...
"Hmm? Has the storm passed?"
"That was terrifying. I honestly thought the ship was going to capsize just now."
"Strange, why does it feel a bit hard to breathe?"
"Huh? You feel it too?"
The crew members walked out of the bow dormitory, their expressions a mix of confusion and relief.
A vast, endless sea of white clouds greeted their eyes. The crew stared in utter bewilderment, freezing in place as if their brains had short-circuited.
"Where are we?"
"Clouds?"
"Shouldn't we be on the ocean?"
"Brothers!"
A voice called out from the ship's superstructure. The crowd looked up in confusion.
Allen stood tall with his arms crossed over his chest, announcing with a deadpan expression,
"I regret to inform you all that we didn't manage to escape that massive whirlpool. This is heaven. We are all dead."
"Ehhh?!?!"
Hearing this, the entire crew was so shocked their eyes practically bugged out of their skulls, their jaws dropping heavily to the floor.
*'We just went into the dorms to hide from the rain for a bit, and now we're dead?!'*
Although Allen's words were absurd, looking at the boundless sea of white clouds surrounding them, it was hard not to believe the fact that they had gone to heaven.
"N-No way... Am I really dead?"
"Boohoo! I haven't lived long enough!"
"No! I haven't even spent all my money yet!"
"Be content. I thought for sure I'd be going to hell after I died. Sigh."
For a moment, sounds of regretful weeping and heavy sighs spread contagiously through the crowd.
Nami shot him an exasperated glare. "Childish."
Allen grinned in satisfaction.
When they encountered the giant whirlpool, the crew had all hidden inside the cabins. During the brief minute that the Knock Up Stream lasted, they had absolutely no idea what had happened.
The only ones who knew the truth were the members of Nami's Third Division, who were currently watching them while holding back wicked smirks.
On the fourth-floor balcony, Robin surveyed the scenery over the sea of clouds. Seeming to have noticed something, she leaned over the railing and called down,
"Allen, there seems to be a gate on the right."
Hearing her voice, Allen stepped up to the edge of the ship and looked over. He soon spotted an archway built upon the clouds, with a winding cloudy path leading upward behind it.
"Get ready to set sail."
Allen turned back to the deck and waved his large hand.
"Brothers! Heaven's Gate is right ahead. Let's hurry up and get reincarnated!"
"Boohoo! Boss!"
*Thump! Thump!*
Suddenly, the Nyaban Brothers lunged forward, their faces covered in tears as they clung to Allen's thighs.
"We can't bear to leave you, Boss! Boohoo!"
"We want to be your subordinates in our next lives too!"
Allen was speechless.
Nami was equally speechless.
*'It's one thing for the regular crew not to know, but you two don't know either?'*
Suddenly realizing something, Nami's mouth twitched, and she said awkwardly,
"Come to think of it, I don't think I ever told them about the voyage."
"Uh... whatever, let's just leave it at that."
Too lazy to explain, Allen shook his legs and kicked the two of them away.
Before long, the *Freewill* slowly advanced toward Heaven's Gate.
"Speaking of which, the clouds here are so strange."
Nami leaned against the ship's railing, looking down at the cloud layer with a puzzled expression, and could not help but guess,
"The ship looks no different than it does on the ocean surface. Could this be the reason why islands can float in the sky?"
"Right."
Mentioning islands reminded Nami of something. She quickly raised her hand to check the Log Pose, only to find that the needle was still pointing toward the sky.
"Wait a minute, aren't we already in the sky? Why hasn't the needle changed?"
Nami could not help but frown.
Allen glanced at the Log Pose and said nonchalantly,
"It means the island is still further up in the sky. I'm guessing that cloudy path behind the gate leads right to it."
He remembered that the Sky Island had two layers: the White Sea at an altitude of 7,000 meters, and the White-White Sea at 10,000 meters.
They were currently in the White Sea. The City of Gold was located one layer higher, near Angel Island.
"Alright, maybe there will be someone there we can ask," Nami sighed.
Soon, the *Freewill* arrived in front of Heaven's Gate. There was a small cave dwelling beneath the archway. Seeing their massive ship full of people, an old woman with a face full of wrinkles and two small wings on her back walked out.
"Pirates from the Blue Sea? Are you here to wage war, or are you here for sightseeing?"
*Click! Click! Click! Click!*
The old woman asked while holding up a camera and snapping photos.
This behavior left the people on the ship looking thoroughly confused.
