The Shandians couldn't help but turn their heads toward the source of the explosion.
They knew that sound. They'd heard it before.
That was Usopp's power.
When they looked back toward the western sky, hope flickered in their eyes for the first time since Shiki had appeared.
A chain of continuous explosions bloomed along the horizon. Black spherical objects were falling from above, propelled forward by sequential blasts.
The synchronized explosions pushed each exploding egg forward in a relay, sending them arcing toward the beasts. When they finally made contact, they detonated with great force.
"It's God Usopp!" someone shouted.
The Shandians' spirits lifted instantly. Their god had come to save them.
BOOM!
This particular explosion triggered the special mechanism built into the exploding eggs. Four small black chicken materialized within the flames, chirping once before colliding together.
The resulting blast shot skyward like a volcanic eruption, catching the beasts completely off guard. The concussive force sent the monster herd tumbling backward, bodies crashing into each other.
The largest beast, the lion-giraffe hybrid that stood over thirty meters tall, took the full brunt of the explosion. Its roar of pain echoed across the ruins.
Wyper stared at the scene in shock, unable to process what he was seeing. His god had intervened from an impossible distance.
At that moment, Kamakiri grabbed him and several nearby warriors and bolted, his round sunglasses glinting in the firelight.
The other Shandian warriors, realizing the opportunity, quickly grabbed their wounded comrades and retreated toward the vines.
---
At the edge of the clouds, nearly ten thousand meters away from the battlefield...
"I'm gonna go bald at this rate!" Usopp complained, tugging at his hair. "Chopper, you got any remedies for hair loss?"
"I'll do my best to research one," Chopper replied with complete seriousness.
The rest of the Straw Hats stared in amazement at what Usopp had just accomplished.
Bon Kurei gaped at the exploding eggs being pushed forward by the chain explosions, each one traveling a great distance before detonating. "Did those actually hit? We're like... what, nearly ten thousand meters away from the Upper Yard, right?"
"I'm a god, okay?" Usopp boasted, puffing out his chest. "A measly ten thousand meters is nothing!"
The chaos had started just moments ago, when the crew had returned to the White Sea. They'd barely had time to catch their breath when a giant octopus burst up from below, moss growing on its head like some kind of aquatic forest.
If Zoro hadn't reacted fast enough to slice off all its tentacles, the Going Merry would've been torn apart.
But that hadn't been the end of it.
A massive fish that looked like an armored dinosaur shot up from the island next, clearly targeting the octopus keeping the Merry afloat.
Zoro had split it into sashimi before it could even get close.
The crew had breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the danger had passed.
Then more creatures started emerging.
One bizarre fish after another, things that definitely weren't native to Skypiea, leaped up from the island. Some of them, apparently not blessed with much intelligence, even jumped straight down from the White Sea, diving toward the Blue Sea ten thousand meters below like lemmings off a cliff.
The Straw Hats immediately recognized these unfamiliar creatures as invasive species brought by the floating islands earlier.
Marcus knew exactly what they were: mutated animals enhanced by a plant called IQ, part of Shiki's plan to destroy the East Blue. The creatures were stronger than most Sea Kings, and even Luffy in the original timeline had struggled against them.
The ordinary people of Skypiea wouldn't stand a chance.
Fortunately, Usopp already had decent potential for Observation Haki, so From over ten thousand meters away, he used his slingshot combined with his explosion abilities and the exploding eggs to conduct ultra-long-range bombardment. The exploding eggs were powerful enough that he didn't need pinpoint accuracy, just getting them somewhere in the vicinity of the monster herd was enough.
Still, his shooting talent was undeniably impressive. Being able to land his shots precisely within the monster pack without hitting any Shandians at this distance was an incredible feat.
"Not good! More monsters are being released!" Usopp spotted even more beasts emerging from the jungle. The Exploding Eggs E1 clearly weren't powerful enough, the creatures shrouded in smoke were injured but still moving.
The lion-giraffe hybrid was in the worst shape, having absorbed multiple direct hits due to its massive size. But even with its hide torn open and bleeding, it was far from dead.
He pulled out an Exploding Eggs C4 and hesitated for just a moment before loading it into his slingshot.
The blast would be far stronger than before, but it would also be harder to control. Still, the E1 explosives clearly weren't enough to stop these things, especially with even more beasts charging up from behind.
At that moment, in front of the Going Merry, more fish-type beasts burst from the White Sea.
These creatures seemed to possess genuine intelligence, unlike the others that had mindlessly dove toward the Blue Sea, these ones were heading straight for the ship with clear hostile intent.
"Here they come." Zoro drew his three swords.
He could see them now, dozens of fish with spiked heads charging like living torpedos. If even one of them hit the Merry directly, it would punch a hole clean through the hull.
Nami didn't fully understand what was happening, but through the electrical signals transmitted by her Rumble-Rumble Fruit powers, she could sense something approaching rapidly through the water.
