"Uncle Kuiliké, are you really not going back to Mock Town?"
On the white cloud sea in front of Heaven's Gate, the Killion was ready to set sail. Rorschach and Hibari stood at the bow, watching Wiper, Gan Fall, and the others who had come to see them off.
Kuiliké stood on the jet boat brought by the Shandians, smiling brightly.
"No, I've decided to settle temporarily on Jaya Island. For the first half of my life, I searched for the Golden City for over ten years on Jaya Island, in front of Mock Town. It almost became my lifelong obsession. Because of this, I never married or had children, and I have no family in North Blue. Now that I've found the Golden City I obsessed over, I might as well live here."
Wiper laughed heartily, patting Kuiliké's shoulder, and looked at Rorschach, saying, "Rear Admiral Rorschach, don't worry. Shandian and Jaya Island are Brother Kuiliké's home. Shandian women are also very virtuous and capable. When you return to Skypiea next time, Brother Kuiliké might already have descendants here."
"Is that so?" Rorschach nodded, feeling quite sentimental, but also happy for Kuiliké's decision.
He admired persistent people.
Wiper and Kuiliké were both such men.
If such people were Marines, they would definitely be tough guys worth entrusting your back to.
"Mr. Gan Fall, thank you very much for the help from the Angel Race artisans. With these Wind Dials, it's much easier for me to control this large ship."
Rorschach looked at Gan Fall, who was riding on the back of his pegasus, Pierre.
Now, this old fellow had returned to his position as the god of Skypiea.
Gan Fall was still dressed as a knight in armor, holding a long spear.
"Rear Admiral Rorschach, you're too kind. Feel free to visit Skypiea often. Don't worry about the gold; I'll have someone guard it closely."
"I'll leave it to you then. Next time, if I or my Marine colleagues come up, I'll have them bring sufficient living supplies as compensation for all of you."
With that, Rorschach waved his hand, conjuring a towering storm that propelled the Killion's sides, causing it to accelerate and move forward.
Ahead, there was a hole several thousand meters in diameter in the center of the White Sea, not yet filled by the Giant Cumulative Clouds.
That was the large hole created by the Knock Up Stream.
Originally, one could leave Skypiea through the downward path on the other side of the White Sea.
But going down that way would deviate far from Mock Town.
So Rorschach decided to return the way they came.
Anyway, he didn't need to worry about the ship being damaged or anything.
"Goodbye! Rear Admiral Rorschach! Miss Hibari! Thank you very much for your kindness! On behalf of ancestor Noland, I thank you all!"
Kuiliké suddenly choked up, his eyes reddening, tears welling up.
He waved vigorously, as if bidding farewell to his past self.
"Uncle Kuiliké! Goodbye! Live well in Skypiea!" Hibari waved with a smile.
Rorschach also waved, "No need to thank me, didn't I say? We're from the same hometown! We both come from North Blue, from the Rubluck Kingdom! Besides..."
"Isn't this a man's romance?"
"Yes! This is a man's romance!" Kuiliké clenched his fists and raised them high.
Wiper and Gan Fall also waved, but not as excitedly as Kuiliké.
Instead, they seemed to be eagerly wishing for Rorschach and the others to leave quickly.
It wasn't that the two of them weren't grateful to Rorschach.
It was because, standing beside Rorschach, was Enel...
During their days on Skypiea, Wiper and Gan Fall, representing the Shandian and Angel Race respectively, had made a non-aggression pact for the next hundred years in Rorschach's presence.
Wiper promised that as long as he lived, he would never initiate war against the Angel Race.
Now, the two tribes had reached a basic agreement and would coexist peacefully on Jaya Island.
Without Enel's suppression, the overall strength of the Shandians was now greater than that of the Angel Race.
Because Wiper was young and strong, his power surpassed that of the aging Gan Fall.
Wiper, the Battle God, was a tough man who could withstand the recoil of two Impact Dials and survive.
The two priests who didn't die, Gedatsu and Satori, were tied to cloud-balloons by Rorschach and thrown off Skypiea, exiled.
This was done to prevent them from joining Gan Fall's forces and affecting the balance of power between the two tribes in Skypiea.
On the deck, every warrior's face was beaming with joy.
They were all uniformly equipped with a large number of Skypiea Dials.
There were Tone Dials for short-range communication, acting as walkie-talkies.
There were Impact Dials, Reject Dials, Flame Dials, Axe Dials, and Breath Dials to be used as weapons.
It could be said that they were armed to the teeth; their combat power had increased by more than two or three times.
Furthermore, Rorschach also distributed a large amount of gold to everyone.
Why was there so much gold on Skypiea, anyway?
Their superior was also handing out money, almost driving these warriors crazy with joy.
The Killion was incredibly fast, and in a short while, it reached the large hole in the cloud sea ahead.
Departure from Skypiea
Everyone turned back, looking at the magnificent scenery of Skypiea behind them and the vast, surging white cloud sea before them.
