Chapter 72: Jaya – Cricket's Decision & the South Bird Hunt
While Zoro and the others were out gathering information, Usopp, Chopper, and Karoo were busy working around the Merry.
The sound of hammering echoed across the deck, wood shavings dancing in the sunset light.
"Nail."
"Here!"
"Plank."
"Quack!"
"Ow!" Usopp suddenly yelped, shaking his thumb that had just been smashed by the hammer. "How many times do I have to say it—I'm not a carpenter!"
Chopper blinked his big round eyes in admiration: "But Usopp, your craftsmanship is really amazing!" Karoo quacked in agreement from the side.
"Hahaha, of course!" Usopp instantly puffed out his chest, proudly rubbing his nose. "After all, this great one is the all-purpose Usopp-sama!"
At that moment Sanji walked over with a cigarette in his mouth and patted the hull: "If you ask me, just get a new ship already."
"What did you say?!" Usopp's hair practically stood on end. "Do you even know what this ship means to us?!"
"Yeah, yeah." Sanji waved lazily. "It's the one given to you by the prettiest girl in your village, right? You've only mentioned it like a hundred times."
"Huh? The Merry has a story like that?" Vivi and Robin immediately perked up, eyes sparkling with interest.
Sanji had no choice but to give them a quick summary of the whole thing. Afterward he knocked on the spot Usopp had just patched: "But continuing to sail in this condition really is pushing it."
"That's why I'm working hard to repair it!" Usopp protested indignantly.
Knock knock. Sanji rapped it again: "Calling this a repair is generous—it's more like putting on patches."
"Shut up!" Usopp struck an exaggerated silly pose, making Chopper and Karoo double over laughing.
"Is that so? Shut up!" Usopp teased back at the two little ones, getting them giggling even harder.
"By the way, what do you guys want for dinner?" Sanji asked, blowing a smoke ring.
The three troublemakers instantly made faces at him in unison: "Shut up!"
"Oh? Not eating then?" Sanji turned and walked off without hesitation. Behind him came a chorus of wails.
Just then Sol returned with Luffy and the others. When Usopp and the rest saw Luffy and Zoro covered in blood, Chopper immediately rushed over in a panic to treat them.
Luffy waved it off with a grin: "It's fine! Sol already patched us up on the way back. Just need a bath. Sanji! I want meat!"
The deck quickly became lively again. Zoro and Luffy went to shower first while Sanji started preparing dinner.
After Usopp finished the last repair, everyone gathered in the kitchen. Amid the mouthwatering aromas, they passionately discussed their next steps.
After dinner, Nami carefully studied the map Sol had spread out, her fingertip tapping the prominent "X" mark: "The exiled dreamer Mont Blanc Cricket… he lives right here?"
"Correct." Sol pulled a freshly bought storybook from his coat. The pages glowed warmly under the oil lamp. "He's the descendant of Mont Blanc Noland from the 'Liar Noland' tale—four hundred years of bloodline unbroken…"
"Liar Noland?" Sanji paused mid-plate wiping, a nostalgic smile tugging at his lips. "Man, that takes me back. It was my favorite bedtime story as a kid."
"Wait!" Nami's eyes widened in surprise. "The book says it was published in the North Blue. People from the East Blue like us have never even heard of it." Sanji shrugged, water droplets falling from his fingertips: "Didn't I mention it? I was born in the North Blue. I just ended up in the East Blue later."
"I always thought you were pure East Blue born and raised!" Usopp gaped dramatically. "But is this story really that famous?"
"Of course!" Vivi clasped her hands on her knees, eyes softening with memory. "My father used to read it to me when I was little."
Chopper excitedly raised a hoof: "I read it to relax whenever I'm not studying medical books!"
Robin elegantly sipped her red tea and smiled: "Long-nose, looks like we all shared the same childhood reading."
Nami's eyes suddenly turned into glittering Berry symbols: "The Golden City in the book… it wouldn't actually exist, would it?"
Sol firmly closed the book with a crisp snap: "It absolutely does. It was just carried up to Sky Island by the upward current four hundred years ago."
"Amazing!" Nami shot to her feet, fists clenched, fire practically blazing around her. "Now we have one more reason we absolutely have to go to Sky Island!"
…
"So you came all this way just to ask about the upward current?" Mont Blanc Cricket flexed his body—freshly healed by Chopper—and eyed the Straw Hats suspiciously. "You're really not here for the gold in the sunken ship?"
"Old man!" Luffy suddenly leaped forward, slamming both hands on the wooden table. His eyes sparkled under his straw hat. "Hurry and tell us how to ride the upward current to the sky!"
Cricket was thrown backward by the sudden enthusiasm. He lit his pipe, took a deep drag, and narrowed his eyes through the curling smoke: "Listen up, kids. The upward current is actually a natural phenomenon caused by a massive undersea cavity under special geological conditions. Cold seawater seeps into a deeper cavity below the seabed…"
Nami suddenly pulled out a notebook and quill and began scribbling furiously. Cricket raised an eyebrow and continued: "That seawater gets heated by geothermal energy and vaporizes. When the steam pressure exceeds the critical point, it triggers an undersea explosion—forming a giant vertical pillar of water shooting straight into the sky!"
"So scary!" Usopp and Chopper clung to each other, eyes spiraling in terror.
"It only happens five times a month, and each surge lasts no more than sixty seconds." Cricket tapped his pipe. "Miss the timing and you'll either get sucked into the undersea whirlpool or fall from ten thousand meters and turn into paste."
The room fell dead silent. Everyone held their breath. Luffy suddenly pressed down his straw hat, a determined grin spreading across his face: "That sounds super fun! Old man—we're definitely flying up there!"
Mont Blanc Cricket pushed open the door. Familiar raucous voices came from the distance—Masira and Shoujou were walking over shoulder-to-shoulder, still dripping seawater, clearly just back from salvage work.
"Old man! We're back!" Shoujou bellowed. Masira waved his thick arms.
Cricket—pipe in mouth—beckoned them: "Perfect timing. There's something I need to tell you." He briefly explained how he'd suffered decompression sickness earlier and was saved by Chopper, then pointed at the Straw Hats: "These kids want to go to Sky Island."
"Sky Island?!" Masira and Shoujou's eyes widened simultaneously. They exchanged a glance.
Masira scratched his stubbled chin thoughtfully: "There is a way…"
"But if they try it alone, they'll die without even leaving a corpse!" Shoujou added.
Cricket's lips curved into a smile as he exhaled a smoke ring: "So I'm asking if you two want to help them out?"
The three huddled together whispering, occasionally glancing at the Straw Hats.
Finally Cricket turned to Luffy and the others: "We'll help modify your ship so it can withstand the force of the upward current. However—" He raised one finger. "You'll also have to go into the forest and catch a South Bird."
"South Bird?" Usopp tilted his head. "What's that?"
"A bird that always points south." Cricket explained. "This is the Grand Line. Once you leave the island, you lose all sense of east, west, north, south."
"Oh right—this time the target isn't an island but an ocean current, so the Log Pose won't work," Nami clapped her hands as realization hit.
Luffy was already bouncing with excitement: "Great! Then let's go catch a bird right now! Let's move!"
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