"Now… can we talk?"
That calm sentence felt heavier than the tenfold "Reject Dial" blast—crashing down on every Shandian warrior's chest.
Absolute silence.
Clang— Several guerrillas couldn't even keep hold of their spears anymore. They dropped to the ground.
The chief remained on one knee, blood spilling from his mouth as he clutched the arm that had been pulverized. He gasped through the pain, forcing himself to look up at Rain.
The look in his eyes was no longer simple hostility—it was the stare of someone facing an incomprehensible monster.
"Cough… cough…" Smoker crawled out from the pile of snapped trees in the distance, clutching his still-burning chest. He stared at Rain's uninjured back, the cigar hanging from his lips unlit.
"Bastard… how strong is he now? That was… ten times the power…"
Just then, Gan Fall—who had been circling overhead—finally found an opening. Riding Pierre, he descended between the two sides.
He looked grimly at Rain, then turned to the chief and raised both hands.
"Chief! Stop! Can't you tell this gentleman isn't an ordinary invader? We should at least hear their purpose!"
Gan Fall's appearance only reignited the chief's fury.
"Gan Fall!!" the chief snarled, forcing himself upright through agony and pointing with his remaining left hand. "You leader of invaders! You still dare set foot on our homeland?! They—these are the new accomplices you brought!!"
"That's right!"
"Get out!"
The Shandian warriors raised their weapons again, aiming them at Gan Fall.
"Enough."
Rain's calm voice cut through a confrontation that had lasted four hundred years. He stepped slowly between them.
He looked first at Gan Fall. "You're a good man. But you're also a failure. After all these years, you still couldn't stop this meaningless war."
Gan Fall froze, shame crossing his face.
Rain turned to the chief, gaze steady. "And you're the same. Four hundred years of bloodshed has made you almost forget… why you fought in the first place."
"What did you say?!" the chief's eyes widened in fury.
"Shandians have thrown themselves into battle generation after generation, bleeding themselves dry for Upper Yard—was it for revenge?"
Rain looked at him and said flatly, "No. It was to fulfill… a promise."
"A promise?!" The chief blinked.
"Four hundred years ago, an explorer named Mont Blanc Noland reached Jaya."
Rain continued, throwing out the buried truth. "When Noland left, Kalgara swore to him."
Rain's voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly across everyone there:
"I will keep ringing the Golden Bell! Even in a storm, its sound will guide you so you'll never lose your way across the sea!"
"When you one day return, the bell will tell you—We have been here all along!"
At those words, the chief's spear fell from his hand with a heavy clank.
The old warrior's body began to shake violently.
Rain looked up at the sky and said calmly, "But the Knock Up Stream blasted this island ten thousand meters into the sky."
"Noland believed in the Golden City until his death… and was mocked by the world as a 'great liar,' dying with injustice on his name."
He looked at the Shandian warriors now streaming with tears.
"You've fought up here for four hundred years… just to ring that bell again."
"Just to tell him—"
"We're here."
"WAAAAAA—!!!"
The chief could no longer stand. He dropped to both knees and howled, crying as if his heart were being ripped out. Shandian warriors threw down their weapons and fell to their knees, sobbing.
With the truth revealed, four hundred years of grievance burst like a broken dam.
Gan Fall stood stunned. He stared at the scene as if struck by lightning.
"So… that's what it was…" Gan Fall murmured. "Four hundred years… we weren't blocking invaders. We were blocking… a promise—someone trying to answer a friend's call."
His spear drooped uselessly.
"Now the problem is clear." Rain scanned both sides, now quiet. He knew the moment for negotiation had arrived. He pointed to the massive beanstalk rising into the sky.
"The Golden Bell is up there. The only real obstacle is gone."
"Obstacle?" the chief looked confused, then bitterly furious again. "No! We still can't reach it! The priests up there—"
"Right." Gan Fall sighed and took over, face full of helplessness and shame. "Rain-san, the problem is on my side."
He explained, "For four hundred years, the top of Upper Yard has been treated as sacred ground, guarded by the most fanatical priests. Their duty is to stop anyone—including Skypieans, including Shandians—from stepping foot there."
He gave a bitter smile. "Even I can't order them to break four centuries of tradition. In their eyes, Shandians are heretics—defilers of the taboo land."
"Good." Rain smiled.
"I'll help you fulfill your four-hundred-year vow and ring the Golden Bell."
"And I'll end this meaningless four-hundred-year war."
"In exchange, both sides accept these scholars—let them live and research on this land."
Under Rain's forceful, unquestionable mediation, the chief and Gan Fall exchanged a look.
Finally, both men slowly lowered their weapons.
For the first time in four hundred years, a temporary truce was born.
Rain turned to Smoker and Saul. "You stay here. I'll be back."
Smoker blinked. "Huh? You don't mean—"
Rain didn't answer. He only looked up toward the top of the massive beanstalk.
"Too many people. Not convenient for a visit."
Before the sentence even finished, Rain stamped the ground and vanished into a blur, disappearing onto the path leading upward.
"Hey! Rain!!"
Gan Fall and the chief stared at each other, both seeing the same shock in the other's eyes.
He… he really went up alone?!
Half an hour later.
While everyone waited in anxious silence, Rain reappeared as if teleporting back into the clearing—silent, spotless, without a speck of dirt on him.
"Rain-san!" Gan Fall rushed up first, frantic. "The priests… they—?"
Rain gave a "kind" smile and replied calmly:
"They're asleep."
"A-asleep…?" Gan Fall and the chief both froze.
"Mm." Rain nodded, as if it were nothing. "Sleeping very deeply. I guarantee they won't wake up before morning to bother us."
Everyone: (Ⅱ—Ⅱ)
"All right. Obstacle removed." Rain clapped his hands once. "Doctor, Chief, Gan Fall-san—we can go."
With Saul staying below to guard the ship, Rain and the others finally began climbing the immense beanstalk.
Since the priests were sleeping so soundly, the climb met no resistance.
After hours of travel, they broke through the clouds and reached the legendary summit of the vine.
The magnificent ruins of the golden city Shandora stood silently in the cloud sea, radiating an ancient, sacred air.
And in the center of the ruins—the grand bell tower and the enormous Golden Bell—came into view.
Rain stood beneath the tower and looked up at the huge Golden Bell.
He knew the purpose of this journey… was about to be fulfilled.
~~~
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