"They're too fast! If they attack from underneath, the Merry won't survive! Can we gain altitude?!"
The balloon octopus hadn't fully deflated yet and was still gripping the ship.
"Jet Dials!" Usopp shouted, even while continuing to fire at the distant monsters. "Use the Jet Dials to climb higher!"
The crew scrambled into action, but they were already out of time.
A swordfish erupted from the water, moving so fast it split the air itself with a high-pitched whistle. It was aimed directly at the balloon octopus.
Zoro was already there, positioning himself in the creature's flight path. His three swords intercepted the swordfish's blade-like snout.
CLANG!
The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the air.
Even though he'd foreseen this moment with Observation Haki, the instant his blades met that natural "sword," he realized just how dangerous these creatures were. The swordfish's skull was harder than most weapons he'd encountered.
The airborne swordfish lost momentum, unable to push forward against Zoro's strength.
With a grunt of effort, he sliced it cleanly in half.
Both pieces splashed down into the White Sea, blood spreading across the cloudy water in dark ribbons.
It looked effortless, but that one exchange had told him everything he needed to know about these things.
Instantly, the blood in the water acted like a signal flare. Beneath the surface, countless pairs of eyes snapped open, glowing red with bloodlust.
As if they'd heard a trumpet calling them to war, the entire school of swordfish accelerated sharply.
Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop...
The sound of breaking water came from every direction.
Still suspended in midair from his jump, he watched the swarm of charging swordfish.
Too many of them.
Zoro's brain was already calculating trajectories and distances. Even with his three-sword style and Observation Haki, there was no way in hell he could block every single one of these swordfish attacks alone.
The others on the ship were fast enough, they could probably react to the sonic booms the swordfish created when they broke the sound barrier. But the Going Merry was just too damn big, and there were too many angles of attack.
But then, before he could even land from his mid-air slash, lightning flickered around Nami's body, but this time it didn't scatter randomly like it usually did when she lost control. Instead, the electricity channeled directly through her Clima-Tact, condensing into a single focused beam.
A blue pillar of light shot out across the White Sea.
BZZZZT!
In an instant, every swordfish in the immediate vicinity went belly-up, smoke rising from their fried bodies. Even the larger beast-fish lurking deeper below the surface flipped over, their nervous systems completely fried by the electrical discharge.
"What the—"
Nami blinked in confusion after doing all that. Of course, she hadn't fully processed what just happened, Marcus had taken remote control of her powers for a split second, guiding the lightning through the proper channels.
"I'm actually this strong?!"
For the first time, she experienced what it felt like to have Marcus' "cheat mode" assistance. The sensation of that much raw power flowing through her was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.
She felt like she could take on a Sea King and win.
Naturally, she tried to replicate what Marcus had done. She focused, tried to channel the lightning through her Clima-Tact the same way she'd felt it move... Instead, she released about a hundred thousand volts directly into the deck around her.
"GYAAAAH!"
Everyone standing nearby got shocked so hard they started twitching and convulsing, hair standing on end.
"Eh... why didn't it work?" She stared at her hands in confusion. She'd followed the exact same sensation she'd felt.
Alvida walked over. "If it were that easy to copy what he does, Kira would already be stronger than me. But she's not, is she? Some things can't be learned just by feeling them once."
This was Nami's first real experience of the gap between her current abilities and what was actually possible with her Devil Fruit.
After that shocking little interruption, everyone turned their attention back to Upper Yard in the distance.
"So what's the plan now?" Sanji asked, looking at Usopp, whose hair was noticeably thinner. "We can't just keep carpet bombing the place. At this rate, Usopp's gonna be completely bald before lunch."
Zoro shrugged. "No big deal. When the head hair's gone, he's still got body hair."
"Nose hair should work too," Luffy added helpfully.
"Are you guys fucking demons?!" Usopp shrieked, protectively covering his remaining patches of hair. "Just come up with a better plan already!"
The giant eight-hundred-ton gorilla, who'd been quietly observing from the side, looked toward the distant floating islands. The several land masses that had previously been hovering separately were now slowly merging with Upper Yard itself. In just the short time they'd been fighting, the fusion had progressed so far that you couldn't even tell they'd originally been separate islands.
"These beasts... it looks like they're being controlled somehow," Usopp said. "It must be some Devil Fruit user's power. If we take out whoever's controlling them, the creatures should calm down a lot."
Even after all his bombardment, the creatures still seemed more interested in competing with each other than fleeing. He'd watched several of them fight to the death over the same prey, tearing each other apart in mutual destruction.
They clearly weren't cooperating peacefully at all.
Nami frowned thoughtfully. "Should we head up there? Vivi, can you make contact with Conis and the others?"
