Chapter 97

At an incredible speed, Prominence sailed for a whole day in a straightforward fashion, following along the rapid flow of the sea clouds.

After the prolonged travel up in the sky, Prominence finally reached a small island cloud, after having gone from the original altitude of 15 thousand feet to 10 thousand feet. Upon arriving,

"Who are you?!!"

That was the first thing Rowan and his crew heard upon arrival. With Prominence now lying on top of the bouncy island cloud, Rowan found him and his crew facing one man, who was wearing a lab coat and round glasses.

Said man's whole body was shaking in nervousness as he pointed a wooden stick at them, "D-don't come any closer! Damn, if only I had dials...!"

With a slight amusement on his face, Rowan ran his fingers through his hair as he spoke up, "Hey-"

As Rowan took a step forward, the man jolted fearfully and shrieked, "I-I said don't come any closer!!!"

Subsequently, the outstretched section of the wooden stick in the man's hands suddenly turned steely and sharp like a blade, causing Rowan and his crew to briefly express their surprise.

"What?" Dan exclaimed in a confused tone, "How can a wooden stick turn into a blade like that?!"

Robin's eyes widened upon the sight, "Without a doubt, that ability... it's the one that belonged to Mr.1 previously."

Cavendish seemed interested as he turned his attention to his sheathed sword, "Are you saying that even an object can attain a devil fruit power?!"

Rowan too was quite appealed by the thought spoken by Cavendish. The use of gauntlets or gloves—which he abandoned years ago—suddenly seemed to be a great way to augment his strength.

'Per say,' Rowan thought as he resumed to step towards the man, whose eyes shook fearfully before beginning to hack the wooden-stick-sword towards him, 'a gauntlet with a devil fruit that is compatible with my Bounce Bounce fruit, such as... More More fruit that I read about from the encyclopedia.'

*Swoosh* *Swoosh*

"S-stoppp!!!!" The man sluggishly swung the sword at Rowan, who dodged it with the slightest movement even without bothering to pay any attention.

Immediately after, Rowan simply reached his hand out and grabbed the sharp blade with his thumb and index fingers half-heartedly, "Calm down. Whoever you may be, we're not trying to kill you or anything."

Under the dumbfounded gaze of the man, Rowan flicked the wooden-stick-sword, causing it to fly out of the man's grasp and land on the nearby cloud.

"Let's have some chat, shall we?"

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After some time has passed, Rowan, his crew, and the man, now known as Pogo, were relaxing nearby a very small-sized house after the commotion has settled down.

"You see, this used to be a small prison cloud that entrapped me due to my crimes." Pogo spoke dejectedly, "I was on verge of dying with no food and water."

"Prison cloud?" Dan scratched his head, "This doesn't seem as small as you say."

Carina nodded as she turned back to gaze at the large body of Prominence at their back, "I agree."

"Yes. During my moments of life and death, a miraculous event occurred for me." Pogo replied with tearful eyes, "A sudden eruption of water blast all the way from the blue sea. Somehow, that current enlarged this island cloud, and provided me with all sorts of necessities I needed. I've never been more thankful before, and decided to name this enlarged island as such: Cloudia."

Hearing the Pogo words, Rowan's face turned serious, "This implies that the stream of water we traveled along from the Sprout is discontinued; if we are to assume that we were supposed to encounter an actual island cloud instead of a drifting cloud like this..."

"Birka." Pogo said solemnly, earning Rowan's attention, "An island that used to harbour many numbers of strong warriors. The stream you were travelling through—Birka is supposed to be your destination. Sadly, it no longer exists, due to having earned god's wrath."

Meanwhile, Carina was carefully observing the Log Pose strapped on her wrist, "Strange. As far as I know, the clouds generate no magnetic field for Log Pose to lock on. Yet..."

The needle of the Log Pose was pointing horizontally, indicating that there is a sky island with a magnetic field.

"Haa," Pogo sighed, "I wonder how far away I've drifted from Skypiea, for me to come all the way to where Birka used to be located."

"Tch, what a letdown." Dan clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Thought we're going to get some wholesome experience in the sky, but it turns out that we've simply landed on a prison cloud by chance."

"It's too early to say that, Dan." Rowan chuckled before turning to Carina, "We still have a lead for what may potentially be a sky island.

"Are we leaving immediately?" Carmen asked as she examined the crops that were growing on top of the clouds with an interest.

Rowan nodded in agreement. Turning back to Pogo, he asked, "Want a ride? Can't guarantee you if it's going to be a sky island, but we can take you to the next island for giving us the information."

Pogo shook his head with a pale face, "N-no thanks. I'd rather stay here than risk facing more troubles."

Rowan shrugged, "Suit yourself."

Pogo watched in curiosity as Rowan and his crew got aboard the Prominence, and wondered just how they are planning to move away from this isolated island cloud, especially since it already drifted away from the discontinued stream of sea clouds they've traveled through.

*BOOM*

At the next moment, Pogo found his jaw dropped as a loud booming noise resonated across the whole area and Prominence began to levitate from the island cloud.

