Chapter 45: The Bell Rings Across the Sky
Both men charged at the Lord of the Sky at the same time.
"Huh? They're still fighting? Let's go check it out!"
Luo Lin blinked. They definitely weren't after snake meat—Webber he wasn't sure about, but Zoro would never.
"Robin-baby, wait here a sec. I'm going down to see!"
"Go ahead!"
ZAP!
He vanished in a flash of lightning and reappeared not far behind the two.
"Hey! Why are you hitting it? Craving snake steak?"
Webber glanced at the random Blue Sea guy who'd appeared out of nowhere, ignored him, and kept firing.
"About damn time, Luo Lin! Help me take this giant snake down! It ate Nami!"
Zoro's face lit up when he saw him. He couldn't handle the snake himself, but Luo Lin definitely could!
Luo Lin was shocked to hear Nami got eaten.
"Huh?"
"Huh my ass?! Hurry up and save her, idiot!"
Luo Lin didn't even mind being called an idiot—he'd get hit anyway. Saving Nami was top priority. Any longer and she'd be snake poop!
Sure, little Nami wasn't always cute around him, but that didn't mean he didn't like her. No way was he letting her become snake food!
Perfect chance to test his new powers too!
"Thunderbolt!"
With his shout, a blinding white flash crashed down from the sky—straight onto the Lord of the Sky.
HIIIIISSSSSSSSS—
The snake only managed a short hiss before it went stiff, completely paralyzed. Even its scales were charred!
Webber's eyes nearly popped out. That was Enel's ability!
Then he remembered what Aisa had said: Enel was killed by Blue Sea people!
He turned to stare at Luo Lin.
Zoro had never seen Enel fight, so he didn't recognize the move, but he'd always known Luo Lin was a monster. After the initial shock, he recovered fast.
"Nami and the others are inside! You sure you didn't just fry them too?!"
Luo Lin's proud grin froze.
=͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇) "I-I'm… pretty sure… they're fine…?"
"Go check, now!"
Zoro grabbed him and dragged him forward.
But when they reached the mouth, they hesitated—slice the snake open? Or go in through the mouth?
Luo Lin voted slice. Zoro vetoed instantly—Luo Lin had already electrocuted it once! Who knew what state Nami was in?! One wrong slash and she'd be sushi!
Fair point. They had no idea where she was inside. One bad cut and they'd have to keep chopping.
Mouth it was.
Good thing the snake had no bad breath and was huge—both slipped in without trouble.
"Pretty spacious in here!"
"Of course. With a body that big, the stomach's gotta be massive. Let's find Nami first!"
"Yeah, but what hasn't this thing eaten?!"
Contrary to expectations, there was no slime or stomach acid. Just ruins—broken walls, rocks, construction debris. Like a desert inside a snake.
Except near the mouth, deeper in it was pitch black.
Luo Lin held a ball of lightning for light.
They walked for who-knows-how-long until they finally spotted Nami, Luffy, and a little girl.
Looks like the lightning didn't reach them!
"Yo! Little Nami… and Luffy? You too?"
"Luo Lin! Zoro!"
Nami's eyes lit up. She hadn't been scared with Luffy around, but being trapped sucked!
"Nice! You guys got eaten too! Awesome!"
Luffy was thrilled.
Luo Lin: ???
What do you mean "awesome that I got eaten too"?! Learn to speak!
Nami had been happy to see them—now she facepalmed.
"This idiot…"
Ever since getting swallowed, she'd run into barefoot, carefree Luffy (no sign of his sandals). They explained the situation—Luffy hadn't even realized he was inside a snake. Embarrassing.
The three had tried to leave (Luffy had come from the lower half, so they knew the way), but the snake kept thrashing from Webber's and Zoro's attacks outside—rollercoaster from hell.
They were almost out when Luo Lin's thunderbolt hit. The snake convulsed, and they all tumbled back in.
Tragic.
Cough cough "Everyone's here now. Let's go!"
"Hey! There's tons of gold in here! Let's grab some first!"
With Luo Lin around, Nami stopped worrying about escape and switched to money mode.
"Fine! But you carry it yourself. I'm not your pack mule!"
Luo Lin was lazy as hell. If they all carried stuff out, that'd be at least two huge bags per person—he wasn't doing that.
He didn't need money anyway. The Devil had over a billion berries plus piles of treasure from the years.
"Got it! You two—come help pick up gold!"
She instantly turned into a demon captain for Zoro and Luffy. Sweat drops the size of watermelons appeared on their heads.
"Why does Luo Lin get to slack off?!"
Luffy protested.
"Because I'm her big brother. Sorry, bro—rank has its privileges!"
Luo Lin grinned smugly. If Zoro weren't stronger he'd chop him right now.
But then he happily started grabbing gold too.
No choice—the Straw Hats were broke. Most money went to feeding Luffy the human black hole.
Luo Lin being rich was his business. The crew never touched his and Robin's shared money. On the contrary, he often bought mountains of food for everyone—and even gave Nami a Devil Fruit.
Soon all three had bulging sacks of gold.
"Let's go!"
"Huh? Go? Aren't we cutting our way out?"
Nami was confused.
"Nah, I already knocked the snake out. Walking out will be way smoother now! No need to kill everything we see—have some mercy!"
Luo Lin lectured piously.
Zoro rolled his eyes. He hadn't seen Luo Lin kill, but he seriously doubted the guy was a saint. He'd murdered plenty.
Aisa proved him right a moment later.
They walked out the snake's mouth.
