Cover
Hatchan’s sea walk, part 39: A ship as a thank you! You can see the inhabitants of the town, who have built a new ship as a thank you, which they now give to Hatchan. It has a resemblance to an octopus and so seems to be the name of the ship. Hatchan is visibly surprised, while Camie and Pappag are happy.
Storyline
Jaya, East Coast: The crew repairs the The Going Merry, which was damaged by Shoujou’s attack. Zoro thinks they need a new ship, which Usopp and Luffy refuse. The map leads them to Mont Blanc Cricket, who owns a castle as a house. Upon closer inspection, it turns out to be a dummy placed in front of a small hut. Sanji refers to him as a dreamer. He was driven out of Mock Town because he thought there was tons of gold hidden in Jaya. When Nami hears this, she orders Chopper to dig for the gold. There is no one in the hut, but Nami finds a picture book called Noland the Liar.
Sanji knows the book from before, it comes from the Northblue, just like Sanji, which some didn’t know yet. The book is a fairy tale and is about Mont Blanc Noland, who lived in the Northblue 400 years ago. He told wild tales of adventure where you never knew if they were the truth or not. When he returned from a trip, he told the king about an island with mountains of gold. The king and 200 soldiers immediately set out to find the island. Fighting monsters and storms on the way, he reached the island with 100 more soldiers. It was a jungle. Noland was executed. He shouted that the gold must have sunk into the sea, but no one believed him.
Jaya, Mock Town: Bellamy learns that Mont Blanc Noland is the ancestor of Mont Blanc Cricket. Both he and Sarquiss know the story of Noland. They were threatened with this as children. They make fun of cricket for diving for the gold after 400 years to prove Noland’s innocence. Bellamy calls him a dreamer.
Jaya, East Coast: Nami has finished reading Noland’s story when Luffy, sitting on the shore, suddenly falls into the water. Out of the water comes Mont Blanc Cricket, boss of the monkey pirate gang. He asks what they are doing here, but immediately attacks Sanji, who is able to fend off the first three attacks, but then narrowly dodges a bullet. Sanji sets up to counterattack, as does Zoro, but Cricket collapses without contact. Usopp, meanwhile, has pulled Luffy out of the water. The Straw Hat Pirates tends to Cricket in his hat. Chopper refers to the latter’s ailment as diver’s sickness, which occurs when he emerges from the depths. The blood nitrogen becomes small bubbles that damage tissues and breathing. Cricket has to dive very often because the bubbles won’t go away. He may die from it. There is a picture on the wall showing Cricket with Shoujou and Masira.
Manga volumes | Jaya Arc (Manga) |