Poneglyph / One Billion?

"Whoosh—"

After pulling the two women onto the horse, Arthur rode with them on the king's horse. Its hooves stepped on dazzling lightning as it became a blue-white beam, shooting toward God's Island, Upper Yard, like an arrow through the air.

The outline of a city was still visible amid the dilapidated ruins.

On the ground lay a gigantic python known as the Sky Lord, unconscious, its eyes rolled white and its tongue tied in a knot inside its gaping mouth.

"As expected of the legendary Golden Land, all this gold is such high quality! That stupid snake swallowed so much excellent gold. How infuriating!!"

No one knew how long the giant python had been unconscious when several tiny figures suddenly emerged from its still-open mouth.

They held piles of gold, silk, pearls and jade against their chests, paying no heed to the dirt staining their clothes. No amount of dirt could conceal the alluring glitter of the gold.

Nami and Robin each carried a huge pile of gold jewelry as they emerged from the Sky Lord's belly. Behind them, Arthur walked out at an unhurried pace, a large bag on his back.

"Hey, hey... Are you really okay with this? I remember you brought a lot of clothes you liked. Doesn't it hurt to throw them all away?" Arthur asked helplessly, looking at Nami's back.

"We can buy more clothes if they're gone. There's nothing we can do about the gold that got digested, but we absolutely can't leave these intact pieces behind," Nami said seriously, turning around.

"Oh, well... It can't be helped. This is Nami's nature, isn't it?" Robin said in gentle consolation.

"Suit yourselves. They're not my clothes, anyway." Arthur rolled his eyes and spoke irritably.

Arthur hadn't prepared enough and had underestimated how much gold there was in Shandora.

Even though much of it had been melted by the Sky Lord's stomach acid, far more gold remained in its belly than Arthur had imagined.

Once Nami saw this much gold, getting the girl who loved Beli and tangerines most to pretend she hadn't seen it was utterly impossible.

So Nami, who had brought only one large backpack, decisively threw away everything except the Beli, even though many of the clothes were favorites of hers and Robin's.

She cleared space in the backpack and used all of it to hold gold.

As a result, the large backpack on Arthur's back had become a heavy-looking little mountain.

Arthur was speechless at Nami's willingness to go without a change of clothes for the sake of treasure.

There was still a huge pile of loot taken from enemy ships on their ship in the Blue Sea, so they weren't short of money at all. Besides, many of the attackers they'd wiped out some time ago had Marine bounties on their heads, yet Nami had firmly refused to let their heads remain on the ship. Arthur had thought that, after staying by his side, her money-grubbing nature had changed somewhat.

But he hadn't expected that she had been storing up that desire, only for it to burst out completely at this moment.

A money grubber was a money grubber, after all!

Arthur cared very little about money. In his eyes, it was just a number, and he didn't care whether he had more or less.

But since Nami was so excited, Arthur let her have her way.

"Now that we've found the Golden Land, let's go find what Robin wants next," Arthur said, adjusting the large backpack on his back.

"Mm-hmm..." Nami nodded repeatedly in satisfaction.

"Thank you for your effort, Captain," Robin said with a smile, looking at Arthur with eyes as gentle as water.

Warmth welled up in her heart. Was this what it felt like to be cared for?

In fact, Robin and Arthur's relationship had seemed quite ordinary up to this point.

That much was evident from the way Robin addressed Arthur as captain.

But was that really the case?

Of course not—

At first, it had indeed been because of Nami. Robin had seen her former self in Nami and sympathized with her as someone who had suffered a similar plight.

So she had temporarily become a companion aboard Arthur's ship.

Then, using his greatest advantage, his foreknowledge of the story, as well as his understanding of Robin, Arthur had acted decisively and given her no chance to leave.

The longer Robin stayed on the ship, the deeper her bond with Nami would grow.

And step by step, he let her experience how powerful this young captain was, powerful in ways that were impossible to fathom.

