On the ship, Hawkeye's eyes were fixed on Cyrus.
Cyrus's eyes, on the other hand, were full of sincerity.
Just as the atmosphere was becoming strange, Hawkeye looked away and nodded.
"I hope you remember what you just said."
"Of course I do. Even if I'm not up to it, isn't there still Issho!" Cyrus said cheerfully, dragging Issho into it with his last sentence.
Issho, who had been watching from the side, was stunned.
"I..." Issho started to speak but was cut off by Cyrus.
"We probably won't be able to wait for a knockup stream. We'll need to borrow your ability to lighten the ship's weight!"
"Hmm?"
Issho looked puzzled, but Cyrus had already turned to Robin.
"Keep an eye on the angle of the needle. If it points straight up, it's time for us to go up."
"I understand!" Robin nodded in agreement.
In truth, Cyrus's Observation Haki had already seen the Sky Island in the sky.
After all, a part of Sky Island was actually a part of Jaya Island from hundreds of years ago, pushed into the sky by the ocean currents of that time.
A distance of ten thousand meters was completely within the range of Cyrus's Observation Haki.
And Cyrus could naturally see what was happening on Sky Island.
Enel's God Enforcers and Guardians were suppressing anyone on Sky Island who dared to resist.
However, Enel himself had not made a move.
Perhaps, the guy was enjoying the process.
"Hmm?"
Cyrus was taken aback and retracted his Observation Haki.
Just as he had focused his observation on Enel, who was on God's Island, the guy had clearly reacted.
'Did Enel sense my Observation Haki?'
Cyrus stroked his chin with a thoughtful look on his face.
Not long after, Cyrus's ship came to a stop on the sea's surface.
The surrounding sea was empty, and the surface was calm.
Cyrus looked up, then turned to Issho.
Issho nodded slightly and gripped the hilt of his sword.
A strange gravitational force acted upon the ship's hull, and the ship, which had been floating on the sea, slowly began to rise.
Then, flames appeared beneath the ship, pushing it upward, its speed increasing.
The people on the ship could feel the pressure from the upward acceleration.
However, such pressure was nothing to the physiques of those on board; even Robin could ignore it now.
The ship got faster and higher.
Looking down from the ship, the sea below was obscured by clouds.
After flying to a certain height, they saw a thick layer of clouds in the sky.
The ship, pushed by the flames, crashed directly into the dense cloud layer.
Cyrus instantly felt the ship become heavy.
"It's seawater!"
Within the dense clouds, Issho's voice was filled with surprise.
This cloud layer had the same properties as seawater.
As a Devil Fruit user, he certainly knew how he would react upon touching seawater.
His body would weaken, and the abilities he used would be affected.
Even at his current level of strength, he couldn't avoid this effect.
Cyrus, however, felt nothing.
Even if Issho didn't use his ability to lighten the ship, he could still push it to high altitude, it would just consume more stamina.
A few minutes later, the ship broke through this strange cloud layer.
The view before them suddenly opened up.
The group looked around. The clouds were like an ocean floating in the sky.
"This is the sea in the sky!" Cyrus said, then looked up.
"How peculiar."
After bursting out of the clouds, Robin felt the sense of weakness from touching seawater disappear, and only then did she speak.
"But this isn't our destination. The other party has already discovered us."
Cyrus looked up.
The sound of thunder was already rumbling in the sky above.
"Is it that strong person you mentioned?"
Hawkeye looked up upon hearing this.
"When we were on the sea below, I sensed him with my Observation Haki, and he sensed me too," Cyrus explained.
Then, the flames beneath the ship suddenly intensified, and the vessel continued to ascend.
The higher they went, the louder the sound of thunder became.
The rumbling of thunder was extremely dense.
"The power of lightning?"
Hawkeye's expression was solemn.
He had already thought of what this ability might represent.
If his guess was correct, it would definitely be a troublesome opponent.
Under the push of Cyrus's flames, the three-thousand-meter distance was quickly covered.
Then, several islands floating above the cloud layer came into view.
But now, above this cloud layer, there was another layer of dark thunderclouds.
Pillars of lightning emerged from the thunderclouds and struck the islands in the clouds below.
The dense pillars of lightning didn't stop for a moment, showing that the person controlling the lightning was in a very bad mood.
On Sky Island, those who had not yet submitted to Enel's rule and dared to resist were dodging the bombardment of lightning.
"What a wantonly reckless fellow!"
On the ship, Issho said with a solemn expression.
His Observation Haki could feel that the islands in the sky were now filled with emotions of despair and anger.
"Then let's go find this guy directly. The sooner we finish the fight, the sooner we can rest."
As Cyrus spoke, the ship in the sky changed direction and flew toward the only island on Sky Island made of soil.
BOOM!
A pillar of lightning struck down toward their ship.
Hawkeye drew the sword at his back and swung it fiercely.
A green slash shot up into the sky, splitting the descending pillar of lightning in one blow, which then dissipated.
This lightning strike was clearly just the beginning.
Then, all the lightning pillars that had been striking other places disappeared.
The target of the lightning became this ship floating in the sky.
One after another, slashes flew from the ship, cutting apart the falling pillars of lightning.
Sometimes, flames would shoot up to block the lightning pillars, which then exploded.
On Sky Island, the people who had just been facing the terrifying might of the lightning were now staring blankly at the sky.
They watched the ship that was still heading toward God's Island despite being bombarded by countless lightning bolts.
...
"God!"
On Angel Island below, a figure fully clad in armor and riding a strange horse stopped and looked up at the sky.
The one who spoke was his attendant.
"Adventurers from the Blue Sea."
The person called "God" was Gan Fall, the God before Enel.
He was also considered the guardian of Sky Island, but his strength was far too different from Enel's.
If it weren't for the fact that Enel disdained to personally attack them, they would have been wiped out long ago.
But now, even facing Enel's four priest, they were already on the verge of being overwhelmed.
Gan Fall understood very well.
Even if they resisted, the final result would not change.
The current Enel was too powerful.
But today, this ship, which might have come from the Blue Sea, might change the foreseeable future.
His eyes were fixed on the ship that was still flying toward God's Island, Upperyard, under the bombardment of lightning, and he thought to himself.
In his mind, an image of the group of adventurers who had come to Sky Island before appeared.
They called themselves pirates, and their captain's name was Roger.