High above the blue sky, several islands of differing scenery were jaggedly arranged, forming a pyramid-like structure that floated nearly a thousand meters in the air.
What was even more astonishing was the circulating water current around the islands—defying all physical laws—as it flowed among the uneven layers of land.
At the very bottom, the water converged and then flowed back upward toward the highest island once more.
Golden Lion Shiki—once considered one of the most likely candidates to become the Pirate King—a legendary pirate of the seas.
Over twenty years ago, Shiki attempted to conquer the world and forced the Roger Pirates into a desperate situation in the Edd War.
Just as the Roger Pirates were about to be defeated, surrounded by Shiki's massive fleet and driven into a dead end—
A sudden storm completely changed the outcome of that battle.
Despite possessing an enormous armada, the Flying Pirates ultimately suffered a crushing defeat due to sheer bad luck.
Crew members died or were gravely injured.
Even Golden Lion Shiki himself was struck in the head by a ship's steering wheel that had drifted in from nowhere, nearly killing him.
After a series of setbacks, the once-great pirate lost both of his legs.
Now, he was no longer the fearsome figure of the past, but instead hid away in a cluster of floating islands he had created using his Float-Float Fruit, living a life detached from the world.
With only his two remaining subordinates and a group of underlings, he devoted himself to developing biotechnology, preparing to make a big splash someday when the time was right!
Until this day…
BOOM!!!
On one of the uninhabited islands in the floating archipelago, a violent explosion suddenly rang out.
The struck island shook violently, as if it were about to fall.
Fortunately, after a brief tremor, it finally stabilized.
Dust and debris filled the air, covering half the island—so thick that even trees dozens of meters tall were swallowed by the rising cloud.
On the highest island of the floating archipelago—
A low-ranking technician noticed the disturbance and immediately pulled up the surveillance footage from the Den Den Mushi.
On the square screen, as the gray dust slowly dispersed, the silhouette of a sailing ship gradually emerged.
"Huh?"
Seeing a somewhat familiar flag, the underling hummed curiously, then zoomed in on the Den Den Mushi's image and studied it carefully.
A moment later, a cold sweat suddenly trickled down his forehead.
"No… no… no…"
Panicking, the underling shot to his feet and stammered toward the golden figure standing at the center of the high-tech instruments, as if beatboxing,
"N-No… no… no good, Captain Shiki!!!"
"A special ship has landed here!!!"
"Cough! Cough! …"
Beneath the settling dust, Luffy and the others crawled out of the massive crater, covered head to toe in grime.
Zoro, who came out last, grabbed the underside of the Going Merry and lifted the ship out of the pit.
"Where is this place?"
As soon as he emerged, Sanji curiously surveyed their surroundings.
Although the area nearby had been reduced to rubble by the Merry's violent descent—
With massive trees toppled across the ground, stacked one upon another—
Looking farther out, it was still clear that this was a pristine, natural island, filled with dense forests and lush grasslands.
Just then!
From beneath a fallen tree nearby, a crescent-shaped wave of sword energy suddenly burst forth.
The blade wave struck the tree trunks.
The giant logs that had blanketed the ground were instantly sliced into countless pieces.
The cuts were smooth and clean, exposing the tree rings that marked the passage of time.
"Chii! Chii-chii!!"
A massive pink praying mantis suddenly emerged from among the countless cut pieces of wood.
Its upright yellow pupils stared at Luffy and the others, giving off an indescribably eerie feeling.
A cold glint flashed along its Soru-sharp scythe-like claws, as if proving that the blade wave had come from them.
"Oh? A creature I've never seen before!"
Usopp said with forced confidence as he stared at the murderous blade mantis—while trembling and slowly backing away to reveal Zoro and Sanji behind him.
Zoro grinned at the arm-blades on the mantis's claws and said,
"Looks like it'll be a pretty good swordsman."
Sanji beside him followed up,
"Also a pretty good ingredient."
"So…"
The two of them suddenly shouted in unison,
"He's my prey!"
"He's my prey!"
Zoro and Sanji instantly locked eyes in perfect unspoken agreement.
"Tch!"
"Tch!"
"What do you mean by that!?"
"Hah? What are you talking about, you chain-smoking geezer!?"
"I'm saying your brain is nothing but sword skills and mush! Want me to crack it open and cook you a bowl of noodles!?"
