Descendant of a Liar, a True Lie

"Hmm, how come we've encountered such strange creatures as soon as we set sail?"

"These don't seem to be that ape guy, Roman ~~~"

Luffy, looking at the... Masira ship? Or rather, the forest ship not far away, turned to ask Roman, causing Roman to once again redefine the bizarre nature of humanity in this world.

"No, it seems like it should be..."

How could Roman possibly describe this? If the ape-like creature on the salvage ship before looked like Masira at first glance, then this one looks like... a fat, fused version of a human and a monkey?

"Anyway, it's up to you."

Whether it's Masira or an ape, they must have something in common with Luffy, right?

········

"Hahaha, so you're the Masira!"

"No, no, I'm not that strong~~~"

"It's decided, you'll be called 'Gorilla King'!"

"Oh, I can't possibly accept that. I'm at most Shichibukai level."

"No, no, no, you are the Gorilla King— "

"Since you've put it that way, then the title of 'Gorilla King' is rightfully mine!"

·······

What's this called?

"Birds of a feather flock together..." Roman abandoned all thought and steered the boat by instinct, while paper cranes stealthily moved between the buildings, searching for their targets.

"Cough cough, Crocodile is finished."

The towering Masira captain on the nearby giant ship clutched his chest. "In terms of strength, I should be the one to take his place... The title of 'Gorilla King' terrifies me. Let's put that aside for now..."

"What does it matter? Dreams are what matter—"

"By the way, what class are you?"

"Of course I'm human, you idiot!"

"Haha, I thought you were Masira ~~"

"Hahaha~~"

Luffy started chatting and laughing with the other captain, which made Roman habitually rub his forehead.

This affability is something you really can't learn...

"Well, since you know apes, then you are my friends."

The captain of the deep-sea exploration vessel named Masira took charge, saying, "You're going to visit 'Wenblam Kulik'? That's perfect, he's the leader of our Monkey Mountain Alliance!"

"Then I'll have to trouble you to lead the way, hehehe~~"

And so, the Golden Merry, traveling smoothly with the exploration vessel, carried with it a variety of fresh fruits—from the orchards planted aboard the large ship. The group, noisy and bustling, arrived at the eastern coast of Jaya, where they were greeted by:

Wow, what a huge castle!

What appeared before them was a massive castle by the sea, which looked magnificent and imposing, but:

"Idiot... Open your eyes and look carefully."

Zoro leaned against the ship's railing with his eyes closed, looking disdainful.

"Rather than a dreamer... perhaps he's just vain?"

Sanji also flicked his cigarette butt.

As the Golden Merry docked—because the large deep-sea exploration vessel next to it couldn't approach the shore, Luffy and his crew first went to this building...

"Ah—it's just a piece of wood!"

Luffy the shore, he was utterly disappointed. The 'castle' in front of him was just a huge plywood board facing the sea! What they saw was merely a drawing on the board; the real building was a wooden house behind the giant board.

It's quite a difference between the seller's photos and the buyer's photos...

"By the way, why was he expelled from Jaya?" Nami asked, then immediately added.

"Roman is not allowed to answer!"

??

"OK, I don't know anything."

Roman rolled his eyes and couldn't be bothered with Nami, because the paper cranes he released had finally found their target!

One... can this even be considered a ship?

Looking at the ship in front of him, Roman didn't know what to say!

This is a raft, isn't it? It's definitely a raft! Four large logs tied together can set sail. Blackbeard, you're really something else.

Okay, although the log that is seven or eight meters in diameter and tens of meters long is a bit exaggerated, the log has cannons at the front, back and sides, and the ship is flying a pirate flag with three heads. Such a unique ship is undoubtedly Blackbeard's ship.

This is the place.

One by one, paper cranes flew inside, then automatically unfolded into sheets of white paper and were stuffed under the bed, behind the cabinet, into crevices, and even inside the cannon barrel...

Explosion Paper, Kilo Paper, Yellow Sand Paper...

Nami expended considerable energy to create a multitude of remotely controllable paper constructs, which she then 'sent' onto the unattended Blackbeard Pirates' ship, forcing Roman to even personally pilot the 'Golden Merry.' But it was all worth it—

"Come on, if you dare to chase after me, I'll send you to feed the sharks in the sea!"

The other members of the Blackbeard Pirates are not Devil Fruit users, so of course they are not afraid of seawater, but I don't believe that you, with your 'Dark-Dark Fruit', can learn to fly like other Logia Fruit users.

"Roman, what are you muttering about?"

"It's nothing," Roman, having arranged an escape route. He parked the Golden Merry, Sanji had already furled the sails, and Robin had been a great help. As for the others—

"Sorry to bother you,"

Luffy, oblivious to everyone else, pushed open the door of someone else's house and Luffy.

