"Wow—"

  "So this is the Sky Isnd?"

  "The pnts on that isnd are gigantic, almost as big as those on Elbaf!"

  "But isn't Sky Isnd supposed to have no nd?"

  "Is that the legendary City of Gold?"

  "Wait, there's fighting on the isnd..."

  "It seems intense!"

  The day, at dawn, high in the sky at ten thousaers, the massive isnd-cloud Homie hovered in front of the Isnd of Gods, Upper Yard. Tsuru, Lily, Linlin, Nef, and Baka gazed i this isnd that looked no different from the isnds of the Blue Sea below. But soon, they sensed chaotiergy on the isnd, with the st of blood thi the air and the sounds of fierce battle eg as two groups cshed intensely.

  "This isnd is actually part of the ndmass from the Blue Sea below," El expined with a smile, gazing at the isnd. "About three hundred years ago, a massive Knock-Up Stream sent it s up here to the sky. That’s why the legendary City of Gold, discovered by the famed North Blue explorer Mont Bnd, vanished so suddenly—causing him to be beled a great fraud."

  "As for the Shandian people who lived here, they were incredibly unlucky."

  "On Sky Isnd, apart from various clouds, there is no actual 'nd.' So the inhabitants of the Sky Isnd had an intense desire for nd. When they discovered this isnd, they seized it and drove the Shandians out. For hundreds of years, the Shandians have been fighting to recim their homend, sacrifig tless lives, with geions of bloodshed and tears.”

  Whether the Shandians' relocation here was fortunate or not was hard to say. They were removed from the Blue Sea, sent up to the skies, and promptly entered native Sky Isnders who coveted their nd, took over the isnd, and exiled them. The ensuing three turies saw endless flict, with hatred deepening across geions. Still, at least the Shandian bloodline aage survived.

  Had they not been expelled from the isnd three turies ago, the "City of Gold" that Nond procimed on his return to the Blue Sea might have draws from North Blue, the wover, or other kingdoms, all greedy for the wealth in gold. The Shandians’ fate could have been grim.

  In a way, Mont Bnd’s as—if they were uional—were both na?ve and reckless.

  “What!?”

  “A massive Knock-Up Stream?”

  “Is something like that really possible?”

  “But the Shandians truly had it rough!”

  "Thrown up to Sky Isnd with no way to return, and then their nd is taken by the isnd’s natives..."

  Upon hearing this, everyoared wide-eyed, mouths agape, looking at the enormous isnd in disbelief, shocked that a Knock-Up Stream could thrust something of this size so high into the sky.

  After all, they’d seen Knock-Up Streams in the Blue Sea, but sending up a ship alone was already an impressive feat. What sort of power would it take to un entire isnd?

  Ma a surge of sympathy for the Shandians, admiring their resiliend fighting spirit. At the same time, most felt reseoward the Sky Isnd natives who had essentially bee invaders in the Shandians’ homend.

  "I see..."

  Listening to El’s expnation about the feud between the Shandians and the Sky Isnders, Dr. Kureha looked at the isnd with fasation, awed. "The power of nature is truly something to be respected."

  She didn’t doubt El's story; her years of traveling the Grand Line had shown her tless inexplicable araordinary phenomena. The idea of a giant Knock-Up Stream propelling aire isnd into the sky wasn’t beyond belief.

  "Hey, what’s that?"

  "People?"

  "No way..."

  "Wow! That cloud isnd is enormous!"

  "And... it's alive? It’s even smiling..."

  "There are people up there!"

  Meanwhile, the appearance of Atntis immediately caught the attention of the two groups battling on the isnd’s shore. They paused, cautiously watg the newers. One group wore strafits, while the others looked more like a primitive tribe. Both groups had peculiar white wings on their backs, more decorative than funal.

  "I am the God of Sky Isnd... who are you?" A middle-aged man in armor, holding a spear, stepped forward. He looked up at the person leading this bizarre cloud isnd—a t figure exuding an immense, almost overwhelming presence. But what unnerved him the most was the army: tless white, statue-like figures, each armed with swords and spears, looking huma inhuman.

  The Shandian warriors, fierd tribal in their garb, held their spears, bows, and isnd-exclusive ons at the ready, their gazes wary. But upon seeing the bck wings and bzing fmes behind El’s head, as well as his giant, nearly er stature, they couldn’t help but feel a chill of unease.

  "Just arrived here, but I uand the reason for your flict," El said coolly, looking at the so-called 'God' of Angel Isnd. "Strictly speaking, your people on Angel Isnd are the lowly invaders who shamelessly took over someone else’s homend. But the harsh reality of this world is survival of the fittest. As a pirate, I ’t really call you dishonorable... so we don’t io meddle in your feud with the Shandians."

  "We’re not ied in the isnd itself... but the gold here? The Fallen Angels Pirate Crew will be taking that."

  "What!?"

  "Damn pirates..."

  "You won’t take old!"

  "The gold belongs to ‘God’!"

  Hearing El's brazeion, the Angel Isnd ‘God’ and his followers, the priests and the Sky Guard, gred at them with fury.

  "Then you leave me no choice..."

  El shrugged, his indifferent gaze turning icy as he ched his right hand toward the Sky Guard members. "After all, if you feel entitled to occupy the Shandians’ homend, then I’m justified in taking yold, don’t you think?"

  "So, if you’re angry, bme your own weakness."

  In the instant—uhe horrified gaze of the Sky Isnd God, the priests, and the Sky Guard—vines, branches, and roots surged from the earth, as though infused with life. They moved with shog speed, pierg the bodies of the priests and soldiers, suspending them in the air, blood dripping, cries of agony filling the air, creating a terrifying spectacle.

  "Curse you, you invaders!" the self-procimed God of Angel Isnd snarled, eyes wide with rage as he sshed wildly at the vines binding him. But more and more vines coiled around his limbs, lifting him helplessly into the air, no amount of struggling helping.

  "Mamamamama! How foolish—ah half a brain would reize the differen power here!" Linlin sneered, her voice filled with pt. "So, are you ready to lose everything?"

  "g to be gods with such feeble strength—how ughable," Tsuru, a former Navy Rear Admiral, remarked dryly. These Angel Isnd inhabitants were ihemselves, and their as were hardly o her, the Fallen Angels Pirates g the gold seemed almost fair.