At the center of Angel Island's Lovely Street.
A man with pale skin, a well-proportioned but lean build, clutching an apple, slowly emerged from the smoke.
His earlobes were unusually long. He was bare-chested, wearing only a flowing purple sash around his waist and loose, billowing trousers. In his arms, he held a pitch-black bazooka, its muzzle sweeping over the surrounding residents.
The shopkeepers he threatened with the cannon muzzle, out of fear, could only hand over all their store's cash.
Behind him followed a similarly fully armed team.
They worked with practiced efficiency, snatching money from surrounding shops and stuffing it into sacks.
Then, someone shot a cloud arrow from the distance, leaving a trail of white cloud in the air.
The pale-skinned man shouldered a sack filled with cash, jumped onto the cloud trail, and sped away using a jet dial attached to his foot.
"Quite professional. Who is that guy?"
The entire robbery was executed with fluid precision, taking less than a minute.
By the time Sakura helped the Miria, who was still on top of her, to her feet, the man was already in the distance.
Wiping dust from her face, Miria gritted her teeth. "He's the island's notorious sky bandit… Enel!"
'Just as I thought.'
Sakura noted to herself.
That distinctive long earlobe was recognizable even through the smoke, not to mention his peculiar laugh.
"Tell me about that guy."
Sakura raised a finger. Wood Release sprouted vines from the cloud ground itself.
The vines, spreading across the entire street, blossomed. They sprayed sap to treat the injured and extinguished flames from the explosion.
"That guy... leads a sky bandit crew that rose to prominence five years ago." Miria bit her lip but began the story.
At the southernmost part of the Skypiea lay a small sky island named Birka.
Since recorded history of the Skypiea began, that island had served as a place of exile for prisoners sentenced by successive Skypiea's Gods.
However, scarce resources combined with generations of prisoners' descendants living on Birka unexpectedly created a population rich in martial prowess, producing many powerful warriors.
Enel and his sky bandit crew were among those who rose during this time. They plundered across the islands, giving the ruling Skypiea's God, Gan Fall, a major headache.
"Interesting!"
Sakura turned her head, tilting it slightly towards her companions behind her.
Kuina and the others, understanding her perfectly, immediately stuffed their purchased goods into Leviathan's mouth and followed Sakura.
"Wait! Sakura-san, what are you planning to do?" Seeing Sakura head in the direction of the cloud trail, Priestess Miria urgently called out to stop them from walking into the lion's den.
"It's nothing. Please convey a message to Gan Fall-san for me. Tell him I'm very grateful for his hospitality."
Sakura waved her hand, gradually disappearing from Miria's sight.
Exiting Lovely Street onto Angel Island, Leviathan flapped her wings, landing on the pink-haired girl's shoulder. "Sakura~ what's special about that Enel?"
"Acting, are you? Keep it up."
Sakura tapped her head with a finger. "Sharing my Haki, and you didn't sense that guy's Observation Haki?"
"That's true. The shops around us weren't robbed."
Tiger nodded in agreement. "Seems he was deliberately avoiding us."
'Avoiding' was an understatement. Judging by Enel's retreat speed earlier, it was practically a flight.
"So, that Enel guy is strong?"
Kuina placed a hand on her sword hilt, her small face brimming with eagerness.
"Don't go too hard. I want him alive."
Sakura gave an almost imperceptible nod, tacitly approving Kuina's intent.
Tiger stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, Sakura, you seem to have a habit of helping talented people!"
"Huh? Is it that obvious?"
Sakura was taken aback, asking in surprise.
She then saw Tiger nodding as if it were a matter of fact.
Whether it was Kuina, already on the ship, the advice given to Doflamingo back in the Mock Town bar, or now this Enel...
Tiger realized Sakura paid particular attention to individuals possessing the potential to become powerful.
In some ways, she displayed a patience unlike that of the always restless Future Emperor candidate.
As her partner and a member of this pirate crew, Tiger wanted to understand his captain's mindset, hence bringing it up.
"Well, mainly, I want to nurture some opponents for myself."
Sakura raised a hand to scratch her cheek. "Whether they become companions or enemies, as long as they show sufficient potential, I'm happy to see them grow."
She was indifferent to their ambitious natures, unconcerned about where the world might be led by the rise of such powerful individuals.
Her goal was pure and simple: to fight more strong opponents.
Leaving the main street, the group entered Angel Island's port. There, they spent 50 million Extol to rent a medium-sized Waver for the White-White Sea and set off, swaying slightly, towards the southern region of the Skypiea… Birka.
Meanwhile, at the edge of Birka Island.
Enel, carrying the loot, led his men into a naturally formed cloud cave. The last one in, he moved island clouds to block the entrance.
"Boss, we could have grabbed more back there. Why give the retreat signal so early?"
Inside the somewhat damp cavern, a sky bandit sitting on a wooden crate, maintaining his firearms, complained.
"Idiot! You dare question the boss's decision?" Another bandit picked up an Extol coin and threw it at him. "Have you forgotten our survival and growth so far all rely on the boss's Mantra?"
Enel leaned back on his throne-like seat, munching on an apple, paying no mind to the argument below.
Earlier on Angel Island, when he considered robbing that group, he had indeed sensed an overwhelming presence from the four of them that even he couldn't match.
'What exactly are those Blue Sea people?'
Head bowed as he bit into the apple, he didn't notice a fruit in a crate behind him inexplicably begin to develop spiral patterns. It rapidly turned golden-yellow, with faint lightning bolt patterns appearing around it.
Crunch! Gulp!
Enel grabbed the oddly shaped fruit and took a bite. An instantly repulsive taste exploded on his taste buds, making him swallow reflexively.
"Blergh-"
In the midst of his retching, uncontrollable electricity abruptly erupted from his body. Thunder echoed through the cavern formed by island clouds.
By the time the sky bandit members inside realized the change in the surrounding clouds' hue, it was too late.
Boom!
Scorching lightning light soared from the island, incinerating the clouds for miles around, shaking the island and making the firmament tremble.
Sakura and her crew, arriving at Birka on their Waver, happened to witness this spectacle.
"What's that~?"
Leviathan, who had climbed the mast, cupped a hand over her eyes, peering into the distance where the lightning had struck.
Sakura closed her eyes, spreading her Observation Haki towards the center of the massive crater.
Amidst the clouds still crackling with countless streaks of lightning, a pair of gloomy eyes opened, coldly meeting Sakura's gaze.
"Seems to be a lightning-controlling ability user."
Securing the helm, Tiger walked to the ship's side, leaning over the gunwale with his hands.
"Lightning... same as Sakura-nee's ability?"
Kuina tugged on Sakura's arm.
"No. He's a Logia. And one of the top-tier elements at that… the Logia: Goro Goro no Mi!"
Sakura opened her eyes and gently nudged Kuina. "Go on. Your opponent is waiting."
The swordswoman's gaze sharpened, revealing a wild grin.
"That's just… perfect!"