Luffy lay on the deck, looking up at the sky! His belief was firm: 'Next time, I'll definitely defeat that guy!'
Zoro, bandaged, lifted a dumbbell larger than his body: 'Next time, I'll definitely cut that bastard down!'
Suddenly, a voice appeared in Luffy's mind!
"Ding, congratulations to the host for completing the mission: Destiny - Encounter!"
"Reward (choose 3 from the following 5):
1. Constitution enhancement
2. Strength enhancement
3. Speed enhancement
4. Observation Haki amplification
5. Armament Haki amplification
"Hmm?" Luffy pondered for a moment, 'Choose 1, 4, 5.'
With a thought, several warm currents flowed into his limbs and bones!
With another thought, an incomparably dark Armament Haki covered his arm. The Armament Haki seemed to have undergone a qualitative transformation; if it was wood before, now it was... steel!
A red light flashed in his eyes, and Observation Haki instantly covered ten thousand meters. It wasn't a circle, but a sphere! The closer it was, the clearer it became. Conversely, Luffy could only vaguely sense the Sky Island above ten thousand meters, unable to see through it clearly!
Luffy looked at the panel in front of him:
host: Luffy
Constitution: 70.2 (Advanced)
Strength: 65.5 (Advanced)
Speed: 62.5 (Advanced)
Haoshoku: 65.2 (Advanced)
Armament Haki: 67.8 (Advanced)
Observation Haki: 60.1 (Advanced)
Gum-Gum Fruit Ability: 49.9 (Intermediate)
Skills: Marine Six Powers - Basic (Mastered), Iron Fist (Elementary - Qi), Life Return - Ultimate
Evaluation: Elite Vice Admiral (Normal) — Weak Yonko Commander (Gear Second)
PS: Doflamingo is set as a Yonko Commander, and the Three Calamities are Strong Yonko Commander, Yonko Commander, and Weak Yonko Commander from top to bottom!
..."So how do we get to Sky Island?" At this moment, Nami had somewhat recovered.
As soon as she spoke, everyone looked at Luffy. Unbeknownst to them, Luffy had transformed from the original idiotic Captain into the backbone of the ship!
"This?" Luffy pressed his hand on his straw hat and said with a grin, "I don't know either!"
Everyone slapped their foreheads!
"If we don't hurry, those monsters will catch up!" Usopp said!
"It's okay, if they dare to come, I'll send them flying!" Luffy laughed.
The others didn't believe him; they had seen the power that instantly destroyed a town! Luffy didn't argue.
"Oh, Captain, you can look at this!" Robin smiled.
A hand appeared beside Luffy, holding a map! It was clearly the map of Jaya Island!
"It has to be you, Robin!" Luffy lay on the deck, looking at the map.
Then he stretched out his arm, handed it to Nami, and said with a smile, "Let's go to the other side of the island!"
"Why?" Nami asked, holding the map, puzzled.
"I heard that an old man, not accepted by the people of Jaya Island, lives there!" Robin explained.
"Alright, let's go there, set sail!" Luffy stretched out his arm, grabbed the sheep's head, and flew over!
"Also, Sanji, I want food! The food in my stomach is all gone!"
"Bastard, didn't you eat so much?" Sanji roared!
"But I also fought!" That's right, thanks to Life Return - Ultimate, he had no injuries, only consumed some stamina!
...The small ship sailed straight ahead!
But they encountered another monkey ship!
"Hey, who are you? Don't you know this is my territory, Lord Shoujou?" A man resembling a gorilla said!
"Oh, we're pirates! We just want to pass through!" Luffy said with a smile!
"You're pirates? Then you should know that Shichibukai Crocodile has been captured. In terms of strength, I'm not inferior to him. Who knows, maybe one day I'll take his place? I'm already waiting with great anticipation!" The gorilla said!
Uh? Black lines appeared on everyone's foreheads!
"None of that matters! We're going to the other side of Jaya Island! Move aside!" Luffy laughed.
"What, you're going to Boss's house!" The gorilla exclaimed, "Why?"
"We want to go to Sky Island, we don't know the way, so we want to ask!" Luffy said.
"Sky Island?" The Gorilla King was startled, then said, "Follow me!"
