Pirates: I Rely Only on Myself

Sea Circle Calendar Year 1506, October 3rd.

Half a month had passed since Noah and his crew had set sail again.

Along the way, they stopped at eight islands. And today, they finally reached the edge of the Lost Sea.

Wearing his trademark cowboy hat, Noah stood at the bow, gazing out at the dark, turbulent waters ahead.

"Big Brother, there's something really strange about this area," remarked Lilith, who had come from the Rum Kingdom to support them. She stood beside Noah, her face tense with caution.

Noah's Observation Haki also picked up the eerie fluctuations in the sea: sudden storms, tornadoes, and even massive hailstones. This sea felt less like the South Blue and more like the treacherous Grand Line.

"Do you think we can handle it?"

Lilith considered for a moment. "If we activate the magnetic shield and I monitor closely, we should be able to navigate it."

"Then let's give it a try. If it gets too dangerous, Arican open a wormhole and take us out."

Lilith nodded, focusing intently on the treasure map and the additional charts they had gathered from nearby nations. She scanned the weather conditions within several dozen kilometers.

The Nautilus forged ahead into the depths of the Lost Sea.

"Hail ahead, port side at 37 degrees!"

A torrent of hailstones, each five to six meters in diameter, fell from the dark clouds three kilometers ahead of the Nautilus.

"Brace for impact! Full defense, advance to starboard!" Noah's body shifted into rubidium-magnet mode, surrounding the Nautilus with a powerful defensive magnetic field.

In the next instant, a dozen water tornadoes swirled up around them, closing in from every direction.

"Out of my way!" Noah concentrated his magnetic power, shaping iron sand into long spears. "Railgun barrage!"

Dozens of electromagnetic shots blasted into the base of each tornado.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The impacts churned up the sea, throwing the tornadoes off course. The Nautilus took advantage of the disruption to break through.

Four days had passed since they'd entered the Lost Sea, and encounters like this one had become routine, occurring every few hours.

Using the journey as a chance to train his crew, Noah chose not to use Shiki's Float-Float Fruit to lift the Nautilus into the safer high altitudes. Instead, they faced the sea's challenges head-on, crashing through wave after wave.

Rather than continuously maintaining the magnetic shield, Noah rotated responsibilities among his crew, letting them take turns against the bizarre weather.

But after four days and nights of battling the fierce elements, exhaustion was setting in for everyone, even Noah.

Watching the Nautilus escape the latest tornado, Noah turned to Lilith. "How far are we from the target?"

"About 53 kilometers northwest. If all goes smoothly, we should reach the island in five hours."

"Five hours, huh? Full speed ahead, then!"

The Nautilus pushed onward, though the rough waters slowed their progress, stretching the journey by over three hours.

Upon reaching their destination, Noah casually stowed the Nautilus.

To his surprise, the scene before them was unusually calm.

The island was covered in vines, weeds, and moss. Besides a few oysters, barnacles, mussels, and sea anemones attached to the coastal rocks, there were no signs of larger creatures. Now and then, a small crab scuttled between the rocks, but otherwise, life was sparse.

Navigating through the jagged coastal rocks, Noah's group came upon a series of low hills.

"There's some sort of ruins up ahead…" Kuro sliced through a large patch of vines, revealing the outlines of ancient structures.

With each step, they ventured deeper into the remnants of this ancient city, surrounded by mossy, vine-covered ruins.

"It's been stripped clean," Kuro observed as he pried open a fallen rock wall, revealing no sign of jewels or gold within.

Noah nodded, piecing together a likely explanation. "It's not surprising. If this place was destroyed by natural disaster, any treasure here would've been scavenged long ago."

Two hours later, they arrived at what seemed to be the remains of a temple.

Noah studied a mural depicting a ceremonial dance, a look of surprise crossing his face. "The Dance of Nika… Is this a shrine to the Sun God?"

Kuro cleared more vines from the stone walls, revealing additional murals.

After examining the images, Noah shook his head. "This seems to have been a shrine to Nika. No wonder it was destroyed—this is what happens to the defeated."

"Big Brother, any idea how to solve the riddle on the map?" Lilith asked, staring at the cryptic message on the treasure map.

Noah read the riddle aloud. "The place of sunrise, at sunset, where colors illuminate, and an ancient well calls."

"It's actually a simple riddle. 'Place of sunrise' indicates direction, 'at sunset' means late in the day, 'colors illuminate' suggests a season when auroras appear, so the treasure should be inside an ancient well."

"The Lost Sea's aurora season is typically around April to May or August to September. During those times, the sun rises from the northeast, meaning the well should be on the island's northeast side."

Using the shrine as a starting point, they began their search toward the northeast.

However, they found no sign of ruins or wells, even after covering a large area.

Noah used his electromagnetic waves and Observation Haki but detected no traces of an ancient well.

They continued all the way to the coastline but still came up empty-handed.

Kuro adjusted his glasses. "Could it be that the well only appears at sunset?"

"Not necessarily." Noah pondered, wondering why they couldn't locate the well despite following the riddle's clues.

As he gazed out at the crashing waves nearby, an idea struck him. "Maybe… the well is submerged due to rising sea levels?"

Concentrating his Observation Haki and electromagnetic pulses, he scanned the nearby ocean floor.

A few minutes later, Noah's eyes opened in triumph. "Found it—two kilometers offshore, underwater."

"In the ocean?" Kuro's surprise turned into fascination. "So, sea levels have risen… This old treasure map indirectly proves that sea levels have changed over the centuries."

Noah placed both hands on the water's surface.

Soon, the surrounding sea split in two, revealing the seafloor about thirty to forty meters below.

With the water parted, the ruins hidden beneath were finally exposed.

The structure was a lighthouse-like remnant, its upper half entirely shattered, leaving only the base intact. At its center lay an ancient well.

Clearing away the debris around the well, they found a sizable stone well with a spiral staircase carved into its walls.

The crew descended the stone steps.

Using the Float-Float Fruit, they drained the water inside, exposing patches of octopuses, eels, and lobsters clinging to the surrounding rocks.

After descending over a hundred meters, they reached the bottom, a muddy floor. Clearing the sludge with the Float-Float Fruit, they uncovered a tunnel.

Following the tunnel, they emerged into a large natural cave.

Inside the cave were signs of human modification, and part of the tunnel seemed intentionally destroyed. Based on the design, this area might have once been a hidden port.