"Stay alert," Jason barked out a warning.
The crew immediately dropped their relaxed mood and became vigilant, staring intently at the seemingly calm Sea of Clouds.
Suddenly, the cloud sea churned. Four figures shot out one after another, leaping high into the air above the ship.
Each carried a sharp blade and wore steel armor that covered their entire body, leaving only a pair of cold eyes exposed. At first glance, they looked like knights descending from the heavens.
'Whoosh!'
In the blink of an eye, the four landed on the deck, coldly surveyed the crew, and attacked without warning.
At the same moment, Daz Bones and the Dragon-Elephant Six moved as well.
'Clang! Bang!'
The sound of weapons colliding rang out almost immediately. The four attackers, who had been hiding in the Sea of Clouds and moving at incredible speed, finally appeared clearly before everyone.
Daz Bones blocked one of them by himself, while three members of the Dragon-Elephant Six each intercepted another.
After a brief stalemate, the four knights exchanged glances, then sprang onto the roof of the Logan before diving down once more to attack.
"Rankyaku!"
This time, the three members of the Dragon-Elephant Six didn't hold back and launched slashing attacks directly.
'Clang!'
To everyone's surprise, when the Rankyaku collided with the sharp blades of the diving knights, it only halted their momentum and stopped the assault, failing to injure them at all. After the second exchange, both sides saw the seriousness in each other's eyes.
The four knights glanced down at Rogen's group one last time before jumping away and disappearing back into the White-White Sea. Their sudden arrival and equally sudden departure left everyone baffled.
"What was that about?" Daz Bones asked, looking out at the endless Sea of Clouds, but the strange figures were already nowhere to be seen.
"They're the Skypiean God's Army," Dina's father explained. Seeing everyone's attention turn to him, he continued, "They're the military force of Upper Yard. Their patrols occasionally extend this far. They're God's closest soldiers and are responsible for protecting all of Skypiea."
"Upper Yard? Is that where God lives?" Chaporos asked in surprise.
"That's right. Upper Yard is where God resides," Dina's father nodded.
"So there really is a god." The crew couldn't help expressing their amazement.
Rogen merely smiled. He knew that Skypiea's "God" was much like a king on the Blue Sea, a title for the ruler of a country rather than an actual deity. Still, he didn't bother explaining.
---
After the brief encounter, the ship continued forward. Around two or three hours later, they spotted a massive gate that resembled a harbor entrance.
"Welcome. The sightseeing fee is one billion extol per person," a plump young woman suddenly appeared from nowhere and spoke in a flat tone.
"We have to pay?" Lordling asked in confusion.
Chaporos grinned and cut in, "What if we don't pay?"
"You don't have to," the woman nodded indifferently.
"You can actually refuse?" Everyone looked surprised.
Unlike them, Rogen had no intention of skipping the fee. With a flick of his hand, a stack of berries landed neatly in front of the woman. "Fourteen people. 1.4 million berries. The people from Angel Island don't need to pay, right?"
The woman nodded. "They don't." Then she turned away and ignored them, returning to whatever she had been doing.
Her strange personality left everyone clicking their tongues in amazement, but as the ship slowly moved on, they soon stopped paying attention to her.
Before long, the Logan entered what looked like a narrow cloud canal, only wide enough for a single ship. The current suddenly accelerated, and the Logan's speed increased sharply along with it.
"Waaaaah! It's speeding up again!" Jason shouted.
The wind blasted against their faces once more, whipping their black hair wildly and filling everyone with excitement. The Milky Road twisted through countless sharp turns, rising and falling like a roller coaster. The Logan echoed with screams and laughter the entire way.
About an hour later, after descending an extremely steep slope, the ship finally entered another calm stretch of the White-White Sea.
"Huff... it's finally over. Are we at Skypiea now?" Trens asked as he let out a sigh of relief.
"We're here! Look, that's Angel Island ahead!" Dina cried excitedly.
Following the direction she pointed, everyone could indeed make out an island in the distance. Unlike the endless White-White Sea, this place contained rows of actual buildings.
"It's incredible. People actually built houses on clouds," Chaporos exclaimed.
Rogen sat at the bow with his eyes slightly narrowed. "Dina," he suddenly called out.
"Hm? Rogen big brother?" Dina turned toward him.
"Tell me about this God." Rogen's voice was calm. He hadn't forgotten how, when they first met, Dina had spoken of God's overwhelming power.
At the mention of the topic, Dina's expression changed immediately. "He... is unmatched." After three full seconds of silence, she finally managed to say those words with a trembling voice, causing everyone on board to grow serious.
Just as Dina was about to continue, her father interrupted her. "I'll explain. Four months ago, a boy suddenly appeared in Birka, not far from Angel Island. He claimed to be God. He looked only fifteen or sixteen years old, but his personality was incredibly cruel. More importantly, he possessed a terrifying power."
"A boy? A terrifying power?" Not only Jason and the others, even Rogen became interested.
"That's right. He could control lightning." As he spoke, fear appeared in Dina's father's eyes. "I saw it with my own eyes. He struck Birka's Divine Soldiers with lightning, burning them black and roasting them alive. And even more frightening was the fact that ordinary weapons couldn't touch him at all. They simply passed through his body."
"And then?" Rogen asked.
"He rampaged across Birka for three days straight. Then I heard that a powerful commander from the Divine Soldiers appeared. And after that, the lightning-wielding boy left. The commander disappeared along with him." Taking a deep breath, Dina's father continued.
"What happened after that?" this time it was Chaporos who asked.
"No one knows. But everyone says that boy will return. He seemed to have a grudge against Birka. The hatred in his eyes before he left... it was like the wrath of a thunder god, carrying the terror of someone who wanted to destroy the entire world. That's why I decided to take Dina and leave Birka for Angel Island, to find her mother."
Rogen and the others remained silent, letting him finish.
"But we ran into an accident on the way here. As for the rest, you've already seen it." Dina's father spread his hands helplessly and gave a bitter smile.
"So you're saying that boy still hasn't come to Angel Island?" Rogen asked thoughtfully.
"No."
(End Of This Chapter)
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