sorry for the delay, but here's a new chapter enjoy;)
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"This boat is too damn slow..." Zoro yawned, leaning against the side of the dial boat lazily.
Sanji glared at the swordsman, "Stop complaining you ungrateful jerk! Conis chan gave this to us!"
"Yeah, but wasn't it because she was tricking us anyway?" Zoro dug his ear with a finger.
"Shut up! She had no choice! Conis chan would not trick us of her own accord!"
"Will you two stop fighting?! This boat is cramped enough as it is!" Nami yelled, her hands on the steering wheel.
The two grumbled but settled down obediently, settling in each of their corners.
Usopp pointed ahead in excitement, spotting two totem poles on each side of the milky road, "Guys! I think we made it! That's the entrance!"
"So this is what they call Upper Yard? The trees are gigantic… Is it the peculiarities of this land?" Robin mused.
"Be on your guard... We're entering enemy territory now," Zoro warned, his hand on his sword.
Sanji snorted, "Oh relax marimo, I don't think they will do anything at the entrance right? If they're going to do anything, they'll be-"
"Row now guys! Move the boat!" Usopp screamed, using his paddle to speed up the boat frantically.
"Why, Usopp? What's wrong?" Nami asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"AXE!" Usopp screamed, just as a gigantic axe swung past where the boat was moments before.
Nami and Chopper screamed together as they finally noticed the dozens of axes swinging down towards them from the forest canopy.
"Move! Faster! Faster!" Nami screamed, spinning the wheel to avoid another giant axe from slicing the ship in half.
Chopper immediately grabs a paddle and starts paddling as fast as he could. Robin sprouted a few arms beside the boat with her ability and began rotating them in a circle to act as a paddle wheel, further boosting the boat's speed.
"Watch out!" Usopp warned, pointing to an axe coming from the side.
Zoro jumped into the path of the axe, crossing his swords in an 'X' shape and blocking the giant axe, buying enough time for the boat to pass before leaping back onto the boat.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Chopper screamed, eyes bulging out as a sky lamprey leapt out from beneath the surface, its jaws wide open to reveal multiple rows of serrated teeth.
"Get lost!" Sanji yelled, kicking towards where presumably the neck was on the lamprey and sending it flying away.
"There's another one behind!" Nami yelled, spotting the lamprey looming over the boat.
"Ahhhh! Go away!" Chopper screamed, punching it at the side of its head while in his human form.
"This time we're done for!" Usopp cried, watching another axe swinging down towards their ship from the front.
"Tch, take this! Sanjuroku Pound Ho!"
Zoro slashed out with a single sword with his left hand, sending a compressed bullet of air smashing towards the axe. The giant axe shattered into pieces, the debris landing on either side of the milky road.
The boat paddled its way out of range of the axes, the waves momentarily calming down and giving the Straw Hats a moment of relief.
"Sky Island so scary… Sky Island so scary…" Chopper cried, lying on his back on the boat.
The Straw Hats took a moment to catch their breaths, looking at the axes that still swung behind them.
Sanji scowled, "So the trial has already started huh? The moment we let our guard down we're done for."
"It is meant to be a place of sacrifices after all, if we're not careful we might end up like that," Robin remarked, noting the various ship wrecks that littered the sides.
Usopp groaned, "Don't say such scary things Robin…"
"Hey look, is that a giant?" Sanji pointed ahead.
Zoro scratched his chin, "Hmmm… looks like a statue to me…"
The milky road ended at a giant statue of a head with its eyes closed and a hand resting in front of it with only its fingertips visible. On the tips of its four fingers were four entrances and words etched above them.
"Ordeal of Iron, String, Swamp and Balls…" Usopp read the words aloud.
"So we get to choose the trial huh?" Sanji mused.
"Well which one should we choose?"Robin asked, looking towards Nami.
Zoro unclasped his sword, "Iron of course, I can easily cut through it."
"Think about the rest of us will you?! What if the people who can't cut iron have to be sacrificed?!" Nami smacked him on the head.
"How about balls? Balls does not sound that dangerous…" Chopper suggested.
Nami considered, "True… I can see how we can die by string and swamp too… I think balls is the safer option."
The rest of the crew agreed, prompting Nami to steer the boat towards the entrance for the Ordeal of Balls. The boat entered the dark tunnel slowly, the only source of light being the entrance and the exit at the far ends of the tunnel.
