The Present Day – Jaya
"Montblanc Noland," Imu said, his voice devoid of heat yet resonating with a terrifying weight. "The world called him the King of Liars. They turned his name into a joke to make children laugh and mock the weak. But history is written by those whose agenda is relevant and the World Government's Agenda is always relevant."
Cricket flinched, his heart skipping a beat when he heard this line.
"The City of Gold Shandora... it was real" Imu continued.
His gaze shifted upward toward the clouds. "It did not vanish into the sea.
"It was taken by the sky. It exist there even now 10000 meters above our head"
Cricket's breath intensified. He fell to his knees.
"And the little people," Imu continued "The Tontatta tribe of Green Bit. The 'dwarves' the world laughed at him for describing. They exist. Every word your ancestor spoke, every 'fantasy' he described in his logbook... was the absolute truth. Your ancestor he wasn't liar"
The silence that followed was heavy after IMU said these words.
For four hundred years, the Montblanc bloodline had been poisoned by a lie.
Cricket had spent his life fighting the ocean, fighting his own body, and fighting the laughter of the world. Now, in the man in front of him who looked like death itself saying that what he always wanted to find out.
"He wasn't a liar," Cricket whispered, his shoulders shaking with silence, he started crying but it was a tear of happiness "He... he was a hero"
He looked up at Imu, his expression one of profound and exhausted peace. The obsession that had driven him to the brink of death was gone, replaced by a clarity.
"I have spent so many years looking for a reason to live," Cricket said with a small broken smile touching his lips. "And you just gave me a reason to finally rest. I have no regrets now. None at all. Thank you...."
Imu looked at the two shadows crouching behind Cricket.
Masira and Shoujou were weeping, but their hands were still on their weapons. They were pirates.
"You are welcome," Imu said softly.
In a blur that no human eye could follow, Imu moved.
Shlick. Shlick.
Masira and Shoujou didn't even have time to scream. Their massive forms simply slumped forward, their blood staining the white sands of the beach.
They died instantly.
Their faces still wearing the expressions of relief they had felt for their captain.
Cricket didn't flinch. He didn't even turn around. He simply closed his eyes accepting the price of the truth he had just received.
Cricket's eyes rolled back and he collapsed into the sand, his heart slowing then stopping in a state of perfect, dreamless peace.
Imu stood over him, the dark red blade of Reidai Kitetsu gleaming in the afternoon sun.
"The legacy of the 'Liar' ends today," Imu murmured.
Imu stood alone on the beach.
'Noland... you were a hero. But in my world, there is only room for one.'
A few minutes ago the entire Island was full of chaos and noise. Now it has become Completely Silent.