What she had learned over this time, together with the lies Arthur had told before they came to Sky Island, had given Robin some understanding of this imposing captain.

He was different from the people she had worked with before, completely different.

He had not been tempted by her bounty, had not used her for her abilities, and had not coveted her beauty.

Just as the title everyone acknowledged proclaimed, he was a knight among knights.

Though he was a bounty hunter, he had taken in a major criminal wanted by the government and looked out for her in every way.

A kindness he never let show—how unfair of him.

Chapter 54: Poneglyph

(Sorry, everyone, I overestimated myself a little. I originally wanted to put out ten chapters, but by the time I got to this one, I'd run out of inspiration. I only slept from eleven last night until four in the morning, then got up at eight to go to school. From noon until now, my mind has been blank. Seven chapters are my limit.)

A vine reaching to the heavens grew on God's Island, Upper Yard.

The Golden Bell, known as the Light of Shandora, sat at the top of the vine.

"What a magnificent bell! Just like in the story, it's really a great bell made entirely of gold!"

The majestic steed stood high in the sky, hovering before an enormous Golden Bell made entirely of gold.

Looking at the great bell made of pure gold, Nami marveled at it. Yet there was not the slightest hint of greed in her beautiful eyes, nor any desire to claim it for herself, only simple admiration.

The Golden Bell could no longer be measured by its monetary worth.

It was a product of a civilization; describing it in terms of value would be a desecration of this ancient relic.

"According to that notebook, Sky Island's Poneglyph is at the base of the Golden Bell." Arthur held Robin around the waist and guided the king's horse toward the Golden Bell.

As the Golden Bell drew closer, Robin clenched her hands, a rare hint of nervousness in her eyes.

Apart from the shadows of her childhood, only an archaeologist's treasured secret—the Poneglyph—could unsettle someone as mentally strong as Robin.

When they got closer, Robin was overjoyed to find Ancient Script at the base of the Golden Bell.

"Be careful..."

In her excitement, Robin braced both hands on the horse's head and leaned forward. Arthur quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and spoke with concern.

"Sorry, I got too excited." Robin smiled sheepishly, but her blue-black eyes never left the Poneglyph.

"We are the ones who guide history, and we are with the ringing of the great belfry. The Ancient Weapon held in the name of God—Poseidon..." Robin quickly translated the text, which looked like an incomprehensible script to everyone else. To her disappointment, however, the information recorded here wasn't about the Void Century. Just as in Alabasta, it was information about an Ancient Weapon.

"I came here and will guide this text to its end—Pirate King Gol D. Roger."

Just as Robin was about to look away, she happened to notice another line of small writing, and her eyes narrowed.

Just as the captain said, the Pirate King really did come to Sky Island... Robin thought silently, her expression subdued.

"Well? Have you finished reading?!"

Both the Poneglyph and the words Roger had left behind appeared in Robin's mind as her inner voice.

Seeing Robin's expression change repeatedly before finally settling back into calm, Arthur asked the question.

"Mm." Robin nodded slightly, then turned to Arthur with a gentle, elegant smile. "Would you like to know what it says? If it's you, Captain, I can tell you."

"Not interested."

"Is that so..."

"Is that so..."

Robin leaned back casually into Arthur's arms and looked up at the blue sky, her expression relaxed. "If you ever want to know, Captain, you can ask me anytime."

"Yeah..." Arthur answered lazily. With his arms around Robin's waist, he guided the king's horse slowly downward.

After taking a few light steps, the king's horse broke into a gallop. Instead of descending straight down onto God's Island, Upper Yard, it pierced through the White-White Sea like a comet and left Sky Island altogether.

"So fast! Why is this horse so different from before?"

The scenery rushed past their eyes so quickly that neither Nami nor Robin could open them at all.

Nami in particular clung tightly around Arthur's waist, and the sound of the wind in her ears told her at once how fast they were descending.

