A fire dragon clawed through the air, arcs of lightning flickering over its jaws.
No girl stays in a good mood when someone interrupts her date, and Stella moved even faster than Charles.
"Tch, quick on the escape!"
She spoke in frustration; by the time her fire dragon snapped down, Enel had already slipped away.
If nothing else, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit has a real speed advantage—probably only Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit can compare.
Charles didn't care much about this two-bit clown. He wouldn't be able to keep up that posture for long.
He and Stella strolled along the beach made of island cloud. Angel Island and Cloud-Hidden Village couldn't have been more different.
Not only were the buildings completely different due to differences in civilization and island-cloud processing techniques, even the ecosystem wasn't the same.
There were plants whose flowers and leaves were like rubber balls, and strange animals that could puff themselves up into balls and fly by blowing air. This was the scenery that could satisfy one's dreamlike image of a sky island.
No wonder the Shandians refused to reconcile. Their ancestral land and most valued promise were taken, and they were left to live in barren places—who could forgive that?
On the way, they even caught a sky-island creature known as a cloud fox.
Light-bodied and covered in plush white fur, the little thing was obviously the kind of animal girls would love.
The little fellow had sense too, nestled in Stella's arms and very well-behaved.
Watching the little fox's head almost sink between two soft mounds, Charles felt a twinge of envy. Good thing it was a vixen—otherwise he'd personally schedule it for a neuter.
That said, there are a lot of clever animals in this world. Just look at that sea cow that could even learn Haki.
The cloud fox, which Stella named Angel, also seemed pretty smart. With a bit of training, it might even master Haki.
For the record, Charles was purely curious about animals learning Haki. He definitely wasn't jealous of the perks it was enjoying.
Perhaps sensing something, the little fox's fluffy white fur stood on end, turning it into a big cotton ball.
Stella thought she'd been holding it too tight and quickly loosened her arms.
The fox calmed down, confused by that sudden chill up its spine, unaware Charles had already made plans for it.
They sightseed their way into the town district, and the moment they entered, they felt the odd atmosphere.
Because of the nature of island cloud, the town layout wasn't flat but three-dimensional. Above the massive island-cloud base were many smaller island clouds, and many shops and homes were built atop them.
But the street known as Lovely Street was deserted, likely because of the huge hole in the ground.
With that, there wasn't much to see here. Charles and Stella decided to head straight to Apayado to watch the fun.
Apayado is part of Jaya that was blasted up to the White-White Sea by the Knock Up Stream four hundred years ago.
For the sky islanders living on Angel Island, who value land above all, it was a heaven-sent treasure.
So under the leadership of Angel Island's ruler, the "God," the sky islanders drove out the Shandians and occupied the land, calling it the Holy Land.
Naturally, given how much they valued land, they didn't radically redevelop the precious soil.
Apayado thus retained the look it had four hundred years ago, with the sky island's special clouds adding a new landscape.
Charles glanced up at a tree whose height he couldn't begin to guess. The forest was full of such giant trees that had grown for who knew how long—there was a special kind of grandeur to it.
Just then, his ear twitched. Someone had blown a whistle.
Stella looked at him, asking with her eyes what he thought.
"Since we don't have a specific target anyway, let's go take a look," Charles said.
They moved at once, flying toward the source of the sound.
Through the sea of trees, they saw a trapezoidal platform standing in the clouds.
On it sat a ship the two knew well—the Going Merry—and the only one onboard was the reindeer Chopper, cornered by one man and one bird.
Enel had arranged a game with four "Ordeals" for those who trespassed into Apayado, each handled by one of his four priests.
The man with the twin mustache whiskers was Shura, in charge of the Ordeal of Strings.
With a scornful smile, Shura leveled his knight's spear—fitted with a Heat Dial—to point at Chopper.
Just as he was about to attack, he realized two people had appeared in front of Chopper without his noticing.
"Hey! Who are you?"
This spot was inside Apayado, reachable only after passing the Ordeal. Shura's worst fear was that Charles had come through while no one was guarding his Strings Ordeal.
Not that it mattered to him—he'd just eliminate everyone in front of him.
Tears welling, Chopper shrank back to his small form and hugged Charles's leg. "I'm saved, at last!"
Charles crouched and patted his head. "Don't worry. I'll handle this quickly."
Then he looked to Shura. "If I advised you to turn around and leave now, you wouldn't listen, would you? Your killing intent's practically spilling out.
What was your name again… forget it. Nothing worth remembering."
Shura's eyes bulged as Charles suddenly closed the distance.
He thrust his knight's spear on reflex, but the tip, heated red by the Heat Dial, was caught barehanded by Charles.
He saw Charles's fingers twitch—and the spear snapped, shards flying. Before he could even look surprised, a side kick put a mask of pain on his face.
Shura shot away, snapping several giant trees that would take ten men to circle.
Behind him, Chopper swallowed hard. He'd been beaten up pretty badly just now, but even he felt sorry for the guy after seeing that. As a doctor, he was sure the man wouldn't be standing for months.
Charles was as strong as ever—and as a comrade, that was reassuring in the extreme.
The huge strange bird beside Shura was stunned. Then it snapped back and instinctively opened its beak to reveal the flame sprayer mounted in its throat.
Charles frowned, raised a hand, and closed its jaws.
The bird thrashed wildly, but it couldn't break free of Charles's vise-like grip.
With a muffled boom, black smoke puffed from its nostrils and the corners of its beak; its eyes rolled white and it went limp.
Tossing the bird aside, Charles looked up at the spotted giant bird flying in from above and the long-bearded old man in knight's armor on its back.
The whistle hadn't only drawn Charles—it had been a distress signal meant for this old man.
He was Gan Fall, former "God" of Angel Island, now calling himself the Sky Knight.
As he arrived, Charles could feel the island growing lively.
On one side, the Straw Hat Pirates were already fighting the priests; on the other, the Shandian guerrillas' auras were closing in… a full-scale clash was about to erupt.
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