Somewhere on Sky Island, in Hidden Cloud Village.
The Shandia people's settlement.
Following the map Gan Fall had given him, Sakazuki brought Cricket here.
They had only just caught a glimpse of the camp.
Whoosh!
Three spears tore through the air, hurtling toward Sakazuki's heart, throat, and temple.
Sakazuki neither dodged nor ducked. He raised a finger.
Hiss...
The spears pierced his body, punching gaping holes through his heart, throat, and temple.
But a closer look revealed something wrong. No blood flowed out, only some magma.
The Shandia warrior facing him tensed.
Although Sky Island was cut off from the Blue Sea, they still knew a few basic things.
He pulled a weapon resembling a rocket launcher from his back.
Boom!
He fired a Burn Bazooka shot at Sakazuki.
At the same time, he blew his whistle to signal an enemy attack.
Sakazuki flicked his finger. Unlike his usual bullet-like Flying Finger Pistol,
this black magma bullet spun at tremendous speed, roaring as it shot forward.
A massive blast of air erupted along its path.
It cleared a cloudless passage directly in front of Sakazuki, stretching all the way to Hidden Cloud Village.
The magma bullet smashed through the incendiary round.
Then it struck the Shandia guard, but did not explode.
It simply kept flying forward, heading toward the Giant Vine in Hidden Cloud Village.
Just before it struck the Giant Vine, the pitch-black magma bullet rapidly swelled and writhed, enveloping the Shandia guard's entire body.
It quickly cooled and hardened, leaving only his nose and eyes exposed.
Boom!
It slammed into the Giant Vine, gouging a large crater into it.
The Shandia guard was uninjured, but he could not move a muscle.
The shrill whistle put every Shandia warrior on alert. They thought the sky dwellers were attacking.
In less than two seconds, all the Shandia people rushed from their houses with weapons in hand.
Yet they found no sign of an enemy, only a path cleared by a tremendous blast of air.
Two figures, one large and one small, were walking toward them along it.
Then a man about Gan Fall's age raised his right hand.
He signaled everyone not to act rashly and watched Sakazuki and Cricket approach.
He was the Shandia tribe's chief. Ancient ornaments adorned his body, and a wolf-head hide cap marked his distinctive status.
Everyone watched the approaching pair nervously, gripping their weapons, ready to attack at any moment.
"We mean you no harm."
Sakazuki spoke as he reached the entrance to Hidden Cloud Village, then raised his right hand, making everyone tense again.
Sakazuki pressed a finger downward, and the Shandia people heard something shifting behind them.
They turned to see a large crater in the Giant Vine.
As Sakazuki activated his power,
intense heat radiated outward from within the hardened magma, melting it again and sending it flowing onto the ground.
The freed Shandia guard jumped down.
Aside from a slight burn just now, he had no other injuries. He watched Sakazuki warily.
"State your business, Blue Sea man."
Seeing Sakazuki release the guard eased the chief's mind a little.
Still, he cautiously questioned the pair, whose appearance differed from that of Sky Island's people.
Sakazuki spoke:
"Do you know Noland?"
The chief's eyes widened instantly, disbelief spreading across his face.
He seemed shocked that anyone knew of their connection to Noland.
The last time had been countless years ago, when the tribe's chief had questioned an adventurer from the Blue Sea.
Only then had they learned news of Noland. Yet this man had brought him up himself.
But his shock lasted only a moment before he composed himself.
In a slightly hoarse but calm voice, he asked:
"How did you..."
"Looks like we've found the right place."
Sakazuki had only asked to confirm it.
Then he nudged Cricket forward.
"He's Noland's descendant. He came in search of Kalgara."
"What?!!!"
"Noland's descendant?!!!"
The Shandia people could hardly believe it.
Looking at Cricket's small figure, the chief trembled slightly. He opened his mouth, unsure what to say.
"It's true..."
Only then did he notice the chestnut-shaped crown of Cricket's head, exactly as the records passed down through the generations had described.
Unable to believe it, he shook with excitement as two streams of hot tears rolled down his face.
"Great Warrior Kalgara."
"Your sworn friend's descendant has come looking for you."
The chief crouched before Cricket, repeating words of delight, overwhelmed with excitement.
"Good, good, good."
Taking Cricket's hand, he invited Sakazuki into the village too, then called out to everyone.
"Bring out our very best to welcome our honored guests!!!"
"Yes!!!!"
The Shandia people's warmth shone through.
No one held anything back. The banquet bonfire had only just been lit, and already Cricket's table had no room left for food.
The chief sat beside Cricket, watching him with a tenderness that made him seem like his own child.
He chatted with Cricket, smiling all the while.
Elsewhere, the warrior who had been sent flying that day approached Sakazuki with a solemn expression, carrying a huge bowl of liquor.
"I offended you earlier today, mighty adventurer. Please forgive me."
Then he drained it in one gulp.
"It's nothing."
