All the Shandians looked at Luffy with shock, awe, and deep apprehension.
Vivi immediately stepped forward, quickly explaining to Luffy the reason for the standoff and her desire to avoid conflict.
Vivi wanted to bring both sides to the negotiating table. As long as they could communicate, bloodshed could be avoided.
Understanding Vivi's intention, Luffy placed the Golden Bell he was carrying down with a thud beside him. He looked at the two opposing sides and said loudly, "Listen to Vivi. How about talking to each other?"
He recalled the words Red-Haired Shanks often used to settle disputes when he was young. So, emulating him, he added a line, trying to bolster his persuasion.
"Give me a face!"
Give you a face?
On the spot, a hot-tempered Shandia warrior stepped forward, pointing his spear at Luffy and demanding, "Who are you? Why should we give you face?!"
Luffy didn't even move. He merely narrowed his eyes. An invisible aura carrying kingly majesty surged forth like a tidal wave. Though it lasted only an instant, the Shandia warrior who had spoken out felt a buzzing in his head, his vision went dark, and he collapsed unconscious on the ground.
The scene fell silent.
This guy's Conqueror's Haki is getting more and more terrifying, Nika muttered softly to herself, watching.
Using violence to stop violence was always the simplest and most effective method. Without the threat of a fist, the other side would never listen to what your mouth was saying.
"Alright. Over to you, Vivi," Luffy said.
Vivi took a deep breath, gave Luffy a grateful look, then stepped forward. Using her intelligence and affability, she began to integrate the information and facilitate communication between the two sides.
She pointed out that Enel, their common enemy, was gone, and the opportunity for peace was right before them.
Robin also spoke up at the right moment, stating she could read the Poneglyphs. In a sense, the mission the Shandians had guarded for generations—watching over the historical text—was already complete.
With Vivi working hard to foster dialogue over there, Luffy and the others turned their attention to the Golden Bell and the various golden artifacts gifted by the Lord of the Sky, starting to fret.
"Too much. It's really too much."
Nami looked at the small mountain of gold, groaning in a mix of bliss and agony. "The Going Merry absolutely cannot carry this much! If we try to load it all, the ship will definitely sink."
"What do we do? What do we do?"
For the first time, Nami experienced the downside of being too rich. This sweet burden left her wanting to cry.
Little Merry floated nearby, watching Nami's distress and then looking at the enormous pile of gold. A look of disappointment and self-reproach appeared on her small face.
She tugged at the hem of her dress and whispered, "It's my fault. If I were a little bigger, maybe we could fit it all..."
"Don't say that, Merry! Being small has its advantages too! The Merry is the best ship!" Seeing this, Nami immediately abandoned the gold before her, rushing over to squat down and hug little Merry to comfort her.
Her intentions were good.
Even Usopp's expression turned strange.
Is this the Nami I know?
As a result, being pressed against Nami's well-developed chest and feeling that immense "affection" only made Merry, comparing it to her own tiny body, want to cry even more. Her eyes grew teary.
I really want to get bigger!
At that moment, the first round of negotiations between Gan Fall's group and the Shandia concluded.
It was impossible to completely resolve a centuries-old blood feud in one or two rounds of talks.
But it was at least a start. Both sides had finally sat down at the negotiating table for frank discussions.
Wiper's first condition at the table was a formal apology from the Skypieans.
On this point, Gan Fall, as the former god of Skypiea, did not hesitate. On behalf of the Skypieans, he solemnly apologized to the Shandia people.
This sincerity made further progress in the discussions possible.
Vivi returned, her face beaming. The long discussion had left her thirsty. Seeing a cup of water in front of Luffy, she picked it up without thinking and gulped it down.
Then she noticed everyone was looking at her with odd expressions.
Vivi's hand shook slightly as she belatedly realized what she'd done. Forcing herself to stay calm, she set the cup down, her cheeks faintly red. "What... what is everyone doing here?"
At a time like this, you just have to change the subject, right?!
Fortunately, everyone seemed accustomed to this sort of thing.
Luffy didn't mind, pointing at the troublesome pile of gold. "We're discussing how to take all this treasure. There's just too much of it."
"Do you need to take this gold away?" Wiper of the Shandia tribe approached.
Nami immediately looked at him warily, blocking the gold like a protective mother hen. "This is our spoils of war! And both the Lord of the Sky and Uncle Gan Fall agreed to give it to us."
Wiper raised a hand to clarify. "Don't misunderstand. Neither the Skypieans nor we Shandians have much interest in gold itself. I just remembered that our tribe has an ancient method. We can melt and refine gold, drastically compressing its volume, though its weight remains unchanged. I wonder if that method would be helpful to you?"
"Can the Merry handle that much weight?" Sanji asked.
This pile of gold looked like it weighed tens of thousands of tons.
It wasn't just from the Lord of the Sky. After Enel's defeat, while Luffy and Robin were looking at the Poneglyph, Nami, using her exceptional "gold radar," had directly raided Enel's lair.
Enel's so-called shrine held even more gold.
"As long as the volume shrinks and we can fit it on the ship, it's fine! Weight isn't a problem! The Merry's load-bearing capacity is absolutely top-notch now!" Merry immediately raised her little hand and said cheerfully.
Wiper nodded. "It will take some time. We'll need to set up a temporary furnace."
Hearing this, Luffy made the executive decision. "Then we'll have a feast on Skypiea first, while our Shandia friends refine all this gold!"
A feast was always the Straw Hat Pirates' best way to celebrate and to wait.
Mostly, Luffy was also hungry.
Thus, the clearing became lively once more.
Chopper, as the doctor, was quite busy. There were many injured. Although Luffy had defeated Enel, many people had participated in the "Survival Game." Chopper went around treating those injured in the earlier trials and clashes, earning unanimous praise from both Shandia warriors and Skypiean residents.
Usopp was also very excited.
Having suffered from Dials for so many years, the Shandia had collected various peculiar Sky Island shells. As a sniper, Usopp immediately grasped the strategic importance of such reserves and went off to trade for them right away.
At the feast, bonfires burned brightly, illuminating every smiling face.
***
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