"This reminded me of something," Robin mused.
Everyone turned to look at her quizzically.
"You know there's the thing about there being four doors and only one leading to safety? What if that was it and we chose a wrong door?"
"ROBIN! Why must you say such scary things now?!" Nami cried.
"Can we paddle back to the entrance?" Usopp asked, looking back at where they came from hopefully.
"Maybe we might even fall off Sky Island," Zoro chuckled.
Sanji smacked him on the head, "don't be ridiculous, how can such a thing-"
The boat reached the end of the tunnel, which was also coincidentally the end of the milky road.
Both Sanji's and Zoro's eyes bulged out from their sockets, their mouths hung wide open with their jaws hitting the deck.
Nami screamed silently as she tightened her grip on the wheel, wishing that it was all just a dream.
Robin let out a slight gasp of fear as her hand unconsciously reached to the side of the boat, clutching it tightly.
Chopper's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fainted with foam coming out of his mouth.
Usopp's eyes and teeth popped out of their sockets as his face paled into a deathly shade of blue.
The Straw Hats screamed in unison as the ship began plummeting towards the ground. Sanji and Zoro held on to each other for dear life while screaming.
Usopp joined Chopper in their unconscious bliss with foam coming out of his mouth as well.
Robin shut her eyes tightly as her stomach lurched at the sudden acceleration.
Nami had moments to regret not being able to spend all the money that they still had on the ship while thinking back on her time together with Luffy.
There was a loud splash as the boat hit the bottom of the milky road, soaking the Straw Hats in an explosion on spray.
"I… I thought I was going to die…" Zoro gasped, collapsing at the side of the boat.
"I saw my life flashing past before my eyes…" Sanji groaned, collapsing opposite Zoro.
"Sky Island scary… Sky Island scary…" Chopper moaned after regaining consciousness.
Usopp was still passed out on the deck, his body splayed out in a comical fashion.
Nami sat frozen on the deck, her eyes unblinking as her grip on the wheel remained as tight as before, still recovering from her state of shock.
"That was… Not good for the heart…" Robin commented, trying to calm down her breathing.
"Anyway… Where are we?" Zoro wrung the water out of his shirt, surveying his surroundings.
"Ordeal of balls obviously, don't you see the balls everywhere?" Sanji rolled his eyes while slapping Usopp awake.
Robin stared at the numerous balls floating around her, "They seem to be balls made from bits of island cloud… I wonder what they are for?"
"I don't care… I just want to finish this and go back…" Nami cried, finally recovering from her shock.
One of the smaller balls floated near the ship, prompting Usopp to reach out and grab it, tossing it back and forth between his hands.
Usopp grinned, "Chopper catch!"
The sniper tossed the ball towards the doctor who received it happily with both hands. The two then started playing catch with the ball, throwing it back and forth between each other.
"This isn't the time to play damn it!" Nami shouted at them.
Just as those words left her mouth, a snake bursted out from the ball, lunging towards Usopp's face.
Usopp yelped as he tried to cover his face with his arms, praying that the snake was not venomous. There was a distinct sound of a blade being drawn and the snake was cut in half before it could reach Usopp. Sanji spun on a heel and kicked the ball away from the boat while Zoro resheathed his sword, his attention now on all the balls near the boat.
"Are all these balls snake eggs?" Sanji mused, aiming to kick the ball that was barring the boat's path away.
"No! Sanji! There's gunpowder in it!" Chopper gasped, his sensitive nose picking up the danger.
Nami immediately swerved the boat away, barely avoiding the ball as it exploded at where the boat was moments ago.
"First snakes and now bombs? What are these balls?!" Usopp whined.
"Ho ho hooo! Isn't it fun to not know what will come out? They are called surprise clouds!" A voice echoed through the forest.
Zoro sprang to his feet, unsheathing his blades, "Who's there?!"
A round shaped man wearing a full body jumpsuit and yellow sunglasses leapt out from the forest canopy, twirling on top of one of the balls.
"Ho ho hooo! Heso! I am Satori and welcome to my trial of balls!"
"'My trial'? So you're one of the priests then?" Robin noted.
"Ho ho hooo! That is right, girlie! Welcome to my forest of illusions! The survival rate is ten percent! It's the trial of balls!"
