By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

Well, it’s been a couple of volumes of huge epic fights, so it’s about time for a breather. As Luffy and Nami get ready to take on Eneru once more, most of this volume is devoted to a huge flashback.

At least we do see that Conis has succeeded in getting the Skypeians to evacuate, and just in time, as the cloud island is getting vaporized by Eneru. Wyper wakes up to see everything around him being destroyed, and starts to recall the legends of his boyhood.

This leads us into the real tale of Norland from 400 years ago, and how he became known as a liar. Naturally, Norland is pure awesome – this is One Piece, after all. The story of Norland is a classic one of Science vs. Superstition, as he arrives to stop the island’s sacrificing of virgins and shows them that they can cure the blights of their country through modern medicine. Unfortunately, the blights of the country turn out to be fixable by destroying ancient holy trees, which doesn’t go over well.

We also get the backstory of the golden bell, and the promise made to hear it ringing out. Sadly, things go as expected. The island ends up being blown into Skypeia via the Knock-Up Stream, and Norland is executed for his pains. It’s a sad story where a scientist and a warrior reach out to become great friends, but circumstance forces them apart.

Now we want Luffy to find that bell more than ever, and sure enough he’s climbing a giant beanstalk despite having tons of gold still attached to his right arm. Luckily, Nami arrives with her waver, and after hearing about his determination to show Norland’s descendants that he wasn’t wrong, agrees to help him reach Eneru.

How much you like this volume will depend on how much you can tolerate flashbacks taking up most of it. It deepened the Skypeia story, however, and sets up the giant Luffy/Eneru Round 2 that’s coming up. Recommended.