The path to Skypiea wasn't a straight ascent. Instead, it twisted and turned in full 360-degree curves, making it resemble a roller coaster track more than a road.
Of course, thanks to the Black Pearl's legendary ability to fly, this was only a minor inconvenience, and after some time, they finally reached their destination.
Before they arrived, Robin pointed toward a large sign floating among the clouds.
"God Land Skypiea."
"Someone dares to call their home the Land of God." Allen narrowed his eyes and smiled mockingly.
Ten thousand meters...
The jet-black ship emerged once more, this time into another White Sea. However, this time there was "something" waiting in front of them.
"Look!" Kaya pointed excitedly.
Nami, Nojiko, and Uta also looked ahead. It was an island made of clouds at various elevations, with buildings scattered across it. Enormous white stairways connected them, but what was truly astonishing was the jungle growing along its edge.
"So this is Skypiea?" Mikita gasped.
The girl's breathless tone made Allen turn toward her.
Tashigi, Vivi, and Mikita were having trouble breathing, while Hina and Robin, although they didn't show it, were in a similar situation.
[It's because of the altitude.]
Most of these women were accustomed to the dense oxygen pressure at sea level. Reaching an altitude even higher than Mount Everest made it obvious that this would happen.
"Are you okay?" Kaya hurried over to check on the girls.
"Kaya, you're fine..." Vivi said in surprise.
The princess wasn't an ordinary girl. She had lived a harsh life in the desert, and more than that, after joining Baroque Works, she had been forced to become strong on her own.
On the other hand, Kaya looked like the kind of girl who wouldn't even hurt a fly, so how could she be perfectly fine in a place like this?
"Well..."
Being questioned, Kaya looked toward the girls who, like her, seemed completely fine and blushed. Those girls all had one thing in common.
They had "leveled up," along with everything that implied.
Uta scratched her cheek with a faint blush, Nami coughed awkwardly to hide her reaction, and Nojiko crossed her arms. She was the only one who didn't seem embarrassed, or at least she wasn't affected by it.
"Suspicious..." Vivi said, narrowing her eyes.
Leveling up wasn't simply becoming stronger. It was an improvement at the biological level.
Recovery, regeneration, immunity.
Their digestive system, motor skills, senses, and perception all improved. Leveling up could even extend a person's lifespan.
It was something that went far beyond mere strength. That was why, despite Hina and Robin being stronger than Nami, Nojiko, and Kaya, they didn't possess the same adaptability to this new environment.
"Well, enough wasting time. It's time to head to that island!" Allen said.
[Hehe, you should just reveal the truth already. Who knows? Maybe it'll be the trigger needed to recruit those girls for good~]
Allen ignored Lenalee and turned his gaze toward the shore.
A coastline made of clouds...
Nothing in this place made any sense. Outside the Grand Line, things still followed common sense, to the point where many people considered Devil Fruits to be fairy tales.
Once inside the Grand Line, things gradually stopped making sense, like the constantly changing weather or the fact that every island seemed to have its own unique climate and season. But this island in the sky made no sense whatsoever.
"Hm?"
Allen frowned and looked toward the White Sea. Before the girls could ask what was wrong, an enormous snake emerged.
It didn't look like a Sea King but rather a gigantic snake with wings instead of fins.
"What is that?!" Nami shouted.
Allen raised his hand, and a beam of light pierced through the snake, causing it to collapse with its head landing on the deck.
"What kind of creature is this?" Robin asked with interest.
Allen noticed something peculiar, and to confirm his suspicion, he walked over, grabbed the enormous snake with one hand, and lifted it.
"It's not heavy..."
This animal was far lighter than a creature of that size should have been.
"The animals of the sky must have adapted to their environment," Uta commented, blinking in surprise.
Her words made sense. Being too heavy would be a disadvantage for creatures living in the sky.
....
In the end, Allen decided to store some of the Sky Snake's meat, and they chose to disembark.
From the shore, they could get a much better look at the buildings, and aside from the ground being made of clouds, it looked like a perfectly habitable island.
Once they stepped onto the shore, what should have been sand was actually made of solid clouds.
Allen decided he might as well spend the day enjoying himself.
Some of the girls changed into bikinis to "play" on the beach in the sky.
Others wanted to investigate the local vegetation.
It was curious. The flowers seemed to contain air inside them like balloons, while the palm trees bore what looked like a cross between coconuts and green pumpkins.
Allen eventually lay down on a cloud-made lounge chair near the beach.
Was it okay to use someone else's private property?
Of course not.
