Clatter, clatter, clatter…
The raging waves gradually subsided, and the sea returned to calm.
"Pwah!"
Champion of the arena, Burgess, suddenly burst up from the water. One hand seemed to be gripping something beneath the surface, while the other furiously paddled across the waves.
Not far ahead of him floated a massive wooden board—no one knew what it had been used for.
Burgess suddenly raised his arm. From beneath the water, a dark shadow burst upward.
Blackbeard and Lafitte were flung onto the board and immediately collapsed, coughing violently as they vomited seawater from their stomachs.
Standing at the edge of the board, Burgess shouted loudly into the debris-filled sea:
"Augur!!!"
"Doc Q!!!"
"Over here—"
A weak, hoarse voice suddenly answered. Strangely, the most wretched-looking Doc Q seemed completely unharmed.
Lying across his sickly horse, he slowly paddled toward Burgess.
Burgess hauled up both the horse and Doc Q—and dragging behind the horse's tail were two more figures.
"Augur!"
Burgess lifted Augur up, then tossed another figure onto the board—one completely charred, skin burned away, eyes reduced to hollow, blurred shapes.
…
On the island.
The fall of the Land of God tore open a massive hole in the sky.
The boundless sea of clouds surged toward the empty void.
Aboard the Going Merry, Luffy leaned against the railing, waiting for Brook and Robin to return.
On the deck, Wyper—his limbs broken, completely exhausted—lay on his back staring at the sky. His eyes had become hollow sockets, blood mixed with tears streaming out.
Half of his tongue had been bitten off, and he mumbled incoherently, no one understanding what he was trying to say.
At this point, even a Celestial Dragon's slave might have been treated better than Wyper.
Before long, a graceful figure flew in from the distance.
Robin's wings dissolved into violet flames behind her, slowly dispersing.
Above the white sea of clouds, Brook's skeletal body also sped back toward the Going Merry.
"How did it go?"
Looking at Robin's empty hands, Luffy already seemed to know the answer, yet he still asked.
After landing, Robin glanced at the unrecognizable figure on the deck. Perhaps wanting to grant him release, she spoke directly:
"The Shandia truly were a united people."
"So, in that resistance just now, the name 'Shandia' has disappeared from the world."
Wyper, lying on the ground, heard every word through the only organ he still had intact—his ears.
"Ugh… ughhh!!!…"
Unable to speak, he could only let out heart-wrenching cries.
Bloody tears poured from his eye sockets like springs.
Robin then continued calmly:
"What should we do with this man?"
Still leaning against the railing, Luffy slowly raised his head and glanced at Wyper, who seemed to have already lost consciousness from the crushing blow of Robin's words.
His black gauntlet swung downward, and flames instantly engulfed him.
Within the raging fire, Wyper made no sound at all.
In the blink of an eye, the once-admired powerful warrior from just hours ago had completely vanished from the world.
Luffy suddenly let out a long sigh:
"Sigh…"
Just now, his murderous intent had indeed been too heavy.
Those who died weren't only Shandia warriors.
There were also elderly people, women, and children.
All of them had been wiped out by Robin and the others.
Such actions were indeed excessive.
But when he thought of Merry lying injured, he could no longer control himself.
He could not accept his companions being used as pawns by others!
This was Luffy's interpretation of freedom.
Freedom brought by absolute power and overwhelming deterrence.
So he would make anyone who stood in his way pay the most painful price!
The weak didn't even have the right to choose how they died.
And so, the Shandia—who were weak—were wiped out in a calamity, for no reason at all.
In the end, it all came down to power!
Emperor-level strength was still not enough!!!
And at this very moment, the starlit special training officially began.
…
Three months later.
At the center of the cloud island that Sanji had once shattered with a single kick,
the Going Merry lay quietly anchored.
The cabin door slowly opened, and Usopp strode onto the deck with steady steps.
Luffy and the others followed closely behind.
The moment Luffy stepped onto the deck, he lazily let out a yawn.
Over the past three months, after spending a few days dealing with the aftermath on Angel Island, everyone had entered intensive training.
After the chaos, Robin, on behalf of the Starry Sky Pirates, held a brief negotiation with Gan Fall, the former ruler of Skypiea.
In short, she explained to him the situations involving Shandia, Enel, and the Land of God.
She also told him that the Starry Sky Pirates had no intention of ruling Skypiea, and that he—or anyone else—was free to take up leadership again.
Only…
The people of Skypiea needed to open their eyes and be careful.
If anyone from their crew were mistreated here again, the tragedy of the Land of God would repeat itself.
In truth, Luffy and the others weren't afraid of being bullied.
But after all, Chopper and Wutan weren't yet strong enough and still needed the crew's protection.
Of course—that was three months ago.
…
The bow of the Going Merry slowly shifted, inching toward the edge of the cloud island.
The Starry Sky crew lined both sides of the deck as Luffy stepped forward with a proud stride from among them.
A beam of morning light fell perfectly across the deck.
"Crew!!!"
"We're—off!!!"
HISS!
With a burst of white spray, the Going Merry shot forward like a rocket at Luffy's command!
Its incredible speed carved a wake straight through the sea of clouds!
At the end of the cloud sea—Milky Roads.
A waterfall-like stream of clouds.
One of the official routes from the Blue Sea to Skypiea.
And the only route back from Skypiea to the Blue Sea!
Having received word early, Gan Fall stood at the top of the Milky Road passage, riding his pink-spotted bird that had eaten the Horse-Horse Fruit. He watched as a straight, surging wave of clouds shot toward him from the distant edge of the sky!
Complex emotions flowed through his eyes.
The Starry Sky Pirates had helped him fulfill his wish, ended Enel's tyrannical rule, and saved countless sky island residents.
By all rights, he should have thanked them deeply—perhaps even honored them as the island's most distinguished guests.
But after learning what the Starry Sky Pirates had done to the Shandia, he still couldn't accept that bloody, brutal scene.
He also feared when their wrath might one day reach the ordinary citizens of Skypiea.
Fortunately, it was all over now.
Luffy didn't know Gan Fall's complicated thoughts.
Seeing him standing at the entrance of Milky Road to see them off, Luffy grinned.
Suddenly, a flag shot up into the sky.
From the Going Merry racing along the cloudway came a voice—extremely cheerful, yet extremely serious:
"From now on, Skypiea!"
"Will be protected by this flag!!!"
In the blink of an eye, as soon as the words fell,
the Going Merry vanished from Gan Fall's sight, plunging down the ten-thousand-meter cloud waterfall toward the Blue Sea!
Gan Fall reached out and caught the flag drifting down from the sky.
This was a flag he knew very well!
Because the one flying on the Starry Sky Pirates' ship was identical to it.
The elderly Gan Fall suddenly broke into a wide smile, every wrinkle on his face blooming at once, as he softly murmured:
"It seems Skypiea will be peaceful for the next few decades."
…
High above the sea, thousands of meters in the air, the Going Merry burst out of Milky Road without slowing at all, looking as though it would plunge straight down from the ten-thousand-meter height!
On deck, everyone enjoyed the thrill of the high-speed dive.
Only Usopp and Chopper, perhaps overwhelmed by emotion, shed happy tears.
Just as the Merry descended to around a thousand meters above the sea, something strange appeared before them.
Though the ocean was still nearly a kilometer below,
not far ahead of the Merry…
several small islands of varying heights were floating in midair.