Chapter 55- The rise of an empire

As the Straw Hats arrived in Skypiea, they saw the crowds gather. Apparently, while they were gone, the news about them going to the holy land and judge the long-standing conflict spread like wildfire.

"Time to begin the show," Luffy said as he shrank his arm, making everyone on top of it fall. "Luffy, what the hell?! Warn us next time!" Sanji complained as he rubbed his rear in surprise. "I would, but then it wouldn't be fun." Luffy retorted. "Do you have the mental capacity of a 10-year-old?" Wyper said in annoyance, "When I feel like it, yes," Luffy answered.

"Give up, he's just enjoying this." Nami sighed. "I won't deny it," Luffy confirmed, "But now for the serious matter." Silence spread among the crew and crowd as the debate was about to start.

"So, we went to your holy land, and the Shandians are completely in the right," Luffy said. "Impossible!" There was an objection almost immediately from the Skypieans. "That land was gifted by God! You can't disprove that!" They shouted. "I've seen your god, and he lacks the power or ability to move up an island. No offense, but your requirements for godhood aren't that strict." Luffy said the agitated Skypieans.

"That doesn't disprove that an ancient, powerful, god didn't do it!" The Skypieans insisted. "No, but you can't prove he did either. Besides, I think I have a more accurate theory." Nami chimed in, "There's a legend of a golden city in the blue sea, and in its location was near the island of Jaya, which is almost right beneath us. And in Jaya, there's supposed to be an extremely strong water current that erupts from the sea upwards. You can guess where I'm going with this." She continued.

"Yohohoho! How do you know such a legend?" Brook asked in curiosity "Do you really think I wouldn't know about a legend of a city of gold?" Nami asked. "But you were surprised when we witnessed it right?" He asked. "It took me a little while to connect the dots" Nami explained. "Huh, and about the water stream?" {Look I forgot the name and I'm feeling too lazy to google it.} "It's basically Jaya's selling point, so when I remembered the legend I thought of it" Nami stated. "Well done!" Luffy praised her.

"Thank you!" She beamed. "But back to the argument, I think my point is a lot better than some hypothetical god" Nami concluded. "But... We still can't accept this! It is supposed to be a land for our god! A religious place! Even if it was not brought by god, it is still his land" The Skypieans said. "I have a solution for that", Luffy drew all the attention to himself, "though I'll have to become your god."

"...WHAT?!" Everyone besides Luffy's crew shouted since the Straw Hats knew something like this was bound to happen. "I support the young man" an old knight walked out of the crowd. "Thank you, sir?" Luffy asked the knight for his name. "My name is Gan Fall, the god of Skypiea before Enel" he announced.

"And why do you see me fit for the position?" Luffy asked in curiosity as he did not know Gan Fall's reason for supporting him. "First of all, you beat the previous god in combat, which is how Enel took the position from me so you can already claim the position. Secondly, with you, we can open ourselves to the blue sea, which was a goal I personally strived to achieve as a god. Isolation will do us nothing but harm as seen with Enel's conquest" Gan Fall explained in a relaxed manner.

"So what do you think?" Luffy asked the Skypieans. "...The Knight of the sky made good points, but a person from the blue sea being our god is ridiculous," the Skypieans said. "But the position isn't really one of a god right? I mean you just pass the role of God to the strongest among you, like Gan Fall and Enel, and you also change them with no problem. So the position is more like a leader than a god, and you don't really pray to your god either. The more I say the weirder I find it", Luffy began to rant.

"Ok, ok. But even if you put it that way, an outsider like you, even with all that you've done, being our leader is still not acceptable" the Skypieans insisted. "He has support from us," Wyper stated in an attempt to help Luffy. "See? If you choose me, I can help calm down this war between you and the Shandians that lasted tens of years" Luffy made another point. "Ugh, fine. We'll vote on it." The Skypieans agreed to make a public vote.

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Luffy won the vote with a majority since he contributed so much and the fact that there wasn't another solid pick for the role.

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"As my first command, I'm giving the Shandians back their land as they deserve it" Luffy declared to the public. There wasn't any surprise since he was so adamant about it before, and the Skypieans accepted that this will happen, so the process was completed smoothly.

"What now, Luffy? Do we declare that Skypiea is now our territory?" Law asked. "Why only Skypiea? We have a monopoly on the White-White sea, why not use it? For now, we will go and make all the sky islands our territory. It will give us a huge force and special resources and technology. We'll make an empire right above the World Government's nose!"

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Hey guys, nothing to rant about today, so I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next chap.