They didn't spend much time discussing Garp.
Nor did they care that they were in a tavern—Gaban had even found himself a bar girl to keep him company.
After drinking for a while, they openly began discussing their next plans, showing just how confident the Roger Pirates were.
Afraid of intelligence leaks?
Didn't matter!
"We've dealt with the Poneglyph in Alabasta. What's next?" Spencer asked.
"No need to worry about routes," Gaban reminded them. "We've got Log Poses for all seven routes in the first half of the Grand Line. We can go wherever we want."
As the navigator, he was extremely reliable.
This wasn't the Roger Pirates' first time entering the Grand Line. While they hadn't visited every single island, through black market purchases, past records, and other means, they had long since gathered Log Poses for all the islands in the first half.
They could even sail straight to Enies Lobby if they wanted.
There was no need to follow a fixed route, island by island.
"Didn't Babel mention back in the West Blue that Fish-Man Island has a Poneglyph? Why don't we head there directly?" Rayleigh suggested.
That reminded Valthior of something.
Babel had indeed said that in the Sea Forest of Fish-Man Island, there was a Poneglyph that had been there for who knows how many years.
But thinking back carefully, Valthior recalled that during this period, there should also be a Road Poneglyph there.
And if nothing unexpected happened—it was the one that would later mysteriously disappear.
As far as he knew, there were currently four Road Poneglyphs.
One was on Whole Cake Island.
Another was in Wano, later seized by Kaido.
The third was on Zou, on the back of Zunesha.
These were the three Valthior remembered.
He had been wondering where the fourth one was.
But recently, after combining his memories with various documents, he suddenly realized—
During Roger's era, the fourth Road Poneglyph was on Fish-Man Island!
It was kept right alongside Joy Boy's letter of apology!
While Valthior was lost in thought and Rayleigh and Gaban were still discussing destinations, Roger suddenly made a decision.
"Sky Island," Roger said firmly.
"Sky Island?" Rayleigh raised a brow. "How do we get up there?"
Despite years of sailing, the Roger Pirates had never actually been to Sky Island.
Then again, not many pirates had. Shiki was something of an exception, but only because his Devil Fruit made such journeys trivial.
Still, as one of the greatest pirate crews in the world, Roger and the others did not doubt Sky Island's existence. They each possessed fragments of knowledge, rumors gathered over years of wandering.
Gaban rubbed his chin before speaking. "I do know something. The World Government has a secret route to Sky Island called the 'Summit of High West.' But the problem is—I have no idea where it is."
At that, everyone turned to look at Valthior, who was chewing on a frozen drumstick.
Sensing their gazes, Valthior quickly chewed and swallowed the ice shards before speaking:
"The Summit of the High West route is on the Red Line, on the western side of Mary Geoise. It's guarded by the Marine and CP agencies."
"Damn it!" Roger cursed, then looked at Valthior expectantly. "Valthior, got any connections? Can you get us through that route?"
"Even if I do, would you really dare take it?" Valthior rolled his eyes. "The mortality rate there is extremely high. According to World Government data, out of every hundred ships, at most twenty make it to Sky Island. Out of every hundred people, only about fifteen survive."
"Well, what's there to be afra—" Roger started to bluster, then paused.
This wasn't the sea—they'd be going into the sky.
Yeah… that did sound dangerous.
"Is there any other way?"Roger asked again.
Shakky spoke up, "There's a special island in the New World called Merveille. It stands like a pillar piercing into the clouds. Legend says if you reach its summit, you can enter the sea of Sky Island…"
"That's true," Gaban said with a smile. "But that's Shiki's territory now. You think he'll kindly let us pass?"
Merveille was an easy-to-defend, hard-to-attack location that towered into the clouds. Trying to get up there was no different from climbing the Red Line—arguably even harder.
Neither ordinary Marines nor pirates could hope to invade it. Since Shiki's ability made it easy for him, he had occupied Merveille immediately upon returning to the New World. It was now the headquarters of the Flying Pirates.
"If we trusted Shiki, why bother climbing Merveille? We could just ask him to float us up," Rayleigh joked.
Sure, they had gotten along well two years ago—but everyone knew that if they met again, a fight would be inevitable.
"Among the World Government's affiliated nations, there's one called Weatheria. It's known as a 'mini Sky Island.' Their meteorological technology is extremely advanced—they can keep islands floating for long periods.
"There are records of them reaching Sky Island multiple times. If anyone here has connections, we could ask them to give us a lift," Spencer added.
As soon as he said that, everyone once again turned to Valthior.
After all, how could a bunch of pirates possibly know such high-level technical experts?
Valthior sighed helplessly. "What do you take me for? I don't know everyone."
"Tch, useless," Roger clicked his tongue.
"Oh yeah? Then you come up with a plan!" Valthior shot back.
The conversation stalled awkwardly.
Roger had suddenly decided on Sky Island, but after tossing around ideas, none of them seemed reliable.
"How about we forget it? Why go to Sky Island anyway?" Spencer suggested, trying to ease the tension.
Roger, Rayleigh, and Gaban exchanged glances, momentarily speechless.
Only then did Valthior slowly speak again:
"I do know one more method. But it's even crazier than the Summit of the High West. It's a do-or-die route… for the ship, at least."
"Oh? Let's hear it," Roger said immediately, even adding, "My apologies, Scholar-sama. I shouldn't have called you useless."
Of course, he knew Valthior didn't care—it was just banter between crewmates.
"On Jaya Island, which isn't too far from here, a powerful Knock Up Stream erupts from the seabed near the island at regular intervals—every few months or so. If we ride that current, we can be launched directly into the Sky Island waters," Valthior explained.
"Riding a sea current straight into the sky!?" Gaban, the navigator, was stunned.
"Exactly," Valthior nodded. "That's why I said it's extremely dangerous for the ship."
They all had their own abilities—so even if they fell from the current, they probably wouldn't die.
But the Oro Jackson wouldn't be so lucky.
"You're sure this works?" Gaban asked seriously before anyone else could speak.
"I'm sure. I remember an incredible navigator who successfully led her crew to Sky Island using the Knock-Up Stream," Valthior said, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.
"Incredible? How incredible?"Gaban couldn't help but ask, his mouth twitching.
Valthior paused for a moment, then flashed a bright smile.
"So incredible that... I believe she will certainly become the World's Greatest Navigator!"
Bang!
The moment Valthior finished speaking, Gaban slammed his cup onto the table.
"I've decided—we're taking this route! If another navigator has done it, then there's no way I'll fail!!!"
And just like that—
Gaban's competitive spirit as a navigator had been completely ignited.
...
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