Observation Haki truly deserved its reputation as a near cheat ability. Its usefulness was not limited to the Pirate World alone.
Tsuki used his Observation Haki to carefully sense each member of the captured group. One by one, their secrets were exposed without resistance.
Just as Ash had predicted, those so called minor nobles of the East Blue were deeply involved in human trafficking. That was their primary business.
However, their level was extremely low. They were insignificant figures who could not even compare to the Donquixote Family. In fact, they would not even qualify to see the tail lights of that organization.
Ash and the others did not care that the criminals were small fry.
Scum was still scum.
Since they had encountered them, cleaning them up was simply the natural thing to do.
As a result, the Dawn Ship's hunting targets quietly expanded. Previously, they focused mostly on pirates. Now human traffickers were added to the list as well.
Ash's lazy nature soon returned.
He spent the entire day lying in the courtyard of the Dawn Ship, soaking in the sunlight like a lifeless body. Meanwhile, the tedious cleanup work was left to Youki and Kirk.
Two more days passed on an unknown island in the East Blue.
Nojiko and Saff spent most of their time discussing how to properly maintain the orange grove and the peach grove that were being cultivated aboard the ship.
Nearby, Nami organized and refined the sea charts she had recently completed.
At that moment, Kirk suddenly appeared in the courtyard.
He had just finished destroying the final human trafficking stronghold on the island and was assisting Youki in rescuing the remaining slaves. Now he teleported back to report.
Ash lazily opened one eye.
"Is it already time to prepare dinner?"
Kirk immediately snapped in annoyance.
"It is not even time for afternoon tea yet. All you do every day is eat and sleep. Can you not think about something else for once?"
Ash sighed weakly.
"This is the East Blue."
He gestured helplessly.
"There is nothing good to eat and nothing interesting to do. Pirates and traffickers here cannot even survive one punch from you or Youki."
He paused and continued.
"What else do you expect me to do, learn to draw sea charts with Nami?"
Ash stretched his arms and lazily added,
"Besides, I can grow stronger simply by eating and sunbathing."
Kirk was completely speechless.
His captain possessed an absurd natural ability that he jokingly referred to as the "Saint of Lying Flat Physique." Complaining about it was completely pointless.
After a moment, Kirk spoke again.
"Tsuki discovered something interesting while investigating the rescued slaves. One of them claims to have seen the legendary Thousand-Year Dragon."
Kirk shrugged.
"I originally thought you would be interested. But since you are busy sunbathing and getting stronger, I figured I should not disturb you."
The moment he heard those words, Ash instantly jumped up from his chair.
His lazy expression vanished.
"Now that sounds interesting!"
Ash laughed loudly.
"A Thousand-Year Dragon! Let's go find it."
His eyes lit up with excitement.
"We may not need its bones to create an Elixir of Immortality, but catching a few dragons as pets for the ship sounds fun."
---
One week later, near the waters close to Reverse Mountain in the East Blue.
Forget the legendary Thousand-Year Dragon.
Ash could not even find Warship Island, the location connected to that story in the original plot.
For nearly a week, the Dawn Ship sailed repeatedly through the waters between Loguetown and Reverse Mountain. They carefully searched every island in the region.
Not a single dragon scale appeared.
Ash was extremely disappointed.
After thinking about it carefully, he came up with three possible explanations.
First, the Thousand-Year Dragon story never existed in the original One Piece manga. It was an anime-only storyline created by the animation studio. Therefore, the dragons and Warship Island might simply not exist in the real Pirate World.
However, that explanation had a flaw.
When they rescued the slaves earlier, Tsuki had clearly heard people talking about the Thousand-Year Dragon. That rumor must have originated from somewhere.
Second, the current year was different.
The timeline now was Sea Calendar 1516, which was six years earlier than the timeline of that story. It was possible that Warship Island simply had not yet gained that name.
Third, the Thousand-Year Dragon's true habitat might not even be in the East Blue.
In that case, the story about Monkey D. Luffy helping the dragon return to its homeland might have been exaggerated or distorted.
After all, the distance between Loguetown and Reverse Mountain was limited. Traveling between the islands in that region would not even take two full days.
After thinking it over, Ash believed the second and third possibilities were the most reasonable.
In short, there were no dragons and no Warship Island.
Ash finally gave up.
"I am done searching."
He collapsed back into his deck chair.
"It is just a dragon with wings and two legs. What is so special about that?"
Embracing his laziness again, he waved his hand casually.
"Let us sail around the East Blue instead. We can help Nami finish mapping the sea charts."
Nami rolled her eyes.
