City of Gold

Ever since Jaya Island had been blasted up to Sky Island, the fighting between the island’s native inhabitants and the Sky Island people had never stopped. Although the natives of Jaya Island had ultimately been driven off the island by the Sky Island people due to their smaller numbers, they had never given up on reclaiming their own land.

Later, after Enel, the thunder god, arrived, he too had taken a great liking to Jaya Island’s environment and soil. He simply drove the Sky Island people out. Other than Enel and his priests, no one else was allowed to set foot on Jaya Island, or they would face the thunder god Enel’s lightning judgment.

After Enel had his Rumble-Rumble Fruit taken from him, the Sky Island people quickly discovered that he had lost his lightning powers. What was there left to say? They naturally settled old scores and grievances alike.

The Sky Island people did not kill Enel outright. Instead, they sentenced him to exile—basically the same way Luffy had first set out to sea. They put him in a barrel and tossed it into the Sea of Clouds, leaving his life and death to fate.

With Enel dealt with, Jaya Island naturally became a prize once again. How could the few priests under Enel possibly hold back the red-eyed Sky Island people? They were easily beaten down by the mob and thrown into the Sea of Clouds to accompany their god.

However, the native inhabitants of Jaya Island had not gone extinct. Back when Enel, a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, had been suppressing them, those natives had constantly been thinking about how to retake Jaya Island. It was obvious just how deep their obsession with the island ran.

Now that Enel was finished, the Sky Island people alone naturally could not frighten those natives any longer. Thus, a war between the two sides was practically on the verge of breaking out.

The reason the fighting had not started even now was because Gan Fall, Sky Island’s former god, had been mediating between them. That was why, at first, Yota and the others merely felt that the atmosphere on Sky Island had become tense rather than seeing the two sides go straight to war.

But both sides were eyeing Jaya Island greedily. With such enormous interests at stake, Gan Fall’s prestige alone definitely would not be enough to suppress them.

"Sigh… I never expected that after driving away Enel, the Sky Island people and the people of Jaya Island would be preparing to start another war. Seriously…" Violet said with a frown.

Charlotte Pudding curled her lips, looking thoroughly unconcerned. As Big Mom’s daughter, her values clearly could not completely align with those of an upright person like Violet. In her eyes, wars breaking out over profit were perfectly normal.

Kyros said in a deep voice, "The Sky Island people are obviously the ones in the wrong here."

It was not that Kyros was siding with his fellow Blue Sea people. In fact, any ordinary person with normal values could tell right from wrong in this matter. The Sky Island people were undoubtedly the invaders, while Jaya Island’s natives merely wanted to reclaim their homeland.

That said, Kyros was not particularly inclined to take part in this battle. He understood clearly that even if they helped the current natives of Jaya Island reclaim their homeland, they could not stay here forever. When the time came, the Sky Island people would certainly start another war.

Unless they wiped out the entire Sky Island population, this war would remain unavoidable under the temptation of such immense profit.

Seeing that the mood among them was somewhat off, Charlotte Pudding rolled her eyes and said, "What does Sky Island’s business have to do with us? Stop making trouble for yourselves!"

"Forget Sky Island—even down on the Blue Sea, are there really that few wars happening? If you stick your nose into everything, you’ll work yourselves to death sooner or later!"

"That’s true," Violet said with a sigh.

Yota’s eyes shifted as he spoke. "Actually, stopping the war over Jaya Island wouldn’t be difficult."

"Huh?!" Kyros and Violet both looked at Yota. Only Charlotte Pudding muttered to herself, Captain’s playing the good guy again. Honestly, this has nothing to do with us, does it?

Yota glanced at Charlotte Pudding. He could tell what she was thinking just from her expression, then said with a grin, "Pudding, do you know Jaya Island’s most famous legend from back then?"

Charlotte Pudding answered without hesitation, "Of course I do. The legendary City of Gold… the lie fabricated by Noland the Liar."

"Noland was no liar." Yota shook his head directly. "I think Violet and the others should have the right to speak on that."

"That’s right. In the Tontatta legends, Noland was a famous great hero. Even now, the Tontatta add ‘land’ after someone’s name when calling them a hero," Violet said without hesitation.

"According to Dressrosa’s records, Noland’s deeds absolutely earned him the titles of great explorer and hero."

"Is this really the time to discuss that? Wasn’t the City of Gold already proven to be a lie… Wait, Jaya Island was blasted up by the Knock-Up Stream!?"

"That’s right. Noland had never been a liar, and the City of Gold had always existed." Yota nodded with a smile.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Charlotte Pudding immediately grew excited. "Captain, give the order! Let’s go seize that Jaya Island right away!"

"You really don’t beat around the bush," Yota said helplessly as he looked at the excited Charlotte Pudding.

"Wouldn’t that be going too far?" Violet could not help frowning. "Are we really going to just take Jaya Island’s gold by force? Didn’t we say at the beginning that we wanted to stop the war?"

Yota waved his hand. "I’ve already thought of a good way to stop the war. Put simply, this war is happening because of the fragment of Jaya Island that was blasted up to Sky Island by the Knock-Up Stream. So, if we move that fragment of Jaya Island back down and return it to where it belonged, wouldn’t this war be unable to happen?"

"As for the gold, we’ll take it as our payment. Besides…" Yota looked at the others. "If such a huge amount of gold were brought down, would it really be a good thing or a disaster for Jaya Island’s natives? You should all know the answer in your hearts."

"Uh…" Violet and Kyros looked at each other, forced to admit that Yota’s words made perfect sense.

After all, Jaya Island below had already become a pirate den. Anyone could guess what choice those pirates would make upon seeing the residents of Shandora with such a vast amount of gold.

Charlotte Pudding nodded excitedly again and again. "Makes sense, that’s absolutely right. So, for the sake of Jaya Island’s residents, we should hurry up and gather all that gold!"