"Where's Luffy?! What have you done to him?" Nami demanded.
The priest ignored her and began dancing on top of the ball while laughing, "Ho ho hooo!"
"Answer me you oversized dango!"
"You mean the sacrifice, yes? Ho ho hooo! Well that I don't know! He'll probably die if left alone, but if he leaves he'll still die! Ho ho hoooo!"
Zoro furrowed his brows, putting his last sword in his mouth, "I've heard enough."
"Oh? Slashing with three swords at once?"
Satori laughed as he correctly predicted Zoro's movements and evaded them.
"A high kick from the right and a bullet?"
The priest ducked under the kick that Sanji tried to sneak in from behind before spinning to his left to avoid an explosive shot from Usopp.
"Damnit, so this guy knows Observation haki! Watch out!" Zoro shouted.
Sanji gritted his teeth, "Luffy did not train us for nothing! He is just one guy!"
Both the cook and swordsman lunged at the priest.
"Oni giri!"
"Poitrine shot!"
"Ho ho hoooo! Scary, scary!" Satori laughs, spinning himself up into the air to avoid their attacks.
The two Straw Hats sailed past him but found themselves facing Satori's palms.
"Impact!"
Both Sanji and Zoro's head jerked backwards violently as they were struck by an invisible force, sending them crashing towards the forest.
"Zoro! Sanji!" Chopper exclaimed.
"No time to worry about your friends! Surprise Ball Attack!"
Satori laughed to himself as he kicked several balls towards the boat.
"Abandon ship!" Usopp yelled, throwing himself out of the boat.
The rest of the crew followed his example, jumping off the boat before the balls could explode on them. Except the only thing that exploded out from the balls were various stalks of flowers.
"Ho ho hooo! Got you!" Satori clapped his hands in amusement before proceeding to dance around on another ball.
"This damn freak is getting on my nerves…" Nami seethed, assembling her staff.
Sanji emerged from the bushes, brushing of dirt from his suit, "I really want to beat the crap out of this guy…"
Zoro spat out the blood in his mouth, pushing his way out from the forest, "For once I can agree with you…"
"Ho ho hooo! This is the first illusion: your boat! It will now drift aimlessly by itself and leave this forest on its own! If you are unable to get to it before it leaves, you'll be unable to get to the altar! Ho ho hooo!"
Usopp stared at the drifting boat in horror, "We have to get to the boat before it leaves!"
"But this guy will stop us if we try…" Chopper groaned.
"We just need to defeat you right?" Robin asked.
"Ho ho hooo! That's right girlie! But you can never defeat a God's priest! All of you will perish here! Eh? Arms?" Satori's laughter was cut short when he had a premonition of arms sprouting all over him.
"Ocho Fleur"
Robin crossed her arms in front of him, prompting eight arms to sprout all over Satori's body and gripping tightly to his joints.
"Wait! Wait, this isn't fair! You can't do this!" Satori screamed, already seeing what will happen to him.
"Clutch"
The hands pulled hard, breaking some of Satori's bones before tossing him towards the Straw Hat's direction. The hands remained on him, immobilizing him as he lay on the forest floor groaning in pain. Footsteps echoed in front of him as he looked up to see the grinning faces of the Straw Hats.
"You can already see what we're going to do right?" Sanji grinned.
"Maybe if you start talking about Luffy's whereabouts and everything you know about the other priests, we might even go easy on you," Nami lied.
"We welcome you to the forest of pain," Zoro cracked his knuckles.
"Wait! It'll really hurt! It'll hurt!" Satori screamed.
The Straw Hats descended upon him, each of them beating him mercilessly as they made him talk. The animals nearby had already ran off from the screams that resonated through the forest.
Nami dusted off her hands with a bright smile, "Now that was refreshing, at least we know what to look out for now."
Sanji lit a cigarette, "Now we just need to get back to the boat."
Zoro sheathed his swords, "Usopp already spotted the boat up ahead, we just need to get to it."
"What about this guy? Do we leave him here?" Chopper pointed to the bleeding, broken and charred Satori that was still twitching on the ground.
Nami shrugged, "Just leave him be, he'll be fine… Probably."
They hurried through the forest to where Usopp last saw the boat.
A few swinging, jumping and screaming later, the Straw Hats managed to get back on the boat, some sporting a few more bruises than before.
