The climate of Skypiea was vastly different from that of the Blue Sea.
Because of its extremely high altitude and the absence of heavy geological features like mountain ranges, wind was practically the dominant element here.
Even though the Skypieans had made certain geographical modifications, the temperature remained on the low side.
That was especially true of the even higher-altitude residence of the gods.
The air was so thin that even Zoro didn't want to stay there for long.
Of course—
That was Nami's explanation.
In reality, it was because the divine residence was hard to move around in, and it wasn't very convenient for carrying out daily work.
And that was only one of the reasons.
The biggest reason was that this place had been Nami's private territory from the very beginning.
The new Thunder God moving into the old Thunder God's residence was nothing strange.
She had even mobilized the divine soldiers to redecorate the place entirely.
An orchard of tangerine trees filled the courtyard, along with countless weather-related plants.
Golden ornaments could be seen everywhere, fully satisfying Nami's obsession with wealth.
She even had a massive bed formed by stacking gold coins into a concave shape.
Ron's comment on it was that it was far too hard—both parties' knees would end up hurting.
Behind the courtyard was a newly opened swimming pool, and even an artificial cloud beach.
Because hardly anyone would ever come here rashly,
On the very night they arrived, Ron and Nami's footprints spread across the entire cloud shore.
An angel's wings fell here, and the two vanished by the edge of the pool at dawn.
Floating balloons dotted the water's surface there, along with a pair of succubus horns.
Beside the waters where the succubus horns had been left behind were the pool's ceramic tiles.
It seemed as though someone had been standing in the pool while leaning their upper body against the tiles.
Clear traces remained, though no human outline could be discerned—as if they had been erased by friction back and forth.
In the end,
The footprints led from the pool into the residence itself.
Inside, Nami had installed many facilities of her own.
A library, a testing ground, a workshop, and more.
And at this very moment,
Inside the workshop bathed in dazzling sunlight, things were just a little… too hot.
Scattered clothing lay strewn across the cloud-rock floor, the succubus-angel outfit completely dismantled.
It was as if this place weren't at high altitude at all, but inside a volcano, making anyone who entered instinctively shed their clothes.
Here—
The Nami who had proposed working back on the cloud shore was now drawing nautical charts.
Only, for the person involved, the current situation was not exactly suitable for work.
"Mmm… wait… h–ha…"
Nami was bent over the worktable, her full curves pressing down on a blank sea chart.
Her fair, jade-like hand gripped a pen so tightly it looked as though she might snap it in half.
The utterly improper grip made the pen tip draw chaotic, meaningless lines across the chart.
But she had no attention left to spare.
Her beautiful eyes were unfocused, her flushed, stunning face looking as if it might drip with moisture.
Another impact came—tremendous force surging from behind.
The pen tip pressed against the blank chart suddenly streaked forward, and another long moan escaped from her delicate nose—pitiful and lingering.
Then,
As the source of impact withdrew, the hand holding the pen was pulled backward, carving a short, abrupt mark.
And then another impact—the pen tip once more dragged out a long line.
At this point, the chart was already covered in meaningless yet regular patterns, like an electrocardiogram.
"Weren't you supposed to be working?"
Ron leaned down, both hands clamping onto the slender waist of the prey that could no longer resist.
His scorching breaths sounded like the prey's dying cries—every release and withdrawal made her shudder.
Thinking back a few hours earlier,
This woman still had the strength to shout about being done, insisting she had to go work.
But after Ron satisfied her, she didn't seem quite so enthusiastic about work anymore.
"I—ha… I was wrong… ha… I shouldn't have provoked you. I shouldn't have thought you… ah! couldn't even use up two boxes of umbrellas."
Nami clutched the pen desperately, her whole body trembling.
"You hurt my pride back then. Now I'm planning to take it back from you—double."
Ron reached forward with one hand.
"D–double? No… ha… I'll die."
Nami struggled to lift her long, fair neck, shaking her head dizzily from side to side.
"Your physique is much stronger than before."
Ron released one hand and traced downward, his fingertips gliding over the smooth line at the center of her ribs.
"D–don't… I apologize… I'm sorry… I really can't take it anymore…"
Nami shuddered, her eyes growing ever more unfocused, a watery sheen emerging.
"If apologies worked, why would I need this spear?"
Ron pressed forward again, this time with far greater force, as if he were about to pierce his prey completely through.
Nami fell silent.
Her entire body trembled, and finally even the hand gripping the pen loosened.
More than ten seconds later, she collapsed limply against the "chopping board," panting.
"T–then… ha… can you let big sis come over?"
"Didn't you say these days were yours alone?"
"I was wrong… really wrong… ha… relying on that trait… how could I ever be your match—aaaa!"
