God's Island, the shrine.
Four priests hurried in and bowed respectfully.
"I summoned you here for a minor matter," Enel said, reclining sideways on the divine couch, his tone lazy.
The four God Priests were the strongest fighters under Enel. Each wore white wing decorations on their backs.
Gedatsu, who oversaw the fifty percent survival [Ball Trial], had a spider-claw hairstyle that bared his fangs, and he rolled his eyes with a vicious expression.
Shandian, in charge of the ten percent survival [Ball Trial], wore a round yellow hat and carried a constant, affable smile.
Shura, who ran the three percent survival [Rope Trial], was dressed like a pilot and held a thick spear, regarding the others with contempt.
Ohm, responsible for the zero percent survival [Iron Trial], was bald, wore slender black sunglasses, and held a long white blade with a strange round hilt. His face never betrayed emotion.
"Your mental state is quite stable," Enel observed, smiling.
Whoosh.
Enel vanished in an instant, then reappeared directly before the four priests, his sudden movement startling them.
"God, are You going to test us?" they asked warily, expecting another one of his casual divine trials. To Enel, those trials were entertainment when boredom struck.
"This God is not in the mood today," Enel said, his expression indifferent. He wore a pure white headscarf and golden earrings that hung to his chest. He was bare to the waist and wore yellow patterned lantern pants. A circular hoop behind him held four thunder drums whose ends were embedded in his back, and golden rings adorned his wrists, ankles, and toes. Ethereal, distant, ruthless, he surveyed them and continued.
"Just now, a group of fewer than one hundred and thirty people from the Blue Sea invaded God's territory, and one of the sinners actually attacked Me."
"What?" The priests gasped. Someone from the Blue Sea had the audacity to attack God himself. That was a death wish.
"That person's strength differs from the usual Blue Sea intruders, so be careful," Enel said. He recalled the damage from the attack, weighed it, then smiled faintly.
"That Blue Sea person probably has one-third of My strength."
Because Shirogai Yamikuro's casual strike had seemed like an all-out blow, Enel misjudged it. Still, the statement left the priests surprised.
"One-third of Your strength? That's formidable."
"For you, it is indeed formidable," Enel replied.
"Shall we hunt them down?" Shura asked eagerly, brandishing his spear.
"No need to rush. They will be brought here eventually," Enel said with cold amusement. "Some of their companions lacked coins and forced their way past Heaven's Gate. They will face [Heavenly Punishment]."
"Huh? Then we'll be fighting those illegal intruders soon!" Shura sneered. "I will properly punish them in the Rope Trial."
"My Ball Trial is the strongest," Gedatsu protested.
"Fools, my Iron Trial has the lowest survival rate," Ohm countered.
The argument grew louder until Enel, bored, returned to his couch and picked his ear.
"I'm merely giving you a heads-up. There's a very powerful one among them. Don't be careless. You may go, and if any of you get killed, do not blame this God."
"Almighty God, please rest assured," the four priests said with sinister smiles. "Once those Blue Sea people enter the trial grounds, We will make sure they never return."
…
"Wait, we aren't going up yet! Old Prune Angel Grandma!" Luffy shouted in a panic as the Going Merry was seized by a special express shrimp, a White Sea courier that traveled beneath the clouds.
Carried by the express shrimp, the Going Merry shot toward Heaven's Gate, spiraling upward.
"Damn it! Can Shirogai still find us like this?" Nami asked, trying to calm Luffy.
"But well, he should be able to," Nami said. "This Heaven's Gate with its cloud waterfall is obvious. When he gets to the entrance, he'll ask the angel monitor, and she'll point him up to the island."
"That means we should go up and wait for him," Luffy cheered. "Hehehe, it looks like so much fun."
"Luffy, wow, this shrimp is fast!" the crew marveled as the Going Merry carved through the White Sea toward the sky. The Straw Hats admired the dreamlike scenery below, ribbons of clouds stretching like a river.
They had no idea that they had already become illegal entrants to God's Country, and that the entire domain would soon hate them. They were about to be branded sinners of [Heavenly Punishment] for not paying the required entry fee according to God's law.
…
"It seems they have already gone in," Shirogai Yamikuro said as he flew in from the distance, six wings beating the air. He hovered and watched the sea of clouds tumble like a waterfall, smiling as he regarded the archway carved with the words Heaven's Gate.
"Heaven's Gate, can a devil enter?" he mused and drifted toward the arch.
Click, click.
A shriveled monitor emerged and snapped a few photos of Shirogai. The short woman had two buns and wore pink.
"I am the Heaven's Gate monitor, Amazon," she said dryly. "Young man, are you sightseeing in God's Country or planning to fight? To go up for sightseeing, there is an entry fee, ten billion Berries per person. This is the law decreed by God."
Shirogai folded his wings and studied the monitor with a quiet smile.
"And if I don't pay?" he asked.
"Nothing will happen, I will note your intention, so please fly up automatically," the monitor said with a strange laugh.
Another fool seeking death, she thought. The tally of those facing [Heavenly Punishment] grew by one.
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