High in the sky, on the White-White Sea, Diarmuid stood at the front of the warship, studying an old, worn map of the sky islands.
Aside from the Knock Up Stream at Jaya Island, there were other ways to get to the sky islands. The most stable route was the Summit of the High West. Diarmuid hadn't seen it, but he knew the Marines sometimes used it to get to the sky islands.
However, the sky islands and the Blue Sea rarely interacted, so the World Government, the Marines, and pirates alike had little interest in them. Most people didn't even believe they existed.
"Is this the City of Gold?" Gion asked, looking at a small island floating in the clouds.
"No, the City of Gold is near where we landed on the sky island. This must be the Sky Island Birka," Diarmuid replied, shaking his head.
"Shouldn't we look for the City of Gold first?" Gion asked, surprised.
"The City of Gold isn't going anywhere. I think we should find the Rumble-Rumble Fruit first," Diarmuid said, shaking his head. After a moment, he added with a hint of exasperation, "The map of the sky islands is so old that I can't even confirm if this is really Birka…"
"Why don't we just pull closer and ask?" Gion said with a smile. She didn't have high expectations of finding the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, but seeing how serious Diarmuid was, she didn't want to say anything discouraging.
After all, wasn't Diarmuid looking for the fruit for her? Even though she knew the bastard was only doing this to increase her fighting power so she could better serve him, Gion was still a little moved.
'The Rumble-Rumble Fruit… Is this guy seriously trying to win me over? Should I give in? But he hasn't shown any clear signs… I can't be the one to make a move. I'm one of the most beautiful women in the Marines. My suitors line up all the way from Marineford to Mariejois.'
Gion had never thought about these things before and was even annoyed by her suitors. Especially that bastard Tokikake, who kept confessing his love to her, making the entire Marine Headquarters aware of it. It was incredibly embarrassing.
She had always firmly rejected him, giving him no hope, hoping he would give up and stop making things awkward for everyone. But Tokikake was incredibly stubborn. This was why she had always been resistant to relationships.
That was until Diarmuid came along. He was the exception. You couldn't deny that looks played a part. Tokikake had potential and was an excellent fighter, but his looks were a bit lacking.
In contrast, Diarmuid was tall, handsome, powerful, and the only Admiral candidate at Headquarters in the last two decades. It was almost guaranteed that he would reach the rank of Admiral someday.
He was also a very interesting person, and his charisma was undeniable. When Diarmuid had been under Chief of Staff Tsuru, many of the Marine women under her command had confessed to him, but he had rejected them all.
Gion and Diarmuid were from the same batch at the Marine Officer Training Camp. They had known each other since then and had a good relationship. Now that she was serving directly under him, they spent more time together.
To say Gion hadn't been a little bit moved by him would be a lie. Her mind was racing with these thoughts, and she couldn't help but glance at Diarmuid from time to time, her cheeks turning a little red.
Diarmuid didn't notice her, as he was still focused on the map, steering the warship toward the island.
Birka was tiny.
Once they pulled up to it, it felt like you could see the entire island from the deck of the warship.
There were some sky islanders at the port. Unlike people from the Blue Sea, they had small wings on their backs, but they were almost purely decorative, as they couldn't be used for flight.
Warships occasionally passed by once every year or two, so the islanders at the port weren't particularly shocked. They knew that warships usually just stopped for supplies and rarely caused trouble, so they didn't seem scared.
Diarmuid quickly got off the ship, found an old sky islander, and asked with a smile, "Excuse me, is this Birka?"
The old man nodded. "Yes, this is Birka. Are you here to restock your supplies?"
"Haha, no need. We have plenty of supplies. We came to Birka to look for something, and we were hoping you could help us," Diarmuid said, reaching into his pocket. Gion was quick to react, pulling out the drawing of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit she had prepared beforehand and handing it to Diarmuid.
"What are you looking for?" the old man asked enthusiastically.
"This. Have you ever heard of a Devil Fruit?" Diarmuid smiled and handed him the drawing.
"A Cursed Fruit?" the old man replied.
"Yeah, something like that?" Diarmuid nodded. He didn't know what sky islanders called Devil Fruits.
"It's said that if you eat one, you'll fall directly to the Blue Sea and be hated by the Sky God," the old man said with a smile.
Diarmuid nodded. He understood what he meant. They were all dry-land sailors, and the White-White Sea had no bottom. If they ate a Devil Fruit and fell into the White-White Sea, it would be like free-falling from thirty thousand feet.
"So, have you seen this 'Cursed Fruit' on the island? We came to find it, and we are willing to pay a very high price for it," Diarmuid said with a laugh.
"How high?" the old man asked.
