Chapter 687 Ship Spirit

"… Just like that, four hundred years ago, Mont Blanc Noland, an adventurer and botanist from the North Sea, brought advanced medical knowledge to our ancestors, dispelled the superstition of blood sacrifice on the island at that time, rescued the daughter of the great warrior Calgra, and also eliminated the tree fever plague on the island, successfully saving our ancestors… The great warrior Calgra and Noland put aside their past grudges and became close friends. The two of them drank and talked happily, hunted together, and exchanged cultures on the island and overseas.

"Although there was a misunderstanding before parting that was quickly resolved... the great warrior Kalgara felt sorry for wrongly accusing his best friend, and roared loudly at the departing ship, promising that in order to ensure that the ship of his friend who came next time would not get lost at sea and would be able to find this island even in the most violent storm, he swore that he would definitely use the loudest bell... to welcome his best friend..."

The ancient and primitive Hidden Village in the Clouds was filled with many people, including local Shandia residents and pirates from the Blue Sea.

There is Weber, the descendant of the great warrior Kargra, and there is Mont Blanc Kulik, the descendant of Mont Blanc Noland.

Chief Shandia recounted this regrettable past four hundred years ago by the campfire...

Even though it was not the first time they heard it, many residents of Shandia were still moved to tears and wiped their eyes silently.

The chief's eyes were filled with turbid tears. He said slowly, "But a surge of sea current changed everything. Half of Gaya Island brought our hometown from four hundred years ago to this ten thousand meter high sky. The people of Sky Island four hundred years ago saw such a large piece of real land and went crazy. They fought with our ancestors on the island... In the end, we were defeated. We were driven away from our homeland.

"The great warrior Kalgara led the warriors of his tribe, fighting desperately every day to regain their homeland and the golden bell... until the last drop of blood was shed, he was full of guilt and was still thinking about it...

"'Didn't we make an appointment? Noland...'

"'One day, we'll meet again.'

"'I wonder what you will think when you come to Gaya again and can't find us?'

"'Wait a moment. I will ring the golden bell now. Even in this 10,000-meter high sky, you can hear the sound of the bell, right?'

"'I must light the lights of Shandora... Can you hear me? We are here!'"

The old chief spoke with some emotion. Of course, even if he told the story in a plain and straightforward manner, this regrettable event from four hundred years ago was enough to touch people's hearts - especially for those young men who yearn for manly romance, it can be said to be a heavy blow to the heart and even the soul.

“Wuwuwuwuwu…” Usopp and Chopper had already cried their eyes out, their faces twisted with snot and tears. “It’s so painful! Until the very end, we were not able to convey our thoughts to each other, and we died alone in battle on this 10,000-meter-long sky island… Wuwuwuwuwu…”

"Alas..." The old chief took a deep breath, woke up, and sighed, "Later, pirates from the North Sea came to Sky Island and told us that our great benefactor Noland... died in the blue sea in order to protect the reputation of our golden city Shandora! Even though he was labeled a 'big liar', he insisted until his death that our hometown Shandora really existed... But at that time, the great warrior Kalgara had already passed away. Both of them never heard any news about their best friend before they died..."

The old chief fumbled around on his body for a while and actually pulled out a book that was so old that it looked unrecognizable.

Nami was surprised and asked, "Isn't this the storybook that Uncle Chestnut Head has at home?"

"Folk Tales of the North Sea: Noland the Great Liar"... Sanji, who was born in the North Sea, has read this book since he was a child. He could not help but remain silent, lit a cigarette, took a puff, and after a while, slowly exhaled.

"Sometimes I wonder..." The old chief flipped open the yellowed and rotten storybook, and stroked the worn pages with his rough fingers. The funny image of the "big liar" Noland smiled foolishly like a clown and said, "Oh, I know, those mountains of gold sank to the bottom of the sea." The old chief sighed, "The great warrior Kalgara didn't hear Noland's final ending and didn't see such a book before his death. Perhaps this is the luckiest thing in this story..."

“Wuwuwu… If he knew that his best friend died in vain…” Usopp burst into tears on the spot, tears streaming down his face, “How painful his heart would be… Wuwuwu, ahhh…”

"Haha," Luffy held his head and laughed. This laugh was obviously inappropriate. Even Nami, who was not interested in the so-called manly romance, couldn't help but feel sad and regretful for the past four hundred years. Seeing Luffy suddenly laugh out loud, she was also a little nervous. Don't be stupid, kid, be careful not to annoy the people around you and get beaten to death! Luffy ignored the strange looks around him and smiled, "Fortunately, uncle came with us to Sky Island! Now we can finally fulfill our promise, right?"

