Since the two of them didn't want to eat a Devil Fruit, Beltz didn't force them.
Furthermore, he felt that Shanks should follow a path of pure Haki. In the world of pirates, there was a very peculiar point: Whitebeard possessed a Supreme Grade blade, top-tier specialized Haki, and the strongest Paramecia Devil Fruit. Roger had a Supreme Grade blade and top-tier Haki. Garp, on the other hand, possessed only top-tier Haki. Yet, theoretically, these three men were on the same level!
One did not pull ahead simply by having a Supreme Grade weapon or a powerful fruit. Of course, this was only in terms of combat. The versatility of a Devil Fruit was undeniable; with the right fruit, one could achieve things in a specific field that a pure Haki user could never accomplish in a lifetime.
But in terms of raw combat power, the gap wasn't that large. If you gave Garp a Strong-Strong Fruit or even a More-More Fruit now, the boost to his strength would likely be marginal. Simply put, the enhancement provided by a Devil Fruit depends on the individual; it isn't an equal buff for everyone, nor is it the same for the strong as it is for the weak. If it were, the world would be in chaos.
According to Beltz's theory, this might stem from a "lack of confidence." This lack of confidence meant that Haki users usually ate a Devil Fruit because they felt they weren't strong enough, but eating one meant they no longer fully trusted their own Haki. Since Haki is the manifestation of that "will" and "belief," as one's trust in it decreases, the Haki itself subtly withers.
However, Beltz himself had already eaten a Devil Fruit, so it didn't matter to him. Most importantly, while others couldn't maintain absolute confidence in their Haki while eating a fruit, he could! He was performing psychological hypnosis on himself at every moment.
Therefore, he was determined to obtain the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Even if he hadn't found it this time, he would have returned to Birka frequently.
Birka was an island located further south than Skypiea or Jaya, likewise composed of pristine Island Clouds. When the three of them landed on the edge of the island, they truly beheld the world above the clouds. This singular world was made entirely of clouds: the foundations and houses were Island Clouds, while the rivers and even the ocean were Cloud Rivers and Cloud Seas.
Birka was no exception, floating quietly upon the "White-White Sea" at ten thousand meters, like a giant, soft white wool blanket spread across the azure sky. The air here was thin and crisp, and sunlight poured down unobstructed, reflecting a blinding, almost holy white light off the endless cloud plains.
"Outlanders?"
Their appearance immediately drew the attention of the Birka residents. People poked their heads out of cloud houses or stopped on the cloud streets, casting gazes mixed with surprise, curiosity, and suspicion. These Sky Islanders didn't look much different from Blue Sea people, though their skin seemed exceptionally fair from year-round exposure to intense light.
On their Sky Island, it was rare to see outsiders, especially three who clearly weren't White Sea people and had obviously come up from the Blue Sea below.
Before arriving, Beltz had already scanned the collective subconscious of the populace, but he hadn't retrieved any information regarding the location of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. However, he didn't leave; after all, the residents of Birka hadn't seen every inch of the island. If someone had spotted the fruit by now, it likely would have been eaten already. It would be years before Enel discovered the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, ate it, destroyed Birka, and moved on to Jaya and Skypiea.
"Are these the people of the heavens?" Shanks whispered. "They don't look any different from us."
"Yeah," Shamrock added. "I thought they'd have wings."
"Those would be angels," Beltz replied. "You'll see people with wings eventually."
The people of Birka didn't attack them, but they weren't friendly either; most just watched curiously with a hint of vigilance. They didn't approach, so Beltz didn't approach them either. He simply led the two boys to the place most likely to house the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Passing through the unnervingly still cloud streets and moving away from the population, the cloud ground beneath them became uneven. Eventually, ruins eroded by time appeared in their sight. This was a small, abandoned shrine, likely neglected for hundreds of years. In the memories of the Birka people, they had seen most of Birka, but no one had visited this shrine for a long time.
The shrine wasn't large and had long since collapsed. The once magnificent Cloud Stone pillars were mostly toppled, their fractures covered by softer secondary cloud fuzz. Among the ruins, many traces of violent digging could be seen, as if it had been looted in the distant past.
He didn't care if there had been other treasures here; he only cared about the Devil Fruit.
"There's actual soil here," Beltz noted, walking a few steps and seeing a bit of earth beneath a collapsed pillar.
"Is that rare?" Shanks asked, walking behind Beltz with his hands behind his head.
"Extremely rare. On Sky Island, because they can't see the earth, soil is far more precious than gold."
Hearing this, Shamrock said, "No wonder you have so much dirt in your space, Captain. Are you planning to trade on Sky Island?"
Yes, Beltz had packed a massive amount of soil into his shadow space. Part of it was gold and silver, but another part was segmented earth. He prepared this soil specifically for trade on Sky Island. Although he could just take the gold—since Sky Islanders didn't value it—soil wasn't worth much below, so he figured he would use soil to pay for the gold. That way, the Sky Islanders wouldn't lose out.
This shrine likely once held soil, which drew the greed of ancient Birkans. One day, people stole the soil from the temple, and without it, the shrine lost its sacrificial value and fell into decay.
Would a place like this have a Devil Fruit?
