If This Sound Could Reach Them, This Journey Would Not Have Been in Vain
Silent Golden Country- Shandora.
After many years, it has once again welcomed its visitors.
However, unlike many years ago, the last time it came to the sea, it was pirates; this time, it's the Marines.
What's somewhat twisted is that when the pirates came back then, they didn't take any of the gold here, but now that the Marines has come, they want to take all the gold.
Beneath that enormous golden bell, a Poneglyph is embedded in the base of the bell.
"The Poneglyph ..." Yixiao stood next to Ortolan, reached out and touched the thing, and said, "It's rumored to be indestructible, I wonder if it's true?"
"In a way, yes. Without special techniques, it's impossible to destroy it..." Ortolan replied casually.
As far as he knew, the only person capable of leaving a mark on this stone was a so-called 'stonemason'.
"Admiral, here, here, there's another Ancient Script here!" Hina, pointing to the golden base next to the Poneglyph as if she had discovered something.
Both Yixiao and Ortolan had seen it; there was indeed a passage inscribed in Ancient Script, and judging from the marks, it shouldn't be very old.
"Has someone already been here before us?" Yixiao asked in surprise.
"Yes, the Roger Pirates. They were here before. That Ancient Script must have been written down by them," Ortolan said.
"So, there really were people in Roger Pirates who could decipher the Poneglyph and Ancient Script..." Ichisho remarked with a sigh. "I wonder what they wrote?"
"It's Kozuki Oden, a native of Wano Country, currently the Second Division Commander under Whitebeard... He's a descendant of a stonemason family from Wano Country. Legend has it that they were the ones who inscribed Ancient Script onto the Poneglyph, so it's normal that he would inherit related knowledge," Ortolan explained with a chuckle.
After a slight pause, he spoke in a slightly somber tone, with a touch of pretentiousness, as he read the passage aloud, "I have come here to guide this text to the ends of the world..."
As soon as Ortolan finished speaking, Yi Xiao looked at him with some confusion at first, but then seemed to realize something and looked at Ortolan with a shocked gaze, saying, "You can also read Ancient Script?"
Ortolan raised his chin with a slightly arrogant air and said in a haughty tone, "Who do you think I am? I am the top scorer in all subjects of the first Marines Officer Training Camp. A perfect scorer in all subjects? Not only in combat, but also in culture!"
Yi Xiao, having been brought back to the Marines by Ortolan and never having attended any Officer Training Camp, was momentarily genuinely convinced. He looked at Ortolan with surprise and asked, "Can we learn Ancient Script at our Marines academy? Is that so scary? Isn't it illegal?"
Hina glanced at Ortolan, then looked at Yixiao and said, "Yixiao, don't be so easily fooled by the Admiral. It'll make you seem naive..."
"Huh?" Yixiao was stunned for a moment, then realized what she meant and said with a bit of embarrassment and annoyance, "You bastard, still making up jokes at a time like this! I may not have gone to school, but Hina certainly did. How come she didn't know that the Marines teaches this?"
Ortolan was slightly embarrassed, but still maintained his arrogant demeanor, saying, "Hmph, this is Chief Fortune, you wouldn't understand..."
"Smoker is also a chief, but he didn't study it," Hina said, exposing Ortolan's excuse.
"Hahahaha... Just kidding, why take it so seriously? It's really boring." Ortolan was completely exposed, and after a forced laugh, he walked to the side to study what this Golden Bell was all about.
Yixiao and Hina didn't continue to make things difficult for him. The two of them gathered around the text and tried to guess its meaning.
"If the Roger Pirates left a message, what does it mean? Could it be the coordinates of Laugh Tale?" Issho pondered.
"There are many hidden treasures on the sea, as famous as the Golden Country, the Emerald City, and the Gem Sea. Could these be the coordinates of these two places? Has the Roger Pirates actually found all three of these legendary treasures?" Hina said with a look of envy and jealousy.
As Ortolan listened to their speculations, he climbed up to the side of the golden bell.
He didn't explain, saying he hadn't said anything wrong, and told them to guess.
Reaching out to stroke the heavy golden bell, wiping away some of the dust, Ortolan's gaze was slightly complicated.
"Vinbrand Noland... you're not some big talker, you're a true adventurer..." Ortolan murmured to himself.
As Ortolan murmured these words, the sunlight in the sky, as time passed, fell upon Ortolan and the golden figure, casting their shadows onto the White White Sea beyond Shandora.
Meanwhile, on the sea surface near Jaya Island in the First Half of Grand Line.
A small salvage boat was moored here. A figure broke through the water's surface, panting heavily, clearly having just finished diving.
This man was none other than the young Venblas Culrick, a descendant of Venblas Noland, the Liar, four hundred years later.
He had always wanted to find the Golden Country that his ancestors spoke of, to wash away the slander and humiliation his family had suffered for hundreds of years.
But he had been on Jaya Island for a long time, and apart from finding some scattered gold artifacts in the surrounding waters, he had not made any other gains.
After climbing onto the salvage vessel, Kulik casually wiped the seawater off his face with a towel from the mast, and then took out a pack of cigarettes from the clothes nearby.
He leaned against the edge of the railing, a little forlorn, lit a cigarette, and looked at the calm sea.
Just then, the previously clear sky suddenly darkened, as if something had blocked the light.
This made Kulik look up at the sky, and he froze on the spot. His pupils dilated rapidly, and his expression became shocked, yet also complicated.
He saw it, the shadow coming from the clouds, a man with horns on his head, touching a huge bell!
The shadow of that bell-ringing figure perfectly matches the outline of the image passed down in his family!
That clock might just be the Golden Bell of the Golden Country!
Under his shocked and complicated gaze, the shadows in the clouds began to move, and the man seemed to use a nearby pillar to smash into the golden bell.
As the shadows shifted, the golden bell began to sway, but only for a moment. The man stood there for a moment before turning and leaving.
At the same time, the sun's rays swept across the area, and the shadows in the clouds gradually disappeared.
Just as the shadow of the golden bell was about to dissipate, a crisp, invigorating bell rang out, as if from a heavenly palace in the clouds. It broke through a distance in the high sky, reaching Blue Sea, reaching Jaya Island, and reaching this sea area!
"Cough..." Kulik's originally complicated expression suddenly collapsed, and tears and snot streamed down his face.
He first broke down in tears, but soon he couldn't control himself and burst into uncontrollable, maniacal laughter.
"It's true... it's true..." Kulik trembled as he leaned against the railing of the deck, covering his face with his hands, tears streaming uncontrollably from between his fingers.
A moment later, his trembling body finally calmed down. On the empty sea, Kulik suddenly opened his arms as if to embrace the whole world, and shouted, "The Golden Country really exists!!! Wenbrand Noland is not some big talker, he is the greatest adventurer!!!"
But no one heard his shouts.
But it doesn't matter anyway. Kulik doesn't need any audience. He's just... announcing it to the world.
On the other side, there's Shandora.
Hina looked at her Admiral, who had just come down from the Golden Bell, with some curiosity and couldn't help but ask, "Admiral, why did you ring that bell?"
Ortolan smirked and said, "It's nothing... I just thought we should knock on it... Wouldn't that be more romantic?"
After saying this, he looked up at the Golden Country from his vantage point and murmured to himself, "I wonder if this bell from four hundred years ago can reach those who need it? If it can... then this trip will not have been in vain."