Luffy planted his sandals firmly on the cloud path, hands on his hips as he addressed the skeptical Shandians. "Alright, here's the plan - we bust into Enel's altar and beat him up!" His grin stretched from ear to ear like this was the most brilliant strategy ever conceived.
The Shandian warriors exchanged glances. One slowly turned to Wyper. "You want us to follow... this?"
Usopp's knees knocked together audibly. "I'm having the worst feeling about this," he whispered to Chopper, who was currently trying to hide behind the sniper despite being in his smaller form. "Like, 'walking-into-a-den-of-sea-kings' level bad."
"Everyone ready?" Luffy asked, already stretching his arms to grab onto the nearest cloud formation.
"W-wait! We're not—" Usopp's protest was cut off as Luffy launched himself forward with a gleeful "YOSH! LET'S GO!"
What followed was less a tactical advance and more a chaotic stampede as the Straw Hats scrambled after their captain. They instinctively formed a tight cluster - years of experience teaching them that separation often led to trouble and in Zoro's case, accidental conquest of neighboring islands.
The system worked for approximately thirty-seven seconds.
"GODDAMMIT MARIMO!" Sanji's scream echoed across the cloudscape as he whirled around, finding empty air where their swordsman should have been. "We had you surrounded! How?!"
Nolan cracked one eye open from his floating nimbus and pointed lazily northeast. "Went that way." He yawned. "We'll catch up. I'll retrieve them."
Sanji's eye twitched violently. "Why is it always— WAIT!" His voice jumped an octave as he noticed Robin gracefully settling onto Nolan's cloud. "WHY IS ROBIN-CHWAN GOING WITH YOU?!"
Nolan blinked at the archaeologist now seated beside him, then shrugged. "Oh. I want to show her something." His slow, sleepy delivery somehow made the innocent statement sound scandalous.
The reaction was instantaneous:
Sanji burst into flames. Actual, literal flames. "YOU FILTHY SLOTH! I'LL—"
Nami's fist connected with the back of Sanji's head. "NOT THE TIME!" She turned her glare on Robin. "And you! Stop encouraging him!"
Robin merely smiled that dangerous smile of hers. "But Nami, aren't you curious about what he wants to show me?"
"LOWER THAT CLOUD RIGHT NOW!" Nami shrieked, her face rapidly matching her hair color.
Nolan gave a lazy two-fingered salute as the nimbus began ascending. "Try not to die," he called down, as if reminding them to pick up milk on their way home.
As the cloud drifted away, the remaining Straw Hats stood in stunned silence. Luffy scratched his head. "So... we still going to punch that lightning guy?"
Usopp facepalmed so hard it echoed. "HOW ARE YOU THE ONLY ONE STILL FOCUSED?!"
Far below, the Shandian warriors watched the spectacle with growing concern. One turned to Wyper. "Are we... sure about this alliance?"
Wyper sighed deeply, suddenly feeling every one of his years. "Just... just follow the rubber one. At least his objective is clear."
.
.
.
Nolan's nimbus cloud drifted through the misty ruins, carrying him and Robin toward the distant sound of metal clanging. As the fog cleared, they found Zoro and Yachiru standing before an enormous golden bell, its surface weathered but still gleaming faintly in the diffused sunlight.
"Mm...? Amazing," Nolan murmured, taking in the ancient structure.
Zoro rapped his knuckles against the bell's surface, producing a deep, resonant tone. "You think this thing's real gold?" he wondered aloud, more curious about its material value than its historical significance.
CRUNCH.
Both men turned to see Yachiru happily chewing on the bell's edge, her tiny teeth somehow leaving visible marks in the metal. "Tastes sparkly!" she announced with a mouthful of gold.
"Hey!" Zoro grabbed her by the scruff of her kimono and plopped her onto his shoulder like a misbehaving kitten. "We talked about this. No eating random things." His tone carried the weary patience of a parent dealing with a particularly destructive child.
Yachiru pouted. "But Zo-chaaan, it's shiny!"
