An explosion ten times more violent than before bloomed a thousand meters in the air!
Golden flames and purple-black Haki clashed frantically, annihilating and expanding into a swelling sphere of destruction before turning into a brilliant white ring that swept across the horizon. The intense shockwave completely tore apart and evaporated the thick cloud layers, revealing a sky so blue it was blinding—as if a giant hole had truly been "blasted" into the firmament!
The blast's wake sent the pursuing Zeus rocking violently!
As the light faded and the wind pressure leveled out, Beltz's Hybrid Form coalesced at the edge of the explosion. He hovered before that "purified" patch of azure sky, appearing as the very center of the massive void. His white robes fluttered wildly in the turbulent air, his chest heaved slightly with rapid breaths, but his golden slit pupils remained calm, and his sword arm was as steady as a rock!
He glanced back at the pursuers momentarily stalled by the shockwave and, choosing not to linger, surged his internal airflow. In an instant, he accelerated to his limit, turning into a streak of azure light that shot toward the unpredictable sea of clouds high above the Grand Line.
"Bastard!!! Don't you dare run!!!" Kaido's eyes were bloodshot as his roar echoed from behind.
At this moment, he could hardly believe his eyes. This was too strange! He remembered back at God Valley, even after Beltz had eaten the Azure Dragon Fruit, the man was no match for him. Kaido had chased him the whole way, and Beltz had only barely escaped by utilizing the flight capability of the fruit.
Yet now... how much time had passed? A mere three years!
He had gone from being chased and beaten to being able to withstand a combined technique from him and Linlin? Had this guy truly "leapt over the dragon gate" and become a real Azure Dragon? This leveling speed was far too fast!
This only made Kaido angrier. He refused to believe this power belonged to Beltz himself; he assumed it was entirely the empowerment of the Azure Dragon Fruit. Truly, it was a top-tier Devil Fruit! If he had been the one to eat it back then, wouldn't he be invincible by now?
While Kaido fumed, Linlin was equally enraged. They both already viewed the Azure Dragon Fruit as their property. Seeing such power now, they directed all their fury toward Beltz.
"Napoleon! Prometheus! Zeus! Blast him down!"
Linlin summoned all her Soul Weapons! Prometheus, the sun Homie atop her head, erupted in raging flames, intertwining with the lightning of the thundercloud Zeus. All of it was channeled into the Emperor Sword, Napoleon, in her hand.
Fire, lightning, and Haki—three forces coiled and compressed frantically on the blade, emitting a bone-chilling hum. The tip of the sword condensed into a blinding ring of energy.
"Maser Ho!"
A glowing energy ring formed at the front of the greatsword. With Linlin's scream, a terrifying beam of energy shot forth from the blade! While this beam lacked the sheer overwhelming scale of the previous Hakai used with Kaido, the energy was more concentrated and had far superior piercing power!
Beltz, in his Hybrid Form, stepped through the air, his own power growing more imposing by the second.
"Linlin! This 'generous gift' of yours is a bit undercooked! With this little strength, you should stick to roasting lamb chops!"
Beltz turned again, his blade still wreathed in flames. Holding the sword with both hands, he swung forward with all his might!
BOOM!
The two forces collided again, though this time without the world-shaking scale of before. The laser beam pressed against the blade, and Beltz held his ground firmly.
Pshh!
With a sharp sound, Beltz actually sliced the energy cannon, capable of piercing through anything, cleanly in half?!
The split energy beams diverged; one shot straight up, vanishing into the thin atmosphere of the high heavens toward some unknown part of the universe. The other plunged vertically downward like a spear thrown by a god, stabbing deep into the blue ocean below!
Splosh—BOOM!!!
The surface of the sea first formed an instantaneous void, followed by a frantic rush of seawater that created a massive whirlpool hundreds of meters wide that refused to settle for a long time. It revealed a brief, deep darkness below, as if even the ocean had been pierced by the residual power of the strike!
"We'll meet again!"
Seeing that they were now far enough from the Drum Kingdom, Beltz laughed loudly, his voice echoing clearly between heaven and earth. Using the slight recoil from the clash, he stopped holding back. In his Hybrid Form, his muscles bulged, the air around him shrieked with explosive pops, and his speed soared once more as he vanished into the distance!
He had only been humoring Charlotte Linlin before; otherwise, Zeus never could have kept up with him.
"Dammit! After him! Zeus, faster!" Linlin urged frantically.
However, Zeus had reached his limit. They could only watch as the figure ahead grew smaller and blurrier, finally disappearing completely where the horizon met the clouds. Zeus was slower than Beltz's full dragon form, and in his Hybrid Form, Beltz was even faster!
Once he had led them far enough away from the Drum Kingdom, he stopped pretending. He went full throttle, instantly opening a massive gap between himself and the "Kai-Ma" duo!
"Curse him!" Linlin was beyond livid. The Azure Dragon Fruit was gone, now the Munch-Munch Fruit was gone, both snatched by the same person—and she couldn't do a thing about it!
"That guy..." Kaido said darkly. "Where did he come from? There hasn't been a single trace of him for three years."
Since Beltz possessed such power and wasn't on the side of the World Government, he shouldn't be this obscure. If he was this strong, surely he wouldn't be content as a nobody? But eerily, there wasn't a shred of news about him on the sea.
After all, it was impossible to become this powerful in three years just by relying on a Devil Fruit. Training alone wasn't enough; only intense combat could multiply the efforts of training and allow one to achieve a "quantum leap." Even if Kaido didn't know, it was strange that even Linlin's intelligence network had no clues. They didn't even know the guy's name!
