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Chapter 157: A Bewildered Enel
"If it's free, then we all want to go to Sky Island!"
"Granny, please tell us how to get there!"
The Straw Hat crew gathered together to discuss it for a moment. Although a few of them felt a lingering unease, the majority ruled.
Hearing this, the gatekeeper—who had already receded into the shadows—lowered her head. "I see. All seven of you are going, then?"
"Yep!"
Having received an affirmative, the old woman finally looked up, satisfied. She gazed out over the White Sea surrounding the Going Merry, her eyes seeming to search for something lurking beneath the clouds.
The crew followed her line of sight.
Kersplash!
Suddenly, a titanic silhouette breached the surface from the depths of the cloudy sea!
Its size was staggering. The portion jutting out of the clouds was already larger than the Going Merry. A pair of massive pincers flanked the ship from both sides, locking firmly against the hull.
A moment later, the entire ship was violently hoisted into the air!
"What the hell is that?!"
"Something came out from right under us!"
The crew were thrown off balance. Usopp clung to the mast for dear life, while Chopper tumbled across the deck like a discarded toy. Total chaos erupted as the Straw Hats thought they were under attack.
"What?! Is it a Sea King?!"
"No! It's an absurdly huge shrimp, and it looks like it's carrying our ship away!"
Amidst the panic, the old gatekeeper's indifferent voice echoed from below.
"This is a specialty of the White Sea… the Express Shrimp."
She watched in silence as the Going Merry grew further and further away.
"It will take you… exactly where you are meant to go."
True to its name, the Express Shrimp was astonishingly fast. It practically became a blur as it carried the Going Merry. Within moments, it hauled the ship into the sheer white, vertical tunnel of clouds, panting heavily as it ascended to an even higher realm.
Down below, standing beside the pillars of Heaven's Gate, the old gatekeeper finally dropped her mask of indifference.
A cruel, fanatical gleam—completely incongruous with her age—surfaced in her murky little eyes.
"Almighty God and esteemed Priests, the Inspector of Heaven's Gate reports to you…" she chanted, resembling a devout zealot. "For the seven illegal trespassers heading toward the holy land of God's realm… Please enact the Judgment of Heaven!!!"
The moment her words fell…
Whoosh.
Something in the air seemed to respond.
A flash of wild ecstasy crossed the old woman's eyes. Could it be that her report had been acknowledged by God Himself?!
However, before she could adopt a reverent posture to receive the divine revelation, a bone-chilling cold descended from the sky without the slightest warning.
What is…?
Crack.
A crystalline arrow radiating an eerie blue frost appeared out of thin air, materializing just meters above her head.
Before the gatekeeper could even utter a sound, the freezing aura swallowed her whole in an instant.
Up on the ship, Luffy watched gleefully as the Going Merry shot up the vertical cloud tunnel. "I can't wait! Looks like we're almost there!"
"The clouds are so big and so close… They look just like cotton candy~" Chopper murmured, staring blankly at the receding cloud walls on either side of the ship, completely mesmerized.
"That granny was such a nice person," Usopp sighed in appreciation.
"The people of Sky Island seem pretty friendly," Nami agreed. "Whether it was that knight or the old woman just now."
Both locals who had offered them help hadn't forced them to pay a dime. Naturally, she assumed they were just warmhearted folks.
"But aren't you guys hoping to meet some younger Sky Island residents?" Sanji chimed in, a totally different priority on his mind. "Like… beautiful angels or something! Ah, just thinking about it makes my heart pound!"
"Stupid perverted cook," Zoro side-eyed him, his tone dripping with disdain. "You're the only one hoping for something like that."
"Bastard!" Sanji flared up instantly. "You muscle-brained meathead! You don't even understand what angels represent! They are the absolute embodiment of purity, holiness, and beauty—!"
"Heh." Zoro didn't bother offering a verbal retort. Instead, he just turned his head away with a dismissive scoff—the most obvious insult he could deliver.
"You wanna go, moss-head?!"
Unsurprisingly, it took less than two sentences for the pair to be at each other's throats again. However, acutely aware that the Going Merry was currently hurtling straight up into the sky, they settled for just glaring daggers at one another.
At the back of the ship, having secretly fired a shot behind her crewmates' backs, Ganyu leaned against the cabin door. A warm smile graced her lips as she watched her two occasionally childish companions bicker.
At the same time, her gaze drifted toward Luffy, Nami, Chopper, and the others. Seeing their excitement and listening to their lively chatter filled her eyes with an indescribable warmth and joy.
A new adventure has begun.
Ganyu reached up to tuck a stray strand of windblown hair behind her ear. Her icy blue locks fluttered gently in the breeze. Lowering her gaze, she casually peered downward.
Far below, at the entrance of Heaven's Gate, the gatekeeper harboring malicious intent had now become a solid block of ice, standing frozen in place like a stone statue.
Naturally, this was her doing.
Consider it a minor punishment for intentionally trying to lead the Straw Hat Pirates into danger.
"Judgment of Heaven… divine punishment, is it?"
Ganyu murmured softly. She then tilted her head up to the sky. Her gaze seemed to pierce through thousands of meters of clouds, locking directly onto an arrogant figure perched atop a stone temple.
The very instant her eyes fell upon him…
…the man noticed it simultaneously. An expression of shock and uncertainty washed over his face. His raised arm froze mid-air, and the endless sea of lightning crackling above him instantly fell dead silent.
What the hell…?!
High above the clouds, a cold sweat broke out across Enel's body. He stumbled backward, nearly slipping off the roof in his shock.
Just as he was preparing a little "welcome gift" for these visitors from the Blue Sea, he suddenly felt a terrifying, overwhelmingly powerful gaze lock onto him.
It was an unmasked, indescribably colossal presence.
Of course, "colossal" didn't refer to the person's physical size. It was the unimaginable aura he sensed emanating from them through his Mantra!
It was no exaggeration to say that this terrifying presence actually eclipsed his own power as "God."
Impossible! How could there be anyone in this world stronger than me?!
Especially considering this person was highly likely a Blue Sea dweller—a race he viewed as impossibly frail. But no matter how unbelievable it was, Enel had to accept the results his Mantra was giving him.
A monster has come up from the Blue Sea!
For a moment, Enel felt as if he were facing his greatest enemy. His expression shifted unpredictably. In his wide, dilated pupils, the image of a petite figure slowly began to reflect.
It's her… it has to be her!
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