This simple sentence moved all the Shandians to tears. Usopp burst into tears again. Aisha and the female warrior Laqi, who were standing next to the old chief, said sadly: "But, the lights of Shandora, the golden bell... are still on the island, under the control of Enelu..."

"Just beat him up! Right?"

Luffy ate the fish feast prepared by Sanji with a smile, his eyes were firm, "He is annoying, Xingzai is my friend, he stole Xingzai's master, I wanted to beat him up too!"

The voice of the straw hat boy beside the campfire faded away, and Weber and Mont Blanc walked together to the middle of the Shandia Cloud Village.

"Fu..." Mont Blanc hugged his muscular arms, looked up at the statue of the great warrior Kalgara, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said with a smile, "Let's go deal with that Enelu tomorrow, count me in?"

He raised his fist, and Weber next to him raised his fist and bumped it with him without saying anything.

Bang.

Fists apart, there is another story being told by the campfire behind...

It was Robin, who was telling everyone the story of the whale Rab and the Rumba Pirates. However, her tone was not as expressive as the old chief's, and it seemed straightforward, even a little cold and gloomy... However, a whale who values ​​friendship and loyalty, and a lonely drifter who is left with only a skeleton after death, the same story about a promise, still made Usopp, Chopper and others cry again.

"I didn't expect that whale to have such a story..." Nami sighed, "No wonder it has so many scars on its head..."

In the story, Robin deliberately concealed himself and Lynch.

Robin had recalled the past events over and over again, and she didn't want to tell anyone else about them. She didn't want to expose her fragile wounds in front of anyone except Lynch.

"Okay! It's decided then!"

Luffy clashed his fists and said with a determined smile, "Let's go to the Island of Something tomorrow and defeat that annoying Enelu! Save Xingzai's master and take back the Golden Bell!"

Before that, let's eat and drink to our heart's content! With Luffy and Usopp livening up the atmosphere, even a relatively serious tribal village like Shandia was also influenced by the atmosphere. Soon, even Nami was playing with the little girl Aisha. Everyone sang and danced around the lit bonfire, drank and ate meat, and cheered for the battle tomorrow that might never come back. Looking at the fireworks on the top of the blazing bonfire floating up to the clouds above their heads, it seemed like the road to the underworld...

"Sister Robin, why don't you come and play with us?" Nami came over with a warm smile. After sitting down, she found Robin fiddling with two yellowed old papers. She leaned over curiously and asked, "Map? Isn't this the map of Sky Island that Luffy and his friends found in the shipwreck, and the map of Jaya Island that you drew yourself, Sister Robin? Huh?"

Robin folded the two maps and put them together. Nami looked at the island that looked like a complete skull after merging them and said with emotion: "I understand. The so-called 'gold is hidden in the right eye of the skull' means this..."

Nami felt sleepy and yawned, leaned against Robin, and fell asleep unknowingly.

At night, she woke up in a daze and found that everyone had stopped making noise. The bonfire was still burning weakly, but Luffy, Usopp, Zoro, Sanji, Chopper and others were already lying on the ground in the clouds and snoring.

Where's Sister Robin?

Nami turned her head and saw a white Den Den Mushi lying on the ground next to her with its eyes closed and resting. She couldn't help but be startled.

Sister Robin...seems like she's always sleeping in her Den Den Mushi castle.

Lying on her back next to the Den Den Mushi, Nami looked at the island clouds at the top of the sky and fell asleep again unknowingly.

…

Robin opened his eyes and looked at the bedroom ceiling.

Can’t sleep…

She lay there for a while longer, then finally got up.

After sitting for a while with disheveled hair and head down beside the empty big bed, Robin took a deep breath, walked to the bedroom bathroom, turned on the faucet to cool his face, and looked up into the eyes of the gloomy and pitiful woman in the mirror.

Robin closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, went back to the bedroom, changed his clothes, put on a backpack for field archaeology, and put on a wide-brimmed hat to block the sun.

She tore off a page of paper, picked up the pen and wrote, and finally left a sentence: "I'm going to the island to explore the ruins of an ancient city that has been lost for four hundred years. Don't worry about me."

