“What?”

  “The pnts… they’re moving on their own!”

  “Is this a Devil Fruit ability?”

  “Are those pirates doing this?”

  “Everyone, be cautious!”

  Seeing this shog se, the warriors of the Shandia tribe were visibly armed. Their eyes filled with wariness as they stared at El, their bodies tensed with a mix of apprehension and disbelief.

  “Pirates—”

  A young Shandian warrior, covered in tattoos and with a powerful, muscur frame, held a uniquely crafted spear in his hand. With sweat beading on his forehead, he looked up at El, Linlin, and Gerd, each of them t and radiating an intimidating presence. Gritting his teeth, he asked, “Are you here to take our homend, too?”

  However—

  Thanks to his well-trained “Mantra,” developed over years of battling the Skypieans, this warrior, Leo—the desdant of the great warrior Kalgara—could sense an overwhelming aura of danger from these pirates. The presence of the oh bck wings and bzing fmes behind him felt like an unstoppable force, akin to fag a primordial beast. He couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of dread and unease, making it nearly impossible to summon any thought of resistance.

  “Hmm, so you’ve already mastered Observation Haki? Iing…”

  El observed the young Shandian warrior, sensing his capable aura and ability to read the iions of others. He was slightly surprised to find someone on Skypiea, so you already possessing a formidable mastery of Observation Haki.

  “o worry,” El said, arms folded. “I’m not ied in this isnd itself. You Shandians have it back… but the gold on it, we’re taking that with us.”

  The Shandian warri their leader, Leo, seeking his dire. The gap in strength between them and these pirates was just too great. Though they were fierce warriors, they weren’t foolish. In their previous csh, the Sky Isnd “God” and his priests and guards had already begun to overwhelm them, f the Shandians into retreat. It was only due to the sudden arrival of these mysterious newers that the Skypieans had been so abruptly subdued, suspended mid-air by vines pierg their bodies.

  Moreover, on that strange floating isnd, there stood aire army of armored soldiers. No matter how ceous they were, the Shandians khey stood no ce against such a force.

  “Agreed,” Leo finally said, exhaling deeply as he met El’s gaze. “You have the gold. We only ask that you allow us to return to our homend with our people.”

  As a desdant of the great warrior Kalgara, Leo was brave but not reckless. He khat fighting these pirates would be a fool’s errand and wasn’t worth risking needless bloodshed. To the Shandians, reg their homend, the isnd of Shandora, meant far more than any gold.

  “A wise choice,” Gerd said with a gentle smile, her haing on her hip. “Don’t worry. Aside from the gold, we have no i in anything else.”

  “We hope you’ll keep your word,” Leo replied, nodding solemnly. Taking another breath, he added, “And if you find the long-lost Golden Bell, please let us ring it o’s the final wish of our aor, the great warrior Kalgara. We wish to light the Lamp of Shandora to fulfill his promise to his friend. I beg of you.”

  With that, Leo bowed deeply to El and his panions, his expression ear and filled with hope.

  “Ring the Golden Bell?” El nodded lightly. “Sure.”

  Even if the Shandians hadn’t asked, he inte it himself—to hear if the bell’s chimes were as clear aiful as legend cimed.

  “Heh, I’ve already found where the Golden Bell is,” said Linlin, her hidden third eye, invisible to linting with a peculiar glow under her headband marked with the Fallen Angel Pirates’ symbol. Looking energized and ready, she poioward the massive vine rising from the isnd. “It’s right at the top of that vine—quite impressive, really!”

  With her third eye and innate Observation Haki, perfectly bined with her Gre-Gre Fruit ability, Linlin could peer through yers of obstacles. She saw clearly through the clouds and into the ruins of history hidden across the isnd, including all the gold in various ers, and even the Golden Bell sitting at the top of the vine. Gazing at the majestic, timewoldeower, Linlin, the Three-Eyed Tribe girl, couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.

  “What?!”

  Hearing Linlin’s words, the Shandians and the restrained “God” and his followers from Skypiea were equally stuheir eyes widening. The Golden Bell, which they’d searched for tless times but could never locate, was actually at the very top of that enormous vine.

  “Before that, though, I’ll take your souls without hesitation…”

  Gazing at the bound, helpless “God” of Skypiea and his priests and soldiers, Gerd smiled beh her fearsome mask.

  With a slight leap, her t figure nded on the shore. Ign the wary, perplexed stares of the Shandians, Gerd approached the god and his priests and uttered a chilling question: “Life or death?”

  An irresistible force shook their souls, causing the “God” and his priests, along with dozens of his soldiers, to feel their spirits slipping from their bodies, rising above their heads.

  “What… What is this?”

  “My soul… It feels like it’s leaving my body…”

  “Damn you, what have you doo us?”

  “I choose life!!”

  “I choose death!!”

  “Aaaah!”

  In an instant, Gerd swung her scythe, reaping the souls floating from their bodies. One by ohese elite warriors, handpicked from Skypiea, had their souls ripped from them, colpsing lifelessly to the ground.

  “Such power…”

  “Just like that… they’re all dead…”

  The Shandians were visibly shaken, feeling a chill down their spines as they watched the entire force from Skypiea fall dead, their lives extinguished in mere moments.

  “Heh, your strength isn’t bad,” Gerd said, her terrifying visage softened slightly as she removed her mask. She turo the wary Shandians and addressed Leo, the leader of the Shandian guerils. “Why don’t you join us? See the vast, thrilling world out on the sea?”

  Gerd could see that Leo was strong. She’d noted his earlier battle with the Skypiea god and admired his ce—despite his youth and ck of experience, he’d fought fiercely without bag down. Such tenacity and bravery impressed her, and she believed that with proper training and experien the New World, Leo could achieve great things.

  “Ma-ma-ma-ma~ Don’t be so quick to turn us down!” Linlin joined Gerd on the shore, smiling at Leo, who was on the verge of refusing. “In exge, we help you put a bit of fear into the Skypieans, so they won’t dare to harass you anymore…”

  “Otherwise,” she tinued bluntly, “even if you recim this nd, will you be able to defend it with your current strength? Or will it be more of the same endless war you’ve been fighting for hundreds of years?”

  The Shandians g the fallen bodies of their rades, hearing the harsh truth in Linlin’s words.