After Jin left…
Ain quietly pushed open Styla's door and slipped inside.
Styla was still fast asleep, curled under the blanket.
Ain's lips curved as she padded over and climbed into bed, slipping her arms around Styla's slim waist from behind.
She leaned in and sniffed lightly.
All Jin's scent…
A flicker of jealousy flashed in her eyes. Her hands started to wander upward.
In her sleep, Styla frowned slightly and gave a soft little whine.
"Stop it, Jin… lemme sleep a bit more…"
"Heehee… sounds like someone got very tired yesterday, Styla-sis~"
Ain's teasing voice brushed her ear.
Styla's eyes flew open.
"You little brat, at it again!" She grabbed Ain's hands in a panic and pulled them away from her chest.
"Don't be like that," Ain laughed, clinging tighter. "We're both Jin's women anyway, what's there to be shy about?"
They wrestled and fussed for a while until Styla, completely exhausted, finally gave up and drifted back to sleep in Ain's arms.
In the meantime, Jin followed the pose of the log pointer up into the sky above Jaya.
Once he confirmed the coordinates, he beat his wings and flew straight upward.
On his back sat Kuro, Zan Gao, Señor Pink, and Kontena.
As Jin climbed higher and higher, a thick mass of white cloud loomed ahead, completely sealing off the sky above.
"Skypiea, huh? Never been there," Señor Pink said, staring at the dense cloud sea.
"Me neither," Zan Gao admitted. "But the captain said there's a lot of good stuff up there. We've got time now—it'd be a waste not to grab it."
Jin plunged into the cloud sea.
As the white fog swallowed them, Kuro's expression shifted slightly. Then he gave a quiet chuckle.
The others looked at him in confusion.
"I used to just suspect," Kuro said, pushing up his glasses. "Now I'm sure.
"I really didn't think you'd be this kind of monster… Captain."
"If the seas found out about this," he added, "you realize people would lose their minds, right?"
Back when they were still in the Marines, he'd called Jin "sir."
Now that they'd resigned, he'd switched naturally to "captain," per pirate-world etiquette.
Jin's voice drifted back from the dragon's head.
"When did you figure it out?"
"The moment back on Sabaody," Kuro said, "when you took out those Seastone cuffs. That's when I started guessing."
"What are you two talking about?" Señor Pink asked, frowning. Zan Gao and Kontena looked just as lost.
Kuro shrugged.
"Everyone knows this: the sea drains Devil Fruit users.
"Jin also told us before that the cloud sea of Skypiea is structurally similar to the ocean."
He paused a beat.
"And yet—look at him now."
The three of them went quiet.
They watched their captain in full dragon form, gliding freely through the cloud sea as if it were just air.
"Uh…" Zan Gao's eye twitched. "Pink, my dear brother… hit me once. See if I'm hallucinating."
Señor Pink didn't answer.
He just stared at the golden dragon they were riding, feeling suddenly… very small.
Am I really qualified to know things like this as the new guy…?
Kontena, meanwhile, was practically sparkling with worship.
"No doubt about it," he breathed. "No doubt at all. Lord Jin is a man who can change the world!"
"If this news gets out," Kuro said blandly, "the whole sea won't just lose it. It'll detonate.
"A Devil Fruit user who's immune to seawater—and, by extension, Seastone. The top of the top.
"People would sleep with their weapons under the pillow."
Zan Gao swallowed hard.
"Forget going crazy. The world would explode. Boss, how did you pull this off? Care to share?"
Jin's dragon muzzle curled into a smirk.
"Nope. Can't share. My Devil Fruit isn't like the ones you eat. It's… special."
He flicked his tail, scattering clouds.
"But I'm not hiding it from you. In a way, this is me telling you I trust you.
"If I didn't, I'd have stayed out of the clouds and crawled up the Knock-Up Stream like everyone else."
Kontena's eyes shone even brighter.
Zan Gao thumped his chest.
Señor Pink quietly lit another cigarette.
"I figured as much," Kuro said. "I've looked into a lot of Devil Fruits in the records—nothing like yours exists in any log I can find. No 'Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Azure Dragon Model' in history.
