As established earlier, the flow of time in the One Piece world differed from that of the Shinobi World—a reality Shiraishi was fully aware of.
Three months later, Jaya Island...
Jaya Island and the Sky Island floating high above were originally parts of the same landmass, shaped like a giant skull.
Four hundred years ago, a massive Knock Up Stream blasted half of Jaya into the upper atmosphere, carrying along its native inhabitants, wildlife, and ancient ruins.
The portion thrust into the heavens formed the upper half and face of the skull, while the remnant left on the ocean surface comprised the skull's jaw and teeth.
After the Shukaku dropped anchor off Jaya Island, Shiraishi organized the crew to procure large-scale supplies and carry out extensive structural upgrades to their vessel.
"Upgrading the ship... is your target Sky Island?"
Ace possessed a passing knowledge of the legends surrounding Sky Island. When Luffy had eventually gone on his grand adventure in Skypiea, Ace had already been captured and incarcerated in Impel Down, so he had never learned the details of Luffy's journey there.
However, as a former core member of the Whitebeard Pirates who had sailed the Grand Line in his youth, Ace had certainly heard rumors of the legendary island in the clouds. Naturally, he stepped forward to ask whether that was indeed their current destination.
"Stopping at Jaya serves two purposes: carrying out major modifications to our ship, and making a trip to Sky Island to secure a very specific Devil Fruit."
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit (Goro Goro no Mi) was currently resting in the sky city of Birka. As the undisputed strongest Logia Devil Fruit, Shiraishi had locked his sights on it long ago. Acquiring it now would yield unexpected dividends for his long-term strategic setup.
Shiraishi let out a subtle smile as he stepped forward: "Ace, since your Flame-Flame Fruit powers have been completely restored, do you think the Ace native to this timeline will still end up obtaining it?"
The question caught Ace off guard; he had genuinely never considered that paradox.
"The future Ace of this world... probably won't get the Flame-Flame Fruit..."
"Which is why this journey to Sky Island is also a gift I plan to leave behind as compensation for the other version of you."
Besides the Fruit... there is also the massive stash of gold...
Shiraishi's ongoing ship overhaul was specifically designed to reinforce the hull so it could carry an absurd payload of treasure.
Four hundred years ago, Mont Blanc Noland and his crew took shelter from a fierce storm on Jaya Island, ultimately saving the Shandian tribe from a devastating tree-fever epidemic and ending their horrific tradition of human sacrifice.
In doing so, Noland forged an unbreakable bond of friendship with the great warrior Kalgara.
Although Noland saved the Shandians, his crew felled their sacred trees during the quarantine process, causing the tribe to mistakenly brand them as sacrilegious criminals who violated their traditional beliefs.
After Kalgara drove them away, he learned from his daughter Musse the true medical reason behind the logging, leaving him deeply remorseful for failing to bid Noland a proper farewell.
Later, upon landing on Green Bit, Noland stood up for the Tontatta tribe as they suffered under human oppression, restoring peace to their community. To honor Noland's benevolence, the Tontatta built a grand statue in his memory.
In Sea Calendar Year 1127, Noland returned to Jaya under the King's orders to retrieve the legendary gold. By then, half of Jaya had already been launched into the White-White Sea.
Unable to locate the City of Gold, Noland was condemned for treason and executed, forever branded history's greatest liar.
Before his execution, Noland theorized that the City of Gold had sunk to the ocean floor due to tectonic shifts, but no one was willing to listen to a condemned man.
His descendants were still active in the present era, endlessly diving into the waters near Jaya in a desperate bid to prove the existence of the City of Gold.
Shiraishi, however, had no intention of making contact with them. He dispatched crew members across Jaya to collect literature and meteorological logs regarding the region's rising thermal currents, studying the local climate thoroughly.
Shiraishi was in no hurry to rush straight into the sky. Having spent three straight months navigating the seas to reach Jaya, the crew needed a period of rest and recuperation, as well as an opportunity to analyze the current political climate across the Grand Line.
