Sky Island.
Upper Yard, Sky Island Dock.
This was once the "Land of God" on Sky Island, essentially just an island blasted tens of thousands of meters into the sky by a turbulent current.
Today, however, it has become a prosperous tourist destination!
The local culture of Sky Island is actually quite warm and welcoming.
Even before Enel ruled Sky Island, there were already iconic tourist spots like "Angel Beach."
And the former forbidden area, "Upper Yard," under the leadership of the current God, Gan Fall, has been developed into a vital hub for communication between Sky Island and the Blue Sea.
The daily flow of people and the volume of cargo handled here reach astonishing numbers.
And most importantly, this is just within the "dock" itself.
Due to the lost golden city of Shandora and that Seastone passage, Upper Yard has not been fully opened to the public.
Regarding this, Gan Fall's public explanation is that Upper Yard is home to many fierce wild beasts, and the terrifying giant snake, the "Lord of the Sky," lurks deep within.
These words naturally scare away curious tourists and merchants.
Why would anyone want to go deep into Upper Yard to get up close with those ferocious beasts! Isn't the sunbathing at Angel Beach uncomfortable?
...
At this moment.
At a drink stall by the dock.
Two tourists are enjoying Sky Island's special drinks, chatting about the interesting things that have happened during their trip in the past few days.
"Wow, Sky Island is such a great place, there's always something new to do!"
"But if you ask me, the journey to and from Sky Island is the real highlight of the trip!"
Another tourist excitedly said, "Have you seen the balloon octopuses we rode to get here? I've heard about those ferocious beasts before!"
"Of course I've heard of them. Even if they're rare in the Blue Sea, they're definitely very dangerous."
"I have a friend who was attacked by a balloon octopus while he was sailing years ago. All his cargo was lost, and he almost lost his life!"
"So, they're really something!"
The tourist couldn't help but sigh, "What did the Four Seas Alliance do to make such ferocious beasts obey their commands so obediently!"
After thinking for a moment, another tourist guessed, "Maybe they were pets raised from young? Or perhaps they spent a long time taming them?"
"Who knows? If I knew the method, I could open an air route directly to Sky Island too!"
The tourist shook his head helplessly.
"Speaking of which, although Sky Island is interesting, there are quite a few fierce beasts!"
"Isn't that right? Even at the dock, you can occasionally hear the roars of beasts from deep within Upper Yard, and even that 'Lord of the Sky' occasionally shows itself."
"A giant snake that can swallow a city whole, how terrifying..."
"That's where the importance of 'guards' comes in!"
"Guards? Can humans really handle such terrifying creatures?"
"Who knows? Anyway, I see those guys who call themselves the Shandia tribe are very confident. They seem just like beasts, and they look like they can fight!"
"Huh? Wait... have you noticed something strange?"
"What?"
"It's already noon, so why haven't we heard any beast roars? Yesterday at this time, there were quite a few."
As soon as they said this, both of them realized the anomaly of the day.
The noon in Upper Yard should have been the noisiest time, with the fierce beasts from deep within Upper Yard often roaring.
The sound of the giant snake, the Lord of the Sky, was particularly noticeable.
But today, the situation seemed a bit different.
The entire Upper Yard was very quiet. Apart from human activity, there was no other sound to be felt.
This silence was excessive, even feeling a bit eerie!
"What... happened?"
Realizing this, the two tourists looked at each other, but seeing that the nearby Shandia soldiers had their usual expressions, they felt a little relieved.
Since the locals of Sky Island haven't said anything, it's probably just a special time of day, right?
Let's enjoy this long-awaited vacation first! The waitresses at Angel Beach are very cute!
...
These tourists had no idea.
On the other side of Upper Yard, there was a port far from the tourist dock.
This port had no capacity to receive tourists. Instead, it was equipped with extremely advanced facilities and plenty of berths for ships.
This was the true military base of the Four Seas Alliance!
A ship slowly docked.
And as the ship approached, the entire Upper Yard grew even quieter.
Deep within Upper Yard, the giant snake, the Lord of the Sky, lay coiled in its nest.
With every inch the ship drew closer, the Lord of the Sky coiled tighter.
Its eyes gradually filled with fear, and its massive body, upon closer inspection, seemed to tremble slightly!
At this time, it should have been the Lord of the Sky's favorite time to sunbathe, but now it didn't dare to leave its home.
Because the Lord of the Sky felt that once it left, it might never be able to return!
This feeling reached its peak when the Four Seas Alliance ship docked and a figure clad in light armor stepped onto Upper Yard.
...
Perhaps for survival, or perhaps for some other reason.
The instincts of wild beasts are always much more sensitive than ordinary humans.
It was precisely because of this that the beasts of Upper Yard reacted in such a way!
A fear originating from the "most fundamental" level filled their hearts.
...
"Phew, what nice weather."
Rowan, holding a staff, walked slowly on the land of Upper Yard.
With no clouds to block the sun, the weather on Sky Island was often better than in the Blue Sea.
The sky was clear and the air fresh, which also improved his mood.
Rowan took a step, signaling Crocodile, Nico Robin, and the others behind him to follow.
They all proceeded and arrived at the ruins of Shandora.
Nico Robin was here for the first time and was naturally shocked by the scene before her.
The gold here had not been completely melted by Enel, so it was still possible to see a corner of Iceburg that represented the legendary "Golden City."
What a glorious city it must have been!
Robin observed the surrounding buildings as she followed Rowan, finally reaching their destination—the passage made of Seastone.
Being too close to the Seastone, Robin, an Devil Fruit user, felt a slight discomfort.
However, driven by extreme curiosity, Robin did not flinch at all.
It was understandable, for an archaeologist, this scene was simply impossible to retreat from!
Rowan pointed towards the inside of the passage, about to explain, but suddenly noticed Robin had started examining a golden pillar nearby.
"What's wrong?" Rowan asked curiously.
Looking past Robin, Rowan saw that Robin was studying the symbols on the golden pillar.
The golden pillar was well-preserved and had not been melted by Enel's "Metal Ball," so the patterns on it were clearly visible.
"This is ancient script."
Robin's pupils contracted as she looked at the inscription.
She opened her mouth and slowly read:
"What's the point of studying this? We've already lost."
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