One Piece (Love Story) [Part One]

Chapter One Hundred and Two [Rewritten]

-Chapter One Hundred and Two-

"I just love stories with bells in them, especially gold ones" Nami happily cooed.

"What a surprise, I never would have guessed" I quietly snorted.

"Hey, old-timer, it sounds like you just might be a little fond of Noland after all" Usopp teased, causing another fit of laughter to echo throughout the room.

"Look at this" Cricket said, suddenly rummaging through the room before setting a golden bell down.

"Wow! A golden bell!" Nami gasped in awe.

"Huh? It doesn't seem too enormous to me" Usopp remarked.

"And yet she's fallen in love with it all the same" I teasingly grinned as Nami picked up the bell and affectionately stared down at it. I chuckled as she childishly stuck out her tongue at me.

"None of these are the ones Noland was writing about in his Log Book—these are bell-shaped golden ingots we found on the ocean floor during a dive" Cricket explained.

"Golden ingots?" Chopper questioned.

"The City of Gold? It is real!" Luffy boisterously laughed.

"It's still not proof though" Shoujou corrected as sluggishly he pushed himself upright. "You can find gold and relics like that lying around in any old ruin in this part of the world."

"Maybe so, but it does suggest there was a civilization here sometime in the past" Robin said. "Ingots are made of divine gold and into standardizing units of weight and that would indicate an advance trading society" she explained.

"Right, and you remember that peculiar bird call he said they heard when they landed? Show it to them" Cricket motioned towards Masira who pulled away a sheet that had been covering a massive gold ingot that was in the shape of an odd bird.

"There's more gold?!" Usopp gaped.

"Just look at the size of it!" Zoro whistled.

"That's indeed a peculiar-looking bird" I remarked, shifting as I at up and curiously leaned closer to the golden ingot. "Impressive detail..." I lowly whistled, amazed by the incredible amount of detail on the golden statue.

"That's the last of it" Cricket grinned.

"Whoa! It's gorgeous!" Nami awed.

"Golden bells and birds, huh? Do you think they might be symbols of an ancient giant civilization?" Sanji asked.

"I really couldn't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure all these pieces were part of the same casting" Cricket shrugged. "This creature is called the South Bird, you can still find them on this island today" he said.

"Wow, and they have a peculiar call?" Luffy inquired.

"Uh-huh, just like in the Log Book" Cricket nodded.

"Sailors have used South Birds on ships since ancient times to help them—" Masira cut himself off, a look of realization suddenly dawning on both his and Shoujou's face.

"Oh no" they and the old man said.

"What's wrong?" we asked, baffled by the abrupt shift in their moods.

"This is really bad, you guys got to get to the forest on the south side of the island right away!" Cricket suddenly instructed.

"Huh? What do you mean—are you crazy?" Luffy frowned.

"Don't waste a minute! You got to catch one of these birds and quickly!" he shouted.

"How come? Why?" Usopp curiously questioned.