The Going Merry hovered. The thrusters underneath the hull hummed with a low, steady vibration, maintaining their altitude at exactly seven thousand meters above sea level.
Below them, the blue world they knew had vanished. Above them, the sky was a piercing, crystalline azure. But all around them, stretching to the horizon in every direction, was a sea of blinding white.
It was not mist. It was not fog. It was a rolling, physical ocean of clouds. The "waves" moved with a sluggish, dreamlike quality, foaming and cresting just like water, but silent and soft.
"Unbelievable..." Vivi whispered, gripping the railing. She reached out a hand, her fingers brushing the top of a passing cloud wave. "It feels... wet? But also fluffy?"
"It's the White Sea," Mont Blanc Cricket said, his voice thick with emotion. He was leaning against the mast, tears streaming down his rugged face. "It's real. The ocean in the sky. It's actually real."
"BOSS! WE MADE IT!" Masira and Shoujou were hugging each other, sobbing loudly. "WE DIDN'T DIE! AND IT'S SO FLUFFY!"
"Gebababababa!" Brogy laughed, the sound booming in the thin air. "I have climbed the highest mountains in Elbaf, but never have I sailed on clouds! This is a tale for the ages, Dory!"
"Geggyagyagyagya! Indeed, brother!" Dory agreed, poking a cloud with his massive sword. "Look! There are fish!"
Luffy's head snapped around. "FISH?! WHERE?!"
Sure enough, swimming through the clouds as if they were water, were strange, flat fish with balloon-like bodies and wing-like fins. They glided effortlessly through the vaporous ocean.
"Sky Fish!" Sanji identified them immediately, his chef instincts kicking in. "I wonder what the texture is like? Do they taste like clouds? Or fish?"
"Meat is meat!" Luffy declared, drooling.
---
While the crew marveled at the ecosystem, Usopp was standing on the gunwale, staring at the cloud ocean with a contemplative expression. He adjusted his goggles, struck a pose, and looked back at the crew.
"Listen up, men!" Usopp announced, puffing out his chest. "We have conquered the Blue Sea. Now, Great Captain Usopp shall conquer the White Sea! I wonder... can a brave warrior swim in this fluff?"
"Don't do it, Usopp," Sanji warned, looking at him. "We don't know much about these clouds."
"Hah!" Usopp waved her off. "Foolish Navigator! I am a master of buoyancy! Watch and learn!"
He began to stretch. Left arm, right arm. He did a few deep squats.
"Go Usopp!" Chopper cheered, waving his hooves. "Show us the swimming style of a brave warrior!"
"You can do it, Long-Nose!" Masira cheered.
"Yeah! Show the sky who's boss!" Shoujou added.
Fed by the praise, Usopp's ego expanded to the size of a weather balloon. "Behold! The Legendary North Blue Backstroke!"
SPLASH.
Usopp jumped.
He hit the cloud sea. Unlike water, there was no hard impact. It was like jumping into a pile of very wet cotton balls. He sank for a second, then bobbed back up to the surface.
"Ooh!" Usopp spat out a mouthful of cloud. "It's... it's lighter than water! But I'm floating! I'm doing it! Look at me!"
He began to paddle. It took more effort than usual because the resistance was lower, but he was indeed moving. He switched to a butterfly stroke, kicking up sprays of white mist.
"Sugeee!" Luffy's eyes sparkled. "Usopp is swimming in the sky!"
"He is truly a man of the sea!" Brogy clapped.
"Hey, Cook!" Usopp shouted back at the ship, treading 'water'. "You said we don't know anything about this sea? Well, I know it's easy! You worry too much! A real man takes on new challenges head-on!"
Sanji lit a cigarette, leaning over the rail. "I'm just saying, idiot. If that's not water, then what happens if you stop kicking?"
"Details, details!" Usopp scoffed. "I'm going to dive!"
Usopp took a deep breath, flipped over, and dove beneath the surface of the clouds.
Under the surface, the world was a hazy white twilight. Usopp opened his eyes (protected by his goggles). It was hard to see, but he could make out schools of sky fish darting around him.
'This is amazing!' * Usopp thought, kicking deeper. * 'I'm the first sniper to swim in the sky! I'll find a sky-shell and give it to Nami, maybe she'll lower my debt!' *
He kicked deeper. And deeper.