But he was a pirate, so pretending he cared would be ridiculous.
Harp
Just as Allen was thinking they should head into the village to look for "Sky People," the sound of a harp drifted through the air.
Uta was the first to hear it, smiling as she admired the melody. In her opinion, whoever was playing was truly talented.
The source of the melody was a beautiful blonde girl playing atop a cloud rock. Like Amazo, she had a pair of small white wings on her back.
She wore a short pink dress and sandals, and beside her was a small white fox that cautiously watched Allen and his group.
Allen approached her but stopped about ten meters away.
"That's a beautiful melody," he said.
The winged girl remained silent for a moment before blushing.
[Well, here we go again...]
"No!" Kaya shouted as she hugged Allen from behind.
"Not this time!" Nami yelled while grabbing Allen around the neck.
"What are you two doing?" Allen asked in surprise, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.
Robin stepped in front of Allen and smiled warmly at the girl.
"Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you. We're new here, so I was wondering if it wouldn't be too much trouble to tell us a little about this place."
The girl looked at Allen being restrained by the other girls, then at Robin smiling at her. Everything felt very strange, but she agreed to talk.
The girl's name was Conis, and her pet Cloud Fox was named Suu. Both of them were Sky People.
Conis explained that the plants and animals had adapted to this environment over time and evolved accordingly, so there were many things that would make no sense to people from the Blue Sea.
For example, the coconuts growing on the sky palm trees were called Cocush. They were extremely hard, but they had a trick—you could make a hole in the bottom and drink the delicious juice inside.
She also explained that the sea where they had first arrived was indeed called the White Sea, while the place they were now was called the White-White Sea. The route they had taken to reach Skypiea was known as the Milky Way.
"They really didn't put much thought into those names," Allen said with a shrug.
"Hehe." Conis laughed awkwardly.
"That doesn't matter," Uta said enthusiastically. "Hey, Conis, do you like music?"
"Yes! I love it!" Conis replied.
Uta's eyes lit up, and she immediately began chatting with Conis about music, preventing everyone else from asking any more questions about Skypiea.
....
A few minutes later.
A man appeared in the distance, driving what looked like a motorboat. It resembled the one Ace used, except this one seemed to be independently powered rather than relying on the driver's abilities like Ace's flames.
"Ah, that's my father!" Conis said as she waved.
The man accelerated toward the shore. It was basically this world's version of a jet ski, but he was going so fast that he shot out of the "water" and crashed straight into a palm tree.
"Are you okay, Dad?!" Conis exclaimed.
"Yes... I'm sorry, Conis-san."
The man was bald, had small eyes, and his mouth was hidden beneath a thick beard, giving him a rather comical appearance. Like Conis, he also had small wings on his back.
'I don't think these people are angels...'
[Well, most likely they simply adapted to living in the sky, just like that snake, which is why they have wings.]
"Sorry for the surprise," Conis said. "This man is my father."
"It's a pleasure. My name is Pagaya, a resident of the Sky Islands."
"I'm Allen Walker, the future King of the World, and these are Robin, Nami, Kaya, Vivi, Uta, Nojiko, Tashigi, Hina, Mikita, and that giant duck is Karoo. They're all members of my crew."
Both Pagaya and Conis were momentarily stunned.
"I-I see. Then how about we show you some hospitality?" Pagaya said. "Please come to our home, and we'll let you try some Skypiean fast food."
"Oh, that sounds interesting," Allen said.
"Wait, Pagaya-san," Nami said as she crouched down to examine the strange vehicle. "Could you tell us how this works first?"
"Hm? You mean the Waver? It's the standard means of transportation here. It runs on Dials."
"Dials?"
Nami's eyes lit up. A vehicle that didn't require wind instantly piqued her curiosity.
Allen smiled.
"Old man, would you mind letting Nami borrow your Waver for a while?"
"Hm? Of course, you're welcome to use it. It's just a little difficult to operate unless you're familiar with the sea..."
Pagaya stopped speaking when he saw Nami handling the Waver perfectly.
Allen and the rest of the girls headed on ahead, leaving Nami to enjoy herself for a while. Even so, Allen warned her not to go too far away.
Nami was taken aback by the warning, but she nodded. After all, Allen wouldn't have said it without a reason.
...
On the way to Pagaya's house, he explained a few things.
Skypiea was made up of three different types of clouds: Sea Clouds, which ships could sail across; Island Clouds, which people could live on; and ordinary natural clouds.
These clouds weren't an inexplicable phenomenon.