"At some point, you either got lucky… or something interfered with the usual pattern."
Señor Pink took a drag and exhaled.
"So, to summarize," he said slowly, "we're following a captain who doesn't fear seawater or Seastone and is already at the top of the power scale."
He looked up at Jin's massive body in the clouds.
"Wonder how many enemies won't be able to sleep after they find out."
"Whether they sleep or not, I don't care," Kuro said. "What matters is this changes the board entirely.
"Our original plan was to travel, recruit, build up a force quietly. But now there's… another faction."
He looked at the others.
"Besides the World Government and the pirates, there's that mysterious group we bumped into already.
"We have to be ready for the day the whole sea goes berserk."
"The New World," Señor Pink agreed, "isn't small, but it isn't that big either. One more monster like the captain is one more factor nobody can ignore. Heh."
"No problem!" Zan Gao flexed his muscles, eyes blazing. "Leave the training to me, boss! I'll grind everyone into monsters."
"I'll clean up the trash that gets in our way," Kontena added calmly.
"No rush," Jin said. "We wait for the ship to be done, then start from East Blue. Move island to island, recruit along the way. I've already got a few candidates in mind."
Kuro nodded.
"So what's the bait this time?" he asked. "You wouldn't drag us all the way up to Skypiea for something ordinary."
"Gold," Jin said simply. "More gold than you can imagine. You know the story of Shandora, the City of Gold?"
"You mean that kids' tale, Noland the Liar?" Señor Pink snorted. Then his eyes widened. "Wait. Don't tell me… it's real?"
"It is," Jin said. "The City of Gold was blown up here by the Knock-Up Stream. It's right up ahead."
He paused meaningfully.
"And besides gold, there's something else I want to check on. Don't know if it's still here. If it is? Great.
"If not…"
A cold smile tugged at his dragon muzzle.
"Then somebody's been very naughty."
Which meant only one thing:
Whatever "that thing" was, it was heavy enough to make Jin talk like that.
The men all straightened without realizing it.
These weren't saints. A bit of killing and looting didn't trouble their consciences. But they all understood—
Whatever Jin wanted up here mattered.
The dragon roared.
Jin pierced the highest layer of cloud and burst out beneath the white sea of Skypiea.
"Is this Skypiea?" Zan Gao stared around. Everything—cloud oceans, cloud roads, cloud islands—looked unreal.
"Not yet," Jin said. He checked his bearings, then flew upward again.
On the border of the Sky Island, a winged angel girl saw a golden dragon cut across the sky toward their home.
She dropped her spear, scrambled back, and screamed.
"W-what is THAT?!"
Jin ignored her and followed the cloud current upward.
He shot out of the cloud runway—
And Skypiea unfolded before them.
"This is… beautiful," Kuro murmured, taking in the scene.
"Man," Zan Gao breathed. "This world is really something else."
Jin's gaze shifted to a solid mass of land sticking out from the clouds in the distance.
There. Upper Yard.
Time to pay a visit.
Upper Yard.
Two groups stood locked in battle.
"Kill them!" a young man shouted hoarsely. "Kill the invaders! Take back our homeland!!"
"Watch yourself, Wiper!" a comrade yelled, deflecting a spear that nearly took the youth's head.
"Nola!" Wiper lunged forward, skewering a Skypiean soldier and yanking his friend out of danger.
"Shandian dogs, GET OUT!" a Skypiean officer roared. "This is the land of God! You have no right to set foot here!"
"Hmph." The Shandian chieftain's face twisted in contempt. "This land is our ancestors' home. When did it become yours?"
Gan Fall, mounted on his horse-bird, hovered between them, spear in hand.
"Chieftain, please," he said wearily. "Can't we sit down and talk this out? This pointless fighting only hurts both sides."
"Leave our land," the chieftain said coldly, "and then we'll talk. Until then, there's nothing to say."
"Hah! This land was blessed to us by the heavens," a Skypiean fighter retorted. "Why should we be the ones to leave?"