"What did you say!? Don't think just because you're tougher now I can't cut you!!! Fix those curly brows of yours!! Your IQ is leaking out of them and you haven't even noticed!"
Without any warning, Zoro and Sanji started arguing again.
"Chii? Chii-chii?"
Seeing the two "weak" creatures in front of it bickering, the blade mantis chirped curiously.
Ever since Sanji had completely absorbed the ancient warship Pluton, his raw physical attributes had surpassed Zoro by a wide margin.
As a result, the number of arguments between the two had only increased!
On Luffy's status panel, their current stats looked like this:
Sanji
Stamina: 9780
Strength: 9240
Agility: 10020
Mental Power: 3200
Zoro
Stamina: 9020
Strength: 9140
Agility: 8530
Mental Power: 9800
Ignoring mental power attributes and looking purely at physical strength, Sanji—with both gourmet cells and the devil fruit as dual enhancements, plus Pluton, a tonic more potent than a thousand-year-old wild ginseng—
Had successfully overtaken Zoro, surpassing him in all three base physical stats and reaching the upper tier among Admirals.
Zoro, in terms of raw attributes, was only at the lower-middle Admiral level.
Of course, this "Admiral" was merely Luffy's benchmark for measuring strength—
Meaning capable of holding the position of a Marine Admiral,
Not necessarily referring to the actual three Marine Admirals.
At least in Luffy's view, none of the current Admirals were simple.
Akainu and Aokiji were both faintly approaching Yonko-level combat power.
Kizaru, that old fox, was even more unfathomable.
No one had ever seen him use his true strength.
Because he had never been forced to.
As long as the salary was paid on time, he could kick a Yonko into the ground.
...
Watching Zoro and Sanji argue more fiercely, even beginning to build up killing intent—
The members of the Starry Sky Pirates couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Sometimes…
Even Luffy wondered if he should just let the two of them have a serious sparring match.
Don't think that just because Zoro's physical stats are lower than Sanji's, the match would be one-sided.
You should know!
The abilities of Zoro's three Zanpakutō—even now, Luffy himself wasn't fully confident he could defeat them!
This also indirectly proved just how powerful the Starry Sky crew had become!
Meanwhile, the gigantic mantis—who had been deliberately ignored by everyone—was no longer willing to tolerate this!
A pair of murderous, ghostly eyes suddenly attached themselves to the sides of its insect face.
Its massive arm-blades swung through the air,
Carving out streak after streak of pale blue blade light.
With powerful hind legs, it leapt forcefully from the ground, soaring more than ten meters into the air.
Its Soru-sharp scythes aimed directly at the still-arguing Zoro and Sanji.
A fierce wind howled, and in the blink of an eye, the mantis was right in front of them.
"Hm!?"
"Hm!?"
Sensing its presence, the two of them revealed crimson, demon-like gazes and bulging, devilish eyes respectively.
Locked onto by two killing stares at once, the giant mantis suddenly felt a chill run down its back.
The sharp blade light around it dimmed unnaturally.
But having already lunged forward, it had no choice but to close its eyes and charge straight in!
Slash!
A flash of light swept past.
The massive mantis froze midair.
Its mountain-like body suddenly split in two.
And the half closer to Sanji was instantly scorched into a charred black mass by flames.
As the mantis's corpse hit the ground, Sanji immediately picked a fight again,
"Look at what you did! Such good fresh ingredients—now they have to be frozen!"
"Bullshit!"
Zoro immediately shot back in disdain,
"Are you not wasting it too? Look at that blackened mess—what even is that!?"
"Marimo-head, don't slander me! I guarantee my heat control is absolutely perfect!"
"Hah! Anyone can brag! I could say my swordsmanship is the best in the world too! Look at those clean cuts—could you, a professional chef, do that!?"
"Are you provoking me!?"
Sanji suddenly squatted down, pried open the mantis's crispy shell, pulled out a piece of snow-white tender meat, and shoved it toward Zoro's mouth, saying,
"If you don't believe me, then eat it!!!"
"I'll eat it! You think I'm afraid of some lousy cook!?"
Zoro bit into the mantis meat Sanji held out, chewing angrily while glaring at him as if he were chewing on Sanji himself.
After a while.
Zoro fell silent for a moment, then couldn't help but say,
"Delicious…"
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Completed version available on Patreon P@treon(.)com/Veltoria