Then the Merry followed the monkey ship to its destination!
...Soon, everyone saw a house like a castle!
"So cool, is this that person's house?" Usopp shouted, "This must be a palace! That man named Mont Blanc Cricket must be rich!"
"Idiot, look closely!" Zoro said flatly.
"It sounds nice, he's a dreamer, but he's actually a show-off!" Sanji said.
"Usopp, that's just cardboard! Hahahahaha!" Luffy patted Usopp's shoulder and laughed as he spoke! (Image)
"This is our boss's house!" The gorilla led them onto the island, "But our boss should have already gone out to sea. You'll have to wait a bit longer."
"Oh, alright!" (Everyone)
"This is a picture book!" Nami picked up a book on the table, "It seems to be a very old book, titled 'The Great Liar Noland'!"
"The Great Liar Noland?" Sanji asked, puzzled.
"Hmm! Sanji, have you read it? No, this book was published in North Blue!" Nami was confused.
"I was born in North Blue, didn't I tell you?" (Sanji)
"This is the first I've heard of it. I always thought you were from East Blue." (Usopp)
"This is a very famous story in North Blue. Although it's a fairy tale, the protagonist Noland was a real person."
It was a story from a very, very long time ago, about 400 years from now! In a country in North Blue, there was an adventurer named Mont Blanc Noland! He always told his stories in an exciting and exaggerated way, but the villagers didn't know if they were true or false.
Once, after Noland returned home, he immediately went to the palace to report something to the King. He said that on an island in the Grand Line, he saw mountains of gold. The brave King, to ascertain if it was true or false (the greedy King, to seize the gold), immediately led 2000 soldiers towards the Grand Line.
Eventually, only Noland, the King, and 100 soldiers remained who reached that island. But what the King and his men saw was an empty jungle.
Noland was ultimately sentenced to death for deceiving the King.
His dying words were: I understand, those mountains of gold sank into the sea.
But the King and his men no longer wanted to listen to him. No one believed Noland's words anymore... Luffy looked out at the sea, and suddenly, small bubbles rose from the water!
A chestnut-haired man emerged from the sea.
A flying kick went straight for Luffy!
Luffy dodged slightly.
"You're also here for the gold, aren't you!" The chestnut-haired Cricket made an attacking stance.
"Boss, they're not bad people!" At this moment, Shoujou and Masira came out to dissuade him, "They want to go to Sky Island!"
"Sky Island, uh... uh!" Cricket was about to say something, but he fainted on the ground!
"Chopper, hurry and save him!" Luffy hoisted Cricket onto his shoulder and walked towards the house.
"Hmm, I'm coming!" Chopper chased after him with his short legs.
In the room,
Chopper's face was solemn, "He just has a diving sickness!"
"Diving sickness!"
"Divers sometimes get this disease..." (No explanation needed, anyway, too much diving makes you sick!)
"Why is he pushing himself so hard?" Nami asked, puzzled.
"It must be for the gold!" Luffy laughed, "Because he's a descendant of Mont Blanc Noland!"
"Oh! They're both named Mont Blanc, I see!" Everyone suddenly understood.
"But the situation is very bad now, diving sickness can be fatal." Chopper said worriedly.
Soon after, Cricket woke up!
"I'm sorry, I mistakenly thought you were also fools trying to find gold, and I caused you trouble." Cricket said, "However, I heard you want to go to Sky Island. To be honest, I don't know if Sky Island even exists."
"Once upon a time, there was a man who strongly believed in the existence of Sky Island." Cricket continued, "It's just that that man became a world-renowned liar! His descendants could never hold their heads high!"
"That's right, he's Noland! He's my great-great-great-grandfather..., always a very distant and troublesome relationship. We're so distant that I might not even have his blood. At that time, the Mont Blanc family was expelled, living a life where they couldn't hold their heads high, and are still cursed by people today.
But not a single person in our family hates him, because Noland... was more honest than anyone else!
Until his death, he still believed that the Jaya Island he took the King to was the Golden Island he had seen.
He argued that it was due to crustal movement that the gold sank to the bottom of the sea.
But anyone who heard it thought he was just making excuses!
