The sound of the Golden Bell seemed capable of washing the soul clean. Even Rowan, hearing it, couldn't help but pause and savor the moment.
What they didn't see was Cricket standing beside the bell, tears streaming down his face as he struck it again and again. The object he had sought for over twenty years was finally found—even if only ruins remained around it.
"Mr. Rowan! Thank you! I found it! Mr. Noland wasn't a liar! Thank you, Mr. Rowan! If not for you, I would have kept foolishly diving into the sea, time after time... never finding the City of Gold, never hearing this bell! I would have eventually died in the depths of the ocean!"
Cricket didn't cry like a typical hardened man, but the overwhelming emotion of fulfilling a lifelong dream made him forget his "tough guy" persona.
"Don't mention it," Rowan replied simply. Under his Observation Haki, he could hear Cricket's words perfectly. "If you're finished, we're leaving."
Rowan gave Gan Fall a nod of farewell, then grabbed Enel and flew toward the source of the bell.
"Will you stay here, or return with this old man? The choice is yours." Rowan's voice boomed from above, causing Cricket to snap his head up.
"Mr. Rowan! I am willing to follow you to the death! Please take me back with you!" Cricket's legs gave out, and he knelt trembling on the ground.
"Then let's go." Rowan dived low, swooped in, and snatched Cricket by the ankle. With a powerful kick against the air, he soared out of Upper Yard.
"Mr... Mr. Rowan! Who is this?!" Cricket asked in shock, looking at Enel, who was being dangled just like he was.
"Just a brat," Rowan answered casually as they began their descent through the Sea of Clouds.
Enel seethed in silence. Looking down at the leveled forest of Upper Yard, he saw his three Priests exhausted and battered, still being chased by a lingering vacuum blade. Did Rowan do that too? No wonder those three idiots never showed up to help...
Suddenly, their vision turned white as they sank below the White-White Sea. Then the White Sea.
Enel stared in wonder at the blue sky and white clouds below. Having never left the Sky Island, his Mantra could never reach beyond its borders. He had never seen the world beneath the clouds.
Rowan, carrying two men, dived from ten thousand meters. His speed was incredible; he only used Geppo occasionally to buffer their terminal velocity. Descending was, as expected, much easier than ascending.
In the blink of an eye, the vast blue ocean came into view.
"The Blue Sea..." Enel muttered the words with a hint of his usual disdain.
"Brat, keep your mouth shut and stay still!" Rowan grumbled. He increased the frequency of his Geppo kicks, gradually slowing their rapid fall.
As Jaya Island loomed large below, Rowan raised his arms and gave both men a powerful heave, tossing them toward the land!
"AAAAAAHHHH—" "YOU DAMN OLD MAN!"
Enel and Cricket turned into human projectiles, hurtling toward Jaya in freefall.
"Much lighter now," Rowan said with a laugh.
"Thunder Dragon!" Enel roared, swinging his golden staff. A golden bolt of lightning erupted and transformed into a dragon in mid-air. Enel flipped onto its back, riding the lightning as he stabilized his descent.
"AAAAHHH—" Cricket's screams were still echoing as he tumbled.
Rowan watched them coldly. One was riding a dragon; the other was about to become a pancake.
"Tch, what a troublesome idiot," Enel muttered. Reluctantly, he steered the lightning dragon toward the falling Cricket.
Cricket felt like his life was already half-over. This sensation of falling from the sky was something he never wanted to experience again. Just as he closed his eyes, bracing for impact, a surge of intense electricity hit him. He went to scream, only to see a golden dragon beneath him, with the other "brat" Rowan had been carrying sitting on its head.
Enel caught Cricket with the dragon's tail, but he also "accidentally" allowed 60 million volts to surge into Cricket's body.
The two landed on Jaya's soil with a distinct smell of char. Cricket tumbled off the dragon, his hair curled and smoking as if he'd been struck by a natural disaster.
"You... you brat..." Cricket pointed a trembling finger at Enel, his throat so parched and smoky he couldn't finish the sentence.
Rowan landed steadily beside them. "Brat, you went a bit far there," Rowan said to Enel, gesturing to the unconscious Cricket.
Enel crossed his arms, looking down at Cricket with contempt. "He's just a senile Blue Sea human. If not for this God, he'd be a splat on the ground. The voltage was low—this guy is too weak if he can't handle a mere 60,000 volts."
POW!
Rowan delivered another "Iron Fist of Love" to the top of Enel's head. "Brat, can't you speak properly?!"
Enel cradled his head in pain and shut his mouth.
Just then, a Marine warship appeared on the horizon. "Cricket-brat, I'm heading out. Stay on Jaya and recover. When you've grown stronger, come find this old man in the New World! Forty isn't old—I'm over a hundred! Hahaha!"
Rowan let out a hearty laugh. A dazed Cricket watched him, eyes welling with tears, unable to find the words.
Rowan then grabbed Enel and headed for the ship—one stepping on the air, the other riding a streak of gold.
"Vice Admiral Rowan is back! It's Lord Rowan!"
Cheers erupted from the warship. The Marines crowded the railings, waving frantically as they saw Rowan approaching across the water.
"Keep up, brat," Rowan commanded, exerting a fraction more force. His speed increased tenfold instantly.
A moment later, Rowan stood on the deck. Enel rolled his eyes and landed beside him, his lightning dragon dissipating into sparks.
"Mr. Rowan, who is this?" The Marines asked, eyeing Enel's arrogant posture and golden staff. It reminded them of when Rowan first returned with Zoro and Luffy. Is... is this another disciple? Did he just ride a lightning dragon?
"Don't worry about this brat. Head back to Headquarters! And bring me a Den Den Mushi!"
"Yes, Lord Rowan!"
Despite the orders, the whispers didn't stop. The legend of the Marine Godfather was clearly about to add another "God" to its collection.