The thug's words caught the Straw Hat crew's attention, but he did not speak right away. Instead, he looked around to make sure no one was paying attention before carefully saying, "You saw those lines written on the back of the ticket, right?"
"We saw them. What does that have to do with making money?"
"Of course it has something to do with it. You remember the third warning, the one about the Island of the Gods, right?"
The thug's words made everyone remember Robin's warning before she left.
"What do you mean?"
"Hehehe. It's simple. The Island of the Gods is the real City of Gold!"
The moment he said that, everyone froze. Sanji, however, seemed to realize something, and his expression changed in surprise.
"Hey, you're not talking about the City of Gold from the story of Noland the King of Liars, are you?"
This time, the thug was the one who looked surprised.
"You actually know about Noland the King of Liars?"
Sanji said calmly, "I'm from the North Blue."
Only then did the thug understand.
"I see. Then it's not strange."
The others were confused by their conversation, so Nami asked, "Sanji, what's this Noland the King of Liars you're talking about?"
Sanji took a drag from his cigarette, slowly exhaled a smoke ring, and said, "It's a fairy tale passed down in the North Blue. Legend has it that four hundred years ago, during his third adventure on the Grand Line, the legendary North Blue adventurer Noland encountered a city built entirely of gold while hiding from a storm. Noland called that city the City of Gold."
"A city built entirely of gold? How is that possible..."
"How much money would that be?"
Nami and Usopp echoed each other.
Sanji ignored them and asked the thug, "So you're saying it's true? The City of Gold from the story of Noland the King of Liars actually exists?"
"Of course. Hehehe."
The thug laughed.
"Although the Rainbow Country has done everything it can to hide it, and even killed a large number of pirates who coveted the City of Gold ten years ago, word still got out. The legendary City of Gold is on the Island of the Gods. It's just that because everyone fears the Rainbow Country's power, no one dares to go there anymore."
After saying that, he looked at the Straw Hat Pirate crew.
"If you're really short on money and you're not afraid, you can try your luck..."
To be honest, at that moment, the Straw Hat Pirate crew was rather tempted. After all, it was a city built of gold. Just imagining it felt incredible. Sanji in particular had read the story of the City of Gold ever since he was a child, and it had influenced him for a long time.
So everyone turned to look at Luffy, wanting to see what their captain thought. But they discovered that at some point, Luffy had already left his seat and run to the entrance of a barbecue shop. Drooling, he was earnestly arguing with the owner, who looked terribly troubled.
"You idiot, what are you doing?"
Nami stormed over angrily, grabbed Luffy by his drooling mouth, and dragged him back.
"Wait, Nami, it's barbecue! Barbecue..."
"Idiot, can't you focus on what we're saying?"
"Saying what...?"
Seeing everyone staring at him wide-eyed, Luffy looked back at them in confusion.
For some reason, Luffy's interruption snapped everyone out of the restless mood they had been in.
"Forget it. Sit down!"
Seeing that the group had calmed down, the thug could not hide the disappointment in his eyes.
Zoro and Sanji both noticed it sharply.
"Um, never mind. We're only here to have fun," Nami said with a trace of regret.
"Is that so? Then there's nothing I can do."
The thug sounded somewhat disappointed.
But then he suddenly seemed to think of something, and his eyes lit up.
"Actually, if you want to make money, there is another way!"
"Oh!"
Luffy, Nami, and Usopp's eyes lit up, while Zoro and Sanji frowned.
With a strange smile, the thug pointed toward the very back of Angel Island.
"At the very rear of Angel Island, there's a small shipyard!"
"A shipyard?"
"Yeah, and don't underestimate that place. The shipyard may be small, but its owner, Pagaya, is the builder of the Twin Goddesses, the pirate ship of the Sky Pirate crew established when Fire Dragon Yemu, the man who created the entire Rainbow Country and changed the world, first set out to sea."
After the thug finished speaking, he had been expecting to see shock on their faces. Instead, one sentence from the guy in the straw hat completely broke him.
"Huh? So that guy Yemu used to be a pirate too?"
The thug immediately roared in speechless frustration.
"Hey, are you idiots? How do you not even know common sense like this?"
Nami and the others awkwardly pulled Luffy back and told him not to speak anymore.
"Sorry, sorry... This idiot is from a small place. Um, please tell us, what does this have to do with making money? Are you saying we should go there to work?"
"Of course not. I'm saying you should go fight!"
...
After passing through the bustling city, the Straw Hat Pirate crew arrived at the very back of Angel Island.
There were clearly far fewer tourists here, and the streets had grown quiet.
"Hey, I'm telling you, do you really believe what that guy said? One look at him and you can tell he's not a good person," Zoro warned.
Nami, however, did not seem too concerned.
"It's fine. We're just here to take a look. Anyway, without money, we can't have much fun. If something seems wrong, we can just apologize and leave, right?"
When they reached the end of the street, a small-looking shipyard appeared before them.
No, rather than a shipyard, it was more like a repair shop.
A modest white building stood by the shore, with a sign hanging above the entrance that read Pagaya Shipyard.
A small boat was docked at the shore, and the sound of clanging tools came from it.
"Why does this feel a little different from what that guy said?"
This time, even Nami hesitated.
Just then, a beautiful angel girl walked out of the shop carrying a toolbox, with a little fox hanging around her neck.
Looking at the people who had suddenly appeared in front of her shop, the girl asked curiously, "Hello. Are you here to repair a ship?"
This made the Straw Hat crew feel awkward. They could hardly say they had come here to fight.
To their surprise, when the girl saw them hesitating, she seemed to realize something. Covering her mouth, she laughed softly and said, "Um, you couldn't be here to challenge Ace, could you?"
Everyone was startled at once.
Seeing that, the girl understood. She turned toward the small boat by the shore and shouted, "Ace, there are challengers again..."
The moment she spoke, the clanging from the small boat stopped. In its place, a boy wearing a cowboy hat, bare from the waist up, with freckles on his face and oil stains all over both hands as he held a hammer in each, looked at them curiously.
"What kind of idiots are they this time...? I'm really busy right now..."