Ray didn't care at all whether the Shandia people would conflict with Enel.
Neither the Priests nor the Shandia people were worth his attention.
Right now, he was pondering another matter.
When Shura came to hunt him and Chouchou earlier... Ray had sensed an aura similar to his and Chouchou's appearing.
That aura contained fear, anger, and resentment.
But towards him, this aura also felt familiar.
This was why Ray instantly killed Shura.
He was curious about whose aura this was, so he didn't want to waste time on Shura.
Now, Ray entered a meditative state, attempting to use Observation Haki to survey his surroundings, but detected nothing unusual.
'Could it be... I need to use Demonic Power?'
Ray Demonic Power was unleashed, centered around the Going Merry above the altar, covering a radius of fifty meters.
The release of demonic power caused the Ray's demonic energy to permeate the surroundings of the altar.
Within a hundred-meter radius, not a single sky shark dared to approach.
Those that were closer had already turned belly-up, floating on the Cloud River.
Chouchou had now reverted to its puppy form.
He looked at Ray, tilting his head to one side, its face full of confusion.
What was his master doing?
Suddenly, a figure appeared on the Going Merry.
Its form was still somewhat translucent, appearing to be a soul-like entity.
Seeing this little creature, Ray understood—this must be the ship spirit of the Going Merry.
The ship spirit of the Going Merry had likely only recently awakened its consciousness and was not yet capable of taking form on its own.
It was only with the aid of Ray's demonic power that it could manifest during the day.
Based on its life characteristics, the ship spirit of the Going Merry should belong to a minor yokai of the spirit category.
Thinking this, Ray pointed a single finger, removed the violent components from its demonic power, and transferred a portion of it into the ship spirit.
Soon, the ship spirit's form solidified, revealing the appearance of a little boy with hair as soft as cashmere.
Seeing this little boy, Chouchou suddenly remembered something.
"Are you Merry?"
Merry, overjoyed at his physical form, looked at Chouchou and rushed over to hug the little white dog.
"Finally, I can meet you, Chouchou."
Without needing further explanation, Ray knew that Chouchou and Merry had already communicated privately.
For some reason, Ray felt a bit displeased and grabbed Chouchou by the tail, lifting it up.
Without a word, Ray coldly stared at Chouchou.
This made the little white dog's mouth go dry, its eyes darting around, unable to meet Ray's gaze.
Sighing, Ray tossed Chouchou onto the deck.
"You two, explain this to me."
....
Some time later, Ray roughly understood the situation.
After Chouchou awakened his Observation Haki, he discovered that the Going Merry had its own consciousness.
Although it wasn't yet capable of hearing the voice of all things, as a spirit-type yokai, Merry had no trouble communicating with Chouchou.
As for why Chouchou hadn't told Ray about this, it was because Merry always felt a sense of fear toward Ray.
Moreover, Merry wasn't yet ready to meet the members of the Straw Hat Pirates, so he asked Chouchou to keep it a secret.
Chouchou agreed on the condition that as long as Ray didn't ask, he wouldn't tell anyone.
But if his master inquired, he had to answer—this was its dog virtue.
Because of Chouchou's words, he was spared 100 consecutive beating today.
According to their account, the two of them chatted every night.
Their conversations ranged from astronomy and geography to marriage and having puppies.
In between, they discussed the sleeping postures, dream talk, and the size of that thing among the Straw Hat Pirates.
They even talked about the panty colors and underwear styles of the two female crew members.
Hearing this, Ray's lips twitched slightly...
'This Merry kid, taking advantage of being a ship spirit, was acting a bit too perverted.'
After giving each of the two little troublemakers a slap, Ray was about to ask Merry about his feelings of unease and guilt when he suddenly sensed that Merry's energy was unstable.
So, Merry explained.
"I haven't absorbed your energy yet, so I can't maintain this physical form for long."
Hearing this, Ray understood and let Merry return to the Going Merry's body.
Just then, Zoro, Nami, Robin, and Chopper returned from their exploration.
Not long after, Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp, who had successfully passed the Ball Trial, arrived at the scene via the Cloud River.
Everyone left the Going Merry and gathered nearby to prepare dinner while sharing information about Sky Island.
...
While Sanji was cooking nearby, Nami had already organized the other members for a meeting.
"After today's exploration, I discovered an astonishing secret. The island we're on is actually the Golden City mentioned by Roland 400 years ago."
