Chapter 49: Birka

Thanks to Noah's insight, the Shandians finally reconsidered their views on Montblanc Noland.

Although Noland had helped them eradicate the plague of the Great Tree, he also made the existence of Shandora's gold known to the world. If it weren't for the Knock-Up Stream that sent Shandora into the sky, the Shandians would have likely faced extinction by now.

At this point, the Shandians had let go of their obsession with the so-called promise and gave up the idea of ringing the Golden Bell. As for the ancient Poneglyph, the Shandians entrusted it to Noah. Such an object was far too dangerous—if the World Government ever discovered it, they would stop at nothing to seize it, even if it was hidden in the Sky Island.

After settling the Shandians, Noah appointed the Shandian chief, Gan Fall, and the leader of the Skypieans as advisors at the governor's mansion on Lion Island, to assist him in managing the Sky Governor's District of the paradise.

Once everything was in order, Noah took Shiki and Ari on a journey toward Birka, while Tommy stayed behind as acting governor at the mansion on Lion Island.

Birka was located south of Angel Island, about 322 kilometers away. The Nautilus set sail toward Birka at full speed.

Within just a few hours, Birka's outline came into view. Compared to Angel Island, Birka was much smaller, with a population of less than 1,500. It was a barren place, lacking the Knock-Up Stream beneath it like Jaya Island had; instead, it was located near the Calm Belt of the South Blue.

When the Birkans saw the approaching Nautilus, they immediately swarmed around it.

Noah, without hesitation, unleashed his Conqueror's Haki.

In an instant, Birka's so-called god and his priest forces were crushed under the weight of Noah's overwhelming willpower. They paid dearly for their greed.

Looking at the trembling Birkans, Noah noted that their wings were noticeably larger than those of the Skypieans on Angel Island.

"Ari, go bring Mary here," Noah ordered.

"Got it, big bro," Ari replied, opening a portal and vanishing from the deck.

Moments later, the portal reopened, and Ari appeared with Mary by his side.

"Mary, I'll leave the interrogation to you."

Mary sighed, a bit exasperated. "What a hassle... another thousand people to go through."

Soon enough, the Noah family took control of the entire Birka and began a full-scale transformation of the island. Of course, they also started the search for the hidden Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

However, Noah didn't find the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in the Birka temple. Instead, he uncovered a treasure trove of technological blueprints left behind by the Birkans' ancestors, the Lunarians. Among the designs was the blueprint for a spaceship known as Ark Maxim.

Noah took these blueprints very seriously.

While Ark Maxim required an immense amount of electrical power—something only the Rumble-Rumble Fruit could fully optimize—it didn't mean the Noah family couldn't make use of it. Thanks to Ari's advanced mastery of the Graphite-Graphite Fruit, they had developed graphene batteries with incredible energy storage capacity.

If they didn't build a large Ark Maxim, but a medium-sized version, they could power it with graphene batteries, wind turbines, and airbags. This combination would allow long-distance air travel.

This was far more versatile than relying on a single Ark Maxim, and safer than using floating wooden ships powered by the Float-Float Fruit. After all, the floating ability depended entirely on Shiki's devil fruit powers. If anything were to happen to him, the ships would be rendered useless.

Thus, mass-producing medium-sized Ark Maxims for the family's control of Sky Island as a core transport channel was a priority.

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Three days later, Noah stood in the temple, facing a defiant Enel.

Enel, who had been captured by the Sky Knights two days ago, was still rebellious. At 23 years old, Enel's worldview was already more or less set. If it weren't for the fact that Enel hadn't yet committed any serious crimes and had been the victim of bullying on Birka, Noah would have executed him without hesitation.

Noah turned to Mary. "Give him a chance. Send him to the training camp. If he still refuses to change, send him to his next life."

Enel flinched at Noah's words.

Mary nodded and reported on her recent work. "Noah, the worst of the criminals in Birka have been eliminated. A total of 28 people were executed."

Noah flipped through the investigation report and saw that even Birka's so-called god had been among those eliminated. He wasn't surprised.

After all, the atmosphere in Birka was highly hostile toward outsiders, especially those without wings. Without the god leading by example, the people of Birka wouldn't have dared to act so brazenly.

In Mary's investigation, it was revealed that the god of Birka had not only oppressed the wingless but also, under the pretense of limited resources, expelled Birkans over 50 years old. This policy had been in effect for over thirty years.

While Birka was indeed a barren place, it wasn't so destitute that it couldn't support a few dozen elderly citizens. However, as the ruler, the god enjoyed special privileges and thus siphoned resources from the rest of the population.

Such was the harsh reality.

Noah felt no sympathy or remorse for eliminating such individuals.

As Mary dragged Enel away from the temple, Ari awkwardly stepped inside.

"Noah, we still haven't found the Rumble-Rumble Fruit."

"Not in Birka, huh?" Noah pondered for a moment before recalling something. "Go investigate the area where Birka conducts its Cloud Execution. Focus your search there."

"Cloud Execution area? I'll head there immediately."

The reason Noah believed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit might be in that area was due to Enel's low status in Birka. The place where Enel later found the fruit was likely either within Birka or in the surrounding White-White Sea.

Since they hadn't found the fruit around Birka, the most likely location was where Enel had been sentenced to Cloud Execution.

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Two days later, Ari returned to the temple, carrying a small chest.

"Noah, we found it! The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was hidden in the Cloud Execution area. We discovered it aboard the remnants of a 200-year-old ship, concealed in a secret compartment."

Noah opened the chest and gazed at the golden Rumble-Rumble Fruit, a smile creeping onto his face.

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was one of the strongest Logia-type fruits, ranking among the very best. It granted incredible speed, on par with the Glint-Glint Fruit, but with even greater flexibility. Its offensive power was terrifying, and its utility unmatched.

If it weren't for the fact that Enel, in the original timeline, had never mastered Armament Haki or prioritized physical training, his strength would have been far greater.

As for the fact that Enel had been defeated by Luffy, that was merely a result of the protagonist's plot armor. Without Armament Haki or Observation Haki, even Luffy's immunity to electricity wouldn't have been enough to defeat Enel.

After all, Enel possessed exceptional Observation Haki and could turn his body into pure lightning. Lightning wasn't like sand that could be neutralized with water—it was practically invincible.

Luffy's victory over Enel was simply a matter of plot convenience.

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