Summary:
In the forest on Jaya, Chopper and Luffy are running for their lives from deadly mantises flying after them. The mantises attack, but Chopper and Luffy manage to dodge, though the tree behind them is split in half. Chopper and Luffy look back to see one of the large mantises sitting in a tree and run for it as the mantis chases them and cuts the net. Suddenly, Chopper notices South Bird sitting and grinning in a tree and guesses that the bird is commanding the bugs to attack them for some unknown reason. Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, three South Birds begin to sing, causing Usopp to wonder where the sound came from. Sanji also hears strange noises and when he looks up he sees what looks like boulders rolling towards them. Usopp looks over his glasses and wonders that the “boulders” are ladybug droppings, but Nami says they’re actually bugs. They approach and look like giant seven-star ladybugs, so Sanji kicks one to get it away from Nami while South Bird laughs in the tree. In another part of the forest, Zoro tackles some bugs that were attacking him, while Robin also notices a strange sound. Sanji, Usopp, and Nami then encounter a slug and confront it with salt, while Luffy turns to fight some bees, only to be pulled away by Chopper, who tells him that they are poisonous. More and more animals arrive, such as fireflies, cockroaches and even a boar as the sounds of South Bird echo through the forest.
Meanwhile, back at the Saruyama Alliance headquarters, Bellamy admires the golden South Bird statue. Mont Blanc Cricket, bleeding on the ground, states that they have no right to take the gold, but Sarquiss interrogates him and attacks with a Falcon Slash, which Masira takes to protect Cricket. Sarquiss laughs and says that since they are stronger, they have every right to take the gold from the Saruyam Alliance. Shoujou tells Cricket to run and unleashes a Wail of Destruction, injuring Bellamy’s crew. Sarquiss moves to attack him, but Bellamy says to let him take care of it, and Cricket says that the Bane Bane no Mi power will be used again. Bellamy turns his legs into springs and attacks Shoujou with the Spring Sniper. Cricket tells Shoujou to run, but Bellamy hits Shoujou, knocking him through the Saruyama Alliance house and leaving him floating in the water. As Cricket thinks about the fun times he had with Shouja and Masira, Bellamy boards his ship and tells Cricket to grow up and that the city of gold was just Mont Blanc Noland’s imagination. His crew laughs and Bellamy claims that the fantasy will never come true, while Cricket keeps thinking about Masira and Shoujou telling him that the city of gold exists. Suddenly Cricket tells Bellamy to hold her and lights a cigarette, saying that chicks like Bellamy who can’t even fight dreams shouldn’t be teaching anyone how to be a pirate. Bellamy turns and asks Cricket what he said.
Back in the forest, the Straw Hat Pirates reconvened and compared the results of their travels. None of them were able to catch the South Bird, and Luffy states that because of all the bugs, they couldn’t catch a single one. Usopp then notices the South Bird in a tree and Chopper translates the bird sounds for the crew. As it turns out, the bird is actually just there to mock and asks them if they caught anything. Enraged, the crew moves to knock it down, but Robin merely fires a pair of hands at the bird, knocking it to the ground, cutting off its laughter. The Straw Hats then head back to the Saruyama Alliance headquarters.
When the Straw Hats get there, they find Cricket, Masira and Shoujou beaten up, and the Going Merry destroyed. Sanji and Chopper wonder who did this and help Shoujou out of the water while Luffy asks Cricket what happened. Cricket says they have to upgrade the ship before dawn and tells Luffy not to worry about it. Cricket asks if they have the South Bird and when they say yes, Nami tells them that the gold has been taken. The crew is stunned, but Cricket tells them to forget about it. Usopp then interrupts and says that Cricket spent ten years searching for gold and even lost his health because of it. However, Cricket says that’s not a problem and says that with the entire Saruyama Alliance, they’ll be able to fix the ship and send them to heaven no matter what. Usopp is surprised, but Zoro suddenly notices and shows Luffy a mark on the side of a tree, which Nami recognizes as Bellamy’s symbol. Zoro asks if Luffy needs help, but he declines, and Nami says that they need to stop fooling around since there are only three hours until dawn. Luffy then asks Robin if he can get to Mock Town by running along the coast and she tells him yes. Cricket tries to stop him, but Zoro says he’ll need a sword to do that. Luffy leaves saying he will be back before dawn