"Since Noland insisted on his claims even at his deathbed, let me verify where the problem with this matter lies!"
Cricket pressed his chest, feeling his heartbeat, and spoke with determination. "I want to investigate this thoroughly before exhaustion claims me. That way, I can rest in peace."
"Wuwuwuwu…"
Usopp had long forgotten that Cricket had tried to shoot him earlier.
"Uncle, you're truly a man!"
The long-nosed fool, easily swayed by brotherly bonds, was already moved to tears.
"Heh, so the only purpose of what you're doing is to find peace before death?"
Shirogai's cold voice cut through the room. "How boring."
"Hey! Shirogai, that's too much! What Uncle is doing is the act of a true man!" Usopp shouted excitedly.
Shirogai's tone never changed, his voice distant and frosted. "I don't see a man. I see a fool unwilling to accept fate, struggling desperately yet unable to escape, and finally resigning himself to the inevitable."
Cricket clenched his fists. "I'm not as pathetic as you say!"
Shirogai's eyes narrowed slightly, his words striking like ice. "If you truly have ambition, then carve out your own legend. Let your name drown out the so-called disgrace of your bloodline. Use your strength and prestige to silence every sneer. Right now, you're just powerless against the chains of your family's past."
Cricket froze, then laughed bitterly. "You're right, but that's simply too difficult."
Shirogai's gaze sharpened with disdain. "You say it's too difficult, yet you spend your life chasing the shadow of Noland's tale. That is why you remain trapped, circling the answer but never reaching the truth."
With a flick of his wrist, Shirogai released a cluster of ice needles. They pierced the map hanging on the wall with perfect precision, spreading frost across the parchment.
"Don't you find this map strange?" he asked coldly.
Everyone turned their eyes toward the frozen map.
"Strange?" Nami repeated, confused.
Shirogai closed his eyes for a moment, then spoke in a low tone. "In the storybook, there's a line: 'I saw gold in the right eye of the skull.' What do you think the skull's right eye refers to?"
The Straw Hats looked at each other, bewildered. "We don't know!"
Only Cricket's expression changed. He looked at the map carefully and muttered, "I've thought about that line. My conclusion was that Noland must have found gold somewhere corresponding to the skull's right eye."
"Your reasoning isn't wrong."
Shirogai nodded slightly. His voice grew colder. "But then tell me—why does no place on this map match it?"
Cricket frowned. "Didn't Noland say it sank into the sea?"
"You've searched this seabed for years." Shirogai's gaze pierced him. "Do you really believe a whole island lies sunken down there? Did you ever find even half of it?"
Cricket fell silent for a long time before shaking his head. "No island, no ruins. Only scattered gold artifacts at the bottom."
Shirogai opened his eyes, his stare like ice blades. "Exactly. That is no island."
"…"
Cricket said nothing, sweat gathering at his brow.
"A detective once said, 'When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'"
Shirogai's voice carried through the room like a frozen wind. "You already know what happens in these seas. Stop refusing to see it. Combine those events with the disappearance of this island."
Cricket muttered under his breath. "Events in these seas… Knock-Up Stream…"
His mind froze on a terrifying possibility. His eyes widened.
"Could it be…?"
Cold sweat slid down his temple.
"No. Impossible!"
He whipped his head up, staring at Shirogai in disbelief. "You mean, you mean—" His throat tightened, unable to voice the thought.
Shirogai's tone was calm, almost cruel. "Besides that, what other explanation do you have?"
"Hiss…!"
Cricket stumbled from his bed, landing barefoot on the floor. He bolted outside, eyes locked on the endless sky.
"So that's it! No wonder half the island was never found!" His voice shook with excitement, as if a lifelong weight had lifted.
The Straw Hats rushed after him, staring upward in confusion.
"What's wrong with the sky? Is it going to rain?" Nami asked, baffled. "Uncle, what are you two talking about?"
Cricket turned back, his eyes blazing with new fire. "Your companion is a genius! He solved the riddle that haunted me for half my life!"
Luffy scratched his head. "Eh? What are you talking about, Uncle?"
"Didn't you ask me if Sky Island exists?" Cricket laughed, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. He pointed to the clouds above and shouted, "Sky Island is real! That vanished island didn't sink—it was hurled into the heavens by a Knock-Up Stream. It didn't fall back, because Sky Island caught it!"
"What?!"
The Straw Hats, Shoujou, and Masira stood stunned, mouths wide open.
"This… impossible!"
Shoujou's eyes bulged. "An island flying into the sky?!"
"You've seen Knock-Up Streams all your life," Shirogai's voice cut through their disbelief. "You know their force varies. One strong enough to lift an island isn't a fantasy—it's reality."
Masira stared upward, awestruck. "A heart-stopping answer… too shocking to believe."
Cricket's expression hardened with conviction. "No. This is the truth! I once witnessed a massive Knock-Up Stream nearby. With that kind of force, sending a smaller island into the sky is effortless!"
"The answer has been found."
Shirogai's words carried like ice through their veins, awakening something primal. "So tell me—are you ready to verify it? The Sky Island awaits above. Will you go and see for yourselves?"
"Go to Sky Island?"
Shoujou and Masira exchanged stunned glances, then erupted into booming laughter.
"Old man, count us in!"
"Sky Island, huh? Hahahaha! That's a true adventurer's dream!"
Cricket's eyes burned with passion. He looked at Shirogai with respect and resolve. "Then let's go!"
Luffy leapt into the air, grinning ear to ear. "Yeah! We're going to Sky Island!"
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