Nagato in One Piece - Chapter 8
On the Ark Maxim, Nagato formed a hand seal and then placed his right hand on the deck. Immediately, a dense array of black characters and symbols extended over almost the entire deck.
But after a few seconds, nothing happened.
“What is he doing?” Usopp, watching Nagato’s series of strange actions, couldn’t help but comment.
If Usopp had been present during Nagato’s fight with Enel, his typical fear and personality would have likely kept him silent.
“The Animal Path’s ability failed.” Nagato watched as the summoning seal on the deck faded without his chakra input. “I forgot, I’m not in that world anymore. It’s only natural that the summoning technique doesn’t work.”
“This is a miscalculation. Without the summoning beast for transport and storage in the summoning world, how am I going to carry all this gold?” Nagato frowned, looking at the enormous golden statue of a human face before him.
The failure of the summoning technique reminded him that the abilities of the two worlds were not entirely compatible. Simple calculations suggested that the Hell Path and even the Outer Path’s abilities might not work since both were tied to the Pure Land of the Naruto world.
Apart from the inconvenience of the failed Animal Path, the other limitations were manageable. Nagato had already consciously given up on the Hell Path’s abilities, which overlapped with the Human Path’s. He never intended to use the Outer Path’s Rinne Rebirth technique, as using it would cost him his life.
“I’ll have to do it myself.” Without the convenience of the Animal Path, Nagato prepared to manually transport the gold back to the ground as quickly as possible to exchange it for money.
Meanwhile, Chopper finally relaxed after stabilizing Wyper’s injuries. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his small hooves and suddenly spoke up, “Hey, Sky Knight, what does it mean to light the lamp of Shandora?”
“Light the lamp of Shandora?” Gan Fall looked confused, indicating he didn’t know.
“That is a story passed down through generations from the great warrior Calgara.” A voice came from behind.
Everyone turned to see an old man with a wolf pelt over his head, leaning on a cane, with three young men and women behind him.
“Wyper!” The young people with the old man hurried over to check on Wyper, who seemed to be young Shandian warriors and medical personnel brought over by the elder after the battle.
“Chieftain!” Wyper propped himself up to address the elder.
“Wyper,” the Shandian chieftain nodded and gestured for the young people to support Wyper. “Let’s take Wyper back.”
Seeing unfamiliar Blue Sea people and their ancient enemies from Angel Island, the chieftain was clearly reluctant to stay and chat.
“Old man!” Luffy called out to the departing Shandians.
Nami knew this was trouble the moment Luffy spoke. She couldn’t reach him in time to cover his mouth before he asked, “Do you know anything about the Golden Bell?”
“Golden Bell?” Both Nagato and the Shandians halted in their tracks.
“Just as I thought…” Nami wept silently, knowing Luffy had stirred up trouble.
Had they kept silent, the Straw Hat Pirates could have searched for the Golden Bell later. But now, with the red-haired stranger who killed Enel clearly after the gold, things had become complicated.
“Hmm!” Luffy, oblivious to Nami’s concerns, earnestly smiled at the chieftain. “Before we came to Sky Island, a man asked us to ring the Golden Bell. Uncle Chestnut said it sings, and we’re curious. It would be great if we could ring it and let Uncle Chestnut hear it, haha~”
Luffy laughed cheerfully, but the Shandians recognized something familiar in his words. Everyone became excited, especially Wyper, who struggled to his feet, grabbed Luffy’s collar, and shouted, “What’s that man’s name?”
“Name?” Luffy looked puzzled, scratching his head. “I can’t remember. Uncle Chestnut is just Uncle Chestnut.”
As Wyper was about to lose his mind, Robin answered for him, “Montblanc Cricket.”
“Montblanc…” Wyper loosened his grip on Luffy.
Robin continued, “His ancestor was Montblanc Noland, who supposedly reached the City of Gold. But when he returned and couldn’t find the gold, he was deemed a liar in the Blue Sea. It seems Shandora was lifted to Sky Island by the Knock Up Stream, so he couldn’t find the gold.”
“Gold…” Wyper muttered.
“Is something wrong, warrior?” Robin asked, noticing Wyper’s unusual behavior.
“It’s nothing. Please continue,” the chieftain said, his eyes hidden under the wolf pelt, his old hands clutching his cane, almost choking out his words.
Robin, puzzled, continued, “Cricket wants to know if his ancestor was a liar. He’s been searching for gold in the sea for years, never imagining the City of Gold is in the sky…”
“Gold…” Wyper trembled, finally shouting, “He wasn’t looking for gold! He was searching for Shandora’s song!”
Wyper’s eyes filled with tears as he continued, “Great warrior Calgara! Can you hear? Your friend, Montblanc Noland, never forgot Shandora. Even after 400 years, he waited for Shandora’s song! We betrayed that friendship!”
“Damn it all—!!!”
The iron-willed man who faced Enel head-on, even enduring severe injuries, now knelt in Shandora’s soil, weeping like a child.
“Light the lamp of Shandora…” Wyper, face down, struggled to stop crying and repeated the phrase.
“What does this mean, chieftain?” Robin asked, seeing the Shandian warriors in tears.
“This is a story passed down from the great warrior Calgara,” the chieftain said, trying to maintain composure. “Four hundred years ago, Noland arrived when our tribe was suffering from a plague. Noland and his crew saved us, but we blamed them for cutting down trees we believed housed our ancestors’ spirits, not knowing those trees were the source of the plague. When Noland left, Calgara realized the truth and sounded the Golden Bell to bid farewell. Calgara asked for Noland’s forgiveness, mending their friendship. Noland promised to return to Shandora guided by the bell’s song…”
“But for 400 years, we haven’t found the Golden Bell or reclaimed Shandora’s land…”
“For 400 years, we haven’t rung the bell, Shandora’s… lamp.”
Having told the story, the chieftain couldn’t hold back his tears any longer.
“Sob, sob…” Chopper and Usopp, overwhelmed by the story, cried alongside the Shandians.
“A touching story.” Just then, a voice interrupted.
Nagato appeared before the Shandians and said, “Please tell me everything you know about the light of Shandora, the Golden Bell.”
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