Gan Fall sighed, gripping his spear tighter.
"It seems," he murmured, "we'll have to settle this by force… again."
"Come, then!" the Shandian chief barked. "We've been fighting for hundreds of years. Today we see who drops first!"
And then—
The world went dark.
Everyone looked up.
Something massive slid quietly between them and the sun.
"W-what is that?!"
Someone fell on his backside, staring up at the sky in horror.
Gan Fall and the Shandian chief stared too, faces turning a shade paler.
"Is that… God?" a Skypiean whispered, staring at the enormous shape blotting out the light.
"I… I don't know…"
Above them, Jin drifted lazily in dragon form, Dragon's Presence rolling out like invisible thunder.
One by one, warriors from both sides collapsed to their knees, forced down by pressure they couldn't understand.
"Who are you?" Gan Fall called up, forcing his voice to stay steady.
He knew how frightening that aura felt. This was no "ordinary" monster.
The Shandian chief grabbed Wiper's shoulder when he tried to rush forward. They had no idea what this creature wanted. Charging at it was suicide.
Jin swept his gaze across the people below.
He spotted the self-styled "God" among the Skypieans, and the brash troublemaker Wiper among the Shandians.
"Let's go," Jin rumbled.
He beat his wings once.
Zan Gao and Kontena dropped off his back, landing neatly between the two armies.
They looked left and right.
"So, who's in charge here?" Zan Gao asked.
"Who the hell are you?" a Skypiean shouted, finally finding his courage now that the big dragon had flown a bit further. "What are you people?"
"Heh… guess nice talk still doesn't work out in this world," Zan Gao said.
"Boss did say," he added, "being too kind doesn't cut it anymore."
As soon as he finished, Kontena raised his pistol.
Bang.
A neat hole appeared in the forehead of the shouting Skypiean.
He toppled over like a cut tree.
"Devi!!" his comrade screamed, rushing to his side.
Both Shandians and Skypieans froze.
The chief and Gan Fall came to the same conclusion at the same time.
They're not here to help anyone.
"I'm the leader," Gan Fall said, stepping forward.
"I am as well," the Shandian chief added, moving beside him.
"Do you gentlemen have business here?"
"It's simple," Zan Gao said, lighting a cigar like he'd just sat down at a bar. "We've taken a liking to your gold.
"So if you don't mind—be good boys and gather it all up in one place for us, will you?"
"Don't be ridiculous!!"
Wiper's temper snapped. He grabbed his bazooka, fired, and a rocket screamed through the air toward the two strangers.
"Too slow," Zan Gao said.
He pointed a finger.
"Shigan."
Boom.
The rocket exploded mid-air, a harmless blossom of fire and smoke.
"Click-click-click…"
More and more Shandians raised their rocket launchers, pointing them straight at Zan Gao and Kontena.
"Guess I really am bad at negotiations," Zan Gao sighed. "Fine. We'll stick to what I'm good at—violence."
"Those who attacked," he said to Kontena, "kill half."
"Understood," Kontena replied calmly.
His pistol barked several times.
Bang-bang-bang-bang.
Every Shandian holding a bazooka dropped where he stood.
The Skypieans were too stunned to even raise their weapons.
"W-what is that thing?!" someone cried, staring at Zan Gao's swelling body.
"Hybrid form," Zan Gao grinned, muscles bulging, fur sprouting, teeth lengthening.
"I'm going in."
The Shandian chief opened his mouth to plead restraint, but Zan Gao had already vanished.
A heartbeat later—
BOOM.
The earth shook as his fist impacted, leaving a crater where several warriors had been.
"Those who start fights," he said, "pay the price."
Kontena stood a little way back, firing methodically.
He didn't like close combat. Why bother when a bullet did the job cleaner?
Every time his gun fired, another Shandian dropped.
"Stop!!" the Shandian chief shouted, finally snapping out of it and rushing forward.
Fear flickered in the eyes of the Shandian warriors as they fell back from the rampaging beast-man.
"Don't move!"
Wiper, still burning with rage, felt cold metal press into his temple.
