The power of the Float-Float Fruit was absolute—as long as its user, Shiki the Golden Lion, remained conscious. Once Jerry defeated him, the devil fruit's effect vanished. The massive, floating islands Shiki had held captive in the sky for decades lost their ethereal support and began a catastrophic descent toward the White Sea below.
On his way back to the Upper Yard, Jerry had made a crucial detour. He landed on the main island of Merveille, swiftly dealing with a few of Shiki's loyalists who refused to surrender. He then located the village of the island's natives—a unique people with feathered wings on their arms. Miraculously, their innate ability to fly had saved them from the worst of the impact as their home crashed into the sea of clouds.
Jerry explained the situation to them. Their island home, once a single landmass, was now a fractured archipelago teeming with hyper-intelligent, ferocious beasts, a result of Shiki's twisted experiments. Their only defense was the "Daft Green" plant, whose scent repelled the creatures. Seeing their destroyed village and small numbers, Jerry offered them a new beginning. After a brief consultation, the grateful villagers agreed to his plan: he would help them relocate to the relative safety of the Upper Yard. The beast-infested islands they left behind would be moved near Skypiea, providing a new frontier—and a challenge—for the sky-dwellers to reclaim.
It was one thing to give them a fish, but far better to teach them to fish. Jerry and his crew couldn't stay forever to hunt beasts for them. The people of the sky, with their longing for Vearth and their capable warriors, could handle this task themselves. It was a perfect solution.
Now, standing before the leaders of the Shandians and Skypieans, Jerry laid out his plan. As expected, neither Wyper nor Gan Fall objected. The prospect of new land, of more Vearth, was too significant to refuse.
"Then it's settled," Jerry said, his gaze firm as he looked from Wyper to Gan Fall. "You two will have to set aside your disputes for now. We still have a few things to accomplish."
He turned to the Shandian warrior. "First, Wyper, your ancestral City of Gold, Shandora, is right beneath our feet. Most of it is buried within this giant island cloud. You can finally go see it."
Next, he addressed the former God. "And you, Gan Fall. There's a group of people down there who were forced to work for Enel. They were building him a massive ship out of gold. They must be your people from Angel Island."
Both Wyper and Gan Fall stared, utterly stunned. The Shandians had fought for generations to reclaim their home, never knowing it was hidden so close, just beyond the reach of their attacks.
"And finally," Jerry declared, a wide grin spreading across his face, "we're going to keep our promise to Old Man Cricket. We are going to ring the Golden Bell and let the Light of Shandora shine once more!"
He didn't wait for the two astonished leaders to respond. With a smile toward his crew, Jerry kicked off the ground and shot into the air, landing on a cloud platform beside the Giant Jack. Before him stood the goal of their entire journey into the sky: a magnificent, ancient belfry, its massive bell forged from pure gold.
"The Golden Bell of Shandora..." Jerry murmured in awe. "It really is blinding."
He stepped forward and wrapped his hands around the thick, heavy pull-rope hanging from the bell. He tilted his head back, looking up at the immense golden artifact that had stood silent for four hundred years, and took a deep breath.
"Old Man Cricket! You'd better be listening!" he roared into the sky. "This is for you! The sound that proves the city of gold is real!"
With a final shout, Jerry threw all of his strength into it. The entire belfry groaned under the monumental force, and then—
DOOOOOOONNNNNG!
A sound of impossible beauty and clarity erupted from the bell. It was a deep, melodious, and soul-stirring tone that rolled across the sky, shaking the very heavens. Jerry poured every ounce of his power into each pull, determined to send the sound ten thousand meters down to the Blue Sea below.
On the ground, the Black Star Pirates looked up, their faces lit with triumphant smiles. "What a beautiful sound!" Deuce said, his usual stoicism replaced with genuine awe. "This is what adventuring is all about."
Gan Fall raised his head, tears streaming freely from his eyes. "This sound... this magnificent sound! I always believed... I always believed it would one day ring again!"
Wyper, the stoic warrior, trembled as he gazed at the sky. "Montblanc Noland," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "Forgive us for making you wait so long. May the sound of this bell reach your descendants."
All around them, the Shandians erupted in joyous celebration. They hugged, they laughed, they wept. From their Hidden Cloud Village, the elders and children heard it too, the echo they had awaited for four centuries.
"The Light of Shandora!"
"It's a miracle! Great Warrior Calgara! Do you hear it?"
The bell's toll was not just a sound; it was a promise fulfilled, a vindication of their ancestors, and a balm for their weary souls.
On Angel Island, the Skypieans had been cowering in fear, worried about the divine retribution that would follow the recent upheaval. But as the bell's song washed over them, their fear turned to stunned confusion, and then to pure wonder.
"What is happening?"
"Is that... the land... singing?"
"Could that sound be the legendary..."
Far below, on the Blue Sea, the Marines were securing the defeated Shiki. Suddenly, the celestial melody drifted down from the sky, causing every sailor to look up, their faces filled with wonder.
"What is that sound?" Gion whispered, her sharp eyes softening. "It's... beautiful."
Beside her, a small smile touched Isuka's lips. "So that's you, Fire Fist Ace," she murmured to herself, her voice a soft counterpoint to the distant chime. "It seems your adventure led to something wonderful... I'm glad."
And on the coast of Jaya, three figures stood frozen. Montblanc Cricket and the salvage monkey brothers, Masira and Shoujou, stared at the sky, their mouths agape.
"Boss! Listen!" Shoujou shrieked.
"That sound! It's coming from the sky! There's no mistaking it!" Masira cried.
Tears streamed down Cricket's face as he listened to the undeniable proof. "The City of Gold... Skypiea... they're real," he sobbed, a lifetime of ridicule and doubt washing away with each chime. "Noland... you weren't a liar!"
He cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed at the sky with all his might, his voice filled with four hundred years of inherited gratitude. "YOUR STORY IS TRUE! I HEARD YOU! THANK YOU!"
Back on the Upper Yard, as the final echo of the bell faded, Jerry did one last thing. With a grunt of effort, he used his powers to carefully lift the entire, massive belfry from its cloud foundation and gently set it down on the solid Vearth of the Upper Yard.
The pirates stared, their jaws on the floor. They had witnessed countless wonders, but seeing this legendary, historic golden monument placed before them was breathtaking.
"This trip was more than worth it," Deuce said, his eyes sparkling. "It feels like we just spoke to history itself."
"Whoa! Gold! So much gold!" Carina yelled, her eyes turning into berry symbols.
Even Cavendish, a man born of immense wealth, looked on with genuine surprise.
"Captain Jerry," Carine asked, turning with a greedy glint in her eye sockets. "This thing is probably too big to take with us... but there's other gold, right?"
Jerry grinned. "There is. It's in the city ruins below us. Enel used most of it to build his ark, but that just means we have a ship to scrap." He winked. "From this day forward, you can call me Captain Gold-finger."
Looking at his ecstatic crew and the hopeful faces of the Shandians and Skypieans, all united for the first time by a shared miracle, Jerry couldn't help but feel a deep sense of satisfaction. This was a good day.