Chapter 52- The wait

"So... What do we do now? We won't just wait for him, right? I have stuff to do", Law asked. "No, you can go around and explore for a bit until he comes back. You and Chopper should probably search for a local doctor or something. They must have some new medical knowledge you guys can learn, considering how different our environments are", Luffy suggested.

"Fair point", Law and Chopper's curiosity was piqued as they went on their way. Until they ran into some shocked Skypieans and realized that they may have a bigger problem to deal with. "Right, there's that. How are you dealing with the revelation about your god?" Zoro asked the Skypieans with a nonchalant tone of voice. "Damn, Moss Head, you could at least ask them in a gentler way", Sanji reprimanded Zoro.

"Shut up!" Zoro protested. "It's not a new occurrence or anything, I've seen this in practically every kingdom I've been at. It's best to just help them rip off the bandaid now instead of beating around the bush"

"Still, a little subtlety would go a long way in these scenarios" Nami facepalmed. "I beg to differ, anyway, my you haven't answered my question yet", Zoro said. The Skypieans came out of their shocked state and a representative came forward and started speaking. "Thank you for your concern. While we don't like it, there's no denying the truth about our current situation. Enel will probably be back in a couple of hours considering the size of his army. I think we need to do a strategy meeting. It may be true that you are a powerful group, but his forces are numbered around 700 and they are all extremely versatile in the ways of Mantra" {Wiki says he has 700~ men in his army not including him and his priests}

"Mantra?" Usopp asked. "It's a special ability that allows the user to sense their environment in an almost omniscient way. They have no blind spots, and they can see things even if they are not in their line of vision. It's a very fearsome ability" the representative explained. "So it's observation haki", Katakuri commented. "What do you mean?" the representative asked. "Your 'Mantra' is known in the Blue Sea as observation haki, and it is a lot more developed down there. For instance, I can actually see the future with my mastery over observation haki. Or as you call it, Mantra", Katakuri explained as he pieced together the pieces.

"What?!" The representative was flabergasted by this revelation. "Our Mantra is known to the people of the Blue Sea? And their mastery is greater than ours?! How is that possible?". "Haki resides within all living beings. It's not unique to the Skypiean race, and with all the violence and conflict in the Blue Sea, such a valuable asset was developed much faster in order to survive". Katakuri explained.

"I feel cheated... But that doesn't matter, what matters is that we get ready. This war can mean an attack from the Shandians! This is a perfect opportunity for them to attack us." The representative warned. "Who? You know what? It doesn't matter. If they attack we'll finish them off too". Sanji said while lighting a cigar. "You can't possibly fight two armies at once!" The representative exclaimed. "Actually, it's super easy, bearly an inconvenience", Luffy said.

"Oh really? How so?" The representative was curious. "Katakuri alone can probably handle everyone including Enel with only these numbers. And with everyone else also fighting, you can guess what will happen". Luffy said proudly. "But for now, we'll just wait. I'll call you guys when Enel will start approaching, so go wild until then".

The crew split with the still somewhat stressful Skypieans. Chopper and Law went to a local infirmary, Nami and Robin looked for the ancient city as Luffy told them about the Poneglyph and gold that resided there. Brook started playing his violin to cheer up the Skypieans, and the rest flew with Katakui to the ship.

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'Alright, time to call them back' Luffy thought as he sensed Enel moving with his forces, as well as another small force in the distance. Luffy picked up a number of small rocks with notes tied to them, and then he threw them in seemingly random directions with different amounts of force.

*Bonk* "Ow" *Bonk* "Huh?" *Bonk* "That stupid!"...

The rocks hit all the members of the Straw Hat crew, and as they read the note, they all began to head back.

"LUFFY! COULDN'T YOU CALL US IN A NORMAL WAY?!" Nami screamed as a red bruise was present on her head. "Yohohoho, you should be more careful Luffy, that rock would have blinded me in one eye. THAT'S IF I HAD ANY Yohohohoho! But seriously the rock is stuck in my skull now", Brook said. "*Sigh* come here, I'll help you". Law offered his help as he sliced Brook's head with his devil fruit ability. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Robin asked. "Yeah, It's been a while since I've heard his skeleton jokes. I kind of missed them", Luffy replied.

"Alright, gather up! Enel and his 700 men will be here in ten minutes, plus it appears that the Shandians want to use this opportunity for something since they're on the move as well. You can kill Enel and his men, but don't kill any Shandians. I want to settle the business between them and the Skypieans after this, and if you kill any of them it will just be difficult. Now go and destroy them already!" Luffy said as he walked back to a viewpoint he found earlier.

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Hey guys, how was your holidays? I just returned yesterday from a really long trip in the desert with my family and it was a blast. Anyway, the COVID results came back negative, but I had to miss out on something very important because they were late so that's really annoying. Anyway, hope you enjoyed.