A thick, white cloud descended from the sky, slowly lowering toward the open blue sea. As it neared the surface, a sharp gust of wind cut through the middle of the cloud—splitting it like fabric—and from within emerged a ship.
Splash!
The Silent Orca dropped gracefully onto the ocean, sending up a burst of sea spray.
"Finally," Zino said with a relaxed smile, "we're back to the blue sea again."
He gestured with a swirl of wind, pulling the remnants of the cloud to follow gently behind the ship like a floating escort. It was unusual—almost surreal—to see a cloud hovering so close to the ocean surface, yet there it was, bobbing along silently.
"Where are we?" Zoro asked, squinting ahead.
"Look." Nojiko pointed toward the horizon.
An island came into view—lush, green, and oddly shaped. The coastline was dotted with towering, impossibly thin trees, swaying slightly in the breeze.
Everyone's eyes lit up.
"An island!" Nami said, her voice rising in excitement. "This could be fun."
"Another adventure waiting to happen." Gin grinned.
Without hesitation, they adjusted their course. The Silent Orca sailed smoothly toward the coast, eventually dropping anchor just offshore. A landing party quickly formed, eager to explore. Zino, however, didn't move from his spot.
"You guys go ahead. I've got something I need to do," he said, sitting cross-legged near the railing.
To everyone's surprise, he plucked a piece of the floating cloud and began stuffing it into his mouth like cotton candy.
"Is he trying to eat that cloud?" Alvida blinked.
"Seems like it," Usopp muttered.
"I'll stay too," Robin said softly, opening a book she had been reading. She settled on the deck, cross-legged, flipping to a page marked with a red ribbon.
Chloris and Moris decided to stay behind as well. Everyone else began disembarking.
The group walked onto the beach, boots sinking slightly into soft, cool sand. As they moved further inland, they passed under strange canopies of sky-high trees with trunks as thin as bamboo but rising like towers.
"These trees are ridiculously tall," Sanji noted, glancing upward.
"They're also weirdly straight… do they ever bend?" Galdino asked, tapping one of the trunks. It made a hollow clunk.
Nami spotted a peculiar fruit hanging from one of the branches—a long, stretched-out melon with an equally stretched stem. "Even the fruit is long?" she muttered, amazed.
As they ventured further, Stev stopped and pointed ahead. "Hey, look at that."
They all turned.
A dog stood a few meters away, tail wagging lazily. But it wasn't an ordinary dog. Its midsection was stretched, almost like someone had pulled it like taffy. Its body extended in a long, noodle-like shape before reconnecting to its hindquarters.
"What the…" Usopp rubbed his eyes, certain it was a hallucination. But when he looked again, the dog was still there—long-bodied, tongue out, panting cheerfully.
"Is that even possible?" Sanji muttered.
"Another weird island," he added under his breath.
With a happy bark, the dog trotted away, its extended torso swaying rhythmically with every step.
"Is it trying to guide us?"
"Why don't we follow it?" Binko suggested.
Following the stretchy dog's lead, the group soon found themselves moving along a guided path.
...
Back on the Silent Orca, Zino was focused—surprisingly so.
He sat cross-legged on the deck, mouth full, chewing diligently. Wisps of white trailed around his face as he pulled more cloud from the floating mass and stuffed it into his mouth like cotton candy. Each bite dissolved into mist, but he kept eating without pause.
This was his final chance.
The clouds that came from Skypiea were rare and valuable—not just in terms of Sky Island weather but also for his unique abilities. With their descent into the Blue Sea complete, who knew when he'd ever get the chance to absorb more cloud again? He couldn't let it disperse into the wind. This was it. The last helping.
Robin sat nearby on a deck chair, a calm smile tugging at her lips as she glanced toward her captain.
"He really is eating clouds," she mused quietly, then returned to reading her book—a thick tome about ancient dialects.
Down by the beach, Chloris and Moris were busy with their own kind of miracle.
Chloris crouched over a freshly planted seed—one of the Giant Jack seeds they'd salvaged from Skypiea. She pressed it gently into the sand and stepped back, her hands glowing with a soft, verdant green.