"You say that you are helping me complete the sea charts," she muttered quietly, "but sailing around the East Blue sounds more like an excuse to capture strange pets."
Nojiko and Carina immediately covered their mouths and laughed.
Ash remained motionless in his chair, pretending to be asleep.
Inside his mind he thought, You little brat, I will deal with you later.
Since the decision had been made to travel around the East Blue, everyone began discussing the route.
The Dawn Ship had originally entered the East Blue by crossing the Calm Belt from Carnival City. During that journey, they had already passed Rare Animal Island, Syrup Village, and the islands between Cocoyasi Village, Loguetown, and Reverse Mountain.
Combined with the sea charts Nami had been drawing for the past two years, Ash now possessed maps covering nearly one third of the entire East Blue.
Nami suggested a new route.
The Dawn Ship would sail along the Red Line, moving from west to east until reaching the Calm Belt. After that, they would follow the Calm Belt toward Reverse Mountain while filling in the missing islands and unexplored sea routes along the way.
Professional matters should always be handled by professionals.
Everyone immediately agreed with Nami's suggestion.
Thus, the Dawn Ship officially began its long voyage around the East Blue.
---
Sea Calendar 1516, March 20th.
A remote sea region of the East Blue, close to both the Red Line and the Calm Belt.
If the Dawn Ship crossed the Calm Belt from this location, it could reach the Sabaody Archipelago within only a few days.
If they sailed close enough to the Red Line, they could even bypass Sabaody entirely and head directly toward Marineford.
Ash had absolutely no interest in visiting Marineford.
The Dawn Ship continued following the original route along the Calm Belt toward Reverse Mountain.
On this day, Ash was once again sunbathing lazily in the courtyard when a Den Den Mushi call suddenly arrived.
The caller was Sali.
Sali reported that they had finally encountered the group Ash had predicted earlier.
Enel and his crew had arrived in the skies near Skypiea.
Their goal was exactly as Ash had predicted. Enel intended to conquer and destroy Skypiea.
However, the process of capturing them turned out to be surprisingly ridiculous.
After arriving in the skies above Skypiea, Enel quickly noticed the unique geography of the region. One large island and three smaller islands possessed real soil, something extremely rare in the White Sea.
Enel immediately decided that this would become his new territory.
To establish dominance over the locals, the arrogant self proclaimed god prepared a massive lightning attack. He planned to summon a thunder entity and destroy one of the cloud islands as a demonstration.
Unfortunately for him, the island he targeted happened to be the one where the Shandians had originally lived. That island was located not far from the ruins of Upper Yard.
Sali and Pini had been constantly practicing their Observation Haki.
They had already detected Enel's arrival long before he launched his attack.
However, before they could even approach, they noticed that the foolish man was preparing to unleash a large scale lightning strike directly at them.
Naturally, they were not going to tolerate that.
Fortunately, the islands were very close to each other. For speed specialists like Sali and Pini, the distance was meaningless.
They arrived almost instantly.
There was no negotiation.
Pini immediately fired an arrow from a distance, interrupting Enel's dramatic display.
Enel had recently destroyed his homeland, Birka, and was extremely arrogant. When he saw someone daring to interrupt him, he immediately became furious.
Without a single word, the battle began.
Enel believed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit made him invincible.
The moment the fight started, he launched a massive attack.
"Sixty Million Volt Lightning Beast!"
The lightning creature rushed toward Sali.
It had absolutely no effect.
Sali stood there calmly.
The lightning dissipated without causing any damage.
Enel froze in shock.
In that brief moment of confusion, Sali appeared in front of him and delivered a punch coated with Armament Haki.
Enel was knocked unconscious instantly.
At the same time, the Four Priests were defeated by Pini in the blink of an eye.
The entire battle ended almost immediately.
Sali stared at Enel's unconscious body with disbelief.
Concerned that it might be some strange trick, he walked forward and punched Enel again.
The man did not move.
He was truly unconscious.
Sali and Pini exchanged glances.
Both of them felt completely speechless.
The Devil Fruit power was incredibly strong.
Unfortunately, the user was unbelievably foolish.
They had expected a fierce battle.
Instead, the fight ended before they had even finished warming up.
Sali contacted Ash to report the result and ask how Enel's crew should be handled.
Ash thought for a moment before answering calmly.
"This man recently destroyed his own homeland."
"If we let him live, he will always be a threat to Skypiea."
Sali understood immediately.
"I understand."
The Den Den Mushi call ended.
A moment later, the Devil Fruit editor gained 428 energy points.
God of Thunder Enel had officially logged off.