Three days have passed since the Artur Bacca incident, and there's still no word from Law. I can't say that I haven't expected as much. Based on what I know about him from the anime, he'll probably wait until the very last second to give a reply.
And speaking of Artur Bacca, his fate was nothing but ironic. After a brief meeting between the citizens of Pleasure town, they forced the pirate captain to become a handyman responsible for fixing any damaged building in the future while paying him the lowest possible wage.
Although some people demanded they cut off the pirate's head then and there, their respect for Wolf, along with the fact that Artur Bacca wouldn't be able to use his devil fruit powers again, calmed them down.
The citizens imprisoned the rest of his crew on the island or delivered them to the marines if they had bounties, with a few of them managing to escape.
Volcano, the Somu wrestler, and Artur Bacca's second in command was among the escapees, but no one cared about him since he wasn't a genuine threat, and that was the end of that.
I, myself, spent these days training my phasing abilities on water, and even though the process wasn't pleasant, I was able to do it in the end.
And let me tell you, the feeling of having water inside my body after my first attempt to phase through it, which failed, causing water to be inside places it shouldn't be in, wasn't pleasant.
Spending two hours getting rid of the water literally stuck inside my body because of its changed density wasn't pleasant either, but I managed to figure it out in the end, and that's all that matters.
I also finally met the mink polar bear, Pebo, and he was nothing if not top grade comic relief. I still smile every time I remember the first he met my crew and ended up profusely apologizing after Elly pointed out her surprise at the fact that he's a talking bear.
He acted just as clumsily and meekly as he did in the anime, but there was something more to him. Of that, I'm sure.
And speaking of the mink polar bear, I was actually talking to him right now after I made my way to Wolf's base inside the swallow-shaped mountain along with Charles.
"Wolf will be right with you," Bepo said while curiously eyeing Charles, who was doing the same. "I almost forgot, you guys haven't met before, right?" I asked as I noticed them eyeing each other.
"I think I'd remember meeting a talking bear if I did," Charles said while giving Bepo a once over. "I'm sorry for being a talking bear," Bepo said with a downcast expression as he lowered his head to look at the ground.
"You don't have to be sorry, you know," Charles said with twitching eyes. "I'm sorry for apologizing so much," Bepo apologized again, causing me to laugh while Charles merely looked speechless.
"I'm Charles, by the way. What's your name?" Charles introduced himself after a second of awkward silence, extending his hand as he did.
"My name is Bepo," the bear mink said as he shook Charles's hand. "Oh, it looks they're getting along," came Wolf's voice as he came out of his house.
"Do you need something from me, young man?" Wolf asked as he turned to look at me after giving Charles a greeting nod. "Kind of, It's about this guy right here," I said while pointing at Charles.
"What about him?" the inventor asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "Well, you see, we picked him up from Spider Miles, but we can't take him with us," I said with a sigh.
"I was hoping you can take care of him until he's old enough to take care of himself," I concluded, awkwardly rubbing the back of my neck.
"As long as he earns his keep by helping with my inventions and the farm, then I don't see why not," the inventor remarked after a couple of seconds of thought.
"There you have it, you little shit," I said as I ruffled Charles's hair. "You'll be staying here from now on, so ear your keep, and don't bother Wolf too much," I added with a smile.
"Fine," Charles said, glaring at me as he slapped my hand away from his hair. "I have something to take care of, so I'll be taking my leave, now," I said with a smile as I gave Charles one last head chop in retaliation, turning around and leaving.
-0-
Three more days passed after I left Charles with Wolf, and even though I hate to admit it, the little shit did grow on me, and his presence in just a little bit missed.
Bob, Elly, and Kozue still visited him to continue his training, but that, too, will come to an end tomorrow when we leave the island.
I, myself, spent the past days exploring the island to take a break from training, and I finally got the chance to climb all the way to the top of the swallow mountain.
And even though the animals became stronger the more I climbed, they were still weak, and I didn't come across anything interesting, but the view from the top of the mountain was at least worth it.
What really made me happy was that Laffite awakened his armament Haki while sparring with Wilson yesterday. Even if it wasn't as exciting as awakening it during a battle to the death, it still did the job.
Sparring with Wilson aside, I also had my navigator leave the island to investigate the strange weather phenomena, and he came back confirming its existence.
And with that conclusion, we confirmed our next stop, and I'm already looking forward to it. Hopefully, we'll have Law with us when we go there.
Kozue, and Byron, were making progress on their six powers training as well, and while Doc Q was interested in the techniques too, he wasn't able to train in them.
His illness was weird like that. Even though he could muster up the strength to fight equally against someone like Laffite, that's where his stamina will run out, and he didn't have enough energy to train continuously.
I also got a call from Kumadori and Fukurou informing me that they've managed to infiltrate the organization of the Baroque work, but that's not all they had to say.
They also informed us that some famous bounty hunter has gathered a bunch of his colleagues and is waiting to ambush us in the twin capes, which is hilarious since they probably expected us to arrive there a week ago.
Fortunately, or unfortunately for them, they'll have to wait for even more time, as we still have something to do in north blue before going there.
-0-
"Are you sure they'll come, fence?" Asked a man whose clothes were full of gun holsters and ammo. "We've already wasted one week of our time here," he said with a sigh.
"Maybe we should just give up and find another target," the man concluded, choking at the end of his sentence as a portal appeared in front of his face and a hand emerged from it, gripping his neck.
"Are you questioning me, Memento?" Fence, a man in heavy clothing asked in an icy tone, his hand inside a portal similar to the one that appeared in front of Memento's face.
