During Storm and Robin's conversation,
the two left the ruins of Shandora together, heading toward the settlement of the Shandians.
This area was originally the site of Enel's temple, located at the heart of the island—flat terrain with open visibility.
But now, it had gradually been reshaped by the Shandians into their own image.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Shandians would soon establish a brand-new "Hidden Cloud Village" here.
The topic of the Marines was temporarily set aside.
Storm recalled the call he had received earlier from Kuma and slowly spoke up.
"Robin, in a few days—or possibly even tomorrow—I'll be making a trip to the East Blue."
"East Blue? Understood. I'll prepare my belongings in advance."
"Hm?"
Storm turned to look at Robin, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"I was actually going to ask if you wanted to come along, considering it's the East Blue..."
"I am your crewmate."
Robin gently stroked the head of the little one in her arms and smiled.
"Captain, even though we don't have a ship yet, as crewmates, we should act together, shouldn't we?"
"You make… a very good point."
Storm nodded, then suddenly sighed.
"Come to think of it, maybe I shouldn't have split up with them earlier..."
"Them?"
Robin blinked curiously.
"Captain, do you mean your former crewmates? Like Mr. Edward?"
"More or less. Edward was my first crewmate. As for the others..."
Storm raised his right hand, activating the power of the Clay-Clay Fruit, while layering the transformative effect of the Nine-Tailed Fox Fruit onto the clay.
"Bartholomew Kuma, Eustass Kid, Killer, and finally this little one…
"Her name is Jewelry Bonney. I'm not entirely sure yet if she counts as my subordinate.
"But the first three definitely are."
Robin watched as four unfamiliar figures—"one large, two medium, and one small"—materialized before her.
She immediately recognized the Tyrant, then took a closer look at the spiky redhead and the curly blond man before her gaze settled on the little girl.
"She looks about the same age as Aisa."
"Jewelry Bonney is a year older than Aisa. Right now, she's dealing with some… trouble. Kuma is taking Kid and Killer to the East Blue to find a solution. Oh, and by the way, Kuma and the others are all from the South Blue."
"South Blue? Captain, are you from the South Blue too?"
"Me? Hmph! I'm no native of the Four Blues. My home is at Marine Headquarters!"
"…Captain, if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. There's no need to make up such obvious lies."
Robin shook her head in exasperation.
The White Dragon, one of the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea, claiming his home was Marine Headquarters?
Why not just say his family had been Marines for three generations while he was at it?
What kind of grand joke was this?
Even a child could see through such a flimsy lie.
Robin gave up on trying to uncover her captain's past and swiftly changed the subject.
"Captain, you just said that Mr. Bartholomew, Mr. Eustass, and Mr. Killer are all your subordinates."
Robin keenly pointed out an issue.
"But you also said Mr. Edward is your 'crew member'."
"So are Mr. Bartholomew and the others in the same situation as I was before?"
Robin had also been Storm's "subordinate" until yesterday, when he officially recruited her as a "crew member."
In Robin's understanding, "crew member" should be a higher status than "subordinate"...
"No."
Storm shook his head and explained.
"Their situation is different from yours. The reason I called them 'subordinates'..."
"is because when I recruited them, I didn't have plans to form a pirate crew yet."
Without forming a pirate crew, why recruit members at all?
Robin tilted her head, looking at Storm with surprise as she tentatively asked.
"Captain, if you're saying it's because you didn't have a ship back then, I can understand—after all, you still don't have one now."
"...Why are you so fixated on ships?"
Storm couldn't quite comprehend. He put away the Clay Dolls of his subordinates and reshaped the Clay into a Blue-Eyed White Dragon.
"Is the Blue-Eyed White Dragon not cool enough?"
"Flying is certainly an enviable ability. But Captain, you can't keep flying forever, can you?"
Robin replied calmly.
"Also, I can't fly. Mr. Edward... seems like he might be able to."
"What about Mr. Bartholomew and the others? Can they fly?"
"Captain, you can't possibly carry all your crew members every time you move, can you?"
"On the open sea, a sturdy ship—one capable of long voyages—is absolutely essential."
Storm fell silent. He waved his hand to shrink the Blue-Eyed White Dragon and placed it on his shoulder.
"...You're right."
All of Storm's previous plans had been based on the mindset of "going it alone."
But now he had recruited Kuma, Kid and Killer, and Robin...
The mentality of a lone wolf was vastly different from that of a pirate crew.
Storm had to admit.
Robin's suggestion made perfect sense.
"Still, even though it makes sense, I don't want to listen."
"Huh?"
Robin was momentarily stunned.
She had been about to say more.