"I'll… I'll remember this Usopp…" Sanji moaned, clutching at the various bumps on his head.
"I should've just jumped up myself…" Zoro sighed, nursing his cuts.
"Sky Island scary… Sky Island scary…" Chopper cried.
"S'all good… S'all good…" Usopp groaned, collapsed against the side of the boat.
Nami paid them no mind as she went back to steering the boat with Robin calmly reading a book beside her.
The crew soon recovered just as the boat entered the milky road leading through a plain with various poles littering the landscape.
"This is probably the place for the next trial…" Sanji announced.
Robin looked up from her book, "Those are human skulls… I wonder how many people died here…"
Chopper's ears pricked up as he heard the sounds of movement towards them.
"Something's coming!" Chopper warned.
All heads turned towards the direction that Chopper had pointed, prompting a group of four Shandians to appear, sailing past the Straw Hats with their skate type wavers.
The leader among them glared at the Straw Hats, spinning around mid air as he passed by them to shoot his bazooka at their boat.
Without hesitation, Zoro drew his sword and sliced the projectile in half, letting the explosive detonate harmlessly on either side of the boat.
The Shandian only spat at the spectacle in disappointment, seemingly unimpressed.
"Wiper! Should we engage?!" One of the Shandians asked, readying his own weapons.
Wiper glared at the Straw Hats with disdain, lowering his bazooka, "No, ignore them."
"What's your problem?! Wanna fight?!" Sanji pointed an accusatory finger at the Shandians, enraged that they had tried to hurt Nami and Robin.
Wiper ignored his question, "So you are the Blue Sea dwellers that are causing a racket in Skypiea… If you wish to live, go back to the Blue Sea, but if you do anything weird on this island, I'll treat you like Enel and wipe you guys out too!"
The Shandian roared before disappearing into the forest with his companions without waiting for an answer.
"Those must be the Shandians that Satori mentioned," Robin noted, placing her attention back on her book.
"I had thought be might be lying about them being antagonistic towards Enel," Nami sighed, obviously unhappy that more obstacles appeared.
"Don't worry Nami swaaan, Robin chaaan, I will protect you!" Sanji sang.
Zoro sheathed his blades, "This makes it rather convenient for us. Those two sides will be busy fighting each other and we might just slip in unchallenged."
Chopper tilted his head, "What do you mean?"
"He means the other priests will be tasked by Enel to repel the invaders instead of judging us," Usopp grinned.
"Oh! I understand now!" Chopper clapped happily.
Just as they had predicted, the boat passed through unmolested, the distant sounds of battle echoing through the forest from time to time.
"Where… Where is he! He's just one man! Find him!" The Divine Soldier shouted at his four companions.
"Don't let your guards down! Stick together!" A large Shandian warrior yelled, ensuring his own four companions stuck close to him. He held a large bazooka in his right hand while a yellow and white striped chef's hat rested on his head.
The two groups had originally been been facing off against each other as groups of ten at the start, until a certain Blue Sea dweller appeared from their midst. Both sides immediately turned their attentions to him, expecting to decimate the intruder first before continuing their own fight.
Who could have predicted that the moment they had shown hostility to him, he had disappeared and took down most of their group. Five Shandians and Divine Soldiers lay in a crumpled heap between the surviving group, moaning in pain. Some had their arms broken while others have puncture wounds on their body.
"I'm out of here!" One of the Divine Soldiers succumbed to the pressure and escaped, dashing through the bushes out of view.
The rest watched him leave before a blood-curdling scream was heard. Moments later, the same soldier dropped between them from above, his legs bent in an awkward position.
Another Shandian warrior rushed into the clearing, not noticing the atmosphere, "Genbo! Wiper has signalled a retreat! Head to the rally point!"
"Shit! And we were so close too!" The large Shandian warrior cursed. "Grab them and run!"
Genbo hefted two of the fallen Shandians before running after the Shandian who had delivered the message, the last man covering his companions' escape route.
The Divine Soldiers wanted to give chase but a shadow dropped down from above them.
"Shigan"
A figure whispered, stabbing his finger into the back of one of the soldiers. The soldier screamed, his body falling forwards as his vision darkened around him.
Luffy leapt forward as the soldier was falling, drop kicking another soldier towards the trees before spinning back around to kick a compressed air blade at another to deflect the axe dial. The former CP9 assassin landed just as three bodies crashed into the ground simultaneously.