"Of course not," Memento said while clutching the hand around his neck, trying to pry it off. "But their ship might have sunk while trying to cross the reverse mountain," he said, finally heaving a sigh of relief as Fence retrieved his hand.
"If I say they'll be here, then they'll be here," Fence said with a scowl, wiping his hand with a piece of cloth. "So keep your mouth shut and eyes open until then," he concluded, turning around leaving.
-0-
"It looks like something interesting is about to happen," said a balding old man with flower petals on his head while looking at the bounty hunter ships gathered in front of the twin capes.
"Whatever," the old man added, sitting down on a garden chair to read his newspaper as the ships began spreading in all directions to avoid a gigantic whale suddenly emerging from within the sea water.
"Oh, Laboon," the old man sighed with a troubled look on his face as he looked at the scars on the whale's head. "When will you finally give up?" he murmured, heaving another sigh as the whale began smashing its head against the red line.
...
The day to leave Swallow island finally came, and we were waiting for law to give us his answer before we set sail.
"Do you think he'll come, captain?" Laffite asked with a smile as we both stood on the black pearl's deck, watching the port.
"I have no idea, but even if he doesn't, we still have a good doctor," I replied with a smile of my own. "But if he does show up, then I have a feeling that it will at the last possible second," I added while shrugging my shoulders.
And what do you know? Law did show up precisely at the same time we raised the anchor and were preparing to set sail. "Do you have an answer?" I asked with a smile while looking at the surgeon.
"What does it look like?" Law asked with a raised expression, dangling the backpack he was carrying in front of his face. "Welcome aboard," I said as I gestured for him to get on the ship.
'Now I have not only one good doctor, but two with one of them specializing in surgery and other in medicine,' I think to myself as I watch Law jump into the ship.
'Now I only need a shipwright and a helmsman, and I can't for the life of me think about where I can get a shipwright,'
'I know some great helmsmen, but do I even need a helmsman when I have Triton? No matter, I'll leave it good old reliable future self to figure this out,' I concluded as I turned to look at the people who came to bid us farewell.
Even though we basically saved everyone in Pleasure town, we were still pirates, and so they still didn't like us, so none of them showed up, but who cares?
The people who did show up were Pebo, Shachi, penguin, Wolf, and Charles. "Your friends are here too, Law," I said as I turned to look at the surgeon.
"I thought you were going to ask me to take them with us?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "They aren't prepared for life in the sea, and I doubt you'd agree even if I asked," he added with a blank expression.
"Fair enough," I replied with a smile as I turned to look at Wolf, who looked like he had something to say. "You're going to investigate that strange weather phenomenon, right?" the inventor asked.
"That's right," I replied with a nod. "In that case, come back here and tell what you find, and I'll have something special for your ship," the inventor said with a smile.
"I don't see why not. We'll have to pass by on our way to the reverse mountain anyway," I replied after a second of thought. "Alright, then I'll start working as soon as you guys leave," Wolf remarked with a satisfied smile.
"What about you, little shit?" I remarked as I turned to look at Charles. "Don't you have anything to say?" I asked with a smile, causing Charles to roll his eyes.
"I have nothing to say to you," Charles said, raising his middle finger at me. "But I want to thank Bob, Elly, and Kozue, for teaching me so much," he added after a second of silence, causing Elly Kozue to smile and wave at him while Bob merely smiled.
"Alright, that's enough nonsense for now," I remarked with a smile. "Law, say goodbye to your friends. We've wasted enough time already," I added as I turned to look at the surgeon.
"I've already done that before I arrived here. Let's get out of here," the surgeon said in a firm tone as he turned to look away for his friends, but there was sadness in his voice.
"So be it," I said while shrugging my shoulders. "Laffite, get us out of here!" I exclaimed, watching as everyone quickly moved to their stations.
-0-
"Are you sure this is the place, Laffite?" I asked as we stopped and anchored the black pearl in the middle of the sea. "I'm sure, captain," Laffite replied with a smile.
"In fact, the weather phenomena will happen in a couple of hours, so keep your eyes open," he added while pointing to a specific spot in the water.
"Indeed, a strange weather phenomenon happens here every once in an awhile," Law said from the side with a frown. "Not only that but there are strange talks of ships falling from the sky and sighting of gigantic shadows in the clouds," he added.
"I wonder what that all means," the surgeon wondered in a curious tone. "Wonder no more, my friend," I remarked as I turned to look at him.
"Everyone gather up. It's time for you all to know why we're here," I exclaimed, causing everyone to gather around me with curious expressions on their faces.
"First, let me explain what the weather phenomenon we're waiting for," I remarked, raising one finger. "It's called a knock-up stream, and it is a powerful pressurized water stream that shoots upwards to the sky from the sea," I explained.
"The Knock Up Stream is created by a giant underwater cave filled with gas, and when the gas pressure becomes too powerful, it creates a crack in the ceiling, causing a whirlpool to form and freeing the gas," I added.
"The seabed explodes when that happens, sending a giant stream upwards, which lasts approximately one moment," I concluded, causing everyone to nod, with Wilson merely looking confused.
"So it's a mystery stream," Wilson added from the side, nodding his head like sage bestowing wisdom upon the unwashed masses. "That's the gest of it," I remarked while chuckling lightly.
"Now, for the fun part, we are here to climb that stream and reach the sky!" I exclaimed with a grin. "Why would we want to do such a crazy thing, you say?" I ask, causing everyone to nod their heads fervently.
"Because it's the most interesting way for us to reach the sky island above our head," I added while pointing upwards. "What is a sky island, captain?" Byron asked with a confused expression.