Suddenly, the resistance around him changed.
The "White Sea" was a layer of island clouds (dense pyrobloin) resting on top of sea clouds. But the density wasn't uniform. There were pockets. Thin spots.
Usopp kicked down, expecting to hit a sandbar or a reef.
Instead, his hand brushed against... nothing.
The clouds suddenly thinned out. The white haze cleared.
Usopp looked down.
He expected to see the bottom.
What he saw was the Blue Sea.
Ten thousand meters below.
Tiny specks of islands. The vast, terrifying blue ocean. And between him and that ocean was absolutely nothing. No water. No clouds. Just empty air and gravity.
'Eh?' *
Usopp's brain short-circuited.
'There's... no bottom?' *
Gravity, realizing Usopp was no longer supported by the cloud density, took hold.
WHOOSH.
Usopp fell. He slipped right through the bottom of the White Sea like a coin dropping through a hole in a pocket.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
His scream was muffled by the clouds as he plummeted out of the White Sea and into the open air beneath it.
---
On the Merry, a minute had passed.
"He's been down there a while," Chopper said, his ears twitching. "Usopp! Come up!"
The spot where Usopp had dove was still.
Vivi frowned, a cold thought entering her mind. "Wait... we are in the sky. If this 'sea' is just a layer of clouds... does it have a sea floor?"
The crew froze.
Robin turned a page of her book, her face perfectly calm. "Logic dictates that if the density creates a fluid dynamic, there must be a threshold where the density fails. If he passes that threshold..."
She looked at the spot.
"He would fall. From ten thousand meters. When a human body hits the ocean from that height, the surface tension of the water acts like concrete. He won't just splash. He will turn into a fine red paste."
"ROBIN!" Chopper screamed, crying rivers of tears. "DON'T SAY SCARY STUFF! USOPP IS PASTE?!"
"HE FELL?!" Luffy panicked, stretching his neck over the side. "USOPP!"
"Idiot!" Sanji grit his teeth, preparing to jump. "I have to go get him! Blue Walk might work!"
"Stop," Ben's voice cut through the panic.
Ben was sitting on a deck chair, monitoring a holographic screen projected from his wrist. He didn't look worried. He looked annoyed.
"Relax," Ben said, sipping his tea. "Sanji, you can't catch a falling object that has a head start in thin air without expelling too much energy. And Chopper, stop crying."
"BUT USOPP IS DYING!" Chopper wailed.
"He's not dying," Ben sighed. "Did you forget? I gave him the serum. He has the DNA of a Falcon. He has wings."
The crew paused.
"Oh, right!" Nami face-palmed. "He can fly! That idiot!"
"Merry," Ben commanded. "Status report on Unit: Long-Nose."
The ship's voice chimed in, sounding almost disappointed. "Target: Usopp is currently in freefall. Altitude: 5,800 meters and dropping rapidly. Velocity: Terminal velocity approaching."
"Tell him to open his wings," Ben ordered.
"I have attempted communication via the Kimoyo Beads," Merry replied. "However, there is no response."
"Is the signal blocked?" Nami asked.
"No," Merry clarified. "Biometric scans indicate that Target: Usopp has lost consciousness due to extreme terror. Heart rate was 200 beats per minute before syncope."
Silence reigned on the deck.
"He passed out..." Zoro muttered. "...from fear?"
"So he has wings..." Sanji massaged his temples. "...but he fainted before he could use them?"
"WHAT A USELESS SUPERPOWER!" The entire crew (including the giants and the monkeys) shouted in unison.
"He's actually going to die because he's a coward," Robin noted, fascinated.
"Ben!" Luffy grabbed Ben's collar. "Save him! He's dumb, but he's our sniper!"
"I know, I know," Ben stood up. "Merry, deploy the Iron Legion: Mark 7. Search and Rescue protocol."
"Aye, Ben. Deploying Iron Legion."
A hatch on the side of the Going Merry hissed open.
From the hatch, a humanoid figure shot out. It wasn't a person. It was a suit of armor, sleek and painted in metallic red and gold, but unmanned. The eyes of the helmet glowed blue.
BOOM.
The armor broke the sound barrier instantly, diving into the cloud sea. It punched a hole through the white layer and vanished into the blue void below.
