Luffy felt a surge of helplessness, anger flashing in his eyes.
But just then, Robin, using her Flower-Flower Fruit ability, made rows of arms sprout from the ship.
However, Usopp was falling too fast, and even Robin couldn't catch him precisely.
Just as everyone thought Usopp was going to fall, suddenly, a dark shadow shot towards them.
It grabbed Usopp's nose and flew up with him.
At this moment, everyone's eyes showed a look of seriousness as they looked up at the sky.
In the sky above, an old man with a gray beard, wearing armor, rode a winged horse, flying back with Usopp.
At this moment, Usopp, feeling light and airy, thought it was all a dream and slowly opened his eyes.
He looked at the constantly moving clouds around him, and the fact that he was still soaring in mid-air.
A hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.
"This is definitely a dream. Please, can you just remove the nightmare parts?"
As soon as Usopp finished speaking, suddenly, the dark-skinned man in the mask fired a cannon shot straight at them.
The powerful shockwave instantly blew Usopp back onto the Merry.
Usopp felt intense pain, and only then did he realize he wasn't dreaming.
A look of terror appeared in his eyes.
"Hey, what's going on? My dream, where's my dream?!"
Hearing this, Nami lost her patience and punched Usopp squarely on the head.
"We're in a life-or-death situation right now, what are you doing?!"
This punch finally brought Usopp back to reality.
Usopp clutched the ship's mast tightly, his body trembling, not daring to move.
Meanwhile, the old man in silver helmet and armor held a barrel-shaped weapon in his hand.
He quickly attacked the masked, dark-skinned man.
They clashed fiercely in the air for two rounds.
For a time, neither could gain the upper hand.
Finally, the masked dark-skinned man fired a cannon shot at the armored old man and fled.
The old man successfully absorbed the power of the bomb with his spear.
He then landed on the Straw Hat crew's ship.
The Straw Hat crew became wary. Although he had driven away their attacker, it didn't prove he was a good person.
Sanji looked at the old man with a scrutinizing gaze, then lit a cigarette and asked:
"Who are you, and why did you save us?"
Hearing this, the old man took off his hat and introduced himself:
"My name is Gan Fall, and I am the Sky Knight of this generation."
"Of course, you can also call me a bounty hunter."
"Simply put, I take other people's money and then protect them. This time, since you're my first job, I won't charge you."
Saying that, Gan Fall took a whistle from his pocket and handed it to them.
"Next time something like this happens, blow this whistle, and no matter where I am, I'll come."
"Since you're new customers, I'll give you a good price, only five hundred Eek."
Hearing the price, Nami's mouth fell open.
Seeing Nami's reaction, Gan Fall's expression became serious, and he said:
"This price is already very cheap."
Hearing this, Nami quickly took the whistle. She didn't think the price was too expensive.
She just hadn't heard of such a unit of measurement, but she didn't want to ask. It was just five hundred anyway.
Even if it were five hundred Beli, it was a small price to pay for saving their lives.
He handed the whistle to Nami and then looked at Raynor, who was lying on the deck.
At this moment, Raynor was also staring at Gan Fall.
They stared at each other for a long time. Gan Fall suddenly narrowed his eyes and said:
"You've got spirit, young man. Perhaps you don't need me at all. I hope you have a pleasant journey to Sky Island. I'll be going now."
With that, Gan Fall got on his winged horse and left.
After Gan Fall left, Nami hung the whistle on the main sail and said solemnly:
"This whistle can only be blown by myself, Usopp, and Chopper!"
Saying that, Nami pointed at Luffy and the others with a cold expression.
"You guys can't go near this whistle, do you understand?!"
Hearing this, Luffy nodded while his eyes sparkled, looking at the whistle in Nami's hand.
"A whistle I absolutely cannot blow? Absolutely cannot blow!"
Saying that, Luffy snatched the whistle and was about to blow it. If it weren't for Nami's merciless fists, he probably would have succeeded.
Nami sighed. This guy, the more you tell him not to do something, the more he'll do it. He's a real headache.
Raynor looked at the commotion with a cold expression.
He then lay down on the deck, looking up at the blue sky.
He began to ponder the meaning of Gan Fall's expression just now.
Why did he stare specifically at him and give him that kind of smile?
Thinking of this, the system's prompt suddenly sounded.
"Ding, congratulations to the host for triggering a plot quest: Enter Sky Island. Completing the quest will reward you with 1000 attribute points, various forging materials, and Dragon Ball Forge Blueprint 1."
Hearing this, Raynor couldn't help but frown.
This quest was like finding free money. Entering Sky Island would just cost a million ticket price.
Even if that didn't work, he could enter illegally. He had to fight Enel in the end anyway, so this crime wouldn't matter.
With that in mind, Raynor sat up straight.
Chopper, startled, quickly grew larger, trying to push Raynor back down.
But this time, Raynor didn't yield to Chopper's strength.
With a slight touch, he pressed Chopper's weak points.
This made Chopper lie down on the deck, losing all strength.
Lying on the deck, Chopper looked at Raynor, who was gradually standing up, and frowned.
"Hey, you're a patient, you can't just move around like that!"
Chopper seemed to be losing strength as he said this. At this moment, Raynor walked to the bow of the Merry and slowly said:
"We can't just stay here indefinitely."
Saying that, Raynor pointed at a thick mass of clouds not far away and said:
"Look there, doesn't it resemble a door? Perhaps that's the real entrance to Sky Island."
Hearing this, Nami immediately snatched Usopp's telescope and looked. Her brow furrowed in delight.
Beyond the thick clouds, there was indeed a large gate.
And around the gate, the sky was brilliant with colorful light, as if welcoming new guests.
Upon seeing this, Nami became excited and said:
"Hey, Luffy, we have to go there right away, give the order!"
Luffy trusted his nakama unconditionally.
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