Nami stepped forward and politely called down,
"Hello, ma'am! Excuse me, where are we? We want to go to the Sky Island, do you know the way?"
"You can reach the upper layer by going up this Milky Road. However, each person must pay an immigration fee of one billion Extol. It is the law."
The old woman said in a hoarse voice.
"A one billion immigration fee?!"
Hearing this terrifying number, everyone on the ship widened their eyes in shock, their jaws dropping to the floor once again.
Robin frowned slightly and asked her, "Extol? Is that the local currency? How much is that converted into Berries?"
"The exchange rate for Extol to Berries is ten thousand to one. That means one hundred thousand Berries per person," the old woman replied in a flat tone.
Hearing this, Nami quickly held up her fingers and started calculating. "One hundred thousand per person... 312 people on board... that makes..."
"31.2 million Berries! That's way too expensive just for entry!"
A pained expression appeared on Nami's face.
Allen stopped at the ship's railing, pulled out several stacks of Berries, and casually tossed them down, saying flatly,
"Keep the change for forty million Berries. Give me all the information you have about this place."
"..."
Looking at the solid forty million Berries on the ground, the gatekeeper, Amazon, fell into deep thought.
Forty million minus 31.2 million meant she could pocket a pure profit of... she couldn't do the math, but in short, it was a lot of money!
"Yohohoho!"
The next second, Amazon dropped her previous cold demeanor and began to laugh. She nimbly ran back into her house, brought out a map and several books, and enthusiastically introduced them,
"Guests from the Blue Sea, here is a map of Angel Island, along with guides on our specialty foods and the abundant Dials. I wish you a pleasant sightseeing trip!"
"My, thank you very much."
Robin smiled gently and activated her ability, sprouting numerous arms. The arms formed a line, taking the items from the old woman's hands and passing them up to the ship.
Amazon continued with a kind smile, "You're very welcome. Just be sure to stay away from Upper Yard, and absolutely do not offend our great God and the Priests."
"God? Priests? What are those?"
Nami blinked and asked in confusion.
However, Amazon merely made a shushing gesture and warned in a low voice,
"God can hear everything. Please do not say anything offensive to God, or you will be struck down by divine judgment."
"Divine judgment?"
These words made Nami's skin crawl slightly. Before she could ask any further, the *Freewill* suddenly shook violently.
A pair of massive, bright red lobster claws emerged from the sea of clouds, clamping tightly onto both sides of the ship's hull.
As everyone panicked, Amazon smiled and explained,
"Don't worry. This is a Sky Island specialty, the Super Express Speed Shrimp. It will carry you up the Milky Road."
"Alright, please set off, everyone. And whatever you do, don't forget what I just told you."
Amazon said her final piece.
Immediately after, before anyone could mentally prepare themselves, the Super Express Speed Shrimp hoisted the ship and charged up the Milky Road at an astonishing speed!
"Ahhh!!"
"So fast!"
The sudden acceleration gave everyone on board a terrible fright. Many people fell flat on their rears. Nami gripped the railing tightly with both hands until the ship stabilized.
As the *Freewill* galloped upward, Allen and the others gathered around Robin to look at the books they had just received.
"A Dial Encyclopedia... A Breath Dial that blows wind?"
"There's also a Milky Dial that shoots clouds, a Lamp Dial that emits light, a Heat Dial for warming food..."
"Wow... that's amazing..."
Flipping through the encyclopedia and seeing the wide variety of Dials, Nami and the others could not help but express their amazement, their anticipation for the mysteries of the Sky Island growing even stronger.
"Still... I'm a bit concerned about the 'God' that old woman mentioned earlier. I have a bad feeling about this."
Nami said with some worry.
At that moment, Allen suddenly frowned, feeling a sense of incongruity, almost as if...
A certain noisy voice was missing from his side?
His gaze swept over Nami, Robin, Gin, Buchi, Sham...
"By the way... where did Sanji go?"
Allen suddenly spoke up.
The others all looked over, exchanging confused glances and blinking in bewilderment.
"Ah, I know!"
Buchi clapped his hands in sudden realization. "Only we went to heaven, which means Big Bro Sanji isn't dead yet!"
"Are you an idiot?!"
*Smack!*
...
Two minutes earlier.
The Going Merry slowly arrived in front of Heaven's Gate, trailing behind Allen's group.