"Doesn't mean it's food," Zoro grumbled, though his expression softened slightly when she started playing with his earrings instead.
Turning back to the bell, Zoro called over his shoulder, "Hey Luffy, check this out—" He blinked at the empty space behind him. "Huh... that's weird." He scratched his head. "Did they get lost?"
Yachiru pumped her tiny fists. "That's right! They're super lost, Zo-chan! Let's go save them!" She pointed dramatically in a random direction. "That way!"
Just as the directionally-challenged duo prepared to charge off, Nolan's hand shot out, grabbing the back of Zoro's haramaki with practiced ease.
"Oh, Nolan." Zoro looked genuinely relieved. "Good, you're not lost."
Nolan's eyebrow twitched. Robin covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter at the sheer irony.
"Wait here," Nolan said, his usual lazy drawl laced with mild exasperation. "We'll find Luffy after..."
To his credit, Zoro didn't argue, plopping down cross-legged beside the bell. Yachiru immediately climbed onto his head like a pink-haired hat. "We'll guard the shiny!" she declared.
As they floated away, Robin tilted her head. "Where exactly are we going, sloth-san?"
Nolan didn't answer, steering the nimbus through the ruins with quiet purpose. The mist thickened around them, the ancient stone pathways giving way to overgrown vegetation. Then suddenly—there it was.
Robin's breath caught in her throat. The massive blue stone stood embedded in the ruins, its surface covered in the familiar angular script. Before Nolan could say anything, she'd leaped from the cloud, her fingers already tracing the ancient letters.
Nolan settled back on his nimbus, giving her space. He knew this wasn't the Rio Poneglyph she sought, but the weight of history still hung heavy in the air between them.
The minutes stretched as Robin's eyes darted across the inscriptions, her lips moving silently as she committed every stroke to memory. When she finally stepped back, there was something different in her posture—a quiet melancholy mixed with renewed determination.
She turned to Nolan with a soft smile that reached her eyes for once. "Thank you, sloth-san." No questions about how he knew. No demands for explanations. Just simple, sincere gratitude.
Nolan responded with a lazy half-smile of his own, patting the space beside him on the nimbus. "Mm. Anytime."
As they floated back toward where they'd left Zoro, the ruins seemed quieter somehow, the weight of history giving way to the present moment. Somewhere in the distance, Luffy's voice echoed through the clouds, followed by Sanji's exasperated shouting and Usopp's panicked screams.
On the other side...
The air crackled with static as Luffy's panicked shout echoed across the altar: "H-Hey, Usopp! Nami! Get up!" His voice hitched as he watched his crewmates collapse one by one, their bodies convulsing from the sudden lightning strikes. Chopper was mid-transformation when he dropped, his fur standing on end like a dandelion puff. Even Sanji, usually so nimble, had barely raised his leg to kick before the electricity sent him crashing to the marble floor with a thud.
Luffy's sandals scraped against the ornate tiles as he whirled around, fists clenched. The hairs on his arms stood up from the charged atmosphere. Then he saw it - the air itself seemed to part like a curtain, making way for...
A man.
Or something pretending to be one.
He descended from the altar in a cascade of blue light, his bare feet never quite touching the ground. Four enormous golden drums floated behind him in a perfect circle, each etched with intricate lightning motifs that pulsed with energy. His blue robe billowed dramatically despite the absence of wind, and his long earlobes swayed like live wires as he settled onto the altar's central platform with the casual grace of someone who'd never known gravity.
"Ahhh..." Enel's voice rolled like distant thunder, his lips curling into a lazy smirk as he surveyed the fallen pirates. "Blue sea insects. How... quaint."
Luffy blinked. Then blinked again. The man looked like someone had dressed up a particularly smug giraffe in a toga and bedazzled it. "You're... Enel?" The disbelief in his voice was palpable.
The self-proclaimed god's eye twitched almost imperceptibly. "You stand in the presence of divinity, mortal," he intoned, raising one hand dramatically. Lightning arced
between his fingers in an impressive display. "And yet you lack even basic reverence. How... typical."
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