The salty sea breeze, carrying fine cloud-sand, swept across the dock. Black smoothed his white stand-up collar, which had been ruffled by the airflow, and the sapphire-inlaid scepter tapped a clear sound on the quartz ground.
Following the Summit of the Western Heaven, the sanctuary once again arrived at a Sky Island.
The architectural style here was distinctly different from other Sky Islands, and even from the Blue Sea.
Rather than a Sky Island, it resembled Vegapunk's Egghead Island more.
However, the technological creations here were dim in color, carrying a heavy sense of history.
The city was composed of gray-white stone buildings, with walls carved full of wing-shaped symbols.
"Your Highness, something seems off here."
Mandy, hand on her sword hilt, stood beside Black, vigilantly looking at the Sky Islanders who were rapidly approaching.
One of them came closer, his expression unfriendly:
"Birka does not welcome outsiders. Please leave!"
Black raised an eyebrow; this commanding tone made him a bit uncomfortable.
However, upon hearing that this was Birka, he couldn't help but look around at the surroundings:
"So this is Birka? It's quite different from what I expected."
Black pulled out the golden pistol from his In my arms, and with a bang—
A bullet hole appeared on the man's forehead, and he fell to the ground.
This scene not only startled the surrounding Sky Islanders but also surprised Mandy, who was standing nearby.
Black, however, paid no attention to their expressions and instead instructed the CP agents behind him:
"Get them out of my sight."
Two CP agents immediately stepped forward, each punch and kick sending a Sky Islander flying.
Black was not usually a person who enjoyed killing, but he would not allow others to provoke him.
It was one thing for Degalt, the Giant Kingdom, to say they were unwelcome.
After all, if a real fight broke out, without Black's intervention, the people on the sanctuary wouldn't be enough to take on a single tribe of the Giant Kingdom.
But what right did Birka, a place that even Eneru could destroy, have to not welcome him?
Speaking of which, Birka's architectural style was both unexpected and expected.
Originally, Black thought Birka's style should be similar to the Sky Island that appeared in the original story.
But thinking about it carefully, this kind of high-tech city seemed to make sense.
This story began more than 1,100 years ago.
At that time, the Lunarians came to Earth and traded with kings from various regions.
The kings provided Slaves to help the Lunarians mine gold.
In return, the Lunarians provided advanced technology to the kings.
This technology from the moon propelled Earth into civilization at that time.
However, the technological gap between the two sides was too great, directly advancing Earth from a hunting civilization to an industrial civilization.
This led to the emergence of a new type of energy—Mother Flame.
This thing could be used as both energy and a weapon.
The foolish humans couldn't control it, and wars broke out between kingdoms.
At this time, the suffering Slaves began to pray to nature.
Thus, Devil Fruit appeared, giving the Slaves the power to resist.
When the Lunarians saw that even Earth's nature was angry, they immediately felt that something big was wrong and prepared to escape.
They flew towards the moon in a spaceship similar to Eneru's.
The "God of the Earth" at that time was furious.
"You Lunarians are the instigators!"
"Now that it's come to this, you think you can just pack up and leave?"
"Dream on!"
So the God of the Earth raised the Red Line, blocking the Lunarians.
It also broke the land into islands of various sizes.
"Didn't you fight because you developed too fast and interacted too much?"
"Then don't develop anymore, and don't communicate."
He tried to achieve permanent peace by preventing interaction between kingdoms.
Of the Lunarians who remained, some stayed on the Red Line, becoming the Lunarian race.
The other part was separated and sent to Sky Islands, becoming Sky Islanders.
Judging by Birka's situation, it must have inherited a large portion of Lunarian technology, but for some unknown reason, it gradually became lost.
While Black was lost in thought, the two CP agents had already finished the fight and knelt on one knee before Black to report.
Black waved his hand:
"Alright, you two stay here and guard the ship. I'll go explore the island."
"But, Saint Black…"
The older CP agent hesitated:
"These commoners here have no reverence. What if they offend you?"
Black glanced at them:
"With your meager abilities, you're not even as good as my Slaves. What good would bringing you along do?"
"Now hurry back and watch the ship!"
"This…"
The CP agent hesitated for a moment but ultimately stepped aside obediently.
Now that he knew this was Birka, Black had important business to attend to. How could he bring two cameras?
When Aramaki was recruited, there was an entire kingdom of witnesses.
People on the Grand Line might not know, but for the higher-ups of the World Government, they would certainly know that Aramaki was his, Black's, subordinate.
So Aramaki could only be responsible for some overt tasks.
Among the Supernovas, besides Urouge and Bege, the others were too young.
And Black didn't understand Urouge's personality; as a Sky Islander, it was uncertain whether he would work for the Celestial Dragons.
Bege was a typical ambitious person, so important matters could not be entrusted to him.
So before coming to Birka, Black decided to find Eneru.
Eneru was 18 years old this year, and his talent was also quite good, at least in terms of Observation Haki, he had high attainments.
His personality had both arrogant and cowardly sides, making him a relatively easy person to control.
Black planned to entrust some unsavory tasks to Eneru.
Leading everyone into the port, Perona bent down to pick up a metal fragment on the ground, but Robin pulled her back:
"Don't touch it carelessly; this might be the remains of an ancient civilization."
Black's gaze fell on the half-buried mechanical device at the end of the street, and he began to ponder the possible location of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
There was no need to rush to find Eneru; he was a living person, easily found with Observation Haki.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was just a fruit; it couldn't be searched for with Observation Haki and could only be tracked through clues.
From the dialogue in the original story, it could be seen that the Rumble-Rumble Fruit had been missing from the Grand Line for over three hundred years.
So, after the death of the previous user, this Rumble-Rumble Fruit might have been reborn in some corner of Birka, hidden for over three hundred years.
Considering Eneru's experience of being ostracized during his time in Birka, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit should be hidden in a place rarely visited by people.
But Birka was just a Sky Island, not very large. Was there any place that could remain unnoticed for three hundred years?
Imagining the many conditions under which Eneru obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in the original story—
First, this place must be remote, where even the most curious children wouldn't go.
Only then could it remain untouched for three hundred years.
Secondly, it couldn't be a strictly forbidden zone, otherwise Eneru wouldn't be able to enter.
Third, judging by Eneru's strength before he obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the location where the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was stored would not be too dangerous.
Black glanced at Perona, and a bold idea formed in his mind:
"How about… leaving her in Birka for a while and seeing what places she hasn't explored?"