"He came to this country some time ago, looking for a doctor to treat him, but back then all the doctors were restricted by Drum Kingdom's King, Wapol, and weren't allowed to treat people as they pleased.
In the end that guy and his crew directly wiped this country off the map, Wapol was driven away by him too, and after that no one knows what happened. That was the only time that bunch ever showed their faces."
The residents of Drum Island had no good feelings toward Wapol, and they didn't think much better of Blackbeard either. Facing King's question, Dalton gave his answer cleanly and without hesitation.
"Where did those guys go?"
"No idea. That guy might have talked with the doctors; I can help you ask around."
"Fine, I'll wait here."
After that, Kureha left the castle for a while with Dalton, and Kureha's attitude also struck Dalton as odd.
She was being too polite, so polite it wasn't like her at all. Going by Kureha's usual habits, she shouldn't be showing any good face to an uninvited guest like King.
"Dalton, you're too young, and as a king you need to pay more attention to what's happening outside. That guy is a monster.
That Blackbeard before could destroy Drum Kingdom; if this guy goes crazy, he can just as easily destroy our Sakura Kingdom.
There's no need to offend someone like that over some trivial little matter not even worth mentioning."
Kureha had seen far more of the world than Dalton. They had nothing to do with Blackbeard to begin with, and offending a powerful monster over a few casual words was meaningless—especially a monster who could bring disaster to a country.
The doctors on Drum Island still provided King with some useful information. After roughly confirming Blackbeard's direction of travel, King once again set off on the road to hunt him down.
...
Near Gaya Island, the atmosphere aboard the Merry had taken on an even stranger tone.
"Come, follow my moves together now—one, two, jump!"
On the deck of the Merry, Bon Kurei was leading Luffy and the others in learning the Okama Dance. Behind him stood Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper.
It was just that their movements were nowhere near as coordinated as Bon Kurei's; as they spun around they crashed into a lump, and in the end they all toppled onto the dozing Zoro.
"That's enough out of you! Stop messing around!"
"Herro!"
Nami and Herro helplessly pressed their hands to their foreheads, their motions uncannily in sync.
Even though Bon Kurei was an okama, his personality had been accepted by Luffy and the others. The problem was, he was not a quiet, well-behaved sort. His joining hadn't calmed the Straw Hat Pirates down; it had instead made this bunch even less normal.
Okama, reindeer, hopeless romantic, directionally challenged idiot, plain idiot—looking closely, Nami realized the most normal thing on the ship was actually a rhinoceros beetle.
Glancing at the Log Pose in her hand pointing toward the sky, she could only discuss their next step with Herro.
Thanks to those two Heracross back in her hometown, she had no language barrier communicating with Herro, and they could properly work out the next plan.
"Sky Island? You're saying there's really an island up in the sky?"
"Herro herro~ [I've never been up there, but my companions have]."
Along the way Herro often communicated with the Heracross they encountered, and had managed to gather a certain amount of intel.
...
Later, on Gaya Island, they met Cricket.
For people without the ability to fly, there was only one route that could safely reach Sky Island: Western Heaven Peak. But the entrance to that route was extremely far from Gaya Island, so Cricket had never found the path leading to Sky Island.
With the information provided by the tavern owner, he became convinced of Sky Island's existence, insisting on making a living by salvaging and saving up commissions.
Whenever he encountered pirates with a strong sense of adventure, he would propose hiring them to take him to Sky Island.
It was just that he had never met pirates truly brave enough to charge toward Sky Island. After all, for ordinary people, the Sky-reaching Sea Flow was a road to death, and the odds of safely reaching Sky Island were next to nothing.
Until Luffy arrived—only then did he meet a group of warriors like this.
Sky Island, just like before, charged an entry fee to anyone coming in, and because of the Hundred Beasts, the currency had also been unified into Belly.
The entry fee of one hundred thousand Belly wasn't high, but Nami's personality was on the stingy side. After hearing there was a way to enter for free, she still chose the money-saving option.
But once they entered the real Sky Island and saw the two flags hanging over the White Sea, their hearts instinctively trembled.
"I'm just saying... doesn't that flag look a little familiar..."
The horned Skull Flag and the Thousand Cosmos Cross Flag were crossed and hanging over the beach of Angel Island. Staring at that oddly familiar emblem, a few drops of sweat slid down Nami's forehead.
"I suddenly remembered I've got this disease where I'll die if I don't pay up. How about it, Nami... should we go back and make up the entry fee?"
"But that old lady at the entry post clearly said we could come in without paying..."
When it came to money, Nami still hesitated internally. Seeing her conflicted expression, Usopp's face twisted into one of near-tears.
Dun! Dun! Dun!
While they were tangled up over it, several arrows thudded into the deck of the Merry. In the sky above, a fat man was already beating his wings as he flew toward them.
Hundred Beasts Pirates, NO.49—Bat Man. As one of Sky Island's garrison personnel, he naturally hurried over when he received the news.
In the original timeline, he'd had his own highlight moment—after all, he was a "little prodigy" who could "fight evenly with a Four Emperor."*
Unlike the original timeline, this time he wasn't just shining thanks to the anime staff. For Luffy, he was a bona fide "Bat Emperor."
"Hahaha, after so many years, someone's finally chosen this route. You're the ones who picked the trial, right?"
"Trial? What trial?"
"Huh? That old lady at the entry post didn't explain things clearly to you?"
Bat Man frowned, but still went on to explain the current rules of Sky Island.
"Normal folks have to pay to get in. If you don't pay, that means you chose the second path—taking part in our trial.
If you fail the trial, you've got to pay double the entry fee as compensation. If you beat me, you can enter for free and even get a chance to join us. You seriously didn't know?"
"Uh, actually this is all a big misunderstanding..."
"So in other words, you're playing me? According to our rules, liars get sent to work the mines."
"No way! Usopp is my crewmate, I'm not letting you send him to the mines!"
Blinking his eyes, Bat Man looked a bit lost. He had no idea what this straw-hatted kid in front of him was talking about. He'd clearly said "liars"—when did he ever mention "Usopp"?*
"Cut the crap! On our turf there's no backing out. You've come this far already, so get ready to face the trial!"
"So you're saying, I just have to beat you, right?"
"Naive rookie. It's not you beating me—it's all of you beating me that'll do the trick!"