But just then, from the direction of the Shandian settlement ahead, came the clashing sounds of battle.
Robin immediately shelved the conversation.
"Captain!"
"Yeah, I hear it. Don't worry."
Storm said calmly.
"That person is stronger than Wiper, but not by much."
Robin soon saw the person Storm was referring to.
It was a tall old man clad in silver armor, wielding a massive knight's lance.
But Robin only glanced at the old man before her attention was drawn to the strange creature beneath him.
It was a bizarre-looking "horse."
Its body was covered in pink fur dotted with dense black spots—enough to trigger trypophobia at first glance.
At the same time, it had a bird-like face and a pair of white feathered wings on its sides.
To most people, this would be an eyesore of a creature.
But it happened to align perfectly with Robin's aesthetic tastes.
"Kawaii..."
"Hey hey hey!"
Storm couldn't help but grab Robin's shoulder and shake her vigorously.
"Stop calling everything 'kawaii'! That habit will be the death of you!"
"Besides, what part of that pink creature—neither horse nor bird—could possibly be considered cute?!"
As Storm and Robin were talking, the old man noticed their presence.
He was the former God of Skypiea—
Gan Fall.
As for that bizarre creature that was neither horse nor bird, it was actually Gan Fall's pet—
Pierre, a Skypiean "Heavenly Point Bird" that had eaten the Zoan-type Horse-Horse Fruit.
"Chirp chirp chirp—!"
Pierre let out a sharp cry, flapping its wings as it carried Gan Fall toward Storm.
"Outsider."
The former god of Skypiea introduced himself.
"I am Gan Fall, the 'Sky Knight' of Skypiea."
"Speak thy name, and amuse me."
Storm twitched his lips slightly and nodded at Gan Fall.
"Vongola Storm."
Before Gan Fall could say another word, the current chief of the Shandians approached, accompanied by Wiper and other members of the Shandian guerrilla force.
"Lord Storm, my apologies—this man has a few screws loose."
The Shandian chief first apologized to Storm, then turned to Gan Fall.
"Gan Fall, don't do anything foolish! And don't you dare offend Lord Storm!"
"Otherwise, the entire Shandian people will regard you as an enemy!"
"It matters not."
Gan Fall tightened his grip on his knight's lance.
"I was once the God of Skypiea. With Enel dead, it is only right that I reclaim my duty to guard this God's Island—"
"Enough with the theatrics."
Storm cut him off.
"What do you want? To challenge me? To take this island back from me?"
"Yes!"
Gan Fall gave a sharp nod. He was about to spur Pierre forward and charge at his enemy—
But Storm was far faster.
"Too slow."
Storm raised his right hand, and octopus-like clay tentacles shot out, seizing Gan Fall and his mentally scarring pet in the blink of an eye.
"I'll send you to the White-White Sea to play a little fishing game with the sky lampreys. Maybe that'll knock some sense into you."
Without giving Gan Fall a chance to respond, Storm manipulated the clay and hurled him into the distant White-White Sea.
The former god of Skypiea made a grand entrance—only to exit just as swiftly.
Generally speaking, Storm didn't go out of his way to harm the elderly, children, or women.
Unless they truly deserved it.
Seeing how effortlessly Storm dealt with Gan Fall and his pet, the Shandian chief couldn't help but wear a bitter smile. His relationship with Gan Fall had actually been decent.
But the Shandian guerrillas, led by Wiper, all broke into triumphant grins.
As Shandians, Wiper and his comrades had no love for gods—
Be it Gan Fall or Enel.
The young Shandian warriors despised them all.
Storm's actions directly fulfilled the wishes of young warriors like Wiper.
"Lord Storm."
Aisa squeezed her way out of the crowd, carefully holding a clay figurine in her hands as she presented it to Storm.
"This statue is for you."
Robin, looking at the figurine in Aisa's hands, immediately praised it.
"This statue is really adorable, Aisa."
Given Robin's ability to offer such a compliment, one could only imagine just how abstract this figurine truly was.
Storm stared at the clay statue in Aisa's hands—something that vaguely resembled a human but could just as easily pass for a ghost.
"Is this supposed to be me?"
"This is your statue!"
Aisa raised the figurine high, as if presenting a treasure.
The first time she had "heard" Storm's voice, Aisa had assumed he would be a god like Enel—or perhaps even more terrifying!
But after Storm unhesitatingly handed Sky Island Jaya back to the Shandians without a second thought, Aisa instantly realized that Lord Storm was an incredibly kind and wonderful god!
Lord Storm had once given her a clay doll of a nine-tailed fox.
Of course, Aisa had to return the favor with a doll of her own.
"Lord Storm, here you go!"