The next morning, after introducing Van Augur to everyone, the group sailed to the area near the undersea volcano.
"Hey, hey, are we really flying up there?"
Burgess was a little worried about whether this ship could be trusted.
"Relax. This ship is far more amazing than you can imagine."
Franky stood to the side, full of confidence.
Those who had never been to Sky Island imagined how beautiful the White Sea would be.
As for those who had been there before, along with Enel's group, they were calm.
They had already seen it. There was nothing to get excited about.
Nami and Nojiko each held one of White Ghost's hands.
"Is it really that beautiful up there?"
White Ghost nodded.
"It is beautiful. The kind of place that lets your mood relax."
Nami's eyes, however, were full of berries.
"White Bro, is there really a lot of gold up there?"
White Ghost rubbed the head of this greedy little cat.
"It's true. I took half last time. This time, we're going to take it all back."
"Right, right, take it all. It's all ours."
Nami's eyes sparkled. She wished she could see the gold right now.
Issho and Van Augur walked over.
"Captain, everything is prepared. We can depart at any time."
"Then let's go."
White Ghost picked up Nami and Nojiko beside him.
These two were not very brave. The moment they heard they were heading to a Sky Island more than ten thousand meters up, they ran to White Ghost for protection.
"Understood."
Van Augur hooked his finger, and Dragon Island beside them, along with the main ship, began floating.
Issho tapped his cane sword lightly against the deck.
Van Augur immediately felt the weight lighten, and their speed increased.
The warship monitoring White Ghost's group saw this magical scene.
The officer in charge had no choice but to report it to Sengoku.
Marine Headquarters also received the news, but they were not surprised.
White Ghost's ship could already fly.
On top of that, he had Issho, the blind man and Paramecia Gravity-Gravity Fruit user. Was it really that shocking for him to bring the island ship along too?
What Sengoku could not understand was whether White Ghost had found the legendary Sky Island.
The World Government had also sent people to search for it before, but they had not found it and eventually gave up.
Sengoku had once considered it too.
But the conditions had not been suitable, so he had abandoned the idea.
If he had obtained the gold up there, Sengoku would have had plenty of confidence.
Just as White Ghost's group was about to reach the clouds, Stella extended her tender hand.
Buzz.
A huge bubble began expanding, wrapping around both the ship and the island ship beside it.
Stella had eaten her Devil Fruit a long time ago, and she had never neglected developing the Bubble-Bubble Fruit.
It could be said that the current Stella could defeat an ordinary Vice Admiral.
With her Devil Fruit, skilled Six Powers, and Haki, she could completely suppress a normal Vice Admiral.
White Ghost smiled at her.
"Thanks for the hard work."
Stella smiled faintly.
"It's only a small matter."
Whoosh.
The two ships quickly rushed into the cloud layer and continued upward.
Inside the sea of clouds, Nami really wanted to reach out and touch it, but she did not dare. After all, there were so many people, and safety came first.
Crocus held a pile of pills.
"Come, come. Everyone take one. Otherwise, you might have trouble breathing later. The air above is very thin."
The old, weak, women, and children consciously took the pills and swallowed them.
Of course, the reckless brutes were excluded. Crocus did not give them any.
As they kept rising, Van Augur began struggling.
After all, he had only obtained the Float-Float Fruit last night. Being able to do this much was already quite good.
Issho's cane sword slowly left its sheath, and an invisible gravity field immediately covered the surroundings, greatly reducing Van Augur's pressure.
Boom!
The two ships burst out through the first sea of clouds.
In an instant, Sky Island's unique White Sea appeared before everyone's eyes.
Everyone's eyes lit up.
Then came a bit of difficulty breathing.
Since they had taken Crocus' special medicine in advance, they quickly recovered.
As for White Ghost and the others…
White Ghost himself was directly immune. Kuro and the others were more or less the same. Only the newly joined members struggled a little, but they soon adjusted by themselves.
On Dragon Island beside them, there were special oxygen pumps prepared, so there was no need to worry about the pirates working overtime there.
"So this is Sky Island? Why isn't there an island?"
Nami looked puzzled.
"We're not there yet."
White Ghost pointed in a direction.
Van Augur controlled the two ships and set off.
Before long, a gate appeared ahead.
The old woman responsible for guarding it came out.
She thought unfamiliar people had arrived again and was just about to ask for the entrance fee when she saw the familiar face at the bow.
"God? God has returned!"
The old angel waved her arms excitedly.
At first, the people of Sky Island had hated White Ghost.
After all, this man had ruled over their homeland and placed them under his command.
At the beginning, the people had thought he would drive them out. Who knew that after he rang the Bell of Shandora and declared Gan Fall and the great chief his representatives, he ran away.
At first, neither side accepted the other.
They had been enemies for hundreds of years and both wanted sovereignty.
Gan Fall and the great chief suppressed that matter with thunderous methods. After all, this was a hard-won opportunity. They could not let it disappear just like that.
In the days that followed, the two sides hated each other, as if they would start fighting at the slightest disagreement.
But with time, that resentment slowly lessened.
Their god had left them a huge pile of seeds, so they no longer had to worry about resources.
When people discovered that they no longer had to lose brothers, husbands, and children, they slowly began letting go of their hatred for one another.
The reason they could let go so smoothly was the invasion of outside pirates.
They discovered that those pirates were far too greedy.
Not only did they want gold, they also wanted women. If refused, they wanted to kill.
To resist those greedy pirates, the two sides set down their hatred and began joining forces against outside enemies.
Seeing this, the great chief and Gan Fall smiled at each other.
It was exactly as their god had said.
Hatred would not disappear, but it could be redirected.
As the two sides resisted outside enemies together more and more, they also accepted each other.
By now, intermarriage between the two sides had already begun.
The two leaders were very satisfied.
This was also something their god had said.
Redirect hatred. Intermarry.
Perhaps starting from the next generation, those barriers would vanish completely.
Back to the present.
White Ghost rubbed his chin and looked at that gatekeeper, who had grown unbelievably old.
He remembered that a few years ago, she had not looked this old.
"God."
The gatekeeper was about to kneel, and anyone could see how excited she was.
White Ghost waved his hand, and a current of wind stopped her.
"No need for that. I'm not that rigid."
"Yes."
The old woman bowed.
"God, I will immediately arrange for you to go up."
As she spoke, she prepared to take out a whistle.
"No need. Our ships are a little heavy. We'll handle it ourselves."
White Ghost refused her kindness and signaled for Van Augur to follow the slope upward.
Watching the enormous ships move away, the old woman murmured,
"As expected of God."
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