Vivi shook her head slowly. "We're too far away. But I can 'hear' something else, there really is a voice commanding these creatures. Or rather, these synthetic beasts, as you called them."
"Synthetic beasts?"
Her gaze fixed on the main floating island in the distance. From there, she could distinctly "hear" a commanding voice giving instructions to the monsters below.
"But it doesn't feel like a Devil Fruit user... it's more like a higher-ranking beast itself. Something that was created to control the others."
The Straw Hats exchanged glances, processing this information.
So the mastermind controlling this entire monster army wasn't even a Devil Fruit user? Just another one of Shiki's creations?
The legendary pirate's methods were truly beyond anything they'd encountered before.
"Then let's just go cut it down," Zoro said flatly. No point overthinking this.
"Wait," Vivi said. "I think they've noticed us. When Nami used that big attack just now, she took out a huge number of beasts. That probably gave away our position."
The Straw Hats' faces grew more serious as the implications sank in.
They were dealing with Shiki. Being noticed meant they were about to face someone who'd sailed the seas during the same era as Gol D. Roger himself.
---
Back in the palace, Shiki had just returned when his subordinates rushed to give him a report.
"Oh?" His interest was immediately piqued. "So this rookie pirate crew has an ability user who can control lightning and deal that kind of large-scale damage? Not bad. Send someone to recruit her."
After all, among Devil Fruit users, those who could manipulate electricity and deliver such widespread destruction were extremely valuable. Having someone like that in his crew would definitely benefit his future plans for the East Blue.
But then he noticed his subordinate wearing an awkward, hesitant expression, the kind that usually meant bad news.
"What is it? Spit it out."
"Well... Commander Scarlet has already left. He said he wants to kidnap that woman and make her his wife."
"Huh?"
For a moment, Shiki just stared blankly at his subordinate, wondering if he'd heard that correctly.
Scarlet was an enormous gorilla, but one of the rare specimens that possessed human-level intelligence thanks to the IQ plant enhancements. Not only was he intelligent, but he also had considerable physical strength and the unique ability to control other beasts.
He was, in many ways, the pinnacle of Indigo's research into synthetic creatures.
But up until this exact moment, Scarlet had never shown any interest in humans. He was a gorilla, and the only things he occasionally found interesting were other gorillas, but thanks to his human-level intelligence, he found ordinary gorillas boring and beneath him.
So for his entire existence, he'd never once displayed any attraction to women.
And now this?
Judging from his subordinates' awkward expressions, they clearly hadn't seen this coming either.
"Well, this is certainly a new discovery," Indigo said. "Scarlet is experiencing sexual attraction to a human female? This opens up entirely new research possibilities for beast reproduction!"
Scarlet was one of his proudest creations. Yet creating another specimen with the same capabilities would be nearly impossible, the conditions had been too specific.
"Whatever," Shiki said with a dismissive wave. "I'll bring her back myself. Now I'm curious what kind of extraordinary woman could make even him want to kidnap her."
His body lifted into the air through his Float-Float Fruit powers, and he began flying westward toward the reported location.
Indigo tried to speak up and follow, but Shiki had already shot off at high speed, disappearing into the distance.
"Pull up the surveillance footage for me," he ordered the control room staff.
The technician shook his head apologetically. "Sorry, Dr. Indigo. As you can see from the monitors... the ability user in question seems to be interfering with our Den Den Mushi signal transmission. We can't get a live visual feed."
"How unfortunate. Then show me the earlier footage from before the interference started."
The staff quickly complied, pulling up the archived video.
Soon, individual headshots of the Straw Hat crew members appeared one by one on the large screen.
Indigo looked left, then right, studying each face.
"So which one is the woman Scarlet wants to capture?"
"Uh... this one."
The staff member pointed at a tall, tanned woman with a striking appearance aboard the Going Merry, Nico Robin.
"Hmm..." Indigo leaned forward. "Isn't that the Devil Child, Nico Robin? The sole survivor of Ohara. How interesting. With her linguistic expertise, we could finally resume our stalled research into deciphering the Poneglyphs."
A smile crossed his face. "Connect me to Shiki's portable Den Den Mushi immediately. He needs to know about this."
The technician opened his mouth to respond, then simply pointed behind Indigo instead.
Sitting on the throne behind him were both of Shiki's personal Den Den Mushi, left behind when he'd flown off.
---
Above the White Sea, several thousand meters from the Going Merry...
Scarlet was sprinting across the air, using the backs of swordfish as stepping stones. Each massive beast served as a platform for just a moment before he launched himself to the next one, moving at incredible speed.
"ROOOAAARRR!"
On the Going Merry, Vivi's eyes widened as she "heard" the meaning behind that roar.
Chopper, who could understand animal speech naturally, blinked in confusion.
"'Babe, I'm coming'?" he translated out loud. "What does that mean?"
---
---
80+ Advance Chapters!
Visit my profile page for more information.