Episode 187

"Guidance from the Sound of a Bell! The Great Warrior and Tales of an Explorer" is the 187th episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
The history of Montblanc Noland and Calgara is told, as a flashback from Wiper.

Long Summary
As the episode starts, we are back to Enel watching the destruction, Usopp urging everyone to hurry before everything get destroyed and Luffy vowing to make Enel pay while running up the stalk.

Enel notices the Shandian Village and comments that - because they are originally from the Blue Sea - they may "enjoy" his plan to destroy Skypiea back down to the Blue Sea. He then directs the lightning to specifically destroy the Shandian village. The Shandians watch in horror from the boat and remark they could have been destroyed along with their village had they not evacuated as fast as they did.

Wiper reminisces about his oath to Calgara to light the fire of Shandora while Aisa tries to get him to go. He remembers the Shandian Chief telling him as a child about Calgara's other reason for wanting to protect their homeland. That reason was a friend Calgara had made ... Montblanc Noland.

We are now on a flashback to 400 years ago. We see a crew fleeing on a beach towards their anchored ship. The "Demon of Shandora" is on their heels, says one. The captain sets sail but Calgara throws the ball-shaped anchor at the ship and jumps aboard to attack the crew. He tells them to leave everything and go.

On another ship at sea, Admiral Montblanc Noland is being told the ship out of food. He jumps in the water. The crew speculates on him abandoning them but he comes back up the surface, having captured a huge fish for them to eat.

The same ship is later shown caught in a storm. Noland is writing his diary but hears a bell in the distance.

On an island, a dying priest whose skin is covered with green stains is telling the men surrounding him that Shandia is cursed and to save the village, a girl must be offered to the Sacrificial Altar. The priest dies and the Shandians around him comment there have been a hundred victims already.

In a castle chamber, a young woman - we later find out she is called Mousse - says that if it saves the village, she is willing to offer her body and is looking forward to meeting the Sun God. Her mother is sobbing.

A crying young man called Seto is in the forest in the rain trying to get the same type of green skin stain off his arm with a rock. Calgara walks by and Seto angrily tells him he wanted to be like him one day and instead he is going to die "like this".

The storm is dying down and Noland's crew is grateful to him that he directed them to the island. But they didn't hear the bell like he did. The crew goes to shore and see a Southbird and they think the weird sound it makes must be what the Admiral heard. The bell rings at that moment and they comment on the beauty of its sound. Norland guesses this means the island is inhabited.

As they go into the jungle they run into Seto. The Doctor diagnoses Seto's weird stains as Tree Fever and Noland orders the crew to get some conine to administer to the boy and the whole crew. They arrive at the Shandian town and note with sadness that even the crop is infected and the whole village is sick.

At the Sacrificial Altar, Mousse is being brought by boat to the altar while a priest is delivering a prayer for the village to be saved from the disease. As Mousse is tied down on the altar, a python looking like the python the Straw Hat Pirates have been fighting in present day Skypiea - that the villagers seem to believe is one of their Gods called Kashigami - swims to the altar and hovers over the girl. As the giant snake is about to eat Mousse, Noland jumps in the water, climbs the altar and cuts Kashigami's head under the horrified eyes of the Shandians that had come to pray to the Gods for the safety of their loved ones. Noland comforts a crying Mousse but the villagers are infuriated and scream for both of them to be killed to appease the Gods that surely must be furious at one of them having been killed. Noland's crew is worried for him and, encouraged by the cries of the crowd, Calgara swims to the altar and attacks Noland.

Noland introduces himself as an explorer from the North Sea and tries to defend himself to Calgara who wants to hear nothing of it. While Noland fights him to a standstill, Calgara throws a knife at Mousse and encourages her to kill herself to appease the Gods. Noland stops her but Calgara spears him from behind.

Noland's crew has been taken hostage by some of Calgara's warriors who are holding knifes to their throat. Calgara rants that any intruders are banned from the island and that on top of it Noland killed a god and his life alone would not atone for this. They must all be killed. An infuriated Noland dismisses those notions of sacrifice as a disgrace and lectures Calgara about progess. He says that if their Gods care about the Shandians' lives, then those rituals are the complete opposite of what they'd want. Noland tells the villagers he will "lift the curse" and cure the disease but he needs time and if he ends up not keeping his word, then they should feel free to do whatever they want to him and his crew. In exchange, if he does save them, they must swear never to hold human sacrifices again.

The villagers are furious and Calgara dismisses him and starts to attack him once more. The Shandian Chief interrupts and tells them to give Noland a chance. He has until tomorrow evening to cure them all and then his fate shall be decided.

Noland's crew are locked into a cage and worry about getting killed tomorrow. Mousse who is in a nearby cage asks about Noland. They explain to her that he is a skilled explorer and botanist travelling around the seas to find new species for his research.

A council is gathered and upset at the chief for giving Noland a chance. The chief points out there is nothing to lose by waiting. Calgara says that if he feels the slightest bit of threat from Noland, he won't wait tomorrow to kill him. The chief says that while he can't hear the words of the Gods, he knows to recognize the words of a wise man. Calgara storms out and runs into Seto outside who says he is cured and wonders what Noland meant when he mentioned "progress".

In the forest, Noland is happy to have found a Kona Tree.

The ground suddenly starts shaking and the villagers think this is an earthquake to punish them for what happened. After it stops, Calgara goes onto a high rock to assess the damage and sees part of the forest is sinking. He spots Noland injured and stuck in a crevice and comes nearby to gloat that God has punished Noland himself. Noland and Calgara exchange some unpleasant words until Noland says he has to get out of that spot he is stuck into and hurry to the village. Calgara says he wants to stay and watch him try to do that.

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