City had been transferred to their new hiding place.
Now it was time to return.
Gan Fall rode ahead on his Sky Horse, leading the way, while Ren and the others’ pirate ship struggled to follow behind.
Because the ship was loaded with a massive amount of gold, along with a golden mast, it was severely overloaded.
The ship sat incredibly low in the water, with the deck almost level with the surface.
“Big Bear, are you sure this ship is really okay?”
Brown Bear Little Bear scratched his head.
“It should be fine, right?
We’ve got ten Balloon Octopuses!”
Black Bear Big Bear nodded.
An ordinary ship only needed a single Balloon Octopus to make a stable descent to the Blue Sea.
They had prepared a full ten.
That had to be enough.
“Gan Fall, you don’t need to see us any farther.
Hopefully, the next time we come, you’ll have done a good job guarding our treasure.”
Ren said.
“Definitely!”
Gan Fall nodded solemnly.
He couldn’t wait to send these terrifying people away.
Their presence was simply too dangerous for the Sky Island.
“Goodbye…
Ah…”
The pirate ship reached the edge of the White Sea and suddenly plummeted downward without warning.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, the ten Balloon Octopuses deployed their strength and steadily supported the pirate ship, gradually slowing its descent.
However, this was only temporary.
Even the foolish Brown Bear Little Bear could recognize the problem.
Naturally, it wasn’t a minor one.
In the end, they had to pay the price for their greed and overloading the ship.
As the auxiliary Balloon Octopuses began deflating one after another, the ship’s descent accelerated once more.
Fortunately, the largest and final Balloon Octopus was sturdy enough.
By the time Ren and the others finally returned to the Blue Sea, the ship had, as expected, been completely wrecked.
At least everyone was still alive.
“Wahahahaha!
Now that’s what I call an unforgettable journey!”
Rocks burst out laughing.
“You still have the nerve to laugh.”
Ren gritted his teeth.
He couldn’t help feeling that the golden mast was the culprit.
Now their ship was gone.
And even though they had plenty of gold, what good was it?
They were stranded on an uninhabited island and couldn’t move an inch.
“Don’t worry about these little things.
We’ll find a way eventually.”
Rocks remained optimistic.
Two days later, a News Coo flew over the uninhabited island and dropped a newspaper along with the latest bounty posters.
[Marine Base Sunk]
[Paramecia-Type Gura Gura no Mi User]
[Edward Newgate — Bounty: 300,000,000 Berries]
“Hey, Ren.
I’ve decided.”
Rocks pointed at the young man on the bounty poster, his expression resolute.
“This guy is pretty good.
I like him.
I’m going to make him our new crewmate!”
…
…
The Brothers Pirates
The Brothers Pirates were formed by two brothers on a poor island in the New World because they had simply been unable to survive otherwise.
They had sailed around the seas for more than a decade, occasionally getting lucky, but they had never gained much fame.
They remained largely unknown.
That was until several years ago, when a young man named Edward Newgate joined their ship.
Only then did the Brothers Pirates’ reputation gradually begin to grow.
From the New World to the North Blue, and then through Reverse Mountain into the first half of the Grand Line, the name Edward Newgate gradually became known throughout the world.
Late at night.
Inside the captain’s cabin of the Brothers Pirates.
“Brother, this can’t continue.”
The younger brother and vice-captain, Ganna, spoke in a deep voice.
“Newgate’s reputation is growing more and more.
Now he even has a bounty…”
“The combined bounties of the two of us aren’t even as high as his alone.
Everyone aboard the ship respects him, too.”
“If this continues, no one will even know who’s the captain and who’s the crew anymore.”
“Little Brother, surely that won’t happen.”
Captain Banna shook his head.
“Newgate doesn’t desire anything.
He doesn’t even care about treasure.”
“Foolish big brother.”
Ganna’s voice turned ominous.
“Don’t be deceived by appearances.”
“Free is always the most expensive.”
“That brat acts as though he doesn’t care about anything, but who knows what he’s plotting behind our backs?”
“He might be planning to seize control and become captain of the pirate crew.”
“And once that happens, everything will belong to him.”
“Think about it.
In this world, how could there possibly be someone who gives without expecting anything in return?”
When a subordinate’s achievements overshadow those of his superior, it was taboo no matter where you were.
Bang!
A dull thud came from outside the cabin door.
“Who is it?”
The two brothers hurriedly opened the door.
But there was no one outside.
“I really just wanted companions who could get along like family.”
A man with smooth, golden hair and a square jaw spoke softly.
The next morning.
“Captain Banna, come look!
Over there…
there’s a pillar made entirely of gold on that island!”