"How is that possible?" Pogo muttered in awe as slowly raised his right hand and waved back at Rowan, who waved his hand to him.

Subsequently, the large wings sprouted from Prominence's sides, giving the ship a majestic view with the sun shining above and the clouds floating below.

"Have a great life, Pogo." With Rowan's parting words, the engine on Prominence's back began to blast, propelling the ship forward at a rapid pace.

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[Upper Yard, Skypiea]

Up high on the island cloud that is penetrated by a giant beanstalk named Giant Jack, four individuals, all with the notable pair of white wings on their back, were seen to be kneeling down in front of one man.

Said man had a tall height of approximately 266cm. He was wearing a white skullcap on his head, and upon his back, a large gray ring with four wooden drums was attached. He was lying down on cushion-like furniture, with his left hand supporting his head up.

"Ark Maxim has been completed." The man spoke up in a bored tone, "My return to the Fairy Vearth is determined, however... I'm bored."

His eyes swept through the four priests who silently bowed down in front of him, before reaching to his right and grabbing a fresh apple.

"*Munch* Hmm, should I simply destroy just as I did with Birka? No, that would be anti-climactic." The man munched on an apple as he spoke half-heartedly, before a smile began to creep up on his face, "Or... a huge war, involving all three factions of Skypieans, Shandorians, and god's army. Now that sounds entertaining."

"So... what did you call us here for, god Enel?" One priest with a bald head spoke up, "Please do let us know."

The man, now identified as Enel, grinned as he gulped down the apple, "Do whatever you want on this island. Everything has been completed—I have no further use for Skypiea."

"If that's your command, it shall be done-" The bald priest stopped in midst of his words, as Enel suddenly stood up from his spot with an excited gleam all of a sudden.

"Ho, how intriguing..." Enel whispered as his eyes gazed at the empty space ahead, "A ship that can fly just like ark Maxim, to think that was possible..."

In the next moment, under the watch of the four priests, Enel's body transformed into bright lightning, before suddenly zapping away from the scene, leaving them astonished.

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[Mock Town, Jaya]

"*Huff* *Huff*" Ace was standing with his left arm broken and the blood covering his right eye, as he stood at some distance away from Teach, who was seen to be on his knees and holding the large bleeding hole on his stomach with his right hand, with a clear agony on his wrinkled face.

"*Cough*" Teach vomited blood from his mouth as he weakly spoke up, "How... are you, who awoke the Conqueror's Haki just a few months ago... able to use... an infusion of Conqueror's Haki?"

Teach miscalculated. Ace's strength and talent far outclassed his expectation. Ace, with the combination of his devil fruit ability, an advanced mastery of Armament Haki known as an emission, and an advanced mastery of Conqueror's Haki known as an infusion, displayed his incredible durability and landed detrimental blows that dealt severe damages to Teach.

However, Ace was of no exception. He too was shocked by how much Teach was capable of; Ace was currently having trouble in maintaining his consciousness, with most of his Haki depleted.

"This..." Ace raised his right arm, which was shaking from extreme stress, before encasing it in steel and Armament Haki for the final blow, "...shall be the last."

Still unable to move from his position due to the pain and exhaustion of his body, Teach's eyes widened in horror as he witnessed Ace slowly walking towards him.

"*Cough* N-no, Ace, l-let's sort this out. Haha, c-commander. You won't do this to your subordinate, r-right?" Teach, while in pain, spoke out desperately.

*Tap* *Tap*

Ignoring Teach's plea, Ace continued to walk towards Teach with his eyes glaring at the latter murderously. However,

*Bang*

A gunshot was fired, and Ace widened his eyes before mustering all his strength to harden his forehead and encase it with Armament Haki, blocking a sharp bullet that was shot at him.

*CLANG*

A loud, metallic noise was heard, and Ace, who used all of his remaining strengths to block the bullet, collapsed on the ground, having gone unconscious.

Teach watched the sight with widened eyes, before making a slight grin as his eyes traveled to the back and sighted Van Augur, whose sniper gun was smoking.

"Zehaha..." Teach laughed weakly as the blood flowed out from his mouth, "Well done... Van Augur..."

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[Drum Kingdom, Drum Island]

Within the island full of snow, one man with a long nose, curly hair, and a cloak that covered his body, Usopp, was staring at the sky with fascination on his face.

"This is snow, huh?" Usopp remarked as he outstretched his hand, and flinched slightly as his hand came in contact with the snowflakes.

In the next moment, various footsteps were heard from his back, causing Usopp's eyes to sharpen immediately.

"State yourself, foreigner!" One man spoke up firmly as an adequate number of people surrounded Usopp with their guns pointed at him.

However, to their surprise, Usopp simply broke into a grin, "Me? I'm the brave warrior of the sea, Usopp!"

"Usopp?" The man who stood at the front narrowed his eyes, "Are you a pirate? What's your purpose for coming here?"

"Of course. I'm willing to tell. But..." Usopp's easygoing attitude suddenly took a 180-degree turn, as his eyes flashed dangerously, and his cloak opened, revealing countless number of slingshot-like weapons all around his body, "Why don't you let those weapons down first?"