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Chapter 158: Divine Judgment
Angel Island. The sandy beach.
The Straw Hat Pirates stood on a stretch of snow-white sand, staring blankly at a single person.
It was a young blonde girl facing the ocean, playing a harp all by herself. Much like the elderly knight Gan Fall and the gatekeeper they had encountered earlier, she sported a pair of diminutive, snow-white wings on her back.
This alone confirmed her identity as a native of Sky Island.
But… she was young, beautiful, and playing a harp.
This image practically ripped the exact fantasy Sanji had just been dreaming about straight into reality.
Sky Island… actually has angels!
The angelic girl stopped playing and turned her head, revealing a face as pure and flawless as the melody she had been strumming. She first glanced at the strange-looking ship docked by the cloud sea, then shifted her gaze to the equally bizarrely dressed group of people standing before it.
A few seconds later, the girl spoke up in mild surprise. "Heso. Did you come from the Blue Sea?"
Still trapped in a state of utter shock, the Straw Hats just stood there with their mouths agape and eyes wide, entirely unresponsive. Sanji in particular couldn't tear his blatant, unblinking stare away from the angelic girl's face.
After a long pause, Ganyu was the first to snap back to reality.
Stepping lightly forward, she put half a pace between herself and her crewmates. Her warm, gentle eyes rested quietly on the angelic girl as she replied in a calm, friendly tone, "Heso."
She paused for a moment before continuing, "We are indeed from the sea below Sky Island. We're a pirate crew."
The angelic girl blinked, instinctively returning the greeting again. "Heso—"
The moment the word slipped out, she realized something was off. She tilted her head slightly, her gaze falling curiously upon Ganyu.
No, more accurately, it fell upon the delicate horns resting atop Ganyu's head.
"Are you a Blue Sea dweller too?" the girl couldn't help but ask, her large eyes brimming with confusion. "Why do you look so different from them?"
Not only did this Blue Sea girl—who looked around her age—have completely different physical features than the rest, but she also knew that "Heso" was their local greeting.
This filled the angelic girl with burning curiosity.
However, curiosity aside, this girl named Conis was ultimately very polite. She felt that firing off two back-to-back questions right upon meeting someone was a bit rude, so she quickly tacked on an introduction to make up for her presumed offense.
"Hello, my name is Conis."
As soon as she said her name, the rest of the Straw Hats finally snapped out of their collective trance.
"Hello, hello! I'm Usopp! The great warrior of the sea!"
"I'm Nami, the navigator!"
"I'm Luffy! Are your wings real? Can I touch them?"
"Idiot, don't ask such a rude question!"
The crew's chattering introductions overlapped one after another, their enthusiasm bordering on a swarm of ants rushing toward honey. It was a well-known fact that, aside from a quiet minority, almost everyone on this ship was incredibly outgoing and quick to make friends.
Once the floodgates opened, the scene became uncontrollably rowdy. Even Ganyu, who had been the first to initiate contact, didn't get another chance to speak.
Bombarded by the rapid-fire questions, Conis was left feeling a little dizzy, though she mostly just found it highly amusing.
A few minutes later, after a round of passionate and friendly conversation, the Straw Hat crew had quickly befriended the angelic girl they'd chanced upon.
Having made new friends, it naturally crossed Conis's mind to invite them over. She offered somewhat shyly, "Would you like to come over to my house as guests? I live just a little ways from here. If I bring so many new friends home, my father will be thrilled."
"Really? Awesome, let's go!" Hearing the prospect of a free meal, Luffy was naturally the first to agree.
Just like that, the Straw Hat Pirates had finally secured their first meal since arriving on Sky Island.
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Upper Yard.
Deep within a dense, primeval forest, a cruel pursuit was underway.
Ancient trees stretched toward the sky, draped in thick vines, as sunlight filtered through the overlapping canopy to cast dappled shadows on the forest floor. It should have been a tranquil paradise, but the serene silence was shattered by a miserable, frantic cry for help.
"Help! Somebody help me—!!"
A man was fleeing frantically through the woods. His clothes were in tatters, his face a portrait of sheer terror, leaving behind a crooked trail of frantic footprints.
He possessed no wings, making it obvious he was an illegal trespasser from the Blue Sea who had somehow slipped into this divine nation.
Following leisurely behind him was a pursuing figure. It was a rather modern-looking man wearing a pilot's cap and goggles. He wielded a javelin-like weapon and possessed a pair of Skypiean wings.
Priest Shura. One of the Four Priests, who presided over the Ordeal of String.
At this moment, he was trailing the fleeing Blue Sea dweller with the relaxed posture of someone taking a casual stroll. He neither sped up nor attacked. He simply followed at his own languid pace, like a cat toying with a mouse.
The more pathetic the man's screams grew, the more elated the Priest's expression became.
"Run! Run with all your might! Let me see if a miserable illegal trespasser from the Blue Sea can truly escape… the Judgment of God!"
True to habit, Shura was in no rush to end his prey's life. He preferred to drag out the chase, letting the "criminal" exhaust every last drop of stamina in pure terror. Only when they had completely broken down, sobbing and plunged into absolute despair, would he finally deliver their execution.
Not only did this fulfill God's decreed punishment for rulebreakers, but it also largely satisfied the twisted, sadistic urges that had festered in the Four Priests over their years of passing judgment.
BOOM—!!!
Suddenly, a massive bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky without the slightest warning!
The strike was swift and deadly accurate, violently smiting the fleeing man square on the head.
"AGHHHH!!!!"
A harrowing, bloodcurdling scream ripped through the air. The man who had been sprinting just a second ago was instantly reduced to a heap of charred, blackened flesh. The pungent stench of burnt skin and meat rapidly filled the air.
Shura ground to a halt.
He glanced down at the charred corpse, then slowly looked up toward the sky. Beneath his goggles, his brows furrowed in confusion.
Why… would God personally execute a criminal?
Such a thing had never happened before. By precedent, any illegal trespassers from the Blue Sea were supposed to be handled by the Four Priests. Unless they encountered a uniquely powerful opponent capable of defeating a Priest, God would never lower Himself to intervene in such a "trivial" matter.
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