In short,
After being apart for half a month, the strong-willed woman thought she could seize control of the battlefield.
But once again, she was utterly defeated by Ron.
That said, the battle lasted far longer than expected.
"Is this the place? Nami's residence… uh, Ron should be here."
On the second day after the banquet, Vivi set foot on this territory that once belonged to Enel.
But now it was Nami's private domain, and as her territory, outsiders rarely came here.
This was Vivi's first visit.
"Mm… there's even an orange orchard. Were these transplanted from the Enlightenment?Nami's hometown oranges… I want to try one."
On her way toward the emerging silhouette of the divine residence, Vivi came across a grove.
It was most likely transplanted from the Enlightenment, and it was already laden with densely packed oranges.
"Let's pick one."
Vivi plucked an orange from a tree, her gaze falling beneath it.
There were many transparent glass bottles there, and oddly spiraling bubbles were evaporating around them.
It was a bit strange—like some kind of special supplies.
That thing called bone meal? I heard it can make plants grow unnaturally fast, skipping fixed stages.But didn't Nojiko say it was white powder? These bottles are all filled with liquid…
Vivi was curious, but she didn't probe further.
Ron had plenty of strange things—these might just be another kind of "bone meal."
Compared to that,
Today's wind seemed a bit strong… and also somewhat strange.
For example, there was one orange tree in the orchard shaking especially violently, as if an invisible person were shaking it.
Something feels… off. Should I go take a look?
Vivi hesitated.
But after thinking it over, she decided she was probably overthinking it.
Holding the orange, she headed toward the divine residence to deliver some reports.
Not long after, however, Vivi returned from the residence with a puzzled look.
"They're not there? Then where did they go?"
She searched around in confusion, then helplessly went back to report the matter to Nojiko.
On the way, she passed the orchard again—the wind was still strong.
And there was still a tree shaking particularly hard.
Only this time, it was a different tree.
Some time later,
Long, heavy breaths echoed through the orchard.
Then—
"Vivi's awareness isn't very sharp."
Ron stood beneath the orange tree, one hand stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"What do you think?"
There was no reply.
Nami, wearing hot pants today, clung to the tree trunk, her flushed, pretty face pressed against its side.
Copious sweat stuck to her hair, then slid down her snowy neck into the cleft of her peaks.
She had collapsed to the ground on her knees.
Intense panting spilled from her rosy lips, her beautiful eyes looking somewhat vacant.
Only after a long while did light gradually return to them.
"If we get discovered, I'll bite you to death!"
Nami braced herself against the trunk and slowly stood up, then turned back to glare fiercely at Ron.
If they'd been found just now, she didn't know how she'd have faced Vivi's gaze.
"Hm? Didn't you bite for a long time last night?"
"You know that's not what I mean!"
"I think you need some education."
"?"
Nami's panicked voice rang out again. "Wait—don't do it here! That was already really dangerous just now!"
"I refuse!"
Women are fickle creatures.
That is an eternal truth.
Three days later,
The once overwhelmingly enthusiastic Nami finally kicked the man away under the weight of exhaustion.
She handed the remaining time over to Nojiko, since she still had all kinds of research projects to conduct.
Weather science in Weatheria was like a massive magnet to a weather witch like Nami.
She was like a mouse that had fallen into a rice bin—constantly eating, digesting that knowledge, and turning it into her own.
Time was something she was perpetually short on.
And on top of that, she had to shoulder a man's desires as well—heaven knows how many times she'd been on the verge of passing out during those three days.
There is no such thing as land worn out by plowing, only oxen worked to death.
But that's only if the ox isn't an infinitely powered mechanical bull!
If this keeps up, my brain will start getting weird too.
With that line, Nami vetoed Ron's follow-up ideas.
Three days weren't Ron's limit—but they really were her limit!
She regretted asking Nojiko for three days, having her arrange an undisturbed environment.
If time could rewind—and if the environment back then hadn't been so bad, making discovery unbearably awkward—
At that moment, Nami had even entertained the thought of dragging Vivi in to share the burden.
At least she wouldn't have been so unbearably overwhelmed!
Ron, who still wanted to "let the music play and the dance continue," could only give up.
His slipping moral baseline—and his thinking—returned to normal.
At this moment,
He sat in Nami's bedroom and opened the light screen of the Dimensional Roulette.
The highest-priority task now was to use the Time–Space: Creator card to improve himself.
Priority didn't mean the order of completion.
At the very least,
He needed to complete the seven-in-one first, and only then begin training.
"The Calabash Brothers template has been dragged out long enough. It's time to finish the full integration."
With that decision, Ron concluded.
(End of Chapter)