The next morning, Ritasha returned with a large bag full of things to find Beckman, who was waiting for her on the nearby Island Cloud.
"These are the newspapers Dad read before he left... and this is what Dad bought before he left..." Ritasha brought quite a few things.
Beckman was most concerned with things like newspapers.
However, since there is no stable source of newspapers on the Sky Island, newspapers are not available every day. The newspaper that Ritasha's father read before he left may not have been the latest at the time.
"Does your father usually like to read newspapers?" Beckman asked, noticing how many newspapers there were.
Ritasha recalled for a moment, then shook her head and said, "It seems... it was around the time before I left that I suddenly became fascinated with newspapers, and even asked the Chieftain for a lot of old newspapers."
Beckman's eyes lit up upon hearing this—meaning that Ritasha's father must have regained his memory first, then tried to obtain some information from the newspaper, and only left in a hurry after learning what had happened!
Of course, there was no information about Wano Country in any of the newspapers...
Given the isolation of Wano Country, it's impossible for any news to be published there. Considering the assumption that he's from Wano Country, it's impossible to see what use these newspapers would be.
After receiving the newspapers, Beckman carefully examined the stack and found that most of them were arranged chronologically, but the top section was out of order.
Upon discovering this, Beckman's eyes lit up—it was very likely that these were newspapers that Ritasha's father had carefully read, and his departure was probably related to the information in them.
In addition, Lucky Roo, Yasopp, and Gennosuke went to Angel Island separately to inquire about which Blue Sea fleets had been traveling there seven or eight years ago, and six months ago, and whether anyone had seen "Yunlai" six months ago.
"Yunlai" was the name Ritasha's father gave her when they were on Sky Island...
He appeared on the Sky Island and then disappeared from Sky Island; he must have taken some kind of ship.
The former is related to clues about Yunlai's identity, while the latter is related to clues about where he went.
With everyone working separately, the previously clueless situation gradually began to fall into place.
The ships that arrived here seven or eight years ago when Yunlai appeared are now lost to history, and even the people of Angel Island can't remember them.
However, the ship left six months ago...
"Six months ago, a Crying Pirates left Angel Island and boarded the platform cloud of the High-Speed Sky Road that floated over. They were probably trying to take the High-Speed Sky Road back to the Blue Sea. The timing coincides with the time Yunlai disappeared," Lucky Roo said while gnawing on some meat.
"High-Speed Sky Road? That means the West Blue? That's perfect. There are several reports here, all related to the West Blue, the Flower Country, and the Eight Treasure Navy." White then pulled out a few newspapers; he had also helped look for clues earlier.
The entrance/exit of the High-Speed Sky Road at the Blue Sea end is located in the West Blue -Zhantai cloud area, where ships can disembark when the clouds drift into the vortex of the West Blue Sea Cloud.
The "Flower Country" is also a major power in the West Blue. More famous than the Flower Country itself are its eight naval forces, especially the "Eight Treasure Navy"!
Similar to the Germa Kingdom, they were like "mercenaries" and were once considered an illegal organization by the World Government.
Eighteen years ago, during the "post- God Valley Era" and "pre- Great Pirate Era," the naval Garp the Hero fought a great battle against "Chinjao," a pillar of the Eight Treasure Navy.
However, since the "Flower Country" is now Affiliated Nation, it can be considered a gray area for the time being.
Indeed, several newspapers that Yunlai specifically follows have news related to "Eight Treasure Navy" and "Flower Country".
"Wano Country ... Flower Country ... Which side?" Yasopp scratched his head, then looked at Beckman.
"Let's wait for the Captain to return! We definitely need to go to the West Blue first," Beckman said.
The Crying Pirates probably just hitched a ride on their ship, but it's clear that Yunlai also went to the West Blue.
Wano Country is in the "New World," which is the latter half of the Grand Line. The latter half of the Grand Line is sandwiched between the West Blue and the North Blue. Since Sig can "command" Sea King, he can enter the New World directly from either the West Blue or the North Blue.
"Where is the Captain?" Yasopp asked, puzzled.
"I went to find that Old Man with Sig," Lucky Roo replied. The Old Man he was referring to was none other than Gan Fall.
Meanwhile, Shanks obtained from Gan Fall the tax Record of ships that entered the Sky Island seven or eight years ago, around the time Yunlai appeared there!
Upon entering Angel Island normally, a head tax will be paid at the platform.
Of course, there's also the possibility that the landing point was wrong, the platform was bypassed, or that the payment wasn't made for various other reasons. Gan Fall's team certainly doesn't have the same level of pursuit and collection efforts as Enel's team years later in the original work...
However, it can at least serve as a reference!
Gan Fall recognized Shanks as a descendant of Roger's crew and treated him in Upper Yard with a completely different attitude than he would towards any other visitor from the Blue Sea.
On his long, old face, one could even see a hint of a smile.
"Alas, when I first heard the news of Roger's execution, I was deeply saddened," Gan Fall said, a wave of emotion washing over him as he recalled the event.
"Lord Gan Fall, I actually have another request... I wish to go with Sig to see the Poneglyph beneath that Golden Bell again, would that be alright?" Shanks made his request, which was also the Oldest One reason he came here.
Gan Fall paused for a moment upon hearing this, then looked at Sig and asked, "Hmm? Can he recognize those characters too?"
Gan Fall clearly remembered that Kozuki Oden of Roger's men, had deciphered the Skypiea script.
"You'll only know if you try," Shanks said, not giving a definitive answer.
After a slight hesitation, Gan Fall nodded and said, "Since it's you... then come with me."
Gan Fall usually doesn't want the pirates from the Blue Sea to know about the Golden City, since there are strong members among the pirate crews that come to Sky Island, and... the Blue Sea person really like gold!
However, since it's Shanks, firstly, it's out of trust in him, and secondly... Shanks already knew about the Golden City, so there's no issue of secrecy.
Gan Fall then took Shanks and Sig to Skypiea.
Sig then discovered that there was more gold here than he had imagined; even the exterior of the buildings was constructed from large gold bricks!
The gold bricks used in the construction were of slightly lower purity, but the giant golden bell in the city center, judging from how it gleamed in the sunlight, was made of extremely pure gold.
"This is what the Skypiea people have guarded for generations..." Sig's exclamation drew disapproving glances from McKinley and the other guards beside G. Fall.
I always felt that Sig was deliberately mocking them.
"I was quite startled when I first saw it," Shanks said, a look of reminiscence on his face. Back then, he was just an apprentice crew member on Roger's ship.
"This doesn't seem like the scale that an island could produce on its own, and there aren't any gold mines on Jaya Island either..." Sig then remembered the message he had seen in the "Between the Gods."