"Whoa!" Luffy's eyes sparkled again. "A robot!"
"That's the Iron Man armor!" Chopper gasped. "So cool!"
---
Five minutes passed. The crew waited anxiously.
Then, a sonic boom echoed from below. The Iron Legion armor shot back up through the clouds, jets flaring as it slowed down.
In its metal arms, held in a delicate "Princess Carry," was Usopp.
Usopp was soaking wet, limp, and drooling.
The armor hovered over the deck and gently dropped Usopp onto the wooden planks. Then, with a mechanical whir, the armor flew back into its hatch and powered down.
"Usopp!" Chopper ran over and slapped his face. "Wake up!"
Usopp's eyes snapped open. He scrambled backward, screaming.
"AHHH! THE GROUND IS GONE! THE SKY IS A LIE! I SAW HIM! I SAW THE REAPER! HE HAD AN AFRO!"
"Shut up!" Nami stomped on his head.
"Gah!" Usopp froze, feeling the pain. "Pain? I feel pain? I'm alive?"
"You're alive because Ben's robot saved you," Sanji kicked him in the ribs. "You moron! Why did you dive when you don't know the terrain?"
"And why didn't you use your wings?!" Zoro barked. "You have wings! Fly, you chicken!"
Usopp sat up, trembling. He looked at Ben. He prostrated himself on the deck, bowing so low his nose bent.
"I'm sorry!" Usopp sobbed. "I got cocky! The emptiness... it looked back at me! I thought I was a goner! Thank you, Ben! Thank you, Robot-san!"
"Next time," Ben said, sitting back down, "Check the depth before you leap. Or at least remember you're a bird-man."
"Yes sir!"
---
With Usopp traumatized but safe, the journey continued.
"Nami-san," Robin called out. "The Log Pose."
Nami looked at her wrist. The needle was still pointing almost straight up, but slightly angled forward.
"We're at 7,000 meters," Nami analyzed. "But the log pose is still pointing higher."
"We have to go higher?" Vivi looked up. "The air is already thin here."
"Merry can handle it," Ben assured them. "The atmospheric dome is maintaining pressure. Merry, follow the Log Pose vector."
"Aye, Ben."
The ship began to climb again, leaving the flat expanse of the White Sea and heading toward a massive towering formation of cumulus clouds that looked like a staircase to heaven.
As they sailed, the peaceful silence was broken.
SWISH.
A sound like a ski cutting through ice.
"Something is approaching," Zoro said, his hand instantly on his sword. "Fast. From the starboard side."
"I see him!" Usopp (safely tied to the mast by his own choice) shouted. "It's... a guy on a boat? No, he's skiing on the clouds!"
Emerging from the cloud vapor was a man. He was dark-skinned, covered in tribal tattoos, and wore a thick mask covering his face. He was riding a small, waver-like device that skimmed over the clouds without sails or paddles.
This was Wiper, the Berserker of the Shandia.
He didn't speak. He didn't ask who they were. He simply raised a strange, bazooka-like weapon on his shoulder.
"Remove the intruders," the masked man muttered.
BOOM.
A massive blast of white-hot flame erupted from the bazooka. It was a "Burn Bazooka," powered by a Breath Dial. The fireball was huge, enough to engulf the entire deck of the Merry.
"WATCH OUT!" Luffy shouted, ready to inflate himself to block it.
"Hold," Ben said calmly.
The fireball roared toward them. But three meters away from the railing, it hit an invisible wall.
FWOOSH.
The fire splashed against the Force Field, spreading out harmlessly like water on glass. The heat didn't even reach the crew.
The masked man's eyes widened behind his mask. "What?"
He circled around, his waver moving with incredible agility. He aimed again.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Three more shots. All three were absorbed by the blue shimmering barrier.
"Impossible," Wiper hissed. "Vearth manipulation? No... this is something else."
He revved his waver, accelerating to ramming speed. He pulled out a massive shield with a jagged edge, intending to slice through the ship's hull physically.
"He's coming in!" Sanji prepared to jump.
"Sit down, Sanji," Ben ordered, watching the attacker with amusement. "Let him try."
Wiper slammed into the barrier at full speed.
CLANG!
The sound was like a bell ringing. The waver stopped dead. Wiper was thrown forward by the inertia, slamming face-first into the force field. He slid down the invisible wall like a cartoon character.