Webber was waiting. After seeing Luo Lin paralyze the Lord of the Sky, he'd collapsed—one day, two Reject Dials had wrecked his body.
Aisa had arrived with Nami, so he knew they'd save her too. He hadn't gone in.
"Webber!"
"Aisa!"
Webber sighed in relief when he saw her safe, then turned to Luo Lin.
"Thank you."
"Webber, I told you—it's true! Enel really got killed! By this big dude!"
Aisa hid behind Nami and pointed at Luo Lin.
Webber already believed her, but before he could speak, Luo Lin looked shocked.
(*º ﾛ º) "Wha—little girl, how'd you know that?!"
That was basically admitting it.
Not just Webber—Luffy and the others were stunned too!
They thought Luo Lin had just gotten lost adventuring. Turns out he soloed the "God" the sky people feared?!
Aisa shrank further behind Nami. The guy killed a god—he was scary!
"M-Mantra… I was born with Mantra!"
(*º ﾛ º) Ohhh right!
Luo Lin suddenly remembered—there was a little girl on Skypiea with island-wide Observation Haki from birth!
His eyes lit up like searchlights. A prodigy!
"Kid, wanna be my disciple?"
Aisa hid completely behind Nami.
"Hey, mister! You're scaring her!"
Nami pushed him back.
Luo Lin: …
"Tch. Fine, no disciple then! I didn't want the hassle anyway!"
ZAP!
He vanished—back to his Robin-baby.
Left the others staring at each other.
"Uh… so Enel's dead… what now?"
Luffy scratched his head. After a whole day of chaos he was lost.
"Idiot! The golden bell, obviously!"
"Oh yeah! I still gotta ring it! Can't let Chestnut Guy down!"
While Luffy was confused, Webber was already climbing the vine—he had to see for himself!
Luffy's group followed.
Luo Lin reappeared beside Robin. She stood up.
"Let's go home. It's over."
"Mm!"
Going down was way easier.
They ran into the others again at the shrine.
Webber stood over Enel's corpse, tears in his eyes.
Six years. Six whole years the Shandians had fought Enel to reclaim their home. Countless dead.
Now the tyrant's body lay before him. Not killed by his hand—but still so, so satisfying.
Luo Lin saw the group and realized—they were here for the bell!
"You guys looking for the golden bell? It's not here."
"Yeah yeah, where is it?"
"Top of the vine."
"Sweet! Thanks!"
Luffy shouted thanks, hopped on the waver with Nami, and zoomed upward.
Webber overheard "golden bell"—the treasure his people had guarded for generations!
He'd been a kid when Roger came 20 years ago, but he knew the bell was up there.
He turned to Luo Lin suspiciously.
"Are you here to steal the golden bell?"
Luo Lin: Which eye of yours sees me stealing that thing?! I'd have to carry it to count!
"Ask them."
He brushed it off and walked down with Robin.
Webber gritted his teeth and chased after Luffy's group.
"You helped us kill Enel, but if you're after the bell—I won't hold back!"
…
Luo Lin had no idea. His business was done.
All he wanted now was to take Robin back to the Devil, catch up on last night's sleep, and—most importantly—nap with Robin-baby!
Hehehe.
…
Luffy and Nami, riding the waver, reached just below the cloud layer.
"Full throttle, Nami! Luo Lin said it's up there—it's definitely up there!"
"Got it! Shut up!"
She twisted the handle—WHOOSH!
They burst through the clouds and shot out the top.
They looked around—and froze.
Nothing but a massive bell tower. Dozens of meters tall.
A gigantic golden bell hung from it.
A Poneglyph was embedded at the base.
Luffy wasn't even half as tall as the stone.
"So… huge!"
"So much gold! We're rich!!"
While Luffy was awestruck, Nami's eyes turned into beri symbols. She rubbed the bell obsessively.
Webber arrived right after.
"Hey! You here to steal the golden bell?!"
Surprisingly, Luffy answered calmly.
"No! We're here to ring it! Let me ask you—can this bell be heard all the way down in the Blue Sea?"
"Huh?"
Webber was confused.
"There's a guy down there with a chestnut head! His ancestor was executed as the world's biggest liar for talking about this bell!"
"All he ever wanted was for this bell to ring—to prove his ancestor wasn't lying! So if the sound reaches the Blue Sea, his wish comes true, right?!"
Webber's eyes widened as he pieced it together.
"You don't mean… that chestnut guy—what's his name?!"
"Chestnut Guy is—"
"Mont Blanc Cricket!"
Nami cut Luffy off—she knew he'd mess up the name.
"Mont Blanc… It really is him! Hahaha! Go ahead!"
Luffy grinned huge.
"Wow, you're actually a good guy! Hehehe!"
He walked straight to the bell.
"Gum-Gum… Rocket!!"
BAAAAAANG!!
He slammed it with everything he had.
DOOOOOOOOONG—
A deep, majestic toll echoed across the sky!
But the golden bell was insanely heavy, and the island cloud was only supported by one vine.
It had been stable while still.
Now it rang—it started tipping!
Luffy, Nami, and Webber all freaked.
"Oh crap!"
"Idiot, too much force!!"
Nami punched Luffy so hard his eyes popped out.
"Don't panic! I got this!"
Luffy stretched his arm, grabbed the bell.
Webber ran to the other side and tried to push.
Useless.
Thousands of tons—impossible to hold.
In the end, Luffy and Webber were dragged down together with the falling golden bell.
==============================================================
Support me and be 100 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/inkshield