"Moreover, this island was originally part of Jaya Island. It was probably carried up to the sky by the Knock Up Stream shortly after Roland left the Golden City."
Hearing Nami's explanation, Zoro suddenly understood.
"So that liar Roland wasn't lying? It's just that when he brought the king to Jaya Island, the Golden City had already left the Grand Line and was floating here in Sky Island?"
Robin chimed in from the side.
"And this island holds significant historical value. I want to explore it thoroughly."
Usopp saw the current situation clearly - his wish to leave this island seemed impossible to fulfill now.
Usopp spread his hands and said helplessly.
"Nami wants to find gold, Robin wants to explore history, Luffy wants adventure. We certainly have a lot to do on this island."
Zoro smiled.
"I suppose the historical information is also in the Golden City. We can combine all three objectives and head for the skull's right eye tomorrow."
Then, at Luffy's strong insistence, everyone began the evening's bonfire party.
Shortly after it started, a pack of cloud wolves appeared near the group.
Chopper vividly translated the cloud wolves' meaning.
[Everything on this island belongs to our wolf pack. You can't interfere.]
The cloud wolf leader was immediately punched down by Nami.
"I'll never hand over any treasure to you!"
Unexpectedly, the cloud wolf leader took a liking to Nami.
[Big sister, that punch was really powerful. I like you.]
Thus began the scene of the wolf pack and the Straw Hat Pirates holding a party together.
The wolf pack leader was offering drinks to Nami.
The leader's wolf wives all gathered around Chouchou, temporarily putting a very, very green hat on him.
Zoro was drinking competitively with some wolf hero.
The others were singing and dancing with the male wolves, arms around each other's shoulders.
Ray sat under a tree not far from the bonfire party, lost in thought.
At this moment, Robin approached him with an empty wine glass and drinks given to her by the wolves.
"Ray, aren't you going to join them?"
Ray shook his head, "I prefer quiet."
Hearing this, Robin showed a charming smile.
"It's not particularly quiet here, yet you still chose to stay in this spot."
Ray looked somewhat embarrassed, snorted coldly, and didn't respond.
After a moment, he asked Robin.
"Are you happy about finding information related to the Poneglyph?"
One night not long after Robin had boarded the ship, she had once sought out Ray.
At that time, Robin expressed that she found it hard to believe cooperating with the Straw Hat Pirates would lead to finding the Poneglyph.
When Robin discovered the stone tablet in Alabasta contained information about Pluton rather than being a Poneglyph, she had already fallen into despair.
Since childhood, she had been hunted, with her only life goal being to explore the Poneglyphs.
On a deeper level, beyond her love for history, it was connected to her childhood trauma.
Her mother was killed for researching the Poneglyphs, and the elders of Ohara were completely wiped out by the Marines' Buster Call because of the Poneglyphs.
Robin's desire for the Poneglyphs was also linked to obsession and revenge.
But at that time, Ray simply responded to her with one sentence.
"You still chose to cooperate, didn't you?"
Robin didn't respond at the time.
Perhaps the Poneglyphs were her last source of will to live.
As long as there was even a sliver of opportunity, she would never give up.
But now, Robin responded to Ray with a smile.
"I'm happy. As long as there are Poneglyphs in this world, I must strive to live on and fulfill their obsession."
Perhaps it was the alcohol, or perhaps it was due to feeling secure around Ray, Robin uttered the words "their obsession."
Ray didn't ask who "they" referred to.
This was Robin's trauma; he wouldn't actively touch upon it.
Instead, he raised his glass and said to Robin,
"Look more toward the future. I hope you can soon live for yourself."
Robin fell silent for a moment.
Instead of drinking the beverage given by the cloud wolf, she picked up Ray's wine pot, poured a cup, and downed it in one gulp.
"I hope so too."
Coincidentally, Nami saw this scene.
"Ah~~ Robin, you're cheating!"
She pushed aside the cloud wolf next to her.
Rushing over, she grabbed Ray's wine pot and tried to force herself to drink a cup.
But Ray snatched the pot away.
"There's so much wine around, why steal mine!"
Nami protested. "Robin drank it, so I want some too."
Ray's face darkened from Nami's antics.
He glared at her fiercely and said,"Bring your cup here and pour it yourself!"
Watching Nami bully Ray, Robin turned to look at the other companions enjoying themselves.
She couldn't help but smile.
"Perhaps one day, I'll truly find another reason to live. That would be living for myself, wouldn't it?"
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