"They are, of course, islands in the sky, as the name implies," I remarked as if stating the obvious. "How and why there are islands in the sky, I don't know, so I won't bother trying to explain it," I added.
"But they are there, and we're going to visit one of them," I concluded. "Islands in the sky, huh?" Law said with a thoughtful look on his face.
"That would explain the ancient ships, suddenly falling from the skies and gigantic shadows," he reasoned, causing everyone to nod.
"Indeed, this isn't the first time I heard about sky islands," Bob said for the side, causing everyone to turn their attention to him. "I've heard of a similar island in the grand line right above Jaya," he added.
"But how are we going to climb this knock-up stream, captain?" Elly asked with a confused expression. "I have no idea," I deadpanned, causing everyone to collapse on the floor.
"Well, I'm sure Laffite will figure something out," I said, shamelessly slapping my navigator's shoulder, causing him to smile. "Leave it to me, captain," Laffite remarked with a confident smile.
"At any rate, some of you might have noticed that the black pearl has been a little faster lately, and that's because I've been decreasing her density, little by little," I explained after everyone gathered their wits.
"I did it just in case something goes wrong, so we could gently float down back into the sea without damaging the ship if the unexpected happened," I concluded.
"Good thinking, captain," Laffite said with a smile. "It will also make climbing the stream a lot easier because we won't have to worry about the ship's weight," he added.
"Anyway, everyone start making preparations," I instructed. "Tie down everything that isn't pinned to the ground, or we'll risk breaking or falling off the ship," I added, and everyone obliged, scurrying around the ship.
...
The time has finally come. We tied everything in the ship down, and everyone was close to something to hold on to, but I had my hand on Triton's handle to steer the black pearl to safety in case.
I definitely trusted Laffite's navigation and steering skills, but I still had to take precautions to ensure the lives of my crewmates and the survival of my ship.
I could already feel the sea shaking below the black pearl, and everyone had tense expressions on their faces as we waited for the knock-up stream.
Wilson, of course, was the only one who did not look tense and was grinning like a maniac instead. The big guy always loved to experience new things, the more dangerous, the better, but I digress.
The sea quakes began rapidly increasing in intensity, and I could see small fish and dreadful sea creatures alike fleeing in all directions underwater in a frenzy.
'And yet here we are waiting for the damn thing to blast us into the sky,' I thought with a grin while watching the sea creatures stampede their way in all directions underwater.
"Here it comes," Laffite exclaimed while holding the black pearl's wheel.
"Three," he began counting down as his hands tightened on the wheel.
"Two," he counted as his eyes frowned in concentration.
"One," he exclaimed as he lowered his posture, planting his feet into the wooden boards when bubbles began emerging from the seawater.
"Now," he concluded as the knock-up stream emerged from right below the black pearl with a roaring sound, pushing our ship upward at incredible speed.
My grip tightened on Triton's as we began to gain altitude, but I didn't need to do anything in the end as Laffite skillfully steered the ship, spinning around the knock-up stream.
"REHAHAHAHAHAHA," I involuntarily began to laugh as I took a look down and saw how high we've gone while feeling the intense winds hitting my face.
"Leaving that island with was definitely the smartest thing I've done in my life, Johnny," Willson said from the side, holding on the railing with one hand as he smacked his chest with the other in his excitement as he grinned like a loon.
"The hell are you are you saying all of a sudden, you gorilla," I replied with a smile. "Are you only realizing that now?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, causing him to begin laughing.
"This is incredible," Elly said from the side while holding on to the rope that she tied to the mast. "It's incredible, alright. I only hope we don't fall to our deaths," Byron commented with a blank expression, holding on to the railing for dear life.
"This is... new," Bob said, trailing at the end of his sentence, smiling as he did.
"This so exciting I think my heart would stop from excitement," Doc Q said in a wheezing tone, his body leaning motionlessly on the main mast that we tied him on so he wouldn't fall.
"I didn't sign up for this shit, captain-YA," Law said from the side with a frown, his hand already in motion to use room, preparing for the worst.
"Don't be such a baby, Law," Kozue replied in my stead. "The grand line is full of such dangers, and you'll have to face even worse things to reach Doflamingo," she added with a smile.
"What she said!" I remarked with a grin, causing Law to sigh in resignation.
Our trip on the knock-up stream lasted approximately fifty seconds, and suddenly the black pearl penetrated the clouds, and there was nothing but bright white in our vision.
The knock-up stream ran out of gas (literally) when the black pearl was ten or so feet above the cloud, causing her ascent to came to an abrupt stop, falling towards the cloud surface.
I tensed, preparing myself to fly under the ship and gently guide it down in case the black pearl didn't flout, but my precaution proved unnecessary again as my ship stayed afloat in the sky.
"REHAHAHAHAHA," I began laughing again, and everyone smiled in relief at our success while looking at the surroundings with awe-filled expressions.
"It's like a sea in the sky," Laffite said, his usual smiling expression gone, replaced by an amazed one. "And it comes with its own sea cloud creatures as well," I remarked from the side, causing everyone to turn their eyes to me.
"There should be a cloud island nearby as well," I added while pointing at the horizon. "It seems that there are many types of clouds. Some of them are sea clouds like the ones we're floating on right now," I explained.
"There are island clouds that people can live on as well, and that's what we're looking for," I added with a smile. "So I want everyone who can use Geppo to choose a direction to scout for said island," I instructed.
"We'll meet back here in an hour to share our findings, but remember to be mindful of the creatures living in the clouds, as I have no idea how strong they can be," I said, suddenly turning to the side as a gigantic sky shark emerged, rushing towards the black pearl.