"Let's see if it can grow down here too," she said.
Moris joined her, kneeling beside the seedling. The two Dryads placed their glowing hands above the spot, and slowly, the sand began to shift. A faint crack formed, and from it, a small sapling emerged.
"One inch…" Chloris muttered.
"Two…" Moris smiled.
The plant grew rapidly—nourished not only by the rich beach soil, but by the concentrated life force of two powerful Dryads. Within minutes, it reached knee height.
Their experiment was working.
Suddenly, Robin's gaze shifted from her book to the horizon.
A dark silhouette appeared over the waves—a large ship, cutting through the sea with a confident swagger. The ship was enormous, galleon-sized, and its masts flew a very particular Jolly Roger: a skull with fox ears, a long red nose, and the word "FOXY" emblazoned boldly beneath it.
"Foxy Pirates?" Robin raised an eyebrow.
Zino paused mid-bite, strands of cloud still hanging from his mouth. He turned his head toward the approaching ship.
On the bow of the galleon stood a flamboyant man, wearing a flashy purple outfit and sporting a ridiculous fox-like hairstyle. With his long red nose and exaggerated gestures, he could only be Foxy the Silver Fox.
"Fefefe! Looks like we've found ourselves a new set of challengers!" Foxy grinned with glee, pointing toward the Silent Orca. "Prepare the sails! We're initiating a Davy Back Fight!"
"Aye, Captain!"
The Foxy Pirates adjusted their heading, steering toward the Silent Orca with enthusiasm.
But before they could get close, something strange began to happen.
From the opposite direction, a trail of ice suddenly began stretching across the ocean's surface—rapidly freezing everything in its path. It crept right up toward the Foxy Pirates' path.
On that icy trail rode a man on a bicycle—slow, relaxed, and seemingly unconcerned.
His appearance was casual: dark pants, a navy jacket, and a sleep mask resting on his forehead. He pedaled lazily, hands in his pockets, as if he had no real destination.
"Huh? Who the heck is that guy?" Foxy blinked, confused.
The man stopped and glanced toward the approaching pirate ship. His gaze was calm—but piercing.
A moment passed.
Foxy's face gradually shifted from confusion to horror as realization struck him like a cannonball.
"G-Gyaaaaah! That's Admiral Aokiji!" he shrieked, falling flat on his back. "What the hell is a Marine Admiral doing out here?!"
"Admiral?!"
"Oh no! We're done for!"
"Retreat, retreat!!"
Panic spread like wildfire across the Foxy Pirates. Crew members scrambled across the deck, shouting orders, bumping into each other, and some even tried jumping into the sea.
On the other hand, the man in question, Aokiji, scratched lazily at his ear.
"Yare yare… such noisy pirates," he muttered.
With a sigh, he stepped off his bicycle and crouched beside the sea, placing a single finger against the water's surface.
"Ice Age."
In an instant, a blast of freezing air swept across the bay. The waves froze mid-crest, turning into jagged sculptures. The entire ocean surface around the Sexy Foxy solidified into glistening white ice, stretching far and wide. The Foxy Pirates' galleon groaned as its hull was gripped by frost.
"C-Captain! The ship's freezing!" a crewman screamed.
"Bad! Very bad!" Foxy panicked. In desperation, he thrust his hand forward. "Noro Noro Beam!"
A strange ripple of slowed energy burst forth from his fingertips, distorting the air around it.
The freezing ice halted—momentarily. The beam managed to slow the frost's advance, buying them a few precious seconds.
Aokiji blinked.
"Oh? A Devil Fruit user?" he muttered, mildly impressed.
Without hesitation, he jumped up, landing on the deck of the frozen galleon with a soft thud. The ice beneath his feet didn't crack.
He started walking forward.
"W-Wait! D-Don't come near me!!" Foxy wailed, waving his arms. "I-I'm warning you!!"
But Aokiji continued without a word, eyes calm and cold as the sea he froze.
Desperate, Foxy fired again. "Noro Noro Beam!"