Beltz suddenly looked toward a collapsed wall where a tilted, but not fully destroyed, building stood. He walked over and cautiously pushed open the creaking Cloud Wood door. Fortunately, the house didn't collapse. The interior was dim, with only a few rays of sunlight piercing through holes in the roof, illuminating countless dust particles dancing in the air.
It looked like an offering room. In the center was a crude stone altar, also slanted. In the dust before the altar lay an inconspicuous, dusty wooden box, half-buried. Beltz stepped forward, brushed the dust off the lid, and opened it gently, immediately breaking into a smile.
Inside that wooden box lay a Devil Fruit!
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit!
"The second Devil Fruit," Shamrock noted upon seeing Beltz obtain another one. "Are Devil Fruits really this common?"
"You'll understand later. Aside from me, I doubt anyone else in this world can find Devil Fruits like this."
The main thing was that the fruits he found weren't just any ordinary fruits. Excellent. With this, the mission to Birka was complete. He stepped out of the building and saw a child running toward them.
It was a boy of about six or seven, two years older than Shanks and Shamrock. He had pale skin and fluffy blonde hair permed with lightning rods. Most striking were his ears—they were unusually long. His eyes were full of vigilance and a certain rage. These features were so distinct that Beltz immediately recognized him as Enel.
Enel, panting, blocked their path. "Who gave you permission to come in here!" he roared. His voice was sharp with anger. He spread his arms, trying to block these three intruders despite looking quite fragile in front of Beltz.
"No one gave us permission, but no one forbade us either," Beltz replied with a smile.
"You dared to steal items from the shrine!" Enel shouted, spotting the soil in Shanks' hand—the small amount he had picked up from under the pillar and was fiddling with.
Being stared at by that furious gaze, Shanks felt a bit awkward; he had indeed "stolen" someone else's soil. Seeing how precious it seemed on Sky Island, he quickly opened his hand, letting the soil fall. This only made Enel angrier!
"You... you... you actually trample on sacred objects like that!" Enel's eyes widened, looking at Shanks in disbelief. He viewed the earth as more sacred than anything else. Thus, upon hearing there were outlanders in Birka heading toward the ruins, he had rushed here immediately.
"This is just ordinary soil," Beltz said. "If you want it, I have plenty more here."
As he spoke, a clump of soil appeared in Beltz's hand.
"?!"
Enel froze. This dirt... how did it appear? "Did you steal that too?" Enel looked at Beltz suspiciously.
"No, no, this isn't soil from the shrine. We brought it from the Blue Sea," Beltz explained. "The soil you White Sea people dream of is everywhere down there. You can see the moon, right? That planet that appears at night. There is endless soil there, but compared to the Blue Sea, even that soil is insignificant."
"Impossible!" Enel shouted immediately. "The place in the sky is the Endless Vearth!"
"No, that's just a satellite. It can't compare to our world," Beltz explained. "It's just the place where you can see the most soil, which is why you call it Endless Vearth. In the world below, there is as much land as you could ever want. How about it? Why not come with me? If you do, I can show you the world below."
Yes, Beltz had taken an interest in Enel. He didn't actually have an interest in "raising" Enel, as Enel was too unstable. As a future boss of the pirate world who styled himself a god, regardless of his strength, his cruelty was matched by few. Even the Celestial Dragons required a whole crowd of people to wipe out a country. But Enel destroyed his own home, Birka, and later planned to use "Raigo" to destroy his own subjects on Skypiea and Upper Yard!
Beltz had no desire to employ someone with such a strong urge for destruction. But just because he wouldn't use him didn't mean he couldn't give him to someone else. He could give him to Shiki. Shiki was short on people right now, anyway. His fleet was massive, but most of them were "bottom-feeders." Adding some combat potential to his ally's forces was the right thing to do.
Even without the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Enel was a character with the potential to be a "boss." With training below, he should have no problem becoming an officer under Shiki. At the very least, his Observation Haki truly had unique qualities.
Beltz had considered building his own faction, but later felt it was meaningless. People build factions to deal with other groups of people. In one world, no matter how strong you are, it's easy to be mobbed to death. But he didn't need that. He only needed to keep improving himself, and eventually, he would surpass everything in One Piece. Thus, building a faction in One Piece was pointless, whereas doing so in the Soul Society was necessary. Besides, wasn't there already a Shiki working diligently to build a faction?
"Are you joking?"
"I'm not lying. If you don't believe me..." Beltz reached out, and in the next moment, he transmitted several images through mind-transfer. These were scenes he had witnessed below—Sorbet Kingdom, Wano, God Valley... places with massive amounts of land. He even transmitted basic knowledge about the Moon and the Earth!
When Enel received this information, he stood there dazed. This... how was this possible?!
Everything Beltz transmitted utterly shattered his worldview. At this time, Enel hadn't been to Skypiea or seen Upper Yard. The most soil he had ever seen was a small bit in a flowerpot. He had considered it a sacred relic. And the Moon in the sky had been worshipped by him since childhood as the Endless Vearth!
But now, Beltz was telling him the lower world also had endless earth, even larger than the Moon! That... was exactly the place he dreamed of!