"I'll take care of it. Room." Law said, promptly throwing something towards the shark and activating his Room ability, causing a giant, transparent dome to surround the ship.
"Shambles," Law remarked, switching places with the pebble he threw, swinging his sword and cutting the shark in half without touching it and causing me to nod in appreciation.
"Nicely done," I complimented while giving him a thumbs up with a smile.
"Alright, everyone who knows Geppo, be on your way. The others stay and guard the ship," I exclaimed. "I'll go this way," I concluded, launching myself into the sky and making my way towards the east.
"This is the end," I hummed as I weightlessly flew in the air, superman style. Why superman style, you ask? Well, if you're going to fly in the air, then you might as well do it in the right way. (Song name: Skyfall.)
"Hold your breath and count to ten," I kept singing, smiling as I felt the refreshing air hit my face while flying. "Feel the Earth move and then, Hear my heart burst again," I didn't stop singing as I began to do barrel rolls in the air simply for the of it.
"For this is the end. I've drowned and dreamt this moment," I hummed as I stopped in my tracks in the air, smiling as a sky shark jumped from the water in front of me.
"Let the sky fall. When it crumbles," I spun around the shark as I drew Triton, swinging my sword at it, chopping to tens of pieces that fell towards the sea clouds.
"We will stand tall and face it all together," I hummed as I kept flying towards the east, still finding nothing but white clouds and sea cloud creatures.
When it crumbles, we will stand tall," I stopped singing and flying again as a red whale jumped from the water in front of me, diving back again without giving me another look.
It looked harmless, so let it be without bothering it, peacefully resuming my flight with a smile on my face.
"Face it all together..., At Skyfall...," I kept singing as I explored the sea clouds for half an hour, unfortunately finding nothing and going back to the ship after killing many sea cloud creatures that thought I was an easy meal.
There were the sky sharks, sky squids, gigantic sky fish, and even whales, but most of them were docile, except for the sharks, which would attack on sight, but I digress.
After another thirty minutes, I finally reached the ship and found Laffite already back while the others came back one after another soon after.
...
"I Found nothing but sea cloud creatures," I said as soon as everyone came back. "Did you guys have any luck?" I asked.
"I found a slightly protruding small piece of cloud, and it's solid enough to land on, but that's all," Bob was the first to answer, shaking his head.
"I didn't find anything, but I came across a weird species that looked like worms with circular mouths that live inside the sea clouds," Elly said while shaking her head, her expression turning disgusted as she mentioned the worm creatures.
"I didn't find anything that would allow people to live on too, but I came across a pirate ship with people in it," Wilson said while shrugging his shoulders.
"Hmm? Did you come in contact with the pirate ship?" I asked as I turned to look at Wilson. "No, it was time for me to come back when I saw it, so I didn't bother," he replied while shaking his head.
"Well, no matter," I said with a smile. "What about you, Laffite?" I asked as I turned to look at my navigator.
"I'm not sure if it's what we're looking for or not...," Laffite replied, trailing off at the end of his sentence. "But I did find something," he added, causing to gesture for him to elaborate.
"I came across a high wall made of clouds, and there seemed to be a gate of some sort at the center of it with a sigh that said Skygaurd," he concluded.
"If there's any sky island nearby, then that should be it," I said with a nod. "Take us there, and we'll see if it's an island or not," I instructed, watching as Laffite nodded and went to the black pearl wheel, steering us towards his find.
It took us roughly twenty minutes to reach the gate Laffite spoke about, and sure enough, it was there with a large white sign that had the word Skygaurd written on it in blue.
"Skygaurd? Isn't it spelled Skyguard?" Wilson asked with a curious expression that all of us shared.
Skyguard, I think I might have read something about an area defense system for airports with that name in my past life, but that's pretty much all I can remember. It's not related to one piece as far as I could remember, so I had no idea why this sky island's residents named it as such.
"It should be a wordplay of some sort," I remarked while shrugging my shoulders. "What it means, though? I haven't got the faintest idea," I added.
"Might as well make our way inside," I said with a thoughtful expression. "Keep your eyes and ears open, everyone," I instructed, resting my hand on Triton's hilt.
"We don't know what's in there, nor how it will react to us," I concluded with a severe expression and nodded as everyone seemed prepared without needing me to say anything.
"Let's go," I exclaimed, and everyone moved to their stations as we began approaching the gate.
"This doesn't look like a normal gate," I remarked as we finally reached the gate with a raised eyebrow. "It looks more like an entrance to tunnel from the inside," Elly said while eyeing the interior.
"Albeit a cloud tunnel," she added with an amused expression as we came across a reception booth that was similar to the one the straw hats encountered when going into Skypiea.
"It looks like a reception area," Law observed from the side. "But it's empty, strange," he added with a thoughtful expression.
"This at least confirms that there is a human presence here," Byron said while pointing at the booth. "It looks clean, and there is no dust, so there should be someone taking care of it," he added.
"Not necessarily," I said with a sigh. "We're in the sky, and there is no soil here, only different types of cloud," I explained while shaking my head.
"So the lack of dust doesn't really prove anything since dust shouldn't exist here in the first place," I concluded. "Makes sense," Byron replied while sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.
"No matter, let's keep going and see what is waiting for us on the other side," I remarked with a sigh, vigilantly eyeing the surroundings.
"Something is happening," I exclaimed as my enhanced hearing picked up on some strange noises from the cloud walls surrounding the black pearls, causing everyone to tense up.
"Hang on to something," I exclaimed again as the cloud walls closed behind us, and liquid cloud began gushing from below the black pearl, pushing us forward at a higher speed.