Rorschach reached out and patted Enel's shoulder, "Take a good look. You're about to leave your homeland."
Enel was expressionless, squinting as he silently gazed in a certain direction on Skypiea.
There was nothing there, but once there had been a small cloud island floating in that very spot.
That was Birka, Enel's hometown.
Enel, at 266 centimeters tall, was now the person closest to Rorschach's height on the Killion.
"Alright!" Rorschach raised his hand and shouted, "Everyone hold on tight! We're heading back!"
"Yes! Rear Admiral Rorschach!"
Whoosh!
A storm howled ten thousand meters above, the white cloud sea surged and churned, and golden sunlight pierced through the heavens, casting the shadow of the colossal, soaring ship with spread wings towards Paradise.
Chaos in Alabasta: The Runaway Princess
Alabasta, Rainbase.
Thump, thump, thump!
Thump, thump, thump!
In the narrow alleyway, hurried footsteps echoed, accompanied by intense gasps for breath, clearly revealing the panic in the runner's heart.
"Catch that blue-haired brat! She absolutely cannot leave Rainbase alive! The war hasn't officially started yet; the BOSS's plan must not be exposed!"
On the long street outside the alley, a series of chaotic, hurried footsteps rang out, interspersed with shouts rising and falling, and the clicking of weapons being cocked, like the tolling of a death knell.
In the depths of the dimly lit alley, a girl, less than 1.5 meters tall, with sea-blue hair, a beautiful face, and wearing tight hot pants, was biting her lower lip tightly, her face showing an unconcealed anger, as she ran frantically.
"He's not Father! He's not Father! He's fake, I saw it, I saw it all! That monster, he turned into Father's likeness and killed a child in Rainbase..."
Vivi's eyes were red, shimmering with a hint of tears.
A few days ago, to investigate the ongoing civil unrest in the kingdom and the continuous influx of Dance Powder into Alabasta from abroad, Vivi, accompanied by Igaram, the captain of the royal guard, infiltrated the largest organization rampant within the kingdom, Baroque Works.
Originally, according to the organization's mission arrangements, she and Igaram were supposed to follow Mr. 5, a high-ranking Baroque Works executive, to Whiskey Peak to eliminate bounty hunters.
However, a sudden arrival of a batch of Dance Powder made Vivi change her mind midway; she feigned illness and and stayed in Rainbase.
Alone, she secretly hid herself among the convoy transporting Dance Powder, wanting to see who exactly was receiving such widely detested items in Alabasta.
She believed that by finding the people buying and using Dance Powder, she could uncover the culprit behind the conflict between the royal family and common citizens and the rebellions in various regions of the kingdom.
Then, Vivi saw what she wanted to see: the person receiving the goods.
A heavily made-up man in a princess dress, wearing high heels.
Mr. 2 Bon Kurei.
A high-ranking core executive of Baroque Works, a powerful monster.
Although she had only joined Baroque Works a few days ago, Vivi had already understood the organization's member structure.
The smaller the member's code number, the higher their status and corresponding strength.
Except for Mr. 0, the president who had never shown his face, the information of other high-ranking executives, including their photos, was directly public.
Members with code names were called high-ranking executives, core members of the organization. They usually partnered up in pairs.
And this Mr. 2 was the only code-named executive who didn't need a partner; it was said his reason was that he was an okama (cross-dresser) who embraced gender fluidity.
Vivi remembered this peculiar reason particularly clearly at the time, so she had a very deep impression of this man named Bon Kurei.
Then, Vivi witnessed a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life.
That heavily made-up man, after receiving the Dance Powder, chuckled strangely and transformed into the King of Alabasta Kingdom, her father, Nefertari Cobra.
He led a group of Baroque Works members, clearly not royal guards but dressed as such, openly carrying Dance Powder through the bustling district of Rainbase.
And as expected, the Dance Powder was recognized by the people of Rainbase.
A child, who had lost his parents and family due to the drought, angrily stepped forward to question him, but was shot dead on the spot by 'Cobra' with a flintlock pistol, under the pretext of offending the King.
'Cobra's' atrocious act instantly sparked a riot among the people of Rainbase. Countless civilians took up arms, spontaneously organizing themselves to march to the royal capital, Alubarna, to confront the fleeing King Cobra.
If not for the intervention of the kingdom's hero, Crocodile, the entire populace of Rainbase would probably have joined the rebel army out of anger.
But even so, the incident in Rainbase still triggered a large gathering of the rebel army.
A total of over 300,000 rebels, armed with weapons and equipment acquired from unknown sources, had already crossed Yuba and were marching towards the capital, Alubarna.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the largest war to sweep across the Alabasta Kingdom was about to begin.
Vivi, hiding among the Dance Powder cargo, lost her composure upon witnessing this scene and was discovered by members of Baroque Works, leading to the current city-wide pursuit.
"I must return to the capital as quickly as possible and tell Father what happened here. Only by revealing the truth to the public can we possibly stop the rebel army and prevent the impending disaster in this country."