"Two hundred million Berries?" Diarmuid hesitated.
"Two hundred million Berries? That's two trillion Extols?!" The old man exclaimed, shocked.
The currency on the sky islands was different from the Blue Sea's. The exchange rate was about 1 to 10,000. One Berry was equal to ten thousand Extols.
Diarmuid knew this, so he said with a smile, "That's right, two trillion Extols."
It sounded like an enormous fortune. But in reality, if you took the standard route to the sky islands, the entrance fee alone was a billion Extols per person. So the money up here was practically worthless. A bowl of beef noodles could cost a few hundred million.
"I'll go look for you! The Divine Temple usually suppresses these Cursed Fruits. Maybe the one you're looking for is there," the old man said quickly. Two hundred million Berries was something he really wanted.
"The Divine Temple?" Diarmuid was surprised. He didn't know much about the sky islands, and the Marine files had very little information on them.
"Yes, it's a temple for the Sky God. When we find these Cursed Fruits, we send them to the temple to suppress their curses with the power of the Sky God," the old man explained.
Diarmuid was intrigued. 'Did that mean there might be other Devil Fruits on Birka?'
"Can you take me to see it?" Diarmuid asked.
"I can, but… what about the money?" the old man asked hesitantly.
'And here I thought you were so hospitable. You're just a money grubber,' Diarmuid thought to himself. But he kept a smile on his face. "Don't worry. As long as you take me to the Cursed Fruit we need, you'll get every single Berry."
"Then follow me." The old man nodded and led Diarmuid into the town.
Diarmuid was a little surprised. 'Are all sky islanders this innocent? You're not even a little suspicious of me?'
He figured that because this place was so isolated and rarely visited by pirates, and because Marines who did come by wouldn't bully these simple "little angels," they had become a little too naive.
But that was a good thing. Diarmuid wasn't planning on doing anything to them, as long as he got the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
As he entered the town, he saw many sky islanders flapping their little wings. But occasionally, he would see people without wings. Most of them were children, and they looked pathetic and discriminated against. Some were even scavenging for food in trash cans.
"Who are those people?" Diarmuid asked.
"They are the Wingless People. They are like you Blue Sea people, but they were born on a sky island. This means they are cursed by the Sky God and born with sin. In Birka, they are seen as an omen of bad luck. We don't kill them, but we don't help them either and try to minimize contact with them…" the old man whispered.
Diarmuid nodded, understanding what he meant. No wonder he only saw kids. At this rate, it would be hard for them to live to adulthood.
He suddenly remembered that Enel was one of these Wingless People. It made sense now why he would destroy all of Birka after he got the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. The root of his hatred came from here. The discrimination and targeting must have left him with a lot of resentment.
It was normal for someone like that to seek revenge after suddenly gaining power. Diarmuid put himself in Enel's shoes and thought he might have become fanatical too.
As for why he would have eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he could understand after seeing the children eating out of trash cans. He was probably starving and desperate, so he went to the temple and stole their "Cursed Fruit." What was a curse to a man who was about to die of hunger?
The temple wasn't big, but it looked magnificent. It seemed their god was also a luxurious one.
He had learned a lot from his conversation with the old man. The sky islanders seemed to be rather ignorant, or perhaps because they were so high up and isolated from the rest of the world, their society was still very primitive.
The ruler of each island was called a "God." They were the spiritual leaders. On a daily basis, everyone lived their own lives and didn't need a ruler. The God would only appear on holidays to lead ceremonies and rituals. Overall, the sky island society was loosely structured, very simple, and everyone was a child of God, living a carefree life with little pressure. It was a good life.
Diarmuid had nothing to say about the culture and social structure of the sky islands. After entering the temple, he went through the purification ritual and prayed to the God. He did his best to follow along, as in Rome, do as the Romans do. The people here took their "Sky God" very seriously, so it was best to respect their beliefs.
After praying, the old man led Diarmuid to the place where they suppressed the "Cursed Fruits." At this point, Diarmuid couldn't hold back his thoughts. 'This temple is so damn lax! Can anyone just walk in and cause trouble? There's no security at all!'
He remembered that Angel Island had a God's Guard.
'Are you telling me Birka is completely self-governing? Is this some kind of utopia? Then why are you so obsessed with money? It makes no sense! There's a good reason why Eneru wiped you out.'
He grumbled to himself as he walked into the room. He saw a statue of a god, and at its feet were three pedestals, each holding a Devil Fruit.
Diarmuid's eyes lit up. There were three of them? One was golden-yellow with strange lightning patterns. It was exactly like the one he had seen in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia—the legendary Rumble-Rumble Fruit!
He had struck gold!
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