Second Wind

47

"Hey, what's he doing?" Braham asked. "Is he really going to wake that thing up?"

"Beats me," Wiper said. "But he says he can help us find the golden bell, so let him be for now. I may not like them myself, but they've done a lot for Noland's descendent, so we'll treat them as allies." Braham nodded in agreement, and Laki, who had shown up a few minutes ago, supporting a severely injured Kamakiri, smiled in relief.

"What's this, Wiper? You're acting rather docile all of a sudden," she commented. Wiper shot her a look, but rather than flinch, she continued smiling, causing him to scoff.

"Even the best of warriors can recognize a ceasefire. I'm satisfied for now, but if the Skypieans think they can take our land again, I won't show any mercy," he said.

A loud mix between a hiss and a growl alerted them to the fact that Luffy had roused the Master of the Sky. The Shandians tensed as if preparing for an attack, but the giant reptile merely observed her surroundings before her eyes rested on Luffy expectantly. The rubber man grinned up at her.

"We kicked God's ass. Now we're gonna ring the bell, so be sure to listen!"

"Strawhat," Wiper called. "It's my goal to ring the bell as well, but first things come first. Are we sure Enel is really defeated?"

"He is," came a voice from behind him. The Shandians turned to see one of their own coming out of hiding. "I can hear his voice from here, but just barely. It's strange. Enel's voice has never been this quiet."

Wiper narrowed his eyes. "And what exactly are you doing here, Aisa?"

The girl gulped in fear. "I was–I mean–I heard everyone's voices gathered in one place, and I wanted to know what was going on..."

"Well, you're lucky you arrived after the battle ended," Kamakiri stated. "You could have been hurt otherwise."

"I don't need to be told that by you, Kamacrispy!" The girl exclaimed, sticking her tongue out.

The warrior unexpectedly smiled. "Cheeky little brat," he said, with a hint of fondness.

"So, back to the matter at hand..." Wiper said. "How do we know that he won't regain consciousness?" Wiper asked.

"If he does, we'll know," Luffy said. "But I don't think he will. If anything, Zoro went overboard a bit." He turned to the swordsman. "Are you sure he won't bleed out?"

Zoro nodded, and Luffy accepted the assurance. Out of the two of them, Zoro actually had the greater amount of discipline when it came to holding back. Although Luffy was slightly stronger, it was much easier to mistakenly kill someone with a sword than with bare fists. As a result, after years of honing his swordsmanship, Zoro had an abundance of restraint.

Even if he didn't always use it.

"Hey, Robin!" Luffy shouted. "Do you think you can figure out where the bell is?" Although he rang it in the previous timeline, he honestly didn't remember exactly where it was.

Robin thought for a moment. "When Jaya ascended passed the clouds, it most likely gained some altitude over the White-White Sea before falling back down. So unless it never made it to the sky, in which case Cricket-san probably would have found it, it would most likely be at an altitude far above the ruins." She turned to the Skypieans. "Have you checked the top of Giant Jack?" she asked.

"We never got a chance. Following the island's ascension, our ancestors were weakened from the change in altitude, and were quickly driven off of our land," Wiper said, somewhat bitterly. "But God's Shrine was built up there afterwards, so if it was up there, that old man would already have found it," he said, pointing to Gan Fall, who confirmed it wasn't up there.