Sakazuki also raised a large bowl brimming with liquor, gestured to the warrior, and drained it in one gulp.
The banquet gradually reached its peak, with singing and dancing continuing until late into the night, when everyone fell asleep.
The chief and Great Warrior Kulen entered the pair's tent.
They smiled gently at the sleeping Cricket, while Sakazuki rose and followed them onto one of the Giant Vine's enormous leaves.
The three sat on the leaf, looking down at the village. The chief spoke first.
"Esteemed adventurer, I noticed that Cricket seemed to have something on his mind earlier."
"Aside from seeking traces of Great Warrior Kalgara, did you come here for another reason?"
Sakazuki nodded, looking down at the camp.
"Yes. There's one other thing."
"Gan Fall asked us to convey his wish for reconciliation."
Great Warrior Kulen, beside the chief, grew agitated. He was about to speak, but the chief stopped him.
Looking toward the tent where Cricket slept, the chief finally spoke after a long silence.
"Is that Cricket's wish too?"
Sakazuki watched the chief, who had remained silent for so long. If it was Cricket's wish, the Shandia people would surely accept it, since he was Noland's descendant.
"No."
"Cricket hasn't made a choice, so the decision is still yours."
The chief gave a somewhat relieved smile, his gaze growing even more tender as he looked at Cricket's tent.
But his mood darkened again a moment later. Four hundred years...
"What a joke! Can four hundred years of humiliation be erased with a single offer of reconciliation?!"
"These four hundred years...!!!"
"Enough, Kulen!"
The chief grabbed the agitated Kulen and rebuked him, though the heavy expression on his face showed that he, too, was far from calm.
"Four hundred years of hatred. It's understandable."
"No outsider has the right to interfere."
"By the way, the lost Lamp of Shandora."
"It's at the top of the Giant Vine that runs through Upper Yard."
Sakazuki's voice was calm. In matters like this, no one could decide for someone else.
Then he stood and jumped down from the Giant Vine's leaf, leaving the two of them alone.
It was bound to be a heavy night.
Early the next morning, Sakazuki led Cricket out of the tent. In the distance, the chief looked drained.
Seeing Cricket emerge, he rallied a little, smiled, and walked over.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Sakazuki... We..."
"I understand."
Sakazuki nodded and patted Cricket, prompting him to say goodbye to everyone.
It was time to leave. The Ark Maxim was their top priority.
The chief then called the tribe together, and they reluctantly bid Cricket farewell.
Watching the pair walk away, even Kulen, the tribe's strongest warrior, had tears in his eyes.
He turned toward the statue of Great Warrior Kalgara and gazed at it, lost in thought.
The Blue Sea.
Derrick Island, in the first half of the Grand Line.
The Land of Endless War and the Gartzberg Kingdom.
In a small town on the edge of the two nations' battlefield.
Thud!
A figure was flung to the ground. Several other figures lay nearby, unconscious and covered in blood.
They wore military uniforms, but all of them appeared to be children.
Scrape!
A jar scraped across the ground as a figure several times more muscular than the children lying there appeared.
He looked down at them, a bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes.
Crack!
The liquor jar smashed against the child in the middle and shattered, spilling strong liquor over the unconscious group.
The liquor seeped into their wounds, its sting jolting them awake.
"Hiss!!!!"
"Argh."
"What happened?"
"This is..."
"B-Bullet."
"What are you going to do?!!!"
Awakened by the alcohol stinging their wounds, they looked around in confusion and immediately spotted Bullet.
They forced down the fear in their hearts.
"Heh."
Bullet grinned and stepped forward.
He grabbed the neck of the first child who had called his name, choking off his voice.
The boy struggled in terror, but his arms and legs had all been broken...
"Mmph, mmph, mmph..."
Crack!
Bones snapped. The struggling boy went still, and Bullet flung him aside before moving on to the next.
"No, please!!!"
"Bullet, I was wrong!!!"
"Spare me!!!"
"It was all Bled's idea!!!!"
"He forced us all to do it!!!"
"Spare me!!"
"No...!!!"
"Mmph, mmph, mmph!!!!"
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
No matter how desperately they struggled, the merciless sound of bones shattering still exploded in their ears, before they sank into endless darkness.
Bullet walked over to the last man:
"Your turn."
He was the worst off of them all, with all four limbs broken and his tongue torn out.
He could only watch in terror as Bullet approached him, step by step.
Bled stared at the expressionless Bullet standing before him, fear consuming his entire body.
He thrashed frantically, but it was no use.
He could only watch helplessly as Bullet reached for his head.
Bang!
His head burst like a watermelon, splattering blood across Bullet's face. Paired with his bloodthirsty gaze, it made Bullet look grotesquely sinister and cruel.
Thud!
With a forceful yank, Bullet tore the medal from Bled's chest-the medal that should have belonged to him.
He picked up the medal and solemnly pinned it to the left breast of his military uniform.
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