Riva returned with the worn picture book in hand.
"Read it."
Saint Roselith Seraphina gave the order without hesitation.
"Yes, Rear Admiral."
Riva glanced once at Seraphina, then at Mont Blanc Cricket, before slowly opening the old book.
Cricket stared at the scene in silence.
Seraphina herself did not even lower her head to look at the pages. Instead, she merely ordered someone else to read it aloud.
To Cricket, that indifference felt like mockery.
Of course.
No one believed in the City of Gold.
No one ever had.
Riva began reading.
"This is a story from more than four hundred years ago."
"It tells the tale of a man from the North Blue named Mont Blanc Noland."
"He was an adventurer who traveled across the seas, recounting countless stories from his voyages. His tales were vivid, unbelievable, and filled with wonders beyond imagination."
"Yet the people of his kingdom could never determine whether his stories were truth or fabrication."
"One day, after returning from the Grand Line, Noland reported something astonishing to his king."
"He claimed to have discovered an island overflowing with gold."
"The king, consumed by greed and curiosity, immediately assembled a massive expedition force to verify the story."
"After enduring violent storms, deadly seas, and countless hardships, they finally arrived at the island Noland described "
"Riva," Seraphina interrupted calmly, "skip to the important part."
She had already grasped the structure of the tale. It was a children's storybook, and she had little patience for unnecessary embellishment.
Cricket suddenly spoke.
"I'll tell the rest."
His voice carried an odd weight, as though he had repeated these words to himself for years.
"When they finally arrived… most of the soldiers were already dead."
"But when the king looked around…"
"There was no gold."
"Nothing except jungle."
"The king believed Noland had deceived him."
"So Noland was publicly executed for lying to the crown."
Cricket lowered his head slightly.
"But before he died… he shouted one final thing."
'The City of Gold exists! It must have sunk beneath the sea!'
"After that, the Mont Blanc family was branded forever with the title of liars."
"No one respected us again."
By the end, Cricket's voice had grown hoarse.
The bitterness etched into his cone-shaped face became impossible to hide.
"So you truly believe this story?" Riva asked with disbelief. "That's absurd. Your ancestor was clearly a liar."
"No!" Cricket roared instantly.
"Noland was an honest man!"
"He was my ancestor! Everyone in our family knows the truth!"
His fists clenched so tightly that veins bulged across his arms.
He was exhausted.
Exhausted from the mockery.
From the laughter.
From the endless ridicule directed toward the name of Noland.
But more than anything
He was tired of carrying that burden himself.
Seraphina stood quietly, listening.
The story had begun to intrigue her more than she expected.
A tale spanning four centuries.
A man branded a liar by the world.
And descendants who continued risking everything to prove his innocence generation after generation.
It was irrational.
Yet strangely compelling.
"He disgraced your entire bloodline," Riva continued. "Don't you resent him?"
Cricket laughed bitterly.
"So what if I do?"
"Yes… everyone in my family says he was a great man."
"But me?"
His voice cracked.
"I hate him."
The words came out like a wound being torn open.
"Do you know what it's like growing up cursed by strangers for something your ancestor supposedly did hundreds of years ago?"
"Everywhere I went, people laughed at me."
"Mocked me."
"Treated me like garbage."
"I didn't ask to inherit that name!"
He pointed toward the sea with trembling hands.
"That's why I came here."
"To prove he wasn't lying."
"To prove the City of Gold really existed!"
Silence followed.
Then Seraphina spoke calmly.
"So the reason you stayed on Jaya all these years…"
"…was to search for the City of Gold your ancestor described."
"And because the king returned empty-handed from this island…"
"…you concluded the truth must still be hidden somewhere here."
Cricket stared at her in shock.
"…Exactly."
He could not help but admire her reasoning. With only fragments of information, she had reconstructed the entire situation.
"But," Seraphina continued evenly, "that still does not erase the fact that those two possess pirate bounties."
Masira and Shoujou immediately stiffened.
"Why?!" Cricket snapped. "The City of Gold exists! Isn't that enough?"
"No," Seraphina replied. "Justice is justice."
Her tone did not waver in the slightest.
"To ignore crimes for the sake of personal gain would only corrupt justice itself."
Cricket nearly exploded in anger.
Justice?
What kind of Marine would abandon mountains of gold because of "justice"?
For a moment, he genuinely wanted to draw his gun and fire at her.
But reason stopped him.
The difference in strength between them was overwhelming.
Just then, Riva leaned closer and quietly whispered into Seraphina's ear.
"Rear Admiral… these two don't actually have criminal records."
"What do you mean?" she asked openly, making no effort to conceal the conversation.
Riva coughed awkwardly.
"The Masira brothers are salvage divers. They make their living recovering treasure and cargo from shipwrecks."
"They were reported because of their unusual appearances and frequent conflicts with pirates."
"The Marines issued bounties after several incidents escalated, but according to the reports… they've never committed serious crimes."
"And honestly, salvage work is profitable enough that they have little reason to rob anyone."
Seraphina fell silent for a moment.
Her earlier encounter with Bluejam had already taught her that even Observation Haki and the Voice of All Things could not perfectly judge every human being.
That was why she had chosen caution.
"…In that case," she began slowly, "I can reconsider "
BOOOOOOM!!!
A thunderous explosion suddenly erupted across the sea.
Everyone turned sharply.
A colossal pillar of seawater burst skyward like a dragon ascending into the heavens, piercing the clouds themselves. Countless droplets rained down over the coastline.
Cricket's eyes widened.
Seraphina lifted her head toward the heavens.
Then, with absolute calm, she spoke.
"I think your ancestor may truly have been telling the truth."
Her silver-white hair swayed gently in the ocean wind.
"Tell me, Cricket…"
"…have you ever considered the possibility that the City of Gold is not beneath the sea?"
Her expression turned thoughtful.
"But above the sky?"
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