A sharp whistling sound abruptly tore through the air from above, snapping everyone out of their thoughts.
"Waaah! What is that?!" Usopp was the first to scream, pointing at the sky.
A huge shadow was plummeting rapidly, accompanied by the shrieking sound of friction against the air, growing larger and larger. Locals would be very familiar with this phenomenon, as ships falling from the sky were not uncommon in these waters.
As fragments of debris whizzed past Chopper, he suddenly spotted something and hid behind Zoro, peeking out with just his round eyes, voice trembling. "A sk-skull! And a Jolly Roger! A ship is falling!"
Everyone looked up. Indeed, what was falling was a medium-sized sailing ship. Its sails were tattered, its hull scorched black, as if it had endured a brutal battle. The pirate flag on its mast was still vaguely recognizable. It was falling straight towards the Going Merry's deck!
"Gomu Gomu no... Giant Pistol!"
Reacting with lightning speed, Luffy didn't even think. His arm instantly grew huge and stretched back, a fist coated in Armament Haki launching upward like a cannonball.
Boom!
Crash!
A massive shockwave rippled through the air. The falling vessel was knocked completely off course by the powerful punch, disintegrating into countless debris in mid-air before raining down into the surrounding sea with a loud splash.
"That was close, that was close!" Usopp patted his chest, peeking out with lingering fear. "Were we attacked?"
"There are no enemies around."
Luffy retracted his arm, staring at the sky with a puzzled expression. "Weird, why would a ship fall from the sky? There's no island up there."
Nami also frowned, instinctively looking at the Log Pose on her wrist. This look made her even more confused. "Huh? The Log Pose isn't moving? It's not storing a magnetic field, nor is it pointing anywhere? But... there's clearly no island nearby!"
This defied the常识 of the Grand Line. The Log Pose should point to the next island and store its magnetism until full. But now, it was neither pointing nor storing, as if it were malfunctioning.
Robin walked over to Nami, and took a closer look at the Log Pose, then looked up at the perfectly clear, empty blue sky. "Perhaps the Log Pose isn't malfunctioning," she mused. "It might be attracted by the magnetism of something located much higher up."
"Higher up?"
"There's really something in the sky?"
Robin nodded, her tone carrying a hint of uncertainty. "I've only seen sporadic records in some extremely ancient texts. Supposedly, in the very high sky, there exist islands known as Sky Islands. They float above the White White Sea, in areas difficult to reach. If the Log Pose is pointing skyward, it's likely sensing the magnetism of a Sky Island."
"Sky Islands?"
"Islands in the sky really exist? That's amazing!"
"Hey, everyone! Our next destination is a Sky Island!"
However, the reactions of the others on the ship were mixed.
"Do places like that really exist?" Zoro asked, arms crossed over his swords, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course they exist, algae head. If All Blue exists, why not Sky Islands?" Sanji lit a cigarette and blew a smoke ring. "And the ladies up there are sure to be as beautiful as angels!"
Nami held her forehead, looking worried. "The sky... sounds very dangerous. And how do we even get up there is a problem."
Usopp and Chopper had already clung to each other, starting to imagine various horror monsters that might exist on a Sky Island, trembling.
"However, this is just my speculation. Moreover, my knowledge of specific information about Sky Islands and how to reach them is very limited," Robin added, watching the excited Luffy with a slight smile.
"No problem!" Luffy declared directly. "Since the Log Pose points to the sky, we'll go up. Isn't the ironclad rule of the sea to always trust the Log Pose?!"
Even so, the sailing that followed didn't immediately bring news of a Sky Island. For an entire day, the Going Merry sailed on calm seas. Looking up, there was nothing but blue sky and white clouds.
The next day, 4:00 AM.
The ship's interior was silent, filled only with the sound of even breathing. Even Zoro, who usually woke earliest, was cradling his three swords, catching up on sleep with light snores.
In Luffy's mind, a sharp [Warning] sounded precisely on time, like a death warrant.
[Warning. Scheduled wake-up time reached....]
Luffy mumbled something dazedly. His powerful biological clock and deeper-seated fear jolted him instantly awake.
He did a carp, his rubber body landing silently on the floor. "Tch. I already trained extra in the dream last night..." he couldn't help but complain as he walked to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face.
To make up for training time occasionally cut short by real-world adventures, he'd lost count of how many sessions he'd endured in the [Plan]'s dream training field. The enemies in the dreams kept changing too. Recently, it had even incorporated Ace, Crocodile, and Smoker—three Logia-type Devil Fruit users. Luffy had finally experienced what true Logia firepower was like. Too intense.
[Multiple Plan executions confirmed. Punishment downgraded from Phase Two to Phase One. Subject is awake. Warning: [Daily Training] session begins now. Proceed immediately. Countdown: 30, 29...]
Because he had followed the [Plan] a certain number of times, the Phase Two punishment had reverted to the Phase One electric shock punishment. Since Luffy was made of rubber, the Phase One electric shock had little effect on him. He'd had this experience of reverting to Phase One punishment before. But out of habit, Luffy started training.
He tiptoed onto the deck. Outside was still deep darkness, only the faint glow of the running lights along the ship's side providing illumination.
"Electric shock it is, then." Luffy began moving his limbs. His body moved out of habit, but his mind, lacking the mandatory threat of the usual punishment, started to wander. He often let his mind wander even during the shooting punishment, which was why he got dragged into the dream space for extra training. The electric shock punishment truly wasn't very effective on a rubber man.
As the current passed through his body, it mostly brought a tingling, numb sensation.
"Hmm?" Luffy suddenly stopped moving, looking at his arm which occasionally flickered with light as electricity arced across it. A strange idea popped into his head.
"If electricity doesn't affect me much... can I store it?"
Before, he'd just attacked while being shocked, but honestly, the lightning attack was heavily diluted. What if he stored up several million, even tens of millions of volts? Wouldn't he be able to electrocute enemies just by discharging it?
***
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