Duel to the Death

"Whoa, they came charging right to our door!" Usopp shouted in panic.

"What did you do to the old man?!" the ape-man demanded furiously.

"We just saw that this old guy was sick, so we took care of him," Luffy explained calmly.

"They're not going to listen!" Usopp was already preparing to run.

"So that's what happened. You really are good people!" the ape-man and the gorilla said through tears.

"They actually listened to us," Usopp said in disbelief.

"You live here too?" Luffy quickly hit it off with the ape-man and the gorilla.

"Yeah, the old man's house is the headquarters of our Saruyama Alliance." Both sides seemed to have forgotten their earlier conflict and began chatting happily.

"How can they get along with Luffy so well?" Sanji asked, thoroughly baffled.

"Because they're alike," Zoro said.

"They're both monkeys, Monkey?" Li Ziming came out carrying several bottles of liquor. "Want some?"

"Thanks." Zoro took a bottle, but Sanji shook his head and merely lit himself a cigarette. Li Ziming then took the rest of the liquor over to Luffy.

"Luffy, the old guy's awake!" Chopper called out to Luffy and the others.

"Oh, I've got something to ask that square-faced old guy!" Luffy temporarily ended his conversation with the ape-man and the gorilla and walked into the cramped house.

"Sorry for causing you trouble." Mont Blanc lit himself a cigarette and said helplessly to Luffy, "I thought you were here to steal gold."

"You have gold here?" Nami asked excitedly.

"If he had gold, would he still be living here?" Li Ziming immediately crushed Nami's hopes.

"Forget the gold, old man. We want to go to Sky Island. Since you're Noland's descendant, you should know how to get there," Luffy said matter-of-factly.

"A way to Sky Island?" Mont Blanc seemed to have heard the funniest thing in the world. "Hahaha, you really believe Sky Island exists?"

"Huh? Sky Island doesn't exist?" Luffy asked irritably.

"Who knows?" Mont Blanc looked utterly uninterested. "Maybe only one person did, but that man was a world-famous liar. Even his descendants have been mocked by everyone."

"Maybe it wasn't just Noland. Perhaps you should count me too?" Li Ziming shrugged. "I believe Sky Island exists as well."

"Kid, you're not joking, are you? Everyone knows it's just a joke, nothing more than some boring lie from that great liar Noland." Mont Blanc seemed a little angry. "Because of that man, his descendants have been cursed and spat upon for generations."

"Because of that one man, his family was exiled by the king. But even so, not one of his relatives ever resented him." Mont Blanc spoke as though telling a story.

"Why?" Luffy became an excellent listener.

"Because Noland was an utterly honest man!" Mont Blanc's words did not shock the others very much. Li Ziming had kept insisting that Sky Island existed, and they had already come to believe it in their hearts.

"Then, old man, you've kept searching for the underwater city of gold to clear your ancestor's name!" Usopp looked at Mont Blanc with admiration.

"What nonsense are you talking about?!" Mont Blanc looked furious. "No matter how honest and upright that ancestor was, no matter how great an adventurer he was, it has nothing to do with me!"

Mont Blanc seemed ready to vent all the resentment he had buried for years. "Can you imagine it?! A child getting cursed at by strangers just because he had the tiniest trace of blood relation to that man?! I grew up in that kind of environment!"

After venting, Mont Blanc seemed to calm down somewhat. "Actually, you're not wrong. For four hundred years, many people have gone into the sea to search for the underwater gold, trying to prove that our ancestor did not lie, but most of them vanished without a trace." Mont Blanc looked deeply troubled. "I was ashamed of such a family, so I left. I became a pirate."

"But unbelievably, I came to this island." Mont Blanc spoke as if he had given up on everything. "Funny, isn't it? I, the one who hated Noland most, came to this island. It's like a curse! In the end, I realized it was fate's choice!"

Mont Blanc's eyes filled with fighting spirit. "Noland is provoking me! I chose to remain on this island. Whether it exists or not, gold is not my goal, and I have no interest in proving Noland's innocence! I only want a duel to the death with the man who ruined my entire life!" Mont Blanc swung his fist fiercely, as though Noland stood right in front of him.

"What a hero!" Usopp was completely moved by Mont Blanc's story.

"Then what about those monkeys?" Luffy asked in confusion. "Why are they here with you?"

"Those guys?" A hearty smile appeared on Mont Blanc's face when he mentioned the monkeys. "Those two are a pair of oddballs who long for undersea adventures, and they're fans of the picture book too. Five or six years ago, they came running over, insisting on becoming my subordinates, saying the city of gold really existed."

"I'm grateful to them." Mont Blanc listened to the noisy commotion outside and smiled happily. "These waters are deep. Being alone in that black, dark seawater makes the loneliness feel even worse. Day after day, I dove by myself, until one day those two idiots came running over and stubbornly insisted on becoming my subordinates. They really are two thickheaded fools." Mont Blanc cursed them with his words, but he did not look angry at all.

"Old man, we don't want to hear stories about monkeys. We want to go to Sky Island!" Luffy said unhappily.

Mont Blanc seemed surprised by Luffy's drive. "Heh heh, you're quite impatient. The only witness to Sky Island was the great liar Noland. If you get involved with him, you'll be laughed at just like me." Though he said that, he still took a book from his shelf. "This is Noland's sailing log."

"Does it contain proof that Noland went to Sky Island?" Luffy asked excitedly.

"Unfortunately, it doesn't say that." Mont Blanc spoke regretfully, then flipped the log open to a page and handed it to Nami. "Read this page."

Nami first marveled at the four-hundred-year-old sailing log in her hands, then began reading its contents. It mentioned Wavers, Sky Fish, and the Sky Sea.

"Ziming, what's a Waver?" Luffy asked, finding what he heard quite interesting.

"Simply put, it's a kind of boat, except its power source is very special. It can't be made anywhere except Sky Island." Li Ziming shrugged. "Sky Island is different from where we live. They use something called Dials. Different Dials have different abilities, and Skypieans use them as energy sources or weapons."

Mont Blanc stared at Li Ziming in astonishment, deeply surprised that he knew such things. But then he shook his head and walked outside, leaving behind the still-celebrating crowd.

"Old man, are you feeling better?" the ape-man asked.

"Never better." Mont Blanc waved a hand. "Let me ask you two something. What do you think of those guys?"

"Why are you asking that?" the gorilla asked, not understanding.

"Because those guys seem to be heading for Sky Island." Mont Blanc's words made the gorilla and the ape-man freeze.

"Sky Island?" The gorilla fell into thought. "There's only that one way."

"But those guys will definitely die without even a grave if they try it," the ape-man said solemnly.

"Then let's give them a hand."