A splash of Cloud Splash erupted!
Beneath the sea of clouds, Moses gripped the fin of a Sky Shark with eagle-like claws. With a powerful push of his legs, he borrowed force from the seawater using Moon Walk, channeling strength through his entire body before executing an upward backward throw.
Splash!
A five-to-six-meter-long deep blue Sky Shark, adorned with beautiful patterns and sporting a large bump on its head, was flung out of the water.
Bear Cub watched as the Sky Shark soared toward him. Timing it just right, he leaped into the air, spinning mid-air before delivering a powerful kick—his right foot transforming into a massive hammer—straight to the shark's head.
"Bam!"
The Sky Shark was sent flying onto the shore.
Moses didn't emerge immediately.
Soon after, muffled thuds echoed intermittently from the surrounding sea of clouds.
One after another, large fish and prawns were tossed out. Bear Cub caught and redirected them until Moses felt they had enough for themselves and the crows to eat, finally surfacing.
Stripping off his soaked short-sleeved shirt,
Moses wrung out the seawater.
He waved at Crow Dabao soaring in the sky,
then turned to Bear Cub. "The butchering is up to you guys."
As Crow Dabao landed, ripples in space signaled Moses shrinking back into the castle to change clothes.
Time passed as Bear Cub showcased his culinary skills, and everyone gathered around the grill, enjoying a delicious barbecue.
Conis wore a slightly guilty expression—several of the grilled Sky Fish were endangered species, strictly prohibited from capture—but she ate heartily nonetheless.
After the barbecue, the group headed to the Jelly Cloud at the 7,000-meter White Sea, savoring their leisure time.
Once the sunset hues faded, they returned to the entrance of Angel Island's Lovely Avenue.
Conis bid them farewell with reluctance.
Upon arriving home, she was met by her worried father, Pagaya. Conis stuck out her tongue sheepishly. "Sorry, Father. I went out to play."
Pagaya smiled warmly, stepping forward to ruffle her hair.
"You've finally made friends? I'm so happy."
Conis's eye twitched. Without a word, she brushed his hand aside and retreated to her room, expressionless.
A few days later,
the group engaged in climbing training on the Braided Vines.
Moses's Observation Haki detected numerous auras gradually weakening.
Before long, Crow Dabao returned with news.
The Skypieans and the Shandians had clashed in battle. Though many were severely injured, miraculously, no lives were lost.
Moses found this astonishing.
Negotiations between Ganfall, representing the Skypieans, and the Shandians—exiled from Upper Yard—had collapsed once again.
Ganfall couldn't agree to fully returning the sacred land, Upper Yard, to the Shandians.
Back and forth, the two sides engaged in an armed skirmish.
Surprisingly, the Shandians' advanced weaponry outclassed the Skypieans'. Had it not been for Ganfall's strength, the Skypieans might have suffered defeat this time.
Several more days passed,
and a frustrated Ganfall sought out Moses to vent.
Moses showed no mercy, delivering a barrage of sarcastic remarks that left Ganfall speechless and pale-faced.
The reason? The Shandians were constantly preparing to reclaim their homeland, vigorously developing advanced Shell Weapons.
The Skypieans, however, under Ganfall's lenient policies, had let their weaponry fall behind.
Having swallowed this bitter pill,
Moses and Ganfall eventually formed a partnership after the scolding.
She would forge various weapons for him, and in return, he would have unrestricted access to the ancient weapon blueprints related to shells from Skypiea's history.
Not just shell-based weapons—even the design schematics for the Waver (a water scooter) fell into Moses' hands.
As for the actual forging of the Wavers, Ganfall summoned Pagaya, Conis' father and a Waver repair technician, to provide detailed explanations.
Because of this, Conis also learned where Moses and his group went every day. Thanks to Pagaya's involvement, she was granted permission to visit the sacred grounds as well.
Perona was delighted—she now had another companion her own age.
Time flew by.
Every day, aside from adhering to his training regimen, Moses would bury himself in the forging workshop, analyzing the fusion of Energy Convergence Pathways, Phenomenon Pathways, and steel materials.
The structure of Skypiea's Shell Weapons was relatively simple, revolving around integrating various shell cores with steel to develop new armaments.
After studying the weapon blueprints, Moses could effortlessly replicate them—and even improve upon them.