Finally, amidst the mockery of the crowd, Noland was beheaded." Cricket revealed that historical period.
"So, Uncle, you want to clear the Mont Blanc family's name, that's why you're determined to find the gold, right?" Usopp shouted, as if he understood everything.
"No, no matter how upright my ancestors were! No matter how great an explorer he was! It has nothing to do with me. Just because I have some blood ties to that idiot, I was cursed by those strangers! Can you understand the feelings of a wronged child?" Cricket said angrily!
..."That's right, for these 400 years. To clear the Mont Blanc family's bad name. Who knows how many people went out to sea to find evidence. But in the end, they all disappeared without a trace. I've always been ashamed to have such a family!
So I ran away from home alone and became a pirate.
Actually, I didn't really want to be a pirate.
The reason is simple, I just wanted to escape Noland's curse.
Unconsciously, I also became a Captain with a pirate crew. I successfully entered the Grand Line and started my daily adventures.
I never expected that 10 years ago, my ship would serendipitously arrive here.
I, the one who hated Noland the most in the Mont Blanc family, was the only one who reached this island!
The island was just as described in the picture book, with no evidence whatsoever that the Golden City ever existed!
I couldn't help but feel it was fate!
I couldn't run away anymore. 'Let's settle this, Noland.'
So my crew and I went our separate ways.
Whether it exists or not.
I'm not trying to prove Noland's innocence.
This is my showdown with the man who messed up my entire life!
I'll get things clear before I die!"
"So, about Sky Island, Uncle?" Luffy asked!
"Didn't I just say! The only one who can vouch for Sky Island is that great liar Noland?" Cricket scoffed!
"But doesn't that mean Sky Island exists?" Luffy said with a smile!
"Hahahaha, how interesting! You should think carefully, once you get involved with Noland, you'll also become a laughing stock!" Cricket took out Noland's log pose, turned to the page recording Sky Island, and handed it to Nami. "Navigator, take a look!"
Looking closely, it read:
Sea Calendar 1120, June 21st, clear weather.
Set sail for the bustling Vera Town,
Following the log pose's direction,
The ship departed from the port, heading northeast-east.
Today during the day, I bought a strange item from a passing vendor ship. It's a single-person small boat called a waver, shaped much like a surfboard.
It's a wonderful little boat that can ride the waves even on windless days!
However, I still haven't mastered the trick of controlling it, and I can't quite get the hang of it!
Now it has become a tool for the crew to relieve boredom.
But its power source seems to be something only found on Sky Island.
I heard there are many more strange things like this in the sky.
Speaking of Sky Island, I must mention the... jumping sky fish that my expedition crew showed me!
They were truly marvelous fish, they astonished me.
Although that place is an unknown territory for our ship.
But as a sailor, I truly hope that one day, I can also go to the Sky Island to broaden my horizons.
— Mont Blanc Noland
..."Listen carefully, I will tell you all the information I know about Sky Island!" Cricket said, "Firstly, within a certain period, the sea here will form a thick layer of clouds, which we call the Cumulo-Nimbus Cloud. Then, through this Cumulo-Nimbus Cloud, we can predict the time and location of the Upstream Current!
I speculate that the Upstream Current will appear tomorrow morning! And the only way I can deduce to enter Sky Island is to ride the Upstream Current straight up!" (Simplified version)
"Then, if something unexpected happens, we'll die, right!" Usopp worried!
"Hmm, that's right, this really tests strength and luck!" Cricket nodded.
"Hey, Luffy, you heard that, right? Only people with very, very, very good luck can go up there! We can't do it, if we fail, the Merry will be shattered!" Usopp said to Luffy!
"So, we must go!" Luffy declared.
"But..." (Usopp)
"Alright, since Luffy has decided, then let's go!" Although Nami was a little worried, seeing Luffy's determination, she still firmly stood by him!
"Hmm, after all, it's the Captain's order!" Zoro crossed his arms.
"It's very difficult to change a decision Luffy makes!" Sanji puffed on his cigarette.
"Maybe there are also Poneglyphs on Sky Island!" Robin was very interested.
"Then... I'll go too!" Chopper raised his hoof.
At this point, everyone agreed, the trip to Sky Island was a must!
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