"You already know that the cloud devil fruit only reincarnates on the white tress," Urouge said while pointing at one of the said trees, and I nodded, indicating for him to continue.
"What I didn't tell you was that they tend to grow on the biggest tree available to them," he added with a grin. "Doesn't that meant that it will reincarnate on another sky island somewhere?" I asked with a frown.
"Not, really," Urouge replied while shaking his head. "You see, when my people built this city, they also brought the biggest known holy tree here as well," Urouge explained, and I nodded in understanding.
"Since they wanted this city to be a bastion that protects the rest of north blue's sky islands, they thought it was fitting to have the devil fruit reincarnate here as well," Urouge concluded.
"So where is this so-called holy tree, then?" I asked after a second of processing. "It's a closed-off area north of the god palace," the mad monk replied, gesturing with his hand and pointing towards the northern direction.
"I see," I said while nodding my head with a smile. "Thanks for the info. Whatever you think you owe is now settled," I added while shrugging my shoulders.
I didn't think that Urouge owed me anything, but a free favor is a free favor, and I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I readily accepted Urouge's gratitude.
"Anyway, I'm heading back for the ship," I said as I turned to leave. "I'll be seeing you later, monk," I concluded as I made my way back towards the black pearl, calling Laffite and instructing him to look for the cloud fruit in the place Urouge mentioned.
-0-
A week had passed since I've defeated Lokni, and now it was finally to return to the blue seas below after we got everything we came here to take.
Our haul ended up being a lifetime supply of regular and day-to-day use Dials, a couple of dozens of axe Dials, almost a hundred impact Dials, fifteen Eisen Dials, and three reject Dials along a shit ton of thunder Dials.
We also didn't forget to get our hands on Dial-based weapons too, like Burn Bazookas, burn blades, and flashguns, along with some transportations like jet boards and wavers.
I also went back to find that Giant dog, intending to take it back with me to the blue sea, but I, unfortunately, had to give up as Urouge informed me that they couldn't survive below the clouds, which was a shame, but I guess that's fine too since I won't have to clean up its giant turds from the black pearl's deck.
Sky people have also begun returning to Skyguard one after the other, and it was no surprise that they didn't show us a single shred of gratitude, treating us with caution and hostility instead.
Pirates will be pirates, was their reasoning, which was understandable since I've made it clear that I won't leave without a shit ton of their recourses and a national treasure to boot.
Speaking of the so-called national, religious treasure (The cloud devil fruit), or whatever they wanted to call it, we managed to find it too, in the place Urouge mentioned, but it wasn't easy.
The number of holy trees in that place was frankly ridiculous, and most trees were roughly about the same gigantic size, so it took us the entire week to find the devil fruit despite knowing its general location.
Still, having that devil fruit was worth the effort, so I'm not complaining. The cloud devil fruit had great potential, and even with someone like Lokni, it was terribly difficult to deal with, even though he didn't make full use of its abilities, in my opinion, but I digress.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay here for a couple of more days?" Urouge asked with a smile as he stood next to me on the black pearl's deck.
"I'm sure," I replied with a shake of my head. "What about you? Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" I asked as I turned away from him, gazing at the white horizon ahead.
"I'm sure," the mad monk replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "I still have things to take care of here, but maybe we will meet later," he added as he turned to look at the edge of the cloud sea.
"I will make my way towards the blue sea below, and then the grand line, sooner or later," the mad monk added, looking into the blue sea that was visible from the edge the black pearl stopped at with a burning gaze.
"Well, suit yourself, buddy," I remarked with a smile. "Alright, get ready, you all," I exclaimed as I turned to look back at my crew.
"You know the drill already. Make sure we tied down everything, and hold on to something when we're about to get down," I instructed, nodding in satisfaction as everyone got to work.
"I guess this is where we part way then," Urouge said with a smile as he grabbed a waver that was on the deck. "I guess it is," I replied with a smile, nodding my head.
"Take care," I said, extending my head towards the mad monk, asking for a handshake. "You too, friend," Urouge replied as he grasped my hand in a firm handshake that didn't shame his gigantic physique, promptly throwing the waver on the clouds and boarding it, making his way back Skygaurd without looking back.
"We're ready to go, captain," Elly shouted from her spot on the crow's nest while firmly holding on to a robe. "All right, hold on tight," I exclaimed as I flew off the deck, making my way towards the black pearl's rear.
I quickly began decreasing the black pearl's density to decrease her weight, which took a couple of minutes. "We're ready to go, Laffite," I exclaimed with a grin as Laffite began to work on steering the ship towards the edge.
"Here goes nothing," I remarked as I flew below the ship as soon as it fell off the edge, guiding it towards the blue sea below.
'My life sure is weird,' I think to myself with an amused expression as I gently guide my ship back to the sea. 'One day, you're choking on a fucking apple of all things, and the next thing you know, you're flying in the air while carrying a ship on you're back,' I chuckled to myself despite my concentration on guiding the ship.
"I'm not complaining, though," I murmured, shaking my head to get rid of all useless thoughts and focus on the task at hand.