The island was rich in iron ore, and under Ganfall's orders, countless shipments of raw iron were delivered.
Bear Cub took on the task of refining the steel, saving Moses a tremendous amount of time.
Ark Maxim
The blueprints for this flying ship were extraordinary, featuring highly advanced gear systems and propulsion mechanisms.
After skimming through them in his spare time, Moses found inspiration in many of the designs.
One after another, finely crafted Shell Weapons emerged from Moses' forge, steadily arming the people of Skypiea.
The Shandians, having tasted victory in the last war, clashed with the Skypieans in several skirmishes.
But as soon as the fighting began, the Shandians realized something was wrong—the Skypieans' weapons had changed.
In no time, the Shandians were driven out of Upper Yard.
Before they knew it, half a year had passed.
One day, Moses entered the laboratory to find Kureha shaking a test tube filled with an emerald-green solution.
"Biological Gigantification Agent?"
Moses took it and examined it closely.
Kureha sat on the lab table, her legs dangling playfully as she said cheerfully:
"A life-catalyzing component extracted from PYROBROIN keratin particles, along with purified Lineage Factor extracts from the island's gigantified creatures."
"A gigantification drug with no side effects."
"How effective is it?" Moses asked curiously. "What's the cycle like? Would continuous growth require constant intake?"
"Ten cycles in total—one per month. Each cycle is divided into three doses. The drug will progressively alter the organism's Lineage Factor, and after completing all ten cycles, the changes become permanent and inheritable."
"And the extent of the growth?" Moses pressed. "It can't be limitless, right?"
Kureha gave him a deadpan look:
"Wishful thinking. Biological growth factors have limits—unless you can break past them, but that's no simple feat.
This drug can only enlarge your Da Bao by about a hundredfold—roughly a hundred meters. Even achieving that would take who knows how many years.
Could be ten, twenty, or even a hundred. Biological growth isn't that straightforward."
As she spoke, Kureha glanced at Crow Dabao, who had already appeared in the lab:
"However, according to biological growth patterns, the initial few years would see faster development. It's quite possible for their size to increase by three, four, five, or even six meters within two or three years."
Hearing this, Crow Dabao cackled, "Doctorine, how much medicine can you produce now? Is it enough for Xiao Niu and my little ones?"
"Quite the family man."
Kureha praised, "With enough raw materials, there should be enough for your hundred or so crows."
At this point, Moses gave a strange smile and said, "Doctorine, the crows at home have recently laid eggs—over 250 in total. Ya Xiao Niu also just had a clutch of six."
Kureha's face darkened as she glared at Crow Dabao:
"Keep your underlings in check. No more eggs for the next year or two. Only after your Lineage Factor becomes inheritable can you start laying eggs again, got it?"
Crow Dabao awkwardly cawed:
"Crow understands. Crow will discipline them."
Moses gave Kureha a peculiar look, to which she pursed her lips and retorted, "Trying to work me to death?"
Moses immediately straightened up and turned to Crow Dabao:
"Control your lower halves."
Crow Dabao nodded meekly, then eyed Moses greedily, pointing at the reagent in his hand with a wing. "What about this?"
Moses looked exasperated.
"Here, take it."
Flapping its wings, Crow Dabao landed on Moses' shoulder, pecked at the test tube's opening, tilted its head back, and gulped it down—glug, glug, glug!
After this little episode, life returned to normal.
From time to time, Moses and Crow Dabao would head down to Mock Town below for supplies.
Some of the raw materials needed for medicine weren't available on Skypiea and had to be purchased from the seas below.
Over the past six months, the towns below hadn't changed much—still as chaotic as ever.
It wasn't uncommon to run into pirates on the streets.
But as long as they didn't provoke Moses, he couldn't be bothered with them.
...
June.
Mock Town.
Moses and his group arrived.
Conis looked around at the lively scene, her face alight with excitement.
Having never left Skypiea before, everything seemed incredibly novel to her.
She ate, drank, and played happily alongside Moses and the others.
Evening.
After a long night at Mock Town's night market, the group finally returned to Skypiea.
Early July.
Watching Crow Dabao and the others seemingly undergo a second growth spurt, Bear Cub stomped over in a huff.