Click.
"Move another inch," Kontena said quietly, "and I'll send you to meet your ancestors."
"So fast…" Wiper froze, sweating. He'd just seen this man across the field a second ago.
"Stop! Everyone STOP!!" the chief bellowed.
He ran straight to Wiper, grabbing his arm.
On the Skypiean side, men were pale and trembling.
"How can anyone be that strong…?"
Gan Fall let out a slow breath. Thank heavens he hadn't ordered the attack earlier.
"Looks like we can talk now," Zan Gao said, shrinking back to human form, cigar still in his teeth.
The Shandian chief swallowed.
"We'll help you gather the gold," he said, bowing his head stiffly.
"We will as well," Gan Fall added.
"We don't care about your feud," Zan Gao said. "We're just here for the gold.
"Cooperate, and nobody else needs to die. Now—lead the way."
A battered, uneasy crowd led them deeper into the island, toward the legendary City of Gold.
The wounded were carried back by their own men.
When they saw Shandora, both Zan Gao and Kontena forgot to breathe.
A city of towers and streets… all gleaming with the soft, heavy shine of solid gold.
"No wonder the boss said we'd be shocked," Zan Gao muttered, eyes wide.
"Anyone would be," Kontena agreed. "A whole city of gold…"
"You're from the Blue Sea, aren't you?" Gan Fall asked quietly, watching their reactions.
"Blue Sea?" Zan Gao repeated.
"That's what we call the sea below," Gan Fall explained. "The world under the clouds. You came from there, didn't you?"
"Oh. Yeah," Zan Gao said. "We're from the Blue Sea."
"Only Blue Sea-dwellers care this much about gold," Gan Fall said with a wry smile. "To us Sky Islanders, land is much more precious."
He nodded toward the golden ruins.
"But if you want that gold, you'll have to get past him first."
A low rumble shook the ground.
"ROOOOAAARRR!"
The earth heaved.
A massive blue-green serpent burst out from the ruins, body hundreds of meters long.
"It's here—the Lord of the Sky!!"
Panic swept through both Skypieans and Shandians at the sight of the colossal snake.
"Sea King?" Zan Gao tilted his head. "No… just a big snake."
Bang.
Kontena fired a test shot.
A tiny spark bounced off the serpent's scales. That was it.
"You'll have to beat that thing if you want to take any gold," Gan Fall said. He and the Shandian chief both backed away, leaving the field to the newcomers.
After seeing the dragon above, the Lord of the Sky somehow didn't seem that terrifying anymore.
Compared to the creature that had blotted out the sun, this snake was just… big.
"Defenses aren't bad," Kontena observed. "Would make a great tow-beast for a ship down below."
"I'll handle it," Zan Gao said, cracking his knuckles. "After that fight with Diamond Jozu, my Haki leveled up. Let's see if I can crack those scales without using advanced Armament."
He clenched his fists, black Haki swirling over his arms.
"ROOAAARRR!"
The serpent was furious.
Normally, it tolerated these little insects fighting each other as long as they stayed out of its nest.
But today, they'd come stomping into its home and even taken shots at it.
That was too much.
It lunged, jaws opening wide.
"Heh," Zan Gao smiled. "Let's dance."
He kicked off the golden ground.
BOOM.
The floor cratered behind him as he shot upward, feet tapping on the air.
"Look! He's running on the sky!"
The Sky Islanders gaped as Zan Gao Geppo'd up past the serpent's fanged maw and onto the top of its head.
He drew his fist back.
"Go to sleep."
He slammed his punch down with everything he had.
THOOM.
A thunderous impact shook the ruins.
The Lord of the Sky's eyes rolled back. Its body went limp.
"RUUUMBLLLE…"
It crashed down into Shandora with earth-shaking force, the golden streets trembling from the impact.
Zan Gao stood on its head and laughed wildly.
"Hahaha! The boss was right! With Zoan types, you just have to keep fighting and squeezing your body's limits!"
He looked down at his trembling, Haki-covered fist.
"This feels… GREAT!"
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