Just as she was thinking this, a small, dark black speck suddenly shot from the alley's deep corner, landing on the ground in front of Vivi.
Vivi's mind wavered, and then the ground in front of her exploded with a bang. A surging, scorching wave of heat, accompanied by a violent impact, slammed into her.
"Ugh!"
Vivi felt as if her body had been hit head-on by a Banana Gator; her small body was thrown five or six meters backward, crashing heavily onto the ground.
The blue-striped long-sleeved shirt she wore was torn, and the delicate skin beneath was scraped raw and bloody.
A burning, stinging pain immediately spread throughout her body.
The severe impact on her body made Vivi feel a suffocating inability to breathe.
"Tap, tap, tap."
The crisp sound of shoes hitting the ground echoed from the alley corner.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Her Royal Highness Princess Vivi, the most beautiful and kind in our Alabasta Kingdom? How curious, a dignified princess lowering herself to join our Baroque Works. Ms. Valentine, tell me, isn't this an honor for our Baroque Works?"
Vivi, with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, struggled to push herself up, supporting her upper body, and looked up.
She saw a man in a black trench coat, wearing sunglasses, digging his finger into his nostril, and a curvaceous woman holding a round umbrella, casually walking out from the corner ahead, watching her with undisguised mocking smiles.
Seeing the appearance of these two, Vivi's heart immediately sank to the bottom.
Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine!
High-ranking executives of Baroque Works, two powerful top assassins.
Seeing Vivi, with blood overflowing from her mouth, bite her teeth and stand up from the ground, her eyes firmly fixed on them, and slowly letting a green chain-blade resembling a peacock feather dangle from her sleeve, adopting a fighting stance, Ms. Valentine couldn't help but tremble, covering her mouth with a delicate chuckle. "My dear Princess Vivi, what do you intend to do? Attack us? Don't forget your status, a mere ordinary member who just joined Baroque Works. Disobeying your superiors is an even greater crime, you know."
"Baroque Works! You scoundrels, you've been secretly disrupting Alabasta's order, importing Dance Powder from abroad, and inciting rebellion among the people. Those rebel army's weapons, you must have supplied them too, right? What exactly do you want to do? Aren't you afraid of the World Government coming after you? We Alabasta are an affiliated nation of the World Government!"
Vivi clutched the Peacock Slasher tightly, glaring at Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine.
She knew she would never be a match for these two assassins.
But she wouldn't surrender easily.
The Nefertari family doesn't produce cowards!
"World Government? How scary. But you don't actually believe, do you, that such a colossal power would care about the lives of you distant royals? I'm not going to talk to you anymore, BOSS ordered us to rendezvous at the base quickly; I don't have time to chat with you here."
Mr. 5 dug a small, dark snack from his nostril and flicked it towards Vivi.
Seeing the small black dot flying towards her, Vivi instantly recalled the previous explosion and, without hesitation, her small body immediately rolled on the ground, diving towards the side wall.
"The alley's only so big, where can you hide? Just lie down obediently, Princess Vivi..."
Mr. 5's words, spoken with a cat-playing-with-mouse smile, hadn't even finished when a plump, curly-haired man burst out from the corner behind them, roaring as he charged, knocking away the caught-off-guard Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine. He spread his chest and directly blocked Vivi, who had fallen to the ground.
Boom!
A fierce blaze erupted, leaving a large crater in the alley ground. The curly-haired man who had just rushed out spat blood from the violent explosion's impact, his body flying through the air like a rag doll, smashing through the wall of a civilian house beside Vivi.
The sudden turn of events stunned Vivi, and then her face changed drastically.
"Uncle Igaram!"
She anxiously scrambled up, rushed to the shattered wall, and looked inside.
She saw the curly-haired man grimly standing up again, pulling away his curly long hair to reveal several dark gun muzzles, aimed at Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine.
"Princess Vivi! Run! Don't mind me! Go to the market inn outside Rainbase; I saw Marine traces there this morning. Go there and seek the Marines' help!"
Igaram, his face covered in blood, roared, while pulling the switch connected within his curly hair.
Immediately, six muzzles spat out a series of flames, firing bullets that crackled towards the furious Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine.
"Uncle Igaram! I... I..."
Vivi's chest heaved, and she bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes, as she watched Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine, both drawing their legs and rushing forward simultaneously.
"Go! Go to the capital and tell His Majesty the King the truth!"
Igaram yelled as he charged out, meeting the incoming small black snacks.
Vivi bit her lower lip, turned, and ran frantically towards the other end.
Boom!!
A violent explosion echoed from behind her, finally making the tears in Vivi's eyes fall uncontrollably.
I can't believe my silver-haired, blue-eyed Gojo Satoru got bisected! Jujutsu Kaisen is trying to be like Attack on Titan now. The protagonist already had no presence, and now Gojo Satoru is dead, I'm speechless.
(End of Chapter)
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