With a single command from the chieftain, the entire village sprang into action.
"Move it, move it, move it! Grab your weapons! You, hurry up, don't slow us down!"
The chieftain shouted as he made rounds around the village, calling every warrior of the Shandians to gather.
The situation was urgent, there was no time to verify whether the news was accurate. As long as there was even a sliver of possibility, he had to seize it.
True to its war-hardened nature, the village responded with incredible speed. It took less than three minutes from the chieftain's command for over a hundred warriors to fully assemble.
"Warriors of Shandia! We've just received word, Gan Fall has provoked a formidable enemy from the Blue Sea and is now entangled in battle with him.
The shrine is left unguarded. This is our moment, our chance to reclaim Shandora is today!"
With urgency in his voice and no time to waste on long speeches, the chieftain raised his hand high.
"Move out!"
"Ohhh! Tear down the shrine! Take back Shandora!"
. . .
Southeast of Upper Yard, where the Pufferfish floated.
"Ah! Papa, look over there! That's a huge snake!"
Glancing down at the forest below, Amelia caught sight of something massive and cried out, nudging Nick beside her.
"Yeah! Could that be one of those Sea Kings... but in the Sky Sea?"
"With a body that size, how much would it even have to eat in a day?"
Others quickly noticed Nola as well and began to murmur among themselves.
"Oh, it's the Captain and the others! Quick, lower the Pufferfish a bit!"
As Nola grew closer, Dan spotted Ashen and his group atop the giant snake's head and gave the order.
Moments later, the Pufferfish descended to just two meters above the ground, while Nola arrived beneath it.
Splash!
As Ashen and the others leapt down, Nola could hold it no longer. He vomited all the gold he'd swallowed, his jaw was about to snap from the strain of keeping it in.
At a rough estimate, the gold amounted to just under ten tons, which could be exchanged for roughly thirty billion Berries.
Ashen frowned slightly, the haul was a bit underwhelming. He had expected a much larger stash, assuming that without Enel's constant looting, the gold reserves would be intact.
But the truth was quite different. Most of Shandora's gold had been thinly coated over buildings.
It looked like a lot, but the actual weight wasn't impressive. The truly heavy items were statues, tools, and other gold artifacts hidden in the ruins.
And Shandora's craftsmanship wasn't particularly advanced. The purity of the gold varied greatly, which significantly lowered its market value.
"Dan, get everyone together and start loading the gold onto the Pufferfish."
Noticing that the rest of the crew were still stunned by the sight of so much treasure, Ashen reminded them.
"Oh! Got it!"
Snapping out of his daze, Dan dropped a rope ladder and led over a dozen Fishmen down to begin hauling the gold.
The chunks varied in size, some weighed dozens of pounds, others hundreds of kilograms. But Fishmen were ten times stronger than humans by nature, so lifting them wasn't an issue.
"Where's Tesla?"
Looking around and seeing no sign of him, Ashen asked.
"About that, Captain, when Gan Fall realized he wasn't a match for Tesla, he ran. Tesla went after him," Dan explained.
"Alright. You guys stay here, I'll go take a look."
With that, Ashen launched into the sky, stepping on Geppo as he disappeared into the clouds.
A few minutes after Ashen left, the rest of the gold had been loaded onto the Pufferfish. The weight pushed the balloon ship all the way down to the ground.
But there was no need to worry, the skin of the Pufferfish was incredibly elastic. Even doubling the internal gas pressure wouldn't burst it; it would just consume more fuel.
Once everything was secured, Dan made his way to the cockpit and pressed the inflation switch. Slowly, the Pufferfish began to rise again, lifting back into the sky.
. . .
Boom!
Far to the south of Skypiea, Tesla timed his punch perfectly and let it fly.
"Piiieee!!" Pierre let out a pained cry, finally unable to stay aloft, and plummeted from the sky.
Cough, cough...
The dust settled. Gan Fall struggled for a long moment before finally managing to stand.
"Who exactly are you? I don't recall having any grudge with you."
Catching his breath, Gan Fall watched Tesla across the clearing, noting that he too seemed to be recovering his strength.
By now, after sensing the raw fury in Tesla's fists, Gan Fall understood, this man hadn't attacked over something as petty as an entrance fee.
Huff... huff...
Tesla's breathing had turned ragged. After such a fierce battle, the symptoms of oxygen deprivation from the Sky Island atmosphere were finally catching up with him.
"One hundred and eighty years ago, the St. Briss."
That was all he said before charging again.
At his peak, Gan Fall would've dodged the punch easily. But Tesla's previous blows had injured his internal organs, he couldn't move in time.
The punch landed squarely in his chest. Gan Fall coughed up blood again.
Crash!
The force of the blow didn't stop. He slammed into a large tree before finally coming to a halt.
"The St. Briss was the expedition ship led by my ancestor, Nikola Tesla.
Over 180 years ago, he set sail from the South Blue... and never returned.
I think you Sky Islanders know why, don't you?"
Tesla stepped closer, each footfall heavy with rage.
"Oh, and my name is William Tesla."
"I see... It was because of the Exile," Gan Fall finally understood. It all made sense now. No wonder Tesla flew into a rage the moment he heard the word.
And in some twisted way, he could understand Tesla's anger.
Two centuries with no word of one's family member, those emotions had built up over generations. Sooner or later, they had to erupt.
Unfortunately, as the current 'God' of Skypiea, Gan Fall was the perfect lightning rod for that fury.
Thud thud thud!
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the jungle. A squad of divine warriors burst out from the foliage, led by a young man in a white beret.
"Ah! Lord, are you alright?!"
The young man was none other than McKinley in his youth, one of Gan Fall's most trusted and personally trained lieutenants.
When Gan Fall left the shrine earlier, McKinley had taken a unit and pursued him.
He hadn't expected God to be driven across the entire island by Tesla. Only now had they finally caught up.
"McKinley? Why are you here? The shrine must not be left unguarded!" Leaning on McKinley for support, Gan Fall scolded him.
The battle had been so intense, the Shandians likely noticed by now. They might already be on their way to the shrine.
If the Shandians took the shrine, retaking it later would be nearly impossible.
"Hmph. You'd better worry about yourself," Tesla growled coldly.
"Stop! Don't take another step!" McKinley shouted, seeing Tesla about to strike again. Panic filled his voice.
"The God is revered by all of Skypiea! If you keep attacking him, you'll make an enemy of the entire island!"
"I'm a scientist. I don't believe in gods."
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