"Ouch," Chopper winced.
Ben chuckled. He knew Wiper. He knew the Shandia's history. This attack was just a misunderstanding, a territorial defense mechanism. But watching the ferocious Berserker bonk his head on a force field was objectively funny.
Wiper recovered quickly, jumping back onto his waver. He stared at the ship, his breathing heavy. He realized his weapons were useless.
"You have... strange magic," Wiper growled. "But the Sky is not safe for Blue Sea dwellers. Leave, or be eliminated."
"We're just tourists!" Luffy yelled. "We want to see the angel island!"
"There are no angels here," Wiper spat. "Only war."
He prepared another attack, pulling out a Reject Dial—a suicidal weapon.
Ben's smile faded. "Okay, that one might actually crack the shield if he uses that. Merry, prepare stun cannons."
But before Ben could fire, a piercing whistle cut through the air.
From above, a shadow descended.
"Halt, Guerilla!"
An old man in full plate armor, carrying a lance and riding a pink, polka-dotted bird, dove from the sky.
"Gan Fall!" Wiper snarled, looking up.
The old knight, Gan Fall, leveled his lance. "These are guests of the sky until proven otherwise. I will not let you slaughter them without cause."
Wiper looked at the Merry, protected by its impregnable barrier. He looked at Gan Fall. He looked at the Reject Dial in his hand. He knew he couldn't fight two unknown variables at once.
"Tch," Wiper scoffed. "You protect them, 'God'? Fine. Let the sky judge them."
With a sharp turn, Wiper accelerated his waver and vanished into the cloud fog.
The crew let out a breath they didn't know they were holding.
"He's gone," Nami sighed. "Who was that maniac?"
The old knight guided his strange steed down toward the Merry. He hovered just outside the barrier.
"I am Gan Fall," the knight announced, his voice raspy but dignified. " The Knight of the Sky. And this is my partner, Pierre."
"BIRD!" Luffy shouted. "Wait, is it a horse? A pegasus?"
"Pierre ate the Horse-Horse Fruit," Gan Fall explained seriously. "He is a bird that can become a horse."
Pierre transformed. He turned into a lanky, awkward, pink horse with wings. He looked absolutely nothing like a majestic Pegasus. He looked like a horse that had been drawn by a drunk toddler.
"It's... ugly," Zoro bluntly stated.
"It's weird," Sanji agreed.
"I love him!" Luffy declared.
Ben deactivated the force field. "Come aboard, Knight. Thanks for the assist, though we had it covered."
Gan Fall landed Pierre on the deck. He looked around the ship, his eyes lingering on the metal thrusters and the glowing repulsor nodes.
"A flying ship," Gan Fall mused. "And a barrier that stops Burn Bazookas effortlessly. You Blue Sea dwellers are... well-equipped."
"We have a good magician and mechanic," Luffy grinned, slapping Ben's back.
"I saw you were in trouble," Gan Fall said, pulling a small whistle from his armor. "I am a mercenary. I protect those who cannot protect themselves... for a price."
"Price?" Nami's ears perked up. "How much?"
"Five million Extols," Gan Fall said.
"Extols?" Nami frowned. "Is that Berry?"
"Sky currency," Gan Fall explained. "The exchange rate is roughly 10,000 Extols to one Berry."
"So... 500 Berries?" Nami calculated fast. "That's cheap!"
Gan Fall tossed the whistle to Nami. "Blow this whistle if you are in danger. Pierre and I will come to your aid, anywhere in the sky. First time is free, after that I will charge money."
"FREE?!" Nami's eyes turned into hearts. "I like you, Old Man!"
"Understood," Ben nodded. "We appreciate it."
With a flap of wings, Pierre launched into the air. Gan Fall saluted them with his lance and flew off into the distance.
"Nice guy," Usopp said, finally untying himself from the mast.
"Alright!" Luffy pumped his fist. "Merry, full speed ahead! TO SKYPIEA!"
"Aye, Captain!" Merry chirped.
The ship surged forward, climbing the final stretch toward the massive white gate that loomed in the distance—the entrance to the White-White Sea, and the domain of God. Ben looked at the gate, his eyes glowing faintly.
Enel, Ben thought. The Logia of Lightning. This is going to be a fun experiment.