On the deck, Vivi let out a breath of lingering fear. Clasping her hands over her chest, she politely thanked him,
"Thank you so much, Mr. Sanji. It's a good thing you saved me, or I would have been thrown off just now."
"You're very welcome, Vivi dear! As a knight, I can clearly sense every cry for help from a beautiful woman."
Sanji said with hearts in his eyes and an exaggerated tone. Then, he looked over at Luffy and the others, his expression shifting to one of disgust.
"Unlike these idiots, who can't even protect such a cute girl."
"Hah? What did you say, you curly-browed bastard?"
Zoro retorted angrily, a vein popping on his forehead.
Sanji pressed his forehead against Zoro's without backing down. "I was talking about you, what of it, you idiot swordsman?!"
"I was busy pulling the rigging, so I didn't notice, okay?!"
"Don't make excuses for yourself, moss-head!"
"Curly-browed bastard! You want to fight, don't you?"
"Who's afraid of you, idiot swordsman?!"
Sanji and Zoro pressed their foreheads together, both gritting their teeth as flames practically erupted from their eyes.
Seeing that they were about to come to blows, Vivi and Chopper hurriedly ran over to break up the fight.
Just as the two were arguing fiercely.
"Um... you guys should stop arguing..."
By the edge of the ship, Usopp lowered his binoculars and pointed at the *Freewill* speeding up the Milky Road. He turned back to Sanji and said,
"It looks like you've been left behind, blondie."
"Huh?"
Hearing this, Sanji turned his head in confusion. Seeing the *Freewill* rapidly disappearing into the horizon, his eyes widened in sheer panic.
"What?! Wait a minute, I haven't gotten on the ship yet, hey!"
"Heh, idiot."
Zoro shot him a smug, sidelong glance.
Sanji glared at Zoro, baring his teeth as he yelled angrily, "It's all because I was arguing with you that I missed getting back on my ship!"
"Heh, that just proves you deserved it."
Zoro mocked, the corner of his mouth curling up.
Vivi waved her hands and stepped in with an awkward smile to smooth things over. "Um... I think we should hurry up and chase after them. Sanji can just travel with us for a bit."
...
Meanwhile.
Riding the Super Express Speed Shrimp, Allen's group surged up to the higher layer of the sea of clouds, arriving at an altitude of ten thousand meters—the Angel Island cloud region!
A gigantic beanstalk pierced through the sky, with clouds of various shapes clinging to it, together forming a mysterious and romantic white cloud island.
As this dreamlike scenery came into view, everyone was so awestruck by the sight that they stood frozen in place.
Transcending the mediocrity of the world and manifesting fantasy into reality, this was...!
The romance of the sea!!
...
"According to the book, the people here seem to really like specialties from the Blue Sea. Many Sky Islands have a custom of trading supplies with pirates from the Blue Sea."
As the *Freewill* slowly approached the beach of Angel Island, Robin closed the book on the balcony and remarked,
"To think there's more than one Sky Island. I wonder if we can trade our supplies here."
"Let's ask the residents once we dock. Those Dials are quite interesting, though I wonder if they have any Reject Dials."
Allen said slowly, then looked toward the beach.
There were only a few scattered people on the beach, all wearing plain robes and sporting a pair of small white wings on their backs—which obviously couldn't be used for flying.
Seeing their ship, the few Sky Island residents on the beach all cast their gazes over.
After observing for a moment, the residents turned and left, seemingly having no intention of interacting with them too much.
Allen thought nothing of it. Although the people here didn't have much experience dealing with pirates, seeing such a massive ship carrying hundreds of people would make anyone instinctively avoid them.
"San... I forgot, Sanji is already dead."
Allen corrected himself, "Buchi, Sham, take a few men later to make contact with the islanders. Tell them we have a large amount of Blue Sea supplies we want to trade with them."
"Got it, Boss."
"I wonder what kind of good food they have here."
The Nyaban Brothers replied with grins.
...
Before long, the crew members disembarked one after another.
Nami walked out of her room having changed into a cool summer outfit. A short white blouse paired with a light yellow miniskirt added a few extra points to her cute charm.
Allen had also changed his attire. With an unbuttoned floral shirt, large board shorts, and a pair of flip-flops, it was as if he were wearing a Hawaiian sunset.
Today, he wasn't going to be the Pirate King; he was going to be the Vacation King.
...
Power Stones, reviews, and comments— really helps a lot
Want to read ahead? Get access to 50+ extra chapters on my Patreon:
👉 patreon.com/Aragai_Sama