Compared with the trip up, the king's horse had improved by several levels in every way except its appearance.

It had been fast before, but compared with now, it had been ridiculously slow.

Arthur smiled without speaking. Gazing at the blue sea growing larger below, he released his Observation Haki (A++).

An aura combining radio waves and Observation Haki spread out, bringing the scenery for dozens of nautical miles around into Arthur's mind like a constantly changing slideshow.

The images changed every second, and tiny specks gradually appeared on the blue sea.

Finding one of those specks, Arthur immediately sent the king's horse galloping toward it.

A few minutes later, the king's horse arrived above a stretch of sea, where a small cabin sailboat lay anchored below.

"A-amazing! How did you find it?!"

The wind in their ears stopped, and the strong wind in their faces was gone as well. Nami and Robin opened their eyes together and saw the sailboat below.

Nami immediately spoke in surprise.

"It looks like you still have many hidden talents, Captain," Robin said with a thoughtful smile.

"It hasn't been looted. Not bad."

As if he hadn't heard either of them, Arthur had the king's horse land on the sailboat's deck and nodded in satisfaction.

They had been gone for less than half a day, and the small cabin sailboat hadn't been touched. Clearly, no other ships had passed by in that time.

"Hee hee hee... We're rich now."

After taking down the large backpack, Nami poured out all the gold and treasure inside. Looking at the glittering little mountain before her, she sank into her own fantasies, her eyes turning into dollar signs.

"I'm going to take a bath first. I'll leave waking Nami up to you, Captain," Robin said with a gentle smile at Arthur before heading toward the cabin.

One was a clean freak, the other a money grubber.

Watching the two crew members each doing her own thing, Arthur rolled his eyes. Not bothering with them, he unfolded a deck chair and settled down for a good sleep.

Chapter 55: One Billion?

After their trip to Sky Island ended, the small cabin sailboat continued floating on the sea.

A month later, an island finally appeared ahead of the small cabin sailboat, which was only a little faster than a rowboat.

It was a magnificent island that rose above the sea like a tower: Water 7, the world's most famous shipbuilding haven.

Water 7 was also known as the City of Water and the Seven Islands of Water. When people mentioned it, they thought first of its shipbuilding and then of the Sea Train.

Water 7 was the finest shipbuilding island in the world. When people needed to repair a damaged ship or wanted to buy one, Water 7 was the first place they thought of.

The world's only Sea Train and the Oro Jackson, Pirate King Roger's ship, had both been built on this island.

Moreover, [Pluton], one of the three Ancient Weapons, capable of destroying an island with a single shot, was also built eight hundred years ago by the shipwrights of Water 7. It was a warship that stood as a crime in the history of shipbuilding.

But while this prosperous shipbuilding island was famous throughout the world, it also had a worry of its own: the Aqua Laguna.

The Aqua Laguna, also known as the gods of water, was a massive tsunami that struck Water 7 once every year.

In the past, each Aqua Laguna not only damaged Water 7 but also caused heavy casualties. Thus, in the hearts of Water 7's residents, the Aqua Laguna was the most terrifying disaster in the world.

It wasn't until Tom, the world's greatest shipwright and the fish-man who built the Oro Jackson for the Pirate King, created the Sea Train that the residents' fear of the Aqua Laguna gradually began to fade.

With the Sea Train, their safety was at least somewhat assured.

Water 7 was a prosperous industrial island, geographically close to Enies Lobby and recognized as a shipbuilding haven, making it highly attractive to bounty hunters, pirates and merchants.

"So this is the world-famous shipbuilding island? It's beautiful!"

Still several nautical miles away, Nami braced her hands on the ship's railing and gazed at the enormous fountain that represented Water 7, exclaiming in delight.

"Ah... It's a wonderful sight," Robin agreed with a smiling nod.

"Hey, Arthur, come take a look too. It's really wonderful," Nami said with a smile, turning toward Arthur.