"Something is coming," Elly shouted, promptly spinning in her place and launching a Rankyaku slash at a part of the cloud wall as it morphed into a spike, heading straight for the ship.
Elly's Rankyaku slash managed to disperse the cloud spike, but it wasn't the end as more cloud lances began forming on the walls surrounding us and shooting straight towards the black pearl.
"Defend the ship," I instructed, drawing my sword and jumping into the air, dispersing cloud spikes left and right as I did. "If there's a scratch on the ship then, I'll toss whoever let the attack pass back into the land from here," I added jokingly, as I continued to defend the ship in the air.
"It's a pretty long way down," Byron replied with a smile as fiery chain came out of his sleeves, attaching themselves to his axes.
"And I don't want to turn into a pancake," he added as he began swinging his fiery weapons that had better range, thanks to chains in all directions.
"You do realize that you can turn into a bird and fly back, don't you?" Elly asked in an amused tone, raising her eyebrow as she retrieved her rifle and began firing rapidly.
"I'll just pluck his feathers before tossing him to land in that case," I remarked from the side, causing Elly to laugh while byron began swinging his axes even more rapidly.
"Still, trouble seems to find us everywhere we go," Wilson said as he turned into his hybrid form, shooting compressed air bullets the dispersed all cloud lances in their way.
"It's more interesting this way, so no complaints from me," Wilson added as he flew into the sky, punching and sending out massive fists of compressed air, which demolished everything in their way.
"How troublesome," Law commented, activating room, and slashing everywhere, causing everything in the path of his swings to be cut in half.
"All this excitement is bad for my heart," Doc Q said while watching everyone get to work from the back of his horse, Stronger, as he occasionally swung his scythe.
Although the sickly doctor didn't perform many attacks, his attacks were both very flashy and destructive. Each and every slash he created with his scythe would cut all cloud lances in their way and continue to clear gashes in the cloud walls surrounding us.
"Are you ok, old man?" Kozue said with a concerned tone while looking at Doc Q, wheezing and gasping for breath every time he swung his scythe.
"Maybe you should take a break?" she asked while shooting her arrows at the approaching cloud spikes. "I'll have you know that I'm only 26, alright?" Doc Q snapped at her with an irritated expression, not even gasping for breath once as he did.
"I only look like this because I'm sick," he added as he sat straight on stronger's back, releasing a giant scythe slash that put his former ones to shame.
"I think I might have overdone it," Doc Q said in a depressed tone after he performed his attack, promptly coughing a mouthful of blood and collapsing on Stronger's back, which also collapsed, mimicking its owner.
"How noisy," Bob commented as he lazily sat on a barrel. "Can't you punks keep it down a little?" he added, flipping the page of the book he was reading while moving his head to the side to dodge a bullet shot by yours sincerely.
"Get off your fat ass and help," I exclaimed, with a vein bulging on my forehead. "Fine," Bob replied with a sigh as he got up and pointed his hand towards the incoming cloud spikes.
Many small metal tubes appeared from secret chambers on the metal braces he wore, rotating and rapidly shooting bullets.
"This much should be enough," he said, his eyes not leaving the book he held in his other hand for a second as he moved his shooting arm without even bothering to look up.
"You guys take care of the spikes and leave the steering to me," Laffite said with a smile.
...
We kept defending the ship as the cloud water pushed further and further into the tunnel. Even though the attacks kept intensifying in quality and quantity, we pulled through, suffering no injuries or damage to the black pearl.
"I can already see the exit. Hang in there," I exclaimed as soon as I saw the exit to the tunnel, but whatever or whoever was attacking us wasn't willing to let us go.
The roof and walls of the tunnel suddenly began to merge, turning into one gigantic could lance, heading straight for the ship, wats more the lance also became black and crackling in electric arcs.
"Stay back. I got this," I exclaimed once again, activating Geppo and charging towards the incoming attack. "Dread Tide," I murmured, moving Triton behind my shoulder, swinging it downwards with all my strength.
(Author note: New sword, new attack. Ancient Greeks knew Triton as the dreadful god of the sea, hence the attack's name.)
Triton's blade began releasing a silver hue which contrasted with its golden color, creating a beautiful scene. Still, the result was anything but that as the aura turned into a colossal sword slash, which then transformed into a silver wave.
The silver wave clashed with the incoming cloud lance, engulfing it with no resistance and resuming its charge without losing any momentum, gouging out a massive piece of the cloud roof.
"Hopefully, that's the end of it," I remarked with a frown as I landed back on the ship. "I didn't know you were that good of a swordsman, captain-YA," Law commented from the side with an impressed look.
"Did you think I was carrying such a great sword by chance?" I asked in an amused tone, raising my eyebrow. "I didn't see you use it before, so I assumed..., you know," he replied, trailing at the end of his sentence.
"Rehahaha, well no. I'm not that vain," I said while laughing, not taking any offense. "I'm not only a swordsman, but I can also shoot and brawl with the best of them too," I added, shamelessly smiling while Elly cheered for me, and the others rolled their eyes.
"Look, we're already out," I remarked with a smile as blinding light engulfed our vision, and my smile waned as soon as I was able to see clearly again.
"What the hell is this?" I asked with a frown while looking at a deserted dock with no sign of human activity. "Look, there are signs of a battle over there," Elly said while pointing at several demolished buildings to the east of the docks.
"Let's go check it out," I said with a frown, making my way there, causing Laffite, Kozue, and Elly to follow behind me, as the rest remained on the ship for now.