Luffy brushed the dirt off his cloak as he looked at the last remaining Divine Soldier.
"Wait… Wait! Don't hurt me please!"
The Straw Hat that Luffy wore shadowed his eyes, he advanced towards the cowering soldier, "Then start talking, who were the other group and where are the priests?"
The soldier kept his mouth shut, though fear was evident in his eyes.
Luffy lifted a finger that turned black in an instant, "I have the whole night."
Muffled screams reverberated through the forest.
"I see the altar!" Chopper announced, pointing straight in front of the boat.
Usopp gasped, "That's Merry on top of it! How did it even get up there?"
"Luffy! We're here to save you!" Nami shouted, steering the ship to dock beside the altar.
The crew puzzled over the lack of response and ascended the altar quickly, only to find the ship devoid of any signs of life.
"Luffyyyy! Where is that damn Admiral…" Sanji cursed.
Zoro frowned, "Don't tell me he's already sacrificed…"
Robin looked around the deck, "If that were true, the deck would be soaked in blood."
"Robbiiiiin! Stop saying scary things!" Usopp and Chopper moaned.
Nami picked up the broken pieces of chains on the deck near the mast, it seemed like it had been broken by brute force.
"No… He had broken free and escaped…" Nami stood up and looked in the direction of the forest.
Robin followed her gaze and pointed to a small clearing, "He must have jumped there, there are broken branches and the ground looks rather torn up."
"Signs of a battle?" Zoro asked.
Robin nodded, "Very likely he was being pursued and had to run."
Sanji grimaced, "Something that made even our Rear Admiral run away? I don't even want to imagine such a thing."
"I guess we'll have to go find him then… But someone needs to look after the ship…" Nami sighed, looking at the rest of the crew.
Usopp placed his hands on his hips, "I'll stay to do some repairs to Merry, when you guys return we'll be able to put her back in the water."
"I'll help too!" Chopper raised his hand enthusiastically.
"Hmmm, then I guess the rest of us will search around, we'll come back before night falls." Nami decided, following Robin, Zoro and Sanji back to the dial boat.
"Oh before I forget," Nami turned around and tossed something at Usopp.
Usopp flinched as he caught the article, opening his hands to reveal a small whistle with a lanyard attached.
"You might need this more than me," Nami winked, turning back.
Chopper tugged at Usopp's pants, "That's the whistle to call the Knight of the sky isn't it?"
"Yeah… Why don't you hold onto it Chopper?" Usopp passed it to the doctor.
"Eh? Me? Why?" Chopper received the whistle hesitatingly.
"Because as a brave warrior of the sea, I must be able to face the enemies without fear! I will fight anyone who dares to hurt our Merry!" Usopp thumped his chest proudly.
"Wow! You're so brave! I will become a dependable man too!" Chopper yelled confidently.
"Alright, let's fix up Merry so we can get out of here once the rest come back!"
"Guys, come look at this…" Zoro signalled.
The other three Straw Hats gathered behind him, finding many Divine Soldiers in various states of unconsciousness scattered around.
"Is this Luffy's handiwork?" Nami asked, prodding a soldier with a foot imprint on his face.
"Possibly… Possibly not…" Sanji picked up a soldier with a badly broken arm, wincing as he noticed the damage.
"Have you all not seen Mr. Rear Admiral fight before?" Robin asked, noting the various slash marks on a few of the soldiers.
"It's not that… It's that we've never seen him this ruthless before," Nami answered for the other two.
Zoro shrugged, "In a fight for your life, you can't afford to take your opponents easily."
"I guess we'll tie these people up and dump there somewhere first, don't want them attacking the ship after they wake up after all." Sanji grinned, gathering a few tree vines to use.
With the four of them working together, they dumped the fifteen unconscious soldiers in a ditch a distance away from where they had found them before resuming their search.
"Chopper, pass me the hammer please," Usopp reached a hand behind him, concentrating on keeping the nail he held in his other hand steady against the wooden plank.
Chopper handed over a hammer eagerly from the toolbox beside him.
"It would be nice if we could give Merry a proper repair soon, all this patchwork is not making Merry look good…" Usopp groaned, hammering the nail to secure the plank in place.
"Maybe we can stop at a Marine base to fix it up?" Chopper suggested.
