Chapter 105

After the New Year's Eve bell rang, Jessica flew to eight islands early the next morning. She also visited the Gate of Heaven, Apayado, and Vine Island, where vines grow.

After touching each island, Jessica activated her Lion Devil Fruit ability(Neko Neko no Mi).

A total of ten islands, after a tremor, separated completely from the Blue Sea and the White Sea.

The eight sky islands together were the size of two land-based structures. Adding Apayado and Vine Island, it made four large islands in total. This was no challenge for Jessica.

All the islanders were strictly forbidden from moving near the island's edge but were free to move around the island itself.

Since they planned to move the islands to the Calm Belt at the end of the first half of the Grand Line, the route would also pass through the Calm Belt, where no one from the Blue Sea could see them.

This time, the sky islands were going to shrink completely into the Calm Belt. A new island would either be discovered or created at the edge of the Grand Line to serve as a gateway to the sky islands.

On the White-White Sea, they needed to sail into the Calm Belt. Ten kilometers into the Calm Belt, a large Cloud River would be constructed.

Two kilometers above the White-White Sea, which is nine kilometers above the Blue Sea, the Gate of Heaven would be placed.

All the sky islands were floating one kilometer above the White Sea at this time. Vine Island had already left the Blue Sea and was now floating above the White Sea.

Since Apayado was still above the vines, they needed to be careful not to damage them.

The vines were massive, but their roots were not very large. The entire Vine Island had essentially been uprooted from the seabed, ensuring that the vines wouldn't be broken.

Now, Apayado was sitting at an altitude of more than 20,000 meters.

The reason for all this was that Arthur was preparing to move the sky islands to a different Calm Belt in the south.

This Calm Belt was closer to Fish-Man Island, and the Great Undersea Prison, Impel Down, was also located on the edge of this Calm Belt.

Following the large whirlpool, the Marine Headquarters, Marineford, was nearby.

So, the Calm Belt between the South Blue and the Grand Line was better suited to Arthur's future plans. It would also help with other goals he had in mind.

Within two days, the sky islands crossed the Grand Line from the White Sea to another Calm Belt on the Grand Line.

It would take another four or five days to reach the desired location.

Four days later, nearly a thousand kilometers away from their previously explored location, Vine Island was repositioned beneath the White-White Sea, now floating only three kilometers above the Blue Sea.

Over the past few days, due to a lack of water, the vines had lost some of their emerald color and were turning slightly yellow.

Alarmed, Arthur quickly told Jessica to lower Vine Island into the Calm Belt so its lower part could soak in the sea. He gave up the idea of flying directly to their destination at a high altitude.

Because of this, Arthur sat at the edge of Vine Island, using his Observation Haki to monitor the ocean below.

This was to prevent the giant Sea Kings in the Calm Belt from colliding with the island, so Arthur remained on Vine Island, ready to use his Conqueror's Haki to scare them off if needed.

The Sea Kings in the Calm Belt were enormous and territorial. Many lived together with others of the same species. If any of them felt that the island floating above them was invading their territory, it could lead to a dangerous encounter.

These Sea Kings were massive, some ranging from several kilometers to ten kilometers in length. They could do serious damage to the island.

Thankfully, Arthur had anticipated this.

There were indeed giant Sea Kings that had either just woken up or felt disturbed by the huge shadow overhead. Some were even coming up to bask in the sun, only to find an island blocking their way.

After only 300 kilometers of travel, with over 4,000 kilometers still to go, they encountered a group of Sea Kings.

These Sea Kings, each with snake-like bodies about 7,000 meters long, let out loud roars, and one was ready to attack.

Fortunately, Arthur released his Conqueror's Haki in time, scaring them off.

If Arthur hadn't been there, the lower part of Vine Island might have been destroyed, and the roots of the vines severely damaged.

Since people were living on the eight sky islands and Apayado, which was connected to Vine Island by the vines, their flying speed was slow. They could only travel about a thousand kilometers each day.

In this Calm Belt, it took two days to cover more than 2,000 kilometers, with almost 3,000 kilometers still left to the destination.

After another half day of travel, a red ship was seen slowly sailing on the Calm Belt. Since there is no wind in the Calm Belt, it was clear that this ship wasn't being driven by wind.

Sure enough, there were two massive pythons, each about 150 meters long, pulling the ship forward by moving alongside its hull.

A flag with a skull wrapped in a serpent resembling the sun was hanging from the mast, although it didn't wave because there was no wind.

This was a pirate ship, but unusually, all the crew members were women, varying greatly in size and appearance, some beautiful, some not.

Among the women stood one wearing a Marine cloak of justice, a garment typically reserved for the Marines.

This ship belonged to Boa Hancock, the Pirate Empress, famed as the most beautiful woman in the world.

Onboard, the female crew were laughing and chatting, discussing their recent haul. One of the women suddenly looked into the distance, something catching her attention. She quickly grabbed a pair of binoculars to take a closer look.

Pop~

The binoculars slipped from her hands, the lenses shattering as they hit the deck.

The sound drew the attention of the other crew members.

"What's wrong, Green?" asked a tall female crew member with extremely long legs, standing nearly four meters tall, eyeing her suspiciously.

Green, the woman who had been looking through the binoculars, responded in a trembling voice, "There's… there's a giant island with vines reaching the sky… floating on the sea!"

"Huh?" The long-legged crew member frowned and glanced in the direction Green was pointing. The other women, who had stopped talking after hearing this, also turned to look.

"What is that?" The crew spotted a faint line on the horizon where the sky met the sea, but it was too far away to make out what it was. A woman took out another pair of binoculars and peered into the distance.

"Ah, what is that? Is that island… drifting?"

One by one, the crew members looked through the binoculars, and each was shocked.

An island with enormous vines wasn't so unusual, given the many strange islands and phenomena in the world. But the fact that such a large island, with vines stretching to the sky, was moving quickly toward them was alarming.

The crew members who hadn't yet seen it grabbed the binoculars from their companions, and soon their jaws dropped in surprise.

After a while, the line on the horizon became clearer, growing thicker and closer. A tall woman with green hair and an unusually large head ran into the cabin, panicked.

"Big sister! Big sister! Come out and see! A massive island with sky-reaching vines is headed straight for us! I'm afraid it might crash into our ship!"

Slapslapslap~

The sound of high heels echoed as a two-meter-tall woman walked out of the cabin.

The crew, who had been panicking or trying to stay calm, instantly screamed like devoted fans.

"Ah~ Master Snake Princess! She's so beautiful, I can't breathe!" they cried as the woman stepped fully into the sunlight.

It was Boa Hancock, the Pirate Empress, a woman whose beauty was said to be divine. Anyone who faced her would be eager to do anything for her.

At that moment, she appeared to have been woken up from a midday nap, looking particularly annoyed. Her face was slightly gloomy, and she frowned, clearly displeased.

Yet, even in her irritation, her allure was undeniable.

After stepping out of the cabin, Hancock stared at the approaching vines and frowned in confusion.

Meanwhile, on Vine Island, Arthur focused on sensing the area around the island using Observation Haki, but he hadn't yet noticed the presence of the Kuja Pirates, who were still about a hundred kilometers away.

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