"You see, in the Blue Sea there's something called Seastone..." Pagaya said.
"Does it have something to do with this?" Robin asked.
"Yes. Seastone releases particles called Pyrobloin, which are carried into the sky by volcanoes. When those particles mix with clouds, they create Island Clouds and Sea Clouds depending on the moisture present during their formation."
"I see..." Hina said as she lit a cigarette. "Seastone has almost magical properties that are still being studied, so the origin of these Sky Islands actually makes some sense."
Along the way, they saw many Sky People and realized there wasn't much difference between them and the people of the Blue Sea, aside from the small wings on their backs and the fact that their civilization relied heavily on these special clouds and Dials.
When they arrived at Pagaya and Conis's house, they were served tea and cookies.
Keeping his promise, Pagaya went into the kitchen to prepare some food, while Nojiko volunteered to help so she could learn some of Skypiea's cooking methods.
Meanwhile, Conis explained the Dials.
In short, they were shell-shaped devices with a wide variety of functions.
There were Tone Dials, capable of recording sound.
There were also Flame Dials, used like ovens, and Breath Dials, which could store and release air. Those were also the type used to power Wavers.
There were many kinds of Dials, each playing an important role in the daily lives of the Sky People.
"Dials... huh," Allen said as he pressed the knob on the shell sitting on the table, causing it to light up. It was a lamp.
Even so, Allen wasn't particularly impressed, and neither were the rest of the girls. After all, the Black Pearl already had ovens, refrigerators, lamps, and many other devices, all supposedly created by Vegapunk, or at least that's what the labels claimed.
"Do you have similar things in the Blue Sea?" Conis asked curiously.
She had met people from the Blue Sea before, and every single one of them had been amazed by the Dials.
"Hehe, don't mind him, Conis. It's just that we already have similar things on our ship," Kaya said, trying to keep Conis from feeling bad.
The girl blinked in surprise.
"Would you like to see them?" Allen asked with the grin of a wolf.
Being innocent, Conis nodded. For a moment, it looked as though she had fallen right into the trap, but Uta immediately stepped in.
"In that case, I'll show you!"
Allen frowned. It was obvious these jealous girls were getting in his way. He had no intention of seducing Conis. He simply wanted to show her his greatness and hoped she would admire him a little.
"Hey, Nami isn't..." Robin said as she looked out the window. Just moments ago, Nami had still been riding the Waver within everyone's sight.
"This is bad..." Conis said as she covered her mouth.
At that moment, Pagaya came out of the kitchen carrying several dishes, but seeing his daughter's expression, he immediately grew worried as well.
"Dad, do you think she went to the Sacred Land?"
"It's possible. With a Waver, she could get there in ten minutes," Pagaya nodded.
Allen laughed derisively, drawing everyone's attention.
"Allen?" Robin asked uncertainly.
"Did you notice something?" Vivi asked.
"Is there something we should know?" Hina asked.
"No... I just found something a little strange." Allen, who had been resting both arms on the sofa, stood up. "Heaven's Gate, the Land of God: Skypiea, God's Trial... all of those painfully obvious names are clues."
Both Pagaya and Conis became uncomfortable under Allen's gaze.
"Besides, there are two things that genuinely caught my interest. First, despite us being pirates, you treated us kindly. It's not that you're naïve. It's that you firmly believed that no matter what kind of pirates we were, we'd be harmless."
"..."
"..."
Allen's smile widened.
At this point, the rest of the girls could already understand what Allen was implying.
"There is one, isn't there? A god on this island."
Silence filled the room as everyone waited for their answer.
"Yes. On this island, there's a place we're forbidden from entering. We call it Upper Yard, the land where God lives. That's where the almighty god who sees and hears everything resides... Enel."
"Enel..." Allen's smile disappeared as he looked up toward the sky. "So that unpleasant gaze I've been feeling ever since we arrived belongs to you, Enel."
....
Upper Yard...
In the place known as the Sacred Land, Enel opened his eyes.
"Impossible. A human from the Blue Sea can use Mantra, and it's powerful enough to detect mine?!"
Enel remained silent as his initial surprise gradually faded.
He didn't feel threatened. His priests could also use Mantra as he could; it wasn't an ability unique to him. Besides, his true power lay in his overwhelming strength, not merely in his divine perception.
"Even so, it's impressive that such an unusual human has arrived this time." Enel narrowed his eyes and sent out a message.
"Priests... begin God's Trial!"
====
A/N: Will the girls be able to protect Conis from Allen, or are they just delaying the inevitable? 🗿
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