The moment he saw Moses, he blurted out,
"Bear wants medicine too! Bear wants to grow bigger!" Standing nearly two meters tall on his hind legs, Bear Cub looked thoroughly displeased.
How could a bunch of black-feathered crows possibly outgrow him?
Moses rubbed his temples at Bear Cub's stubborn expression and asked helplessly,
"How big do you want to be?"
Bear Cub blinked, his face the picture of innocence. "Six meters. At least six meters when standing up."
Moses massaged his forehead and immediately decided to pass the buck:
"Then go see Doctorine. Have her give you a check-up and arrange the dosage. If you just take whatever you want, you might end up looking like a giant—and that wouldn't be very cute."
Bear Cub scampered off happily to pester Kureha for medicine.
...
September.
An unprecedented "heinous" incident occurred on the high seas.
Fisher Tiger, an explorer from Fish-Man Island, climbed the holy land of Mary Geoise barehanded, set fire to the Celestial Dragons' residences, and liberated thousands of slaves of various races.
Although there were no reports of casualties among the Celestial Dragons,
the entire ocean was set ablaze with the news, and he was widely revered as the "Hero Who Liberated Slaves."
Soon after, the World Government branded him a pirate with a bounty of 230 million Berries, making him the talk of the seas overnight.
Moses only learned of this when he went down to Mock Town to buy a newspaper.
Regarding Tiger, Moses couldn't help but feel deep admiration. Judging by actions rather than intentions, he was undoubtedly the most remarkable figure of the year!
After his incident, the seas gradually returned to a semblance of "calm."
Time slipped away like grains of sand between one's fingers. Before one knew it, nearly another year had passed.
Ocean Cycle Calendar 1508,
July 1st.
Early morning.
Having just taken a refreshing swim in the sea of clouds outside and caught two large fish, Moses returned to the castle.
Bathroom.
Moses examined himself in the mirror—his physique was robust, his skin tinged with a bronze hue.
At eight and a half years old, he now stood at 155 cm tall and weighed 45 kg.
"Not bad. It's been worth it—practicing Qi Circulation Throughout the Body and Spirit-Flesh Convergence with Breath techniques every day for the past year and a half on Skypiea. And I even mastered Life Return without realizing it."
Of course, in Moses' view, Life Return was merely a diluted, alternative version of Spirit-Flesh Convergence.
Here's the breakdown:
Life Return is achieved through persistent training in the Six Styles, allowing one to infuse consciousness into every part of the body, thereby gaining control over every corner—from the finest hair externally to flesh, bones, and even cells internally.
Spirit-Flesh Convergence, on the other hand, involves harmonizing the breath and vibrations of one's Spirit Body and physical body to achieve perfect unity. It represents flawless control over every aspect of oneself, inside and out.
Coupled with Qi Circulation Throughout the Body, the power of the Spirit Body and the physical body merge into seamless unity.
Moses' mastery over himself was absolute in the truest sense.
In the mirror, his features weren't strikingly handsome but were well-balanced, possessing a kind of enduring appeal that grew more attractive the longer one looked.
A faint smirk curled at the corners of his lips, exuding a roguish charm that was hard to ignore.
His slightly wavy black hair fell in a medium-short cut.
His dark, bright eyes held a depth beyond his years.
Judging by appearance alone, Moses no longer resembled an eight or nine-year-old child but rather a boy of twelve or thirteen.
With a thought, Moses projected the status panel onto his retina.
Opening the attributes tab:
Attributes:
[Physique]:
Strength: D+ → C
Endurance: C- → C+
Agility: D+ → C
[Soul]:
Willpower: C- → C+
Perception: C- → C+
Spirit: D+ → C
[Special · Mystery (Energy)]: D+ → C+
After a year and a half of rigorous training, most of his foundational attributes—except Strength, Agility, and Spirit—had reached the peak of C-rank quality.
Moses looked at his stats with a hint of resignation:
"Due to age restrictions and not using Soul Crystals for enhancement, this is all I can achieve through training alone."
Moses didn't feel discouraged by this, because, "This was truly forged step by step through my own efforts."
His body was still developing after all.
It wouldn't be wise to push it too hard.
Closing the attributes panel, he had just opened the abilities section to examine his "Conqueror's Haki" which had now reached "C+ grade" quality.
At that moment, the sound of a Den Den Mushi rang out.
Pururu Pururu Pururu
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