To the people of the New World, the existence of sky islands was hardly surprising.
Unlike small-time pirates from the four seas—who'd act like they'd discovered a new continent upon stumbling upon a single sky island—they knew better.
Currently, floating over ten thousand meters above the sea hundreds of miles from Wano Country were over a dozen sky islands of varying sizes!
The largest among them resembled nothing less than a miniature continental plate.
It boasted not only rushing rivers but also an enormous inland sea.
Towering peaks stabbed upward like swords, their summits piercing the heavens and vanishing into the void.
Atop the loftiest of these mountains sprawled an extensive complex of buildings!
"What? I told you to capture giant beasts, and you bring me these worthless scraps? Do you want me to throw you off the sky island?"
A hoarse yet domineering roar echoed through the spacious hall.
Pfft pfft pfft.
This was followed by a series of strange noises, as if someone was... farting.
Dozens of black-clad men stood in neat rows inside the hall.
Though they were all advanced in years, their postures were ramrod straight, their faces hardened—clearly seasoned veterans.
At this moment, an old man with wild golden hair cascading down his back and half a ship's rudder embedded in his head like a ridiculous rooster comb had one hand clamped around the neck of a tall fish-man.
A thick cigar dangled from his lips as his face twisted in fury.
"No, no, please, Captain Shiki! Spare me, I don't want to die! Kitajimo, you bastard, say something!"
The elephant-nosed fish-man, terrified and weeping, dared not struggle as the golden-haired man held him by the throat, his eyes filled with dread.
Meanwhile, Kitajimo, the muscular fish-man leader kneeling on the ground with a long sword at his waist, calmly pointed to the large tank containing several fish and spoke calmly.
"Captain Shiki, Dr. Indigo, don't be hasty. Look at these fish—there's something unusual about them. Their rarity far surpasses that of any Sea King. Didn't Dr. Indigo want to make a breakthrough with the IQ drug? I believe these fish will bring you significant progress!"
Kitajimo's tone was resolute, brimming with certainty.
"Oh? What's so special about these little fish?"
Dr. Indigo, clad in his peculiar shoes, approached the tank and curiously reached out to grab one of the fish flopping inside.
"Be careful!" Kitajimo's expression changed as he shouted a warning.
Indigo turned to him in confusion.
"What did you say—WAAAH!"
The next moment, the research-obsessed scientist tumbled headfirst into the tank, where a three-meter-long octopus wrapped its tentacles around his limbs and began stuffing them into his mouth.
The golden-haired old man was none other than the legendary Golden Lion—Shiki!
And this was the headquarters of the Flying Pirates, located over ten thousand meters in the air—an absolutely secure domain!
The reason so many veteran pirates in the hall willingly followed this seemingly ridiculous old man was simple: they had long been utterly subdued by the Golden Lion's godlike power, leaving no room for defiance in their hearts.
Only pirates from the old era knew the truth—these dozen floating islands, connected as one, had all been plucked from the seas of the New World.
Using the fully awakened power of his Float-Float Fruit, Shiki had forcibly severed these colossal islands from the ocean, lifting them—along with the surrounding seawater—into the sky, ten thousand meters above the waves.
The largest of these islands was called Vermillion, an extraordinarily unique place.
It housed a peculiar plant that produced a substance capable of driving beasts into a frenzied rage while enlarging their bodies to massive proportions!
Shiki tossed aside the fish-man in his grip, his feet clanking metallically as he strode toward the tank.
His legs, it turned out, were two sharp, gleaming longswords!
Shiki peeked in and saw Indigo writhing wildly, his old face flushed red, mouth gaping wide and stuffed full as a slimy octopus forced its tentacles down his throat.
"Mmmpf! Gohh ahh shii!" Indigo let out a sound like a rooster's crow, making Shiki roll his eyes.
But when Shiki caught sight of his own reflection in the water's surface and saw the ship's rudder atop his head, he startled.
"Huh? A rooster!"
"Ugh...!" Indigo was already rolling his eyes back.
Shiki yanked him out of the water tank, tore the octopus off Indigo's face, and curiously examined the creature with astonishing strength.
"How can this tiny octopus be stronger than the ten-meter-long beasts on Vermillion Island?"
Indigo vomited violently for a while before straightening up and catching his breath.
As a combatant of the Flying Pirates, though not particularly physically resilient, he never imagined nearly being killed by an octopus.
Instead of anger, the near-death experience filled Indigo with manic glee.
He stared intently at the fish in the large tank while pulling out a syringe and injecting the octopus still struggling in Shiki's grip.
Like a magician, he produced a microscope and placed a drop of the octopus's blood on a slide to examine.
"My god, Shiki!!"
Suddenly, Indigo let out a blood-curdling scream, startling Shiki, who reflexively crushed the octopus in his hand.
"What the hell's wrong with you, Indigo!" Shiki smacked Indigo irritably.
Indigo stuttered, pointing at the octopus blood under the microscope, his lips trembling like leaves in the wind.
He struggled for a long time but couldn't form a coherent sentence.
Smack!
Seeing Indigo on the verge of a heart attack, Shiki raised his hand and delivered a sharp slap.
The slap snapped the hysterical Indigo back to his senses.
Finally, he managed to stammer, "There's something seriously wrong with this octopus's blood! No—this can't possibly be octopus blood! Its division rate and speed are beyond even the strongest beasts we created on Vermillion Island—not even a tenth of it!"
Smack!
Another slap—this time, Shiki hit himself.
He shook his head and muttered, "A tenth? Indigo, do you realize what you're saying? The IQ drug is the result of over a decade of research!
You've seen the mutations in those ferocious beasts after consuming it. Their size explodes, along with their strength, savagery, healing, and appetite—everything improves.
And now you're telling me this tiny octopus's blood is ten times more potent than the IQ drug?"
"I've been holed up in this damn place researching for over a decade, and now a little octopus makes me look like a complete failure!"