The beam passed through Aokiji, slowing his movements dramatically.
Foxy gasped in relief. "Time to run!"
He turned to escape, heart pounding. But just as he took a step—
—a hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"Huh?!"
He spun around.
There stood Aokiji, hand cold as death. "You didn't think I'd fall for that, right?"
Foxy glanced sideways—and saw a frozen replica of Aokiji still standing in the beam's path. "W-Wha…?!"
"Surrender, pirate."
Aokiji's palm radiated sub-zero energy, and in one breath, Foxy was turned into an ice statue, frozen in a pose of terror.
Without pause, Aokiji turned to the rest of the crew.
One by one, he hunted them down—calm, relentless, and freezing anyone who resisted. Within minutes, the entire Foxy Pirate crew stood frozen, their galleon transformed into a glittering tomb of ice.
"...Done."
Aokiji exhaled slowly, fog trailing from his mouth in the cold air.
He turned his gaze toward the nearby ship—the Silent Orca, gently bobbing on the sea near the shore.
"Now then… time to deal with another one."
His eyes locked onto a figure standing on deck.
Nico Robin.
She stood from her chair, her face pale. Her book slipped from her hands and landed in the sand.
"Aokiji…" she whispered, memories flashing through her mind—of Ohara, of fire, of buster calls.
On the side, Zino's gaze sharpened, his previously relaxed demeanor melting away. He took a step forward, watching the approaching Marine.
The tension in the air thickened like a storm waiting to break.
Aokiji continued his slow, deliberate walk. As his boots touched the sea, the water beneath his feet turned instantly to solid ice, spreading in a cold trail that snaked toward the anchored Silent Orca. In moments, he was standing on a frozen path, just meters away from the ship, hands tucked into his coat pockets, as calm as ever.
"It's been a while since we last saw each other, Nico Robin," he said in his deep, quiet tone. His voice carried an eerie calmness, betraying none of the danger it held.
Robin stood still, but her face had lost all color. A bead of cold sweat trickled down her spine as she locked eyes with the man she once fled from.
"I… I've been well," she managed to respond, her voice low, though it trembled slightly.
"I can see that," Aokiji replied with a slow nod, his gaze flicking around the ship briefly before settling back on her. "Now then… how about you make it easy for the both of us and you come with me peacefully?"
Robin instinctively took a step back, her hand tightening at her side. Her breath hitched.
Just then, Zino stepped in, his voice calm but firm. "Sorry, but I can't allow that. She's under my protection now."
Aokiji shifted his eyes lazily toward Zino. "Oh? And who might you be?"
"I'm Zino, her captain," he replied plainly, his eyes unwavering. "She's a member of my crew now. So, for my sake, I'm asking you to leave her be."
Aokiji sighed, his breath fogging slightly in the cold air.
"You're also a pirate." He pulled one hand out of his pocket. "Bringing in Nico Robin, you, and your crew… all part of my duty. So, no—I'm afraid I can't turn a blind eye."
Zino exhaled slowly, as if disappointed. "That's troublesome. Can you just let us be?"
"No can do," Aokiji said, shaking his head. His voice was calm, but final.
Zino paused, then tilted his head slightly. "Then how about a suggestion?"
Aokiji raised an eyebrow but didn't speak.
Zino continued. "Let's settle this with a fight. Just you and me. If you win, you can take all of us. But if I win… you leave us alone. What do you say?"
For a long moment, silence hung in the air. The waves beneath the ice lapped gently, and the wind rustled the sails.
Aokiji squinted, his curiosity now piqued. "...Are you someone famous?"
"I think so," Zino replied with a casual shrug.
Aokiji slowly reached into his coat and pulled out a folded stack of wanted posters. He flipped through them with the efficiency of a man used to tracking names and faces. After a few pages, he stopped.
"Monkey D. Zino… 220 million berries." His voice was unreadable.
He looked up, scanning Zino's features, comparing them to the poster. Then he gave a small, approving nod.
"Alright," he said simply. "We'll do it your way."