"Whatever destroyed these buildings, it did it with brute strength," I observed while looking at the remains of what could have been a restaurant.
"Indeed, there are no burn marks and no traces of gunpowder anywhere," Kozue said while crouching and running her finger at the ground and sniffing the air.
"There are some blood stains over here," Laffite shouted from a distance away, causing us all to make our way towards him. "These bloodstains don't look old," Kozue said while pointing at the bloodstains that haven't dried up yet.
"There are more broken buildings up ahead," I said while pointing in the buildings' direction, and we all moved there to investigate.
"The same thing destroyed these buildings," I remarked with a thoughtful look. "There are bloodstains too, but these look old," I added as I noticed some dried-up bloodstains.
"It looks like there's someone or something on the loose here since there seemed to have been multiple battles at multiple different times," I reasoned as I continued to eye my surroundings.
"We should go back to the ship to inform everyone of what we found and then have everyone check the surroundings," I instructed after looking around for a couple more minutes and finding nothing.
-0-
"In conclusion, there are people on this island, and there is someone or something attacking them from time to time," I remarked after explaining what we found when we went out to investigate.
"So we need to know what's happening here before we can do anything," I instructed. "Then we need to find out who attacked us when we first came here and make the bastard pay for it," I concluded.
"So find out who is attacking the people on this island, and why they're attacking first?" Kozue asked, and I nodded at her.
"I'm not interested then. I'll stay on the ship," Wilson said with a yawn as he took out a bottle of alcohol and went somewhere to indulge in it.
"I'll stay too," Bob said while twirling his mustache, but he stayed to listen.
"You stay too, Doc," I instructed as I turned to look at the sickly doctor. "It'll be good to have a doctor stay on the ship, just in case," I added, causing him to nod.
"It's settled then," I remarked. "The rest of you split into groups and go out to investigate, but be careful and keep your eyes at all times, and don't hesitate to call for help if necessary," I added in a firm tone.
"I'll be making my way to the center of the island on my own, so you guys take over investigating the areas near the docks," I concluded, turning around and making my way towards my distention.
-0-
I made my way towards the island's center while stopping to investigate the occasional battleground whenever I spotted signs of destruction.
Still, I didn't find anything interesting, and all trails have gone cold, with the usual destroyed buildings and bloodstains.
My best find was a building with an enormous sigh that had a shell painted on it. I immediately stopped and went to investigate it, and I wasn't disappointed in the least by what I found.
I found Dials, water dials, Vision Dial, Tone Dial, Flavor Dials, Fire Dials..., etc. Sure, there weren't any super rare or extinct dials like the Reject or Eisen dials, but what the store lacked in quality, it made up for in quantity.
I Promptly picked my transponder snail and contacted Laffite immediately after finding the dials, informing him of the store's location and instructing him to take everything back to the black pearl.
Having guaranteed my crew and me a lifetime supply of Dials, I left the store with a smile on my face as I resumed my flight towards the center.
The next thirty minutes of my flight was mostly uneventful, with only one minor incident of cloud wolves ambushing me by jumping from the rooftops of tall buildings when I decided to fly low.
Although I wanted to get mad and beat up the wolves a little, I couldn't bring myself to while looking at their appearance when they stood on two paws and howled at me, trying to look fearsome.
They only looked adorable in my eyes, so I just shook my head and left them behind without harming them.
Still, cloud wolves weren't the only type of wild creatures that made their way to the cloud city as I spotted a giant dog like the one Ohm had in Skypeia, and I swore to come back for it later.
I also saw a bunch of Sky Lampreys, disgusting worm-like creatures with circular mouths that were too big to have any reactions for them, except for Kill it with fire.
So I did just that when one of them attacked me. Sparing the beautiful wolves while killing the disgusting worms is discrimination, you say? Well, yes, but something deserves discrimination, these Sky Lampreys, and Apples! But I digress.
I had to stop again as I finally spotted the signs of human activity, which were the sounds of fighting and screaming.
Still, it seems that I arrived just as the fight was over, with only one man standing over the unconscious bodies of his foes.
He was abundant in both height and width. His face somewhat resembled a smiling totem mask with his grin. Apart from his broad grin, he also has what appears to be a stitched-up scar vertically descending over and falling short just above his left eye. He had a prominent, jet-black, scruffy beard that extends upwards to the sides of his jaw and then converges with his equally dark side-burns.
"More pirate reinforcement, eh?" the man said, his grin still on his face as he dusted his white garment with severed sleeves, which covered all of his body while exposing tattoos patterned like flames on both of his biceps.
...
"More pirate reinforcement, eh?" the man said, his grin still on his face as he dusted his white garment with severed sleeves, which covered all of his body while exposing tattoos patterned like flames on both of his biceps.
I was about to correct the man's misunderstanding, but I had to stop myself, dodging to the side as he charged at me with incredible speed that a man of his build had no right to move in, muscular or not.
"So be it," I remarked as I dodged a punch from the man. "I'm feeling a little bored anyway," I added with a grin, taking a step forward and burying my fist into his abdomen.
The man didn't show any response to my attack, but his grin became more pronounced as he tried to engulf me in a crushing hug.
"Geez, buy a man a drink first, will you?" I said in an unamused tone as I dodged backward again. "You're different from these grunts, aren't you?" the man asked in a deep, gruff voice, still grinning broadly.
"More or less, I'm not even with them," I replied with a shrug. "But you won't take my word for it, would you?" I asked, and the man answered by charging towards me again.
I dodged again and stuck him in the jaw, but he still didn't seem affected, and what's more, hitting him felt like hitting a mattress instead of flesh.