Ignoring their rage, Beltz successfully distanced himself until he was certain they couldn't catch up. He slowed his pace slightly. He abandoned the previous boat and flew straight up. He climbed until he reached an altitude of seven thousand meters before continuing forward.
He didn't actually know the exact coordinates of Sky Island, but he knew Luffy and the others flew up from the area near Jaya. He simply headed in that general direction.
Aside from gold, there was also the Rumble-Rumble Fruit on Sky Island. If he could find it, he'd gain another powerful Devil Fruit. While Logia types were sometimes considered "late-game traps" in certain regards, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was undeniably top-tier.
One Munch-Munch Fruit, one Rumble-Rumble Fruit. The former was definitely for himself, but as for the latter... that depended on whether Vegapunk could replicate the multi-ability devouring traits of Blackbeard and Aaroniero. If not... well, giving such a powerful fruit to his subordinates would be excellent too!
He exited his Hybrid Form. It was strong, but it consumed too much stamina. Even with the massive endurance boost from the Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon Fruit, it was a bit taxing. The full Dragon Form was much better; if not fighting, he could theoretically maintain it indefinitely.
Transforming into the Azure Dragon, he released Shamrock and Shanks from his shadow and let them ride on his back. As soon as they emerged, they looked at Beltz with eyes full of worship.
"Cap... Captain! That was... too amazing!!!" Shanks was so excited he was incoherent, gesturing so wildly he nearly slipped off the dragon's back. Fortunately, Shamrock was quick and grabbed him tight.
Unfazed, Shanks continued, "Those two were so scary, but you sliced their light beam apart with one swing! The sky literally exploded! I... I saw it all clearly from the shadow!"
He shouted in excitement. He was young and hadn't seen much of the world, but even a fool could see how terrifying that battle was. The clash had blasted a giant hole in the clouds! The sheer scale of the power was enough to leave both boys in the shadow stunned. Indeed, one could see the outside world from within the shadow; they had a front-row seat to the terrifying explosion of power!
"If you study well, you'll become this strong in the future," Beltz said. "Both of you are geniuses."
"Can I really become as amazing as the Captain..." A strange light flickered in Shamrock's eyes.
"Captain Beltz, teach us how to fight!"
"Sailing, adventuring—these are forms of training in themselves. Watching me fight can also improve you," Beltz said. "I will guide you. You both have the potential to become Emperors of the Sea!"
Emperors of the Sea? Hearing this, the two were a bit dazed. Wasn't that too exaggerated? How could anyone become an emperor of the ocean? But young children often believe deeply in such fantasies—and the more they believe, the stronger they become in the future. Belief itself is a form of power!
After flying in his dragon form for about a day, Beltz finally sensed the presence of life. They were finally arriving...
He suddenly accelerated, piercing through the final layer of thin clouds. In an instant, a dreamlike sight met their eyes. It was an infinite, soft, white "ocean"—white clouds stretching beneath them, glowing softly under the sunlight.
The world in the sky was divided into two layers: the White Sea at seven thousand meters, and the White-White Sea at ten thousand meters. The place usually referred to as "Sky Island" sat upon the White-White Sea.
"Hold on tight," Beltz warned. His dragon body coiled upward, sprinting toward the White-White Sea at the ten-thousand-meter mark.
As the altitude climbed, the change in air pressure made Shanks and Shamrock's eardrums bulge and their breathing slightly difficult, but both clenched their teeth and didn't make a sound.
"Can you handle it?" Beltz asked. They were children, after all; they might not handle the hypoxic environment well.
"We're... okay," Shamrock nodded. They weren't just acting tough. While the air was thin at ten thousand meters, it wasn't unbearable. The sudden change in oxygen just required a little adjustment.
Seeing they were fine, the Azure Dragon broke through the final cloud layer and landed steadily on the White-White Sea. Beneath them was firm yet slightly elastic white cloud-ground. It was an endless view, as if they were in a pure kingdom from myth.
"Whoa—!!!" Shanks jumped off the dragon's back, running and rolling on the clouds in excitement. Shamrock also knelt down curiously, touching the incredible white earth with his hand.
The White-White Sea was exactly as the name suggested—a sea of pure white. They were awestruck by this world. This was the "heavens" Captain Beltz spoke of? A place twice as high as the five-thousand-meter Drum Rockies!
The two children ran wildly across the cloud island. Beltz, while attempting to connect with the collective subconscious sea of Sky Island, followed Shanks as they roamed. Just as he had found the Munch-Munch Fruit, he was using the same method to locate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit would be eaten by Enel years later. Right now, it was definitely unconsumed. Enel was currently around the same age as Shanks—maybe two years older at most. He recalled Enel was from Birka, south of Sky Island, which would be destroyed by Enel about eighteen years before the start of the main story. So the Devil Fruit should be there.
The gold wasn't going anywhere, but there was a high chance someone might eat the Devil Fruit, so he went looking for that first.
"Boys, we're heading south!" Beltz informed them. The two roamed the clouds and followed his command, running southward. His psychological dive had a range even greater than his Observation Haki or Reiatsu detection.
Once he confirmed the direction, his search radius expanded even further.
"Do either of you want to eat a Devil Fruit?" he asked.
"A Devil Fruit?" Shamrock asked. "Like the power you have to turn into a dragon, Captain?"
"Yes, but not every fruit turns you into a dragon. Each one has a different ability. However, once you eat one, you can't swim anymore. You'll become a 'dry hammer'."
Hearing that they would become "dry hammers," both immediately looked reluctant. They were men who wanted to be warriors of the sea; how could they not be able to swim?