Golden Island Adventure (5)

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If the whale's head faced east, then its tail pointed toward the hidden treasure.

However, when the Straw Hat Pirates arrived before the whale-shaped rock and examined it closely, they discovered that the whale's tail was not pointing toward the buildings to the west at all, but toward a cliff to the north.

Clearly, those idiots from Eldoraggo's crew had been too eager for results. They probably had not come here at all, or they would have noticed that the whale's tail was not pointing west, but curving north.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get over there!" Nami hurriedly urged them on, eager to find the gold. Though no one else would come out to fight them for it now, she still wanted to see that endless treasure with her own eyes as soon as possible.

After all, it was the treasure left behind by the legendary "Golden Thief," Woonan. She was already figuring out how to haul away such an enormous amount of gold. The Golden Merry certainly could not hold it all, and it would easily draw the attention of others. Then Nami suddenly stared at William, making him shiver even though he had no idea what she was thinking. Clearly, she intended to use his Devil Fruit ability to help her transport the gold.

"Who's sneaking around behind us?" Zoro suddenly stopped halfway there and shouted warily.

"So it's you. You scared us to death!" Once Usopp saw that Tobio was the one following them, his guard eased considerably.

"You're going to find Woonan, right? Take me with you!" Since he had been discovered, Tobio knew he could not keep hiding and could only step out to make his request.

"Sure!" Luffy did not think having one more person around would make any difference. Since the captain had spoken, the others naturally had no objections.

But they did not know that another pair of eyes was watching them from afar behind Tobio. If they had remained vigilant, the Straw Hat Pirates might have noticed sooner or later, but they had let down their guard.

"Woonan is up on this cliff?" Tobio gazed at the towering cliff and asked expectantly.

"Who knows?" William knew that the person up there was not Woonan at all, and that none of the gold Woonan had once taken was hidden here. But he could not explain those things to everyone. Besides, their goal was not truly the gold; they were simply here for adventure.

"I can't wait to ask him to join my crew!" Luffy was so excited that he could barely contain himself. He immediately began climbing the cliff, hoping to find a companion quickly and then set off to adventure on the Grand Line.

"Get up there already!" Nami, just as impatient, urged them onward. Her thoughts were simple: find the gold Woonan had left behind as quickly as possible. Once she found it, she would have enough money to buy back a certain village. Of course, that also meant she would leave the Straw Hat Pirates.

Yet when she thought about leaving them, she felt a faint sense of loss. She had not spent long with the Straw Hat Pirates, but every day had been happy. Ever since what happened ten years ago, she had never truly been happy again. But now things were different. She smiled every day.

A goofy idiot of a captain, a mysterious strategist, a sleep-loving, directionless swordsman, and a bragging sniper—she had not lived with those four for long, but it had truly been fun. Nami felt that if she ever got the chance again, she would definitely adventure alongside the Straw Hat Pirates. Clearly, in her heart, they were no longer the pirates she hated. At the very least, they were the only pirate crew she did not hate.

"There's a cave? Are you Woonan? I'm Luffy, the man who'll become the Pirate King. Join my crew!" Luffy spotted a cave atop the cliff and immediately stretched out his arms to climb inside, only to find a man who looked like an old uncle sitting within.

When William and the others, still outside, heard Luffy's voice and learned that someone was inside, they instinctively assumed Woonan was still alive. All of them wanted to behold the legendary "Golden Thief" for themselves.

"Grandpa? Where's Woonan?" Tobio was shocked when he saw the old man sitting inside the cave. He could not believe his grandfather would be in a place like this.

"Luffy, isn't this the uncle who sells oden?" Everyone was exasperated by Luffy's face blindness. They had met this man not long ago—how had he forgotten him so quickly?

"So Uncle is Woonan? Then be our cook!" They had clearly told Luffy that the old man was not Woonan, yet he still mistook Tobio's grandfather for Woonan and wanted him to become their ship's cook.

"Have you had enough, brat?" Tobio's grandfather, Iwazō, finally said impatiently.

"Uncle, you must have been close to Woonan, right? Could you tell us about him?"

"Fine. Consider it the fee for your one Beli." Though Uncle Iwazō mentioned the one Beli, it was merely an excuse.

What could one Beli even do? It probably would not be worth picking up if it fell on the ground. But judging from how cheaply Uncle Iwazō sold his oden, he was not someone who cared about money.

According to Uncle Iwazō, Woonan had been his childhood friend, and Woonan's father had been the master who taught Iwazō how to make oden. But Iwazō loved oden. He believed gold could neither smile nor be eaten, and could not bring people happiness at all. Woonan, however, believed gold was the only thing of value. Oden was merely ordinary food, utterly incomparable to gold.

Later, Woonan formed his own pirate crew and began seizing gold from evil people. It was said that the gold in Woonan's possession had once accounted for one-third of the world's total, though no one knew whether that was true. Still, Woonan did possess so much gold that he eventually earned the title of "Golden Thief" and became one of the legendary pirates.

Though decades had passed, Iwazō, Woonan's childhood friend and Tobio's grandfather, believed that one day Woonan would return to this island and be willing to eat the oden he cooked.

"So you don't know where Woonan is now either?" Usopp asked.

"No. His house is still empty to this day." Uncle Iwazō's expression was calm. Perhaps he too knew that, after being missing for so many years, Woonan was likely dead. Based on what he knew of Woonan, if Woonan had stopped pursuing the gold he loved and had not returned to this island, then he must have met with some misfortune.

"Why not take us there? Maybe we'll find something." Since they had come across him, William felt it was only right to help the old man settle a lingering concern.

Besides, if they did not find the gold Woonan had left behind, Nami, who had been thinking about it nonstop, probably would not be willing to leave. And to keep this adventure from ending in regret, they needed to visit Woonan's former home and seek the truth.

"This was Woonan's old home? There's nothing here." Nami said disappointedly.

However, Zoro noticed a fireplace inside the house that looked terribly out of place. He pushed it hard, revealing a tunnel behind it. Just when all seemed hopeless, a new path appeared.

"Danger!" William and Zoro shouted almost at the same time.

Though Luffy did not know what was happening, he instinctively grabbed Tobio and his grandfather and dashed out of the house. Zoro swiftly took Usopp, who was closest to him, and fled outside as well. William, meanwhile, instinctively wrapped his arms around Nami and used Shave to escape.

Boom! With a deafening blast, Woonan's former home was blown into ruins. Dust filled the air, and everyone was buried beneath the rubble.

Luffy used his rubber body to shield Tobio and Iwazō from the falling stones. Zoro and Usopp had only suffered a few scratches and were otherwise unharmed. As for William, he used the Six Powers' Iron Body to protect both himself and Nami, and neither of them was injured.

"What happened?" Even William and Zoro, who had noticed the danger first, had only sensed it and shouted on instinct. They did not know exactly what had occurred.

"No idea, but this attack feels familiar!" They did not need to keep guessing, however. The person who had attacked them was already standing before them.

[Thank you all for your continued support. During this Qidian 515 Fan Festival, there will be the Authors' Hall of Honor and the Works General Election, and I hope everyone can lend their support. There are also red packet gift packs during the festival, so claim them and keep those subscriptions going!]