'A devil fruit of some sort,' I thought as I continuously dodged his attacks.
The man was definitely fast, too fast for his size, but I was still quicker, and so I took advantage of that, only dodging while attacking from time to time to analyze his power.
'This guy is getting bigger and faster as the fight continues?' I wondered as I dodged another attack that was a lot faster than his first.
'Punches don't seem to work, and he's getting stronger as the fight continues,' I reasoned as I struck him with another punch, noticing that he became just a little bigger after that.
"So you absorb something from my punches, making you stronger, rendering them useless, eh?" I asked in an amused tone, and even though the man raised an eyebrow, he still didn't reply, still grinning.
"Let's try this then," I remarked, jumping backward as I retrieved my gun, shooting three bullets in rapid succession.
"So, blunt force and piercing don't work?" I commented again as the bullets hit the man and merely fell to the ground with no momentum, not even bouncing off his body.
"You at least realized it a lot sooner than the others," the man commented with a grin, but it's no use," he added as he charged at me again.
"What a troublesome ability," I remarked as I drew Triton and charged at him, ducking beneath his arms as he tried to hit my midsection with a Lariat.
I then quickly swung my sword at his chest and frowned as the blade left a very shallow wound, despite connecting. "So it isn't a specific type of damage you absorb, huh?" I remarked with a grin, very much like his own, as I made some distance between us.
"That's right, I absorb energy from all attacks," he said with a shrug, not bothering to deny it as he single-mindedly kept charging at me.
'What troublesome ability,' I thought as I delivered another punch to his abdomen, watching in amazement as the shallow wound on his chest began healing.
'In conclusion, this guy can absorb kinetic energy and metabolize it to enhance his own physical strength, speed, and stamina.'
'The way I see it, I can only take him down if I incapacitate him with a chokehold or overload him with more energy than he can handle,'
'Energy overload it is,' I concluded as I sheathed Triton because he would have to spend some energy to heal from the shallow wounds I leave on him with Triton.
The fight resumed in a stalemate of me, dodging and counterattacking as the man kept getting stronger, bigger, and faster for what felt like ten minutes.
"Are you at your limit already?" I asked while looking at the man gasping for breath. His size shot all the way up to over eight meters from his original four.
"This was a great fight," the man said, still smiling despite the sweat rolling down his forehead. "But it's time to end it," he added, charging towards me with a grin.
"Inga Zarashi (Karmic Exposure)," he exclaimed, shooting his fist forward at a speed that was infinitely close to my own, making dodging him that much harder.
"Impact Fist," I met his fist with my own, and even though the clash caused some pain in my wrest, I still pushed him back, but he didn't have enough sending a second punch.
I met the second punch the same way with the same result, but he still grinned as his muscles tightened, enlarging one last time as he sent the third.
"Flaming impact fist," Sensing this is his last and possibly greatest attack, I responded in kind, meeting his gigantic fist with my flaming fist, creating an explosion that destroyed everything in our surroundings.
The shock wave quickly cleared, revealing the man laying on his back, still grinning, as I stood over him with a grin of my own.
"Inga Kaiho (Karmic release)," the man exclaimed as his body began to shrink, releasing all the bent energy he absorbed during our fight with a maniacal grin, creating a blinding explosion.
I reacted quickly, crossing my arms in front of my face and lowering my posture as I covered my body in Haki, and managed to defend myself, but I still felt some of my bones break from the impact.
"What a troublesome ability," I said with a smile, wiping a sliver of blood leaking from my lips. "That was really dirty, you bastard," I added, taking a vial of poison, gulping it, and healing my broken bones.
"You're the only dirty thing here, you monster," the man said, still grinning despite being barely able to talk from exhaustion. "Now hurry up and kill me. I have no regrets," he concluded, closing his eyes with a peaceful expression, but a smile still stretched his lips from ear to ear.
"Why don't you answer some questions for me, first?" I said as I sat cross-legged next to the man, taking out my whisky bottle and offering him a drink.
"How kind of you," the man replied as he took the bottle with some difficulty, promptly taking a sip. "Ask away," he added.
"Someone attacked my crew and me as soon as our ship crossed the empty reception booth," I said, lighting up a cigarette. "The attack was strange cloud lances that came out of the tunnel's walls," I explained.
"Who or what did this?" I asked, letting out a cloud of smoke from my mouth. "That would be Lokni, the captain of the pirate group occupying this island," he replied with a confused expression.
"So you're really not with them?" he asked as realization suddenly dawned on his face. "I tried to tell you, but you didn't listen," I replied with a shrug.
"At any rate, this Lokni character is able to control the cloud walls of the tunnel. How?" I asked, but I already had a guess as to who he was able to do it.
"The bastard has a troublesome devil fruit," the man said while shaking his head. "He ate the logia cloud-cloud fruit, making a cloud-human," he concluded with a sigh.
"I thought as much," I remarked with a sigh of my own. 'A cloud logia in the sky, this is going to be troublesome,' I thought to myself.
"Now, why don't you tell me what you're doing here, Mad Monk, Urouge?" I asked with a grin, causing his eyes to go wide in shock.
...
"How the hell do you know my name?" the man, Urouge, asked as his smile faltered for a second. "That's my thing. I always know more than I should," I replied with a grin.
"My Name is Johnny Silver Hand, a musician and a pirate from West Blue," I added, extending my hand in his direction. "We're currently in the cloud sea above Nort Blue, so how did you end up here?" Urouge asked as he raised his hand with some difficulty, promptly shaking my own.
"I got lost on my way to the grand line," I replied again, shrugging my shoulders. "Now, you were about to tell me what's happening on the island," I added.
