One day later, high above Skypiea.
The Pufferfish floated in the sky, surveying the entire island's situation.
According to Ashen's theory, ships sentenced to exile would, after being pressed by the island clouds for a long time, cause the clouds to deform and eventually engulf the entire ship.
So starting from yesterday afternoon, all of Skypiea's forces were mobilized to search for large masses of island clouds.
Once found, they would use tools to cut them open, checking for any trapped ships inside.
"Captain, over here! I found a piece!"
Lafitte flapped his wings, spotting a cloud mass of the right size, and reported through the Den Den Mushi.
In the cockpit, Tesla heard the call and immediately steered the Pufferfish toward Lafitte's position.
Whoosh!
When the Pufferfish arrived over the cloud about two hundred meters above where Lafitte pointed out, Ashen leapt down.
'Hopefully, we'll find it this time.'
Muttering to himself, Ashen gripped his blade and began cutting the cloud's edge.
This was already the thirty-fifth cloud they had found, but none of the previous ones revealed anything.
Ashen cut carefully, not wanting to damage the St. Briss trapped inside the clouds.
Ding!
Suddenly, a heavy thud echoed from inside the cloud. The sound made Ashen's heart race, and his cutting speed quickened.
Minutes later, as the cloud peeled away, an old, large ship revealed itself.
It was a round-bottomed exploration vessel, its bow shaped like a spherical serpent's head, with sails still mostly intact bearing a distinctive emblem.
"Tesla, take a close look. This is St. Briss, right?"
Ashen asked the excited Tesla beside him, who had followed him down as soon as the ship's outline appeared.
"No doubt about it. This is the ship. That symbol is unmistakable!"
Looking at the ship loaded with personal meaning, Tesla couldn't wait and jumped onto the deck. Ashen and Lafitte followed quickly.
Creak…creak…
The long-neglected hull groaned under their footsteps.
Inside the cabin, the three split up to search. Since they didn't know exactly which room Tesla's ancestor might be in, they checked each one carefully.
The St. Briss had been exiled by the Skypieans, so there was nothing valuable inside.
Seeing corpses scattered about, it was clear the ship had been the scene of a brutal massacre.
"Ah! Captain, Tesla, there's a skeleton in here! Its skull looks weird!"
Lafitte exclaimed, lifting the lid of a wooden coffin.
"Where?!"
In the next room, Tesla was rifling through items. Hearing Lafitte, he hurried over.
"This one. There's a hole in the skull."
Lafitte pointed to the skeleton inside the coffin.
Tesla crouched down, trembling as he carefully examined the skull. Tears welled up. Then he flipped through a diary found in the coffin, finally confirming it was his ancestor, Nikola Tesla.
"I've finally found you!"
One day later, the entire St. Briss was cleaned out. All items related to Tesla's family were loaded onto the Pufferfish.
There wasn't much, besides the coffin, just some documents, photos, and most importantly, a chest full of blueprints for various inventions by Nikola Tesla.
As for the St. Briss itself, Tesla ordered it burned.
The Helgrave Pirates were ready to leave. Their purpose for coming to Skypiea was to find St. Briss, and now that goal was complete, they wouldn't linger.
On the western side of Skypiea, on a stretch of connected island clouds, a dozen Fishmen loaded supplies brought by the divine soldiers onto the Pufferfish.
Nearby, Gan Fall and the chief of Sandia were briefing the crew.
"Lord, here's the Cloud Route map you requested. Follow this path, and it will eventually lead to the peak of the West Sky."
Gan Fall respectfully handed Ashen a map.
Taking it, Ashen glanced over it roughly. "Good. I'm leaving Skypiea in your hands. Someone will come to garrison this place in time."
He wasn't worried about Gan Fall betraying him after he left. After Gan Fall chose to submit, Ashen abandoned the idea of creating a clone of him.
Before leaving Dressrosa, while making a clone from Uges, captain of the Giant Turtle Pirates, Ashen discovered the limitations of making clones.
Creating clones required fragments of Ashen's soul. At first, he felt nothing, but that time, he sensed his soul weakening, and it took over ten days for the feeling to fade.
So now, unless someone was top-tier strength or had a special purpose, Ashen wouldn't waste his soul on clones.
Instead, Ashen developed a substitute ability, imprinting his power as a mark on others' souls.
Those marked carried Ashen's power in their souls, and if they ever thought ill of him, their souls would erupt in unbearable pain.
Of course, this came with huge drawbacks, the marked person's soul became flawed, weakening them compared to before, stalling any further growth, and shortening their lifespan.
Also, if the marked person's will was incredibly strong, and they chose betrayal despite the soul's pain, Ashen had no reliable way to stop them.
But Gan Fall clearly wasn't that strong-willed, so Ashen trusted him to continue ruling Skypiea.
After a few final instructions, Ashen gave the order, and the Pufferfish slowly ascended, setting course for the next destination.
Hours later, in the afternoon, Ashen was sleeping in the captain's cabin when Tesla burst in hurriedly.
"Captain! Roger and the others have appeared! They've returned from the Final Island!"
Tesla handed Ashen a newspaper, just bought moments ago from a passing news crow.
Ashen unfolded the paper, and a huge headline caught his eye, THE PIRATE KING IS BORN!
As this news spread wildly, whether in the chaotic New World, the Grand Line, the Four Seas, or the Red Line continent, everyone who read it was deeply shaken.
"Find Roger quickly! That guy has obtained everything this world offers!"
"Ha ha ha! Roger's treasure will be mine to keep!"
Every pirate crew with some power in the New World scrambled to track Roger's whereabouts.
Meanwhile, the Navy's activity surged intensely.
The world was plunged into complete chaos.
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