"Does someone live alone in this desolate place?"

Zoro looked around, seemingly looking for a good place to sleep. His daily routine consisted of nothing but frantic training and seizing every spare moment to sleep, something Roman envied immensely.

"Chopper, I heard there's gold here, dig it up!"

This is Nami, who heard that there is gold on Jaya Island.

"Huh? You think you can just dig up something like that?"

Chopper, in his reindeer form, dug in the dirt while asking a question.

In short, relying on them is unrealistic. Thankfully, Sanji (who hasn't encountered any women) and Robin (who hasn't seen any artifacts) are more reliable...

"What is this picture book?"

Usopp picked up a book from the table next to him and opened it.

"The Great Liar Noland..."

"Hey, is that your ancestor?"

Faced with Luffy's question, Usopp slammed his fist on the table and stood up!

"What do you mean by that?? This is a story from the famous tale of the Great Liar in Beihai, how could it possibly be—"

"They are my ancestors!"

??

Bang!

A shirtless man wearing only swimming trunks suddenly leaped out of the sea beside him.

"Who are you people? How dare you trespass on my territory! —Are you all here for the 'gold'?"

"Gold!"

In an instant, Nami's eyes turned golden, causing the diamond-shaped-faced man to attack with hostile eyes. "Just as I thought, die!"

Bang!

Sanji, who was closest to him, instinctively kicked out, but he immediately paid the price for his carelessness! — This old man is actually quite skilled.

In the midst of the punches and kicks, Sanji was actually being suppressed and was at a disadvantage!

Hmm, around 40 million in strength...

Roman, stroking his chin, subconsciously began to assess his opponent's strength. Just then, the Masira captain, who had arrived in a small boat, shouted, "Stop! Don't fight anymore!" Suddenly, the diamond-faced man clutched his chest and collapsed to the ground! This startled Sanji, who was fighting him, who immediately jumped back!

"He fell down on his own, it has nothing to do with me~~~"

"You all have to be my witnesses!"

"Who will lend him a hand..."

········

"Chopper, go take a look." Roman pointed to the diamond-faced uncle who looked like he was trying to scam someone. In this kind of situation, of course, a professional should step in.

"Don't gather around—"

"Open the window,"

"Make the towel a little cold..."

Soon, thanks to Chopper's first aid, the uncle who was moved into the house next door stabilized.

"This is Diver's Disease,"

Chopper wasn't like Roman, who was only good at treating external injuries; he quickly figured out the cause of the sudden collapse of the diamond-faced man.

"Diver's Disease refers to the condition caused when rapidly returning to normal atmospheric pressure from deep water. Nitrogen dissolved in body fluids quickly turns into bubbles due to the pressure change, causing an embolism. This air embolism is what caused the man to faint..."

"In short, it's a very strange phenomenon."

Luffy calmly (and somewhat foolishly) gave Chopper a summary.

·······

"Alright, someone go tell the Masira outside," Roman gestured back to the Masira captain who was sobbing uncontrollably on the lawn outside the room. —He was too big to fit into the house.

"Their leader is alright."

"I'll go," Usopp said, turning and walking away.

"However, given this uncle's physique..." Chopper hesitated before continuing after examining him.

"If it weren't for the long, arduous dives, he shouldn't have developed 'Diver's Disease'..."

This is a 'master' with a 40 million bounty! On Earth, he'd be a superhuman who could instantly dominate every Olympic event; breaking rocks on his chest, standing on his fists—all a piece of cake...

Didn't he say that before?

Roman waved the picture book in his hand; the cover featured a simple-minded man about to be executed.

"He is a descendant of the adventurer Noland from 400 years ago, and this is the 'Golden City' in Noland's stories, where there is a huge amount of gold."

"So, the reason he's been diving so much is quite obvious—"

An attempt to find vast amounts of gold in the sea, to wash away centuries of shame from their ancestors...

"Fart!"

The burly man with a diamond-shaped face, who had woken up at some point in the night, removed the towel from his forehead and slowly sat up.

"Wash away that guy's shame?"

"Whether that guy is Great Liar or a real adventurer, it has nothing to do with me!"

"But because of that guy, my childhood was a mess!"

"When I sailed here one day, I understood—"

The middle-aged man, who had just woken up, rolled out of bed. Although his steps were still trembling, his face showed an expression of absolute determination.

"This is my duel with 'him'!"

P. S.: I've got a five-game winning streak with Cai Wenji! As expected, if Old Sai's a must-pick. You guys have all cast 400 votes already... Okay, I'll get back to writing...