"Fine," Urouge said, grunting in pain as he sat up straight, facing me. "This sky island, Skyguard, people from other sky islands built it near the knock-up stream, to protect them for blue sea pirates with bad intentions," he explained, taking a sip of whisky.
"But as you can see, something went terribly wrong," the mad monk added while pointing his finger at the deserted buildings all around us.
"It happened exactly the same day the sky islanders finished building Skyguard," he explained while shaking his head. "Although it was built as a bastion to protect the sky people, it was still unmanned at the time," he added.
"Lokni, the pirate captain and his crew happened to be blown away here by sheer luck at that time," he explained in an amused tone. "The sky islanders quickly surrounded the pirates, but Lokni and his crew managed to trick them into gaining entry to Skyguard," he added, shaking his head.
"They seemed like decent people at first," he remarked, causing me to raise an eyebrow at his statement. "Decent enough for pirates anyway, and the people here were naïve enough to believe them," he concluded with a shrug.
"Some of the divine soldiers, including myself, objected to trusting these people, but the man who was to be Skyguard's god was someone who believed in the kindness of people," he remarked, turning around spitting at the ground.
"The pirates showed their true colors when we brought the cloud-cloud fruit here," he said with an expression of I told you so on his face.
"The cloud-cloud fruit is a devil fruit that only reincarnates on fruit that can only grow on North Blue's sky islands," he explained while pointing at a white tree.
"The fruits themselves taste horrible and are barely edible, but they carry a religious significance, so the devil fruit became somewhat of a national treasure," he added with an unconvinced expression.
"And you disagree?" I asked with a smile. "It all sounds like nonsense to my ears," he replied with a grin, shaking his head.
"But you still joined the divine guards?" I asked in a curious tone. "It was the only place I can get real training, and I liked their outfits," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Can't argue with that," I remarked with a laugh. "So, what happened next?" I asked, getting back on topic.
"Lokni and his crew got wind of the fruit, and they acted quickly, robbing the fruit and killing many sky islanders in the process, including the would-be protector," he said while shaking his head.
"They chased out and killed almost everyone here and took over the city for themselves," he explained.
"What would they gain by taking over an empty sky island?" I asked in a confused tone, tilting my head to the side.
"The people who built this city equipped it with many weapons and powerful Dials," he replied. "But it was all intended for defense and not attack, and removing the weapons would render them useless," he added as he took another sip of alcohol.
"So they've been trying to control the island through the cloud devil fruit that their captain has stolen as the land itself is cloud," he explained, pointing at the white ground below us.
"Lokni seems to think he can control the sky island and make a mobile fortress so he can use it to become the pirate king," he concluded, his grin turning disdainful.
"I see," I replied while nodding my head in understanding. "So, what are you doing here on your own, then?" I asked after a second of silence, contemplating what the mad monk told me.
"I used to be one of the divine soldiers responsible for guarding the fruit, and by extension the protector who would eat it and become this sky island's god," he said in a bitter tone, but he didn't stop smiling.
"As the only survivor, it's my duty to at least take down the bastard who killed my charge, or at the very least die trying," he reasoned, his grin turning savage. "I went back to my home island, trying to gather reinforcement, but no one wanted to fight in a losing battle," he added, seemingly unresentful.
"So I resigned, made my way back here, and spent the last year hitting Lokni and his pirates whenever I could," he concluded.
"I get the picture now," I said, nodding again with a smile. "Well, you're in luck because I owe this Lokni guy for attacking my crew and me," I added as I stood up.
"And I always pay what my debts," I stated while cracking my knuckles. "So why don't you team up with me so we can take the bastard down together?" I asked as I extended my hand towards him again.
"The man ate a logia fruit, you know," Urouge said while looking at my extended hand with some amusement. "He's basically untouchable," he added, still grinning.
"I have a way around that," I replied, coating my arm in Haki. "This is what I used to defend your last attack," I explained while clenching and unclenching my hand.
"In addition to increasing one's defense and hitting power, it makes the user able to hit a logia devil fruit user's real body," I concluded as I straightened my hand and offered it to him again.
"Fine, but don't blame if you end up dying," he remarked as he took my hand and stood up with some difficulty. "There will be people dying. You can be sure of that," I replied with a smirk as I helped him to his feet.
"But it won't be me or my own," I concluded while shrugging my shoulders as I took out my transponder snail, instructing everyone to meet back at the ship.
"Let's get you patched up before we get that, though," I remarked as I picked up Urouge and carried him like the oversized potato sack he was, making my way back towards the black pearl.
-0-
I came back to the black pearl and had to stop, frowning at the sight of a dozen or so unconscious men neatly stacked on the docks with Wilson sitting not far from them, drinking leisurely.
"Call Doc Q," I instructed Bob, who was lazily leaning on the railing with his back facing me. "Tell him to patch my new friend here," I added as I dropped Urouge after I saw Bob nod and head into the ship.
"So what happened here, big guy?" I asked as I turned to look at Wilson. "They attacked the ship," he replied with a shrug.
"So I killed them," he added, a grin on his face. "I see. Any survivors?" I asked while nodding my head.
"None. These guys were more fragile than I expected," Wilson replied while scratching his head. "No matter, I already know what's happening, and we can catch more if need be," I remarked with a smile.
"So, does that mean I can finally get some action?" Wilson asked with an eager grin on his face. "Not yet. We need to wait for everyone to come back so we can make a plan first," I replied, causing him to sigh in annoyance.
(Patréon - (pat /Wicked132) - my for those of you who wish to support my writing.)
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