"That would be an idea, maybe even upgrade Merry while we're at it."
"Hmm? There's only two of you?" A voice spoke from behind.
The two of them turned to see a man riding on a giant bird wearing an aviator's outfit looming over them.
"I guess I'll just kill you two first then," the priest announced, hefting his giant lance to point towards them.
Chopper blew into the whistle without hesitation.
"Exploding Star!"
The priest tilted his head to his right to evade Usopp's projectile, letting it explode harmlessly behind him.
Chopper transformed into his human form and punched towards the priest, aiming to dismount him from the bird.
The priest only swiped his lance lazily at Chopper, piercing his shoulder before suddenly igniting in flames.
"Chopper! Damn it! Lead Star!"
Usopp shot another projectile but the priest dodged it again, pulling his lance out from Chopper and closing the distance on Usopp.
"I am Shura of the Trial of String, remember that as you go to your grave! Impact!"
Usopp's world darkened around him as he felt immeasurable pain wreck his body, blasting him back into the mast. A loud splat was heard when Usopp fell on the ground, a pool of blood forming under him.
"Usopp!" Chopper screamed, leaping towards the priest in rage.
"Fuza, take him," Shura ordered nonchalantly.
The giant bird opened its beak and bathed Chopper in a sea of flames.
Shura sighed upon seeing Chopper's charred form fall, "So boring… Man's weakness is really irritating… Why did I even bother coming-"
Shura's words were interrupted as he was hit hard in the head with a heavy object.
"Usopp Hammer!"
Usopp smashed the hammer he had been using to repair the ship across Shura's head once more.
"Usopp Hammer!"
Not waiting for the priest to recover, he smashed his hammer on his head again, dismounting the priest from his bird.
The bird roared angrily and opened its mouth wide to spit out its flames again.
"Heavy Gong!"
Chopper yelled, punching the bird from below, letting its flames blow harmlessly into the air. Seeing the fire threat neutralized, he gave another punch to the side of its head, sending it crashing to the side of the ship.
"Usopp Hammer!" Usopp yelled again, bringing the hammer down on Shura's head one more time. The hammer never met its target however as Shura reached a palm out to stop it.
"To be hit by weaklings like you, I am thoroughly embarrassed… How are you even still alive after losing all that blood?" the priest glared at Usopp.
Unfazed by the glare, Usopp grinned fearlessly, "Ketchup Star... And we are Marines, we are not weak!"
The sniper kicked towards Shura's abdomen, to which the latter evaded by leaping backwards.
"Smoke Star!"
Usopp shot the deck at Shura's feet, throwing up a cloud of smoke.
"Useless," Shura remarked, closing his eyes to focus on his mantra.
"Triple Exploding Star!" Usopp released his projectiles into the smoke.
Shura swung his lance in an arc, deflecting the projectiles away to explode away from him. He lunged forwards to stab at Usopp while he was reloading, missing by mere inches when the sniper retreated backwards.
"Heavy Gong!"
Chopper's fist sailed past the side of Shura's head as the latter ducked under the blow before shoulder charging the doctor away from him.
The priest aimed his lance at Chopper's head before stabbing forwards, aiming to take the doctor out. Chopper could do nothing but watch as the tip of the lance accelerated towards him while Usopp was kept away by Fuza.
Before the lance could skewer Chopper, another lance deflected it away from the doctor.
"Thank you for waiting!" Gan Fall announced, landing in front of Chopper while his bird, Pierre, engaged Fuza in aerial combat.
"Knight of the sky!" Chopper yelled happily.
"The old God eh? Here for your last rites?" Shura smirked, levelling his lance at him.
Gan fall said nothing as he lunged towards Shura.
Shura laughed as he dodged the attack, returning it with a stab of his own, "An old man like you is useless! This country does not need two Gods!"
Gan Fall ducked underneath Shura's lance, dashing forward with his left palm facing towards the priest. Shura's eye's widened as he realised what was going to happen.
"Impact!"
The priest was blasted backwards over the railing, falling off the ship and the altar.
"Knight of the sky so cool!" Both Usopp and Chopper cheered.
"COO!" Fuza screeched, diving down to catch Shura before he could hit the water.
"Pierre!" Gan Fall, yelled, his companion swooping down for him to mount on his back.
Shura glared at Gan Fall from Shura's back, his lance in hand as he turned Fuza around to meet Gan Fall's charge.
