As the Golden Bell rang out, its beautiful chime reached Jaya in the Blue Sea. By then, though, few people left alive could hear it.
The civilians who had survived because they were neither pirates nor criminals looked up at Kong, trembling amid the Undead Legion. They remembered a legend long told on the island.
The golden city of Shandora was real!
"Huh? Where's that bell coming from?"
Crocodile heard it too. He hauled up a half-dead pirate. "Hey. Do you know?"
"Cough, cough! Yes, I know!"
Terrified by the slaughter, the pirate told Crocodile everything he knew about Shandora's legend. It did him no good. As soon as the story ended, Crocodile drove his Scorpion Poison Hook through the pirate's temple and killed him.
"Mont Blanc Noland..."
Murmuring the name, he turned toward the civilians gathered nearby. The bare-chested man between two great apes stood out at once.
"He was your ancestor, wasn't he, Mont Blanc Cricket?"
Crocodile had always believed Sky Island was a legend too. While amassing wealth in Alabasta, he had even considered going after the golden city.
But reaching Sky Island was dangerous enough, let alone returning alive. Even without Enel's tyranny, almost no one knew the truth. Sky Island could only remain a legend.
Cricket did not answer. He was too stunned to speak. He had spent years diving beneath the sea in search of the golden city. Even a trace of gold would have proved it existed. Only today had he learned that it had not sunk into the sea, as his ancestor had guessed. It had risen into the sky.
No wonder no one had ever found it.
At Crocodile's question, he paused, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it with trembling hands. Then he let out a long breath.