Gol D. Roger was continuing his relentless push toward the final island. Meanwhile, Whitebeard and Golden Lion Shiki had recently engaged in a brief clash in the New World.
Because Shiki now had a ship's wheel lodged firmly inside his skull, his combat effectiveness had plummeted drastically, leaving him unable to pose a genuine threat to Whitebeard. Though Whitebeard repelled him easily, he showed no interest in pursuing the crippled pirate.
"Redfield remains a lone wolf, Shiki's strength has fallen off, Roger's ambitions lie elsewhere, and Whitebeard's expansion is deliberately restrained. Before the onset of the Great Pirate Era, the Marines still maintain a comfortable advantage."
In truth, after Roger's eventual arrest, the fact that both Shiki and Redfield subsequently fell at Impel Down proved that the Marines leveraged Roger's capture to craft a trap, forcing those two grand pirates off the historical stage.
Even Whitebeard—hailed as the World's Strongest Man—would ultimately fall in the Summit War years down the line.
Perhaps for Fleet Admiral Kong, Sengoku, and their peers, ending the remnants of that previous era was the ultimate mission of their generation. That factor played a significant role in Sengoku resigning as Fleet Admiral after Whitebeard's demise.
"Speaking of which... based on my analysis, the inhabitants of Sky Island are actually descendants of people from the Moon..."
Mentioning "Moon People" naturally brought the Otsutsuki clan to Shiraishi's mind. Coincidentally, this world possessed its own enigmatic lunar civilization.
At such high altitudes, the atmosphere on Sky Island was exceptionally thin, causing the physical attributes of visiting Blue Sea natives to drop drastically.
A portion of Sky Island's residents bore two feather-like wings on their backs. In truth, both the Shandians and the inhabitants of Angel Island were descendants of lunar dwellers who migrated down to the Blue Planet after their home world ran out of resources.
These "Angels" lived comfortably by utilizing the unique clouds and dials of the White-White Sea. Their supreme leader was designated as "God," a position traditionally decided through elections—until Enel's eventual arrival in the future...
Hearing about lunar beings made Uchiha Madara shake his head. He seemed to harbor a lingering curiosity regarding the history of the Otsutsuki clan. After a brief explanation from Shiraishi, realization dawned on Madara's face.
"So that immense ocular aura back then was the power of the Tenseigan..."
Madara still felt a lingering dread when recalling the vast ocular power Shiraishi had exerted during their very first meeting, leaving him deeply wary of off-world entities.
In particular, after learning the full truth regarding Kaguya and the alien Otsutsuki, Madara's primary urge was to return to their original world immediately and eliminate Black Zetsu once and for all...
Although he had pulled a similar string on Obito, realizing he himself had been manipulated like a pawn made the Pride of the Uchiha intensely furious.
Sky Island's endless gold and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit were both targets Shiraishi could not afford to pass up.
Meanwhile, on the Marines' side, learning that the Sunagakure Pirates had anchored at Jaya Island to rest and refit brought a collective sigh of relief to the upper brass.
Fleet Admiral Kong skimmed through the intelligence reports delivered by Cipher Pol. Various gathered leads suggested that the Sunagakure Pirates were attempting to search for the mythical "City of Gold" on Jaya Island—a detail that amused the Marine leadership.
It went to show that no matter how strong they were, the Sunagakure Pirates were still fundamentally greenhorn rookies. Only naive rookies would actually buy into absurd, unsubstantiated folklore like the City of Gold!
Since they were intent on wasting time chasing fairy tales, the Marines redirected their operational focus toward other active pirate crews.
"Garp, I'll need you to continue monitoring Roger and his crew's movements in the New World."
Munching aggressively on rice crackers, Garp grumbled with an irritated, puffed-up face: "Hmph! This old man would much rather go give that Shiraishi brat a proper thrashing!"
"No throwing tantrums!"
"Fine..."
Kong was half a mentor to Garp, so even the legendary Hero didn't dare act too brazenly in front of the Fleet Admiral. Though had it been his close friend Sengoku giving the order... heh, this old man wouldn't give a damn.