On the beach, Allen lay on a soft and comfortable cloud sofa, put on his sunglasses, and held a glass of mint whiskey to kick off his relaxing afternoon.
The other crew members also began to organize their own activities, quickly turning the nearby area into a beach party.
Not long after they landed, Sanji finally arrived on Luffy's ship.
Upon seeing Nami and Robin, Sanji was so moved that he wept tears of joy as if they had been separated for ages, hastily jumping off the ship to run over and dote on them.
By the sunny and breezy beach, with the warm sunlight shining down on her, Nami stretched comfortably and slowly closed her eyes, feeling the soft cloud sofa gently wrap around her body.
The cool sea breeze blew through her hair as Robin sat under a pavilion with a faint smile on her face. Leaning gently against a pillar, she flipped through the book containing information about the Sky Island that she had acquired earlier.
The cultural development and historical evolution of the Sky Island recorded within deeply captivated her interest.
Under the coconut trees, the shadows of the leaves danced, casting dappled sunlight onto the soft sandy beach.
Wearing beach shorts, Gin held a freshly picked Sky Island Coconut. He tapped it on the left and knocked it on the right, studying with a curious expression how to eat this coconut that was as hard as iron.
Just as he had been trying for a while and was about to take out his iron ball to smash it by force, a fair-skinned, sweet-looking girl with golden twin-tails walked over from the side.
"That won't work. Although its shell is as hard as iron, the connection at the stem can be pried open."
Conis stepped forward with a smile, took the Sky Island Coconut from Gin's hands, and inserted a small knife into the stem. With a gentle pry, she opened a small round hole.
She cut off a section of the hollow stem to use as a straw, inserted it, and handed the coconut back to Gin. Conis smiled as warmly as a spring breeze.
"Just like this. Please, drink up."
"Uh... th... thank you."
Gin took the coconut with a slightly embarrassed look on his face. Thinking about how she had seen him struggling so clumsily just now, he inexplicably felt a bit humiliated.
"Um... you're a resident here, right? Since you have wings on your back."
"Yes. Nice to meet you, my name is Conis."
Conis introduced herself, raising one hand to the top of her head and sticking out her pinky and thumb in a strange gesture.
"Heso."
"He... so?" Gin was taken aback.
"Yes, Heso. It's the way we greet each other on the Sky Island," Conis smiled faintly.
Gin pursed his lips, hesitation showing in his eyes. Although it was a bit impolite, to be honest, he had absolutely no desire to make such an embarrassing gesture in response. So, he said:
"Hello, my name is Gin, the Second Division Commander of the Demon Lion Pirates."
"I see. You must be the pirates who came to the island looking to trade for supplies."
Conis nodded, turning her head to look at a group of residents walking over from the island together, and gestured toward them.
"My father and the others are very interested in things from the Blue Sea. They are planning to trade Sky Island specialties with you, so I tagged along to take a look."
"Sky Island specialties? Are you talking about those weird shells mentioned in the books?"
"That's right. It seems you've already read the Dial Encyclopedia. Here, every aspect of our lives relies on these Dials."
Conis nodded slightly.
Gin glanced at the residents hurrying over with bags of all sizes, then turned back to Conis and asked:
"Do you have Flame Dials, Axe Dials, Impact Dials, or Laser Dials?"
"Those are all very dangerous combat Dials you're talking about. It seems you're quite a belligerent boy."
Conis covered her mouth with a light smile, then shook her head and said:
"Unfortunately, we don't have those here. Aside from the Flame Dials used for cooking, other powerful Dials are only possessed by the Priests and the Divine Militia."
"Is that so..."
Gin frowned slightly, unable to help but ponder aloud, "Speaking of which, ever since we got here, I've kept hearing you guys talk about God. What exactly is that th—!"
"You mustn't!!"
Before Gin could finish his sentence, Conis, terrified, hurriedly lunged at him.
*Thud.*
Caught completely off guard, he was tackled to the ground, his mouth forcefully covered by a pair of delicate hands.
Gin instinctively tried to break free, but to his astonishment, he realized that Conis, who was straddling him, had an expression of absolute terror on her face.
"You are not allowed to offend God! You will be struck down by his judgment! Nothing on this island escapes God's gaze. Please do not discuss this topic anymore, Mr. Gin!"
Conis shouted, her tone carrying a hint of anger amidst her panic.
Gin stared blankly at Conis. Although he didn't understand why she was so terrified of an invisible entity that she didn't even dare to talk about it, he still nodded to show that he understood.
Seeing this, Conis slowly released her hands. She let out a breath, gradually calming her emotions, and said with a gloomy expression:
"I'm sorry, I was out of line just now."
"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have talked about... talked about those things in front of you."
Gin's tone was apologetic. As he spoke, he awkwardly turned his head away, blushing as he stammered:
"Um... Miss Conis... please... please get up quickly."
Hearing this, Conis was stunned for a moment before belatedly realizing her compromising position. She covered her mouth in panic and scrambled off Gin in a flurry.
"I'm sorry! I only did that because I was so scared...! I'm truly sorry!"
After standing up, Conis, blushing furiously, hurriedly bowed her head to apologize.
Thinking about how she had been sitting on top of him for so long, she tightly covered her bright red face with both hands, suddenly feeling too ashamed to face anyone.
Gin's personality was relatively composed, so he quickly calmed down. He stood up, dusted off the sand, and said, "It's fine. It's my fault for scaring you. I'm sorry."
"It's... it's okay. I should go check on my father and the others."
Conis still didn't quite dare to look up, asking in a weak voice:
"Um... would you like to come along, Mr. Gin?"
"...Yeah, let's go."
Gin nodded in agreement.
The two walked toward the area where the supply exchange was taking place, avoiding each other's gaze and keeping their distance as they walked side by side.
However.
They had barely taken a few steps when a dazzling blue light illuminated the ground, and the sky suddenly lit up!
Allen, Sanji, Luffy, and Zoro seemed to sense something, instinctively looking up at the sky.
Gin noticed the anomaly and abruptly turned his head to look at the sky, only to see a massive pillar of light containing terrifying power descending from the heavens!
The pillar of light pierced through space at a terrifying speed, plummeting straight toward their location.
Gin's pupils shrank to pinpricks. His hands reacted instinctively as he desperately shouted and lunged forward to push Conis away!
"Run!!"
*Swoosh!!*
Before his voice could fade, the giant pillar of lightning arrived in an instant, looming right above their heads! Just as it was about to swallow Gin and Conis in the next second, reflected in everyone's terrified and dilated pupils, Allen's figure instantly flickered into view!
Accompanied by a sudden shove from behind, Gin and Conis were pushed out of the way at the very last moment, tumbling awkwardly onto the ground.
The next instant.
A blinding light bloomed! The massive pillar of light instantly swallowed Allen's entire body. Heart-stopping lightning suddenly erupted, its violent energy annihilating everything in its path!
*BOOM!!! BOOM!!!*
The rolling thunder seemed to explode right in everyone's ears, and the blinding lightning made it impossible to keep their eyes open. Nami and the others, their faces pale, screamed in panic toward Allen:
"Boss!!"
"Captain!!"
"Allen!!!"
...
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