"Bastard…" Shura spat.
Gan Fall sped towards him on top of Pierre, his lance aimed straight at the priest's heart. The two Skypieans sped past each other, their lances scraping barely their targets.
"Ah! That priest guy is entangling the knight with string!" Usopp gasped, his eyes catching sight of the thin strings that now bind Gan Fall.
Gan Fall himself has not noticed however as he continued engaging Shura in combat. However, Shura continued to entangle both Gan Fall and Pierre in his strings, slowing Gan Fall down bit by bit.
Before long, both Gan Fall and Pierre found themselves immobilized. The priest laughed at their confusion and dived towards them, lance in hand.
"We need to help him!" Chopper exclaimed.
"Leave it to me!" Usopp grinned, loading one of his projectiles.
"Flame Star!"
A trial of flame blasted into the sky, burning through the string clouds and freeing Gan Fall.
"You have my gratitude youngsters from the Blue Sea!" Gan Fall yelled, ducking underneath the lunge with his palm outstretched to meet Shura's face.
"Impact!"
Shura was blasted out of the sky as the impact dial released its charge on his face. Fuza screeched as it turned to avenge its rider.
"Exploding Star!"
The projectile exploded on Fuza's flank, throwing it off course and straight into Pierre's talons, wrenching the bird out of the sky and dumping it into the sea. The bird thrashed in the waters for a moment before a skyshark dragged it into the depths below.
Pierre landed back on the ship with Gan Fall collapsing on the deck from his injuries, the bird screeched with worry at the Straw Hats.
"Knight of the sky!" Usopp screamed, rushing forward to catch him.
"Quick bring him inside! I'll get my medicine!" Usopp rushed to get his medical kit.
"Don't worry, Chopper's the best doctor you can find!" Usopp reassured, carrying Gan Fall to one of the rooms.
Only when Chopper announced that Gan Fall's injuries were not life threatening did they breathe a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile deep in the forest a distance from the altar, the Luffy search group found finding their Rear Admiral a harder task than they thought.
"For someone like Luffy, I had thought he would have been easier to track…" Nami groaned, realising that there were no traces of Luffy other than the place they had found the soldiers.
Sanji chuckled, "You would have expected him to leave a path of destruction in his wake."
Robin said nothing as she herself was quite intrigued by that fact as well. Though Luffy has shown that he was strong beyond normal reasoning, he did not seem like the sneaky type.
Zoro sighed, "As much as I hate to admit, we still do not know much about Luffy… Outside of his Grand-"
His words were cut short as he bumped into Nami, the navigator having stopped abruptly in front of him.
"Hey Nami what the hell? Why did you stop suddenly?" Zoro cursed, glaring at the navigator.
"I always wondered who would build half a house at the edge of the ocean… And having a second floor with no means to get there…" Nami said, her voice quivering.
The other three followed her line of sight to see a building that looked exactly like Cricket's house back on Jaya, except this one has a flight of stairs at the side that led to the second floor.
Sanji gulped, "Oi, oi… You don't mean to tell me…"
"This land was once part of Jaya… The city of gold that Norland had once set foot on did not sink… It was in the sky all along…" Robin answered.
"The knock up stream?" Zoro asked, his mind already thinking how impossible it was.
"It sounds impossible, but that's probably how it came up here."
Robin stepped forward and examined the house fully encroached by tree vines.
"Ah!" Nami screamed suddenly.
Zoro turned and unsheathed his swords, Sanji whipped his head around to find the source of Nami's discomfort while Robin took a step backwards and crossed her arms. The three of them became confused when they saw no imminent threat and Nami standing there clutching her head.
"What's wrong Nami swaan? Are you feeling unwell? Do you need me to take care of you?" Sanji pirouetted towards her.
"I just realised that we're standing at where the city of gold is! There's tons of gold to be found!" Nami shrieked, her eyes turning into berry symbols.
Zoro facepalmed while Robin just smiled.
"Hey! If we find the city, we're going to be really rich!"
"Yes, yes. Now I'm starting to worry about Chopper and Usopp, so why don't we head back to see if they're alright? Our search is proving to be rather fruitless so far." Zoro sighed.
The three retrace their steps back to the ship, finding it eerily quiet.
"Chopper, Usopp! Are you guys still alive?" Nami shouted.