Robin wanted to stick the note on Little Green's head, but after thinking about it, he was worried that someone would find it in advance after getting up at night, so he patted the wall at the entrance of the castle, handed the note to Little Green, and reminded him: "Spit it out and show it to them tomorrow morning. Remember?"

A Den Den Mushi appeared on the wall, yawned lazily, ate the note Robin handed to him, and nodded.

"Be good." Robin patted the castle wall, picked up his backpack and held his hat, then jumped out.

～～～～～～～～～～～ After jumping out of the Den Den Mushi Castle, Robin saw Nami lying on her side on the ground, hugging Xiaolu and sleeping soundly. She lifted her foot gently so as not to step on Nami's arm.

“…”

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Robin lowered his eyes to look at Nami for a while, and in the dim light, he walked towards the exit of the Hidden Cloud Village.

"Robin, where are you going..."

The sound behind her made Robin stop. She turned around and saw that it was the sniper talking in his sleep. He was mumbling something but soon his face was pressed down by a big foot beside him. He mumbled a few words and fell asleep again.

“…”

Robin turned back and continued to leave, using her flowery arms to uncover the exit of the island cloud passage, and then used the arms that stretched out from the passage to pull herself up. ——It's not that she didn't have the jumping power to jump out, but on such an island cloud ground, once she jumped hard, the vibration would definitely wake up those vigilant Shandia warriors from their sleep. This was something Robin didn't want to see.

Where are the people?

Robin walked on the island cloud ground outside. The scenery of the sky island world at night was very magnificent. It was as if he was in the dark and deep space, walking among the sea of ​​stars...

She was looking for "BIB" who was not in the castle.

Soon, through the observation Haki, he found the location of Lynch's stand armor. On the Merry?

As soon as Robin approached, Lab, who was resting on the open sea next to the Merry, woke up. He was about to shout happily, but Robin raised his finger and shushed him. Lab quickly fell silent and arched towards Robin.

Robin used the Hana-Hana Nomi to create many arms on the whale's body and gently stroked it, coaxing the island whale Lab, while she boarded the Merry.

Through her observation Haki, she saw the dark armor sitting in mid-air, but he did not seem to be concentrating on practicing life return as before.

"What's wrong?"

Robin walked over to it, "and suddenly a man ran onto the boat."

"What's wrong?"

The narrow eyes in the black armor glowed faintly, "Why did someone suddenly not sleep and run out in the middle of the night with a bag on his back and fully dressed?"

"It's not that sudden..."

Robin spread a carpet woven with his own palms on the deck, put down his backpack and sat on the ground. "I can't sleep for a long time... In these years, I can only get enough sleep ten nights a year."

"…" "BIB" glanced over and said, "This is Lin Daiyu's poem."

Robin was speechless. She looked around the boat and asked, "Are you looking for something?"

"No," BIB said faintly, "I'm waiting for something... it's coming!"

As Robin watched in astonishment, a layer of faint light slowly emerged from the sheep-head bow of the Merry, gradually condensing into the outline of a... child in a sailor suit.

The little sailor turned around and smiled at her and "BIB".

Robin looked up at the dark starry sky. In the middle of the night, on a quiet pirate ship, something like this appeared and smiled at people silently... It really felt like a plot from a ghost story.

“You…are…good…”

The sailor child walked towards them silently with a faint glow. Robin was surprised to find that he seemed unable to see the child's specific face. It seemed that it was always covered with a layer of vague mist, and the only impression given was a simple smile.

But the little sailor floated in front of "BIB" and hugged its mecha leg affectionately. This look was familiar to Robin, and he suddenly remembered that when he first met Little Green, Little Green was also very close to Lynch's stand.

Because of the rich and pure life energy of "BIB"?

Or is it because of the power of the soul...

"BIB" touched the little sailor's head and said, "I've felt it before. A faint soul has been nurtured inside this ship... This should be the so-called 'ship spirit' that often appears in the stories passed down among sailors."

"Ship elves..." Robin was surprised. She had read a lot of miscellaneous books and of course knew about this legend. However, at this moment, she thought of something else. "So, the so-called ship elves are very similar to the 'Homiz' made by Auntie?"

"It's a bit like that."

The ship elf that BIB was caressing nodded its head in comfort. "However, the ship elf is obviously more autonomous, and can even leave its true body - the ship Merry."

Rather than comparing it to the Homies created by Big Mom's Soul-Soul Fruit...

The ship spirit is more like the out-of-body experience that Brook achieved through the Yomiuri fruit.

(End of this chapter)