To acquire the gold needed to modify the Thriller Bark, Maude decided to try his luck at the nearest treasure site.
After announcing the departure to the entire crew, within ten minutes, the Thriller Bark—under Lafitte's command—turned its bow and sped toward the marked location.
Thanks to the high-speed sailing granted by the Float-Float Fruit and a stroke of good luck with the weather, the ship encountered no storms or disruptions. As a result, it only took five days to reach the designated area in the New World.
"Gaya, hold the heading. Descend slowly."
Lafitte kept a close eye on the compass and relayed his instructions to Gaya.
Following his orders, Gaya carefully controlled the descent of the Thriller Bark, keeping its course steady as the massive hull slowly sank toward the sea, piercing through the soft white clouds.
Whoooosh—
The rock-armored hull creaked under pressure as it forced its way through the cloud layer, descending steadily toward the ocean surface.
Perched atop the towering mast of the Thriller Bark, Maude looked down toward a palm-sized island far off in the distance on the sea below.
If everything matched up, that island was exactly where the treasure map had pointed.
Thanks to the coordinated effort between Lafitte and Gaya, the ship descended smoothly toward the ocean.
At this rate, once the Thriller Bark reached sea level, they'd be fairly close to their destination.
But—
"…Are those whirlpools?"
Maude narrowed his eyes. All around the island's coastline were clusters of clearly visible whirlpools.
They varied in size, with the largest being roughly the size of a basketball court. Though not especially fast-moving, there were so many of them scattered about that it would be nearly impossible for a normal ship to navigate through.
But no matter how treacherous the landing conditions near the coast, such obstacles were trivial in the face of the Float-Float Fruit's power.
And so, the Thriller Bark steadily approached the island.
As the distance closed, Maude gradually got a clearer view of the island's full terrain.
It was relatively flat. Seen from above, dense forest covered about two-thirds of the island's surface. At its center stood an inactive volcano of modest size.
Aside from the numerous whirlpools nearby, the island itself seemed rather unremarkable.
Maude pulled out the treasure map and compared it with the island before him.
"The outline matches."
Confirming that the map and the island were more or less aligned, Maude glanced at the red X marking the treasure's location—his gaze naturally drifting toward the base of the extinct volcano.
If he was reading this right, that was the exact spot the red X represented.
Maude put away the map and turned his head slightly to look at Bailey, who was crouched on his shoulder.
"Bailey, go tell Lafitte and Gaya to keep the ship hovering above the island. No need to land."
"Got it."
With a quick nod, Bailey leapt off toward the castle at the ship's center.
Once Bailey was out of sight, a pair of jet-black shadow wings unfurled from Maude's back.
With a single flap, he took flight, heading straight for the island.
"Room!"
The moment Maude lifted off the mast, the dome-shaped spatial field of the Op-Op Fruit expanded like an inverted glass bowl, engulfing him.
"Law?"
Maude glanced at the shimmering film of the spatial domain falling over him, arching an eyebrow.
Swish—
In the next instant, Law appeared directly below, his right hand reaching up to grab Maude's ankle.
"Seriously?"
Maude looked down at the uninvited guest and gave a faint shake of his head, saying nothing more as he flapped his wings and continued flying toward the island.
Guided by intuition, Maude descended toward the base of the volcano.
Before landing, Law let go and dropped freely, landing smoothly on the ground.
Maude followed, retracting his shadow wings as he touched down beside him.
Law, cradling Kikoku in one hand, tilted his head toward Maude. "On the way over, I scouted the island a bit. Didn't find any signs of human habitation."
"Yeah."
Maude nodded.
With so many whirlpools surrounding the island, it would be nearly impossible for an ordinary ship to approach, let alone land. So, it wasn't surprising the island was uninhabited.
Maude glanced around and soon noticed a cave entrance partially concealed beneath some shrubs and the overhanging rock face.
"A cave, huh? Let's check it out."
He didn't bother comparing it to the map. He simply walked straight toward the cave.
Law, noticing the cave as well, quickly followed.
As they approached the entrance, a faint red glow flickered in Maude's eyes. He activated Observation Haki to scan their surroundings.
Sweeping through the forest and cave interior, he found nothing out of the ordinary.
Deactivating his Haki, Maude reached out toward the thick, thorny shrubs obscuring the entrance.
"Room."
Before he could touch them, Law used his power to instantly relocate the brush away.
With the shrubs gone, the cave entrance was revealed—completely blocked by a pile of jagged, irregular stones.
Maude didn't reach out again. He simply turned his head toward Law.
Raising a finger, Law activated Room once more, effortlessly relocating the entire pile of stones to a nearby clearing.
Rumble…
The rocks tumbled down with a dull thud.
Maude grabbed a couple of sticks and fashioned a pair of makeshift torches. Then, shoulder to shoulder, the two stepped into the cave.
The entrance was narrow, but the interior quickly opened up into a vast cavern.
Their torchlight banished the shadows, casting flickering light across the stone walls and floor.
Near the wall, golden glimmers flickered faintly in the torchlight.
Noticing this, Law walked closer and raised his torch.
In the warm light, a pile of gleaming gold coins came into view—interspersed with golden goblets, crosses, and other fine works crafted from solid gold.
Among the hoard were also a few gemstone necklaces.
It was clear this was indeed the treasure site marked on the map.
Law swept his gaze across the pile of treasure.
Had they been ordinary pirates hunting for riches, they'd likely have lost their minds with joy at the sight.
But this wasn't the kind of gold that could help with modifying the Thriller Bark.
Law turned his attention from the treasure and swung his torch toward the side of the cavern.
"Weapons, huh…"
In the dim light, a heavily decayed wooden weapons rack came into view, lined with over a dozen swords, spears, and axes.
Law casually picked up a long sword. As soon as he did, the handguard cracked and fell to the ground in pieces.
Unbothered, he drew the blade—its edge was mottled with rust.
"Che."
With a click of his tongue, Law tossed the corroded weapon back onto the rack.
His focus remained on the treasure and weapons, and he didn't immediately notice that Maude had gone silent.
Growing suspicious, Law lifted his head and looked around.
Soon, he spotted Maude standing deeper in the cave, facing a large square stone block.
"Hm? Is that…?"
Law's gaze shifted from Maude to the stone in front of him—and his eyes lit up with a glimmer of intrigue.
"A Poneglyph…?"
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