Usopp peeked out from the railing wearing a metal pot on his head with a hammer in his hand, crying out tears of joy when he saw his crew mates.
They had decided to camp in the forest for the night, moving Gan Fall there as well. Zoro had wanted to go back to search but Gan Fall warned him that night time in the forest would be too dangerous which only prompted Zoro to be more adamant about going to unlock his haki. He was finally convinced to wait till morning after they said if he got lost himself then they would have to waste manpower to find him, putting Luffy's rescue on hold.
Gan Fall gave a brief history of Skypiea and his relationship with Enel. He confesses about being the previous 'God' and his goal of trying to save his followers from Enel's rule while requesting the Straw Hats to allow him to join their fight should they choose to confront Enel.
" Now I'll tell you about how the brave Usopp defended the ship from God's priest!" Usopp thumped his chest proudly.
"We know that Gan Fall did most of the work… But good job nonetheless," Sanji grinned, puffing on his cigarette.
"So let's share what we know and decide our future plans," Nami announced, pulling up a board from nowhere with various scribbles drawn on it.
"This land used to be part of Jaya but was blasted up here via the knock up stream, forming what the Skypieans know as Upper Yard. So now this place became God's personal island and we're stuck here with Luffy who's nowhere to be found."
The rest nodded at Nami's words.
"Now, we know from the last pages of Norlands' diary, he had written 'I saw gold in the right eye of the skull', this would not have made any sense until you combine the maps of Skypiea and Jaya like this!"
Nami placed the map of Jaya below Skypiea and a skull-shaped land appeared.
"And right here," Nami grinned as she pointed to a landmark on the map. "Is where all the the gold will be!"
Chopper raised a hand, "Aren't we planning on rescuing Luffy?"
Nami smiled devilishly, "Well if you think about it, Luffy probably went to find God, and what other place could God be other than the city of Gold itself?!"
"You're only looking at the gold!" The rest of the crew shouted at her with tick marks on their head.
"No, the girl is right," Gan Fall sighed, his eyes distant.
"That place would also be where God's Shrine resides, that's where Enel is."
"See?" Nami grinned, as though she knew all along. "And while we're there, we can grab the gold too!"
The rest of the Straw Hats sighed.
"So here's the plan for tomorrow: Usopp, Chopper and I will sail on Merry near the coastline of this God's Shrine and wait for you guys. The weird knight, Zoro, Sanji and Robin will proceed towards the Shrine and retrieve Luffy, bag the gold and escape on our ship. Simple!" Nami clapped enthusiastically.
"My name is Gan Fall…" the ex-god protested but no one acknowledged him.
Wiper inspected the Shandians gathered before him, all of them resolute before his eyes.
"I heard about this... Blue Sea dweller from you guys… For now we'll avoid them and focus on Enel to avoid any unnecessary conflict." Wiper sighed. Genbo had returned with news of a Blue Sea traveller that easily took out both the Divine Soldiers and Shandian warriors upon being shown hostility.
"Tomorrow we shall strike at Upper Yard again and we shall not back down this time! If any of you are afraid to die, do not follow me, if you are not ready to step over your fallen comrades and move forward leave now! But if you have the will to finish this four hundred years war, then step forward!"
The warriors roared and took a step forward.
"Tomorrow we shall relight the flames of Shandora!"
At God's Shrine, a man with long ear lobes and tomoe drums attached to his back rested lazily on a plush couch.
"Yaaa ha ha ha ha! This is getting very interesting! Tomorrow all previous rules are annulled! You are able to use the whole island as you see fit!"
"Why the sudden change? Enel sama?" A man with upwards pointing spiky hair questioned.
"Two priests fell within a single day, and both of them to the Blue Sea dwellers, we should get rid of them as soon as possible!" another bald man wearing sunglasses demanded.
"Yaaa ha ha ha! There's no need to worry, they will all gather here tomorrow! We just need to welcome them! The survival game is already underway!" Enel laughed, tossing away a banana peel.
The self proclaimed god sat up on his chair, a wicked grin on his face as he listened in on the various conversations going on around Upper Yard.
"Now! Entertain me! The closure of Skypiea before I head to the promised land!"
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And cut. so that is it for this chapter hope you guys enjoyed and see you in the next chapter.bye
chapter 27: The Price of Overconfidence