Three days later, at dusk.
Takumi and his crew finally saw Enies Lobby, the island Takumi had mentioned earlier, which wasn't far from where they were.
Looking at the island in the distance, where the sky above was bright and sunny, seemingly unaffected by the surrounding twilight, Enel asked in surprise, "Huh? What's going on? It's almost dark everywhere else, but the sky over there is still so bright?"
Kaku responded, "Enies Lobby doesn't have night. It's known as the Island of Eternal Daylight because it's always daytime there. As for why there's no night in that region, I'm not entirely sure of the exact reason."
As Kaku spoke, he made sure to observe Takumi's expression. Takumi remained calm, as if he already knew everything about Enies Lobby's strange nature, which only deepened Kaku's suspicions.
Takumi's purpose for coming to Enies Lobby definitely wasn't simple!
It seemed the only way to uncover his true intentions was to first enter the island.
Enies Lobby was surrounded by a wide perimeter of iron fences. Most ships couldn't pass through these barriers, but the airship was different—it could simply fly over them, making entry extremely easy.
Inside the iron fences, Enies Lobby was divided into four main sections: the Outer Island, the Main Island, the Tower of Justice, and the Bridge of Hesitation. Behind the island stood the giant Gate of Justice.
The Outer Island was the first gate to enter Enies Lobby, heavily guarded by numerous soldiers. After passing through the front gate, there was a narrow passage leading to a second gate suspended above a waterfall. Once through the second gate, travelers would reach the Main Island. The narrow road to the Main Island and the island itself were suspended above a vast waterfall and deep chasm.
On the Main Island, most of the buildings were symbolic, empty courthouses. At the far end of the island was the main courthouse. There was no direct path from the courthouse to the Tower of Justice; instead, the two were separated by a massive chasm. The suspension bridge connecting them could only be opened by activating switches located in the towers on either side of the courthouse.
The interior of the Tower of Justice was a complex maze, filled with secret passageways. It also housed the offices of CP9 members, including Spandam's office and the main hall where they held meetings. A large underground tunnel, secured by iron doors, led from the Tower of Justice to the Bridge of Hesitation.
The Bridge of Hesitation was supported by several columns, and the final section of the bridge was retractable. It remained folded up and was only lowered when transporting prisoners to the Gate of Justice.
The Gate of Justice was an enormous iron gate, tightly sealed at all times. Even when opened, it only opened a small gap. For prisoners, it symbolized hopelessness—the moment they passed through, they would never see the light of day again. The gate connected to a special government-controlled sea current that led to either Marine Headquarters or Impel Down, the deep-sea prison.
Overall, Enies Lobby was a heavily fortified stronghold, difficult for most people to infiltrate.
Even trying to storm the island would require significant manpower and resources.
But for Takumi's group, entering Enies Lobby was as easy as could be.
Their airship quickly flew over the outer iron fence of Enies Lobby.
As they passed over the first gate of the Outer Island, the soldiers stationed below noticed the shadow of the airship on the ground. Looking up, they saw a ship flying through the sky, and their eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
"Huh? What is that? A ship flying in the sky? Am I seeing things?"
"No, I see it too… What's going on? How can a ship fly? This is way too weird."
"Wait, that's not the issue here! That ship is heading toward the inner parts of Enies Lobby. This is an attack! We can't let them get inside! If Spandam finds out, we'll all be in big trouble."
"Hurry, we need to shoot down that ship!"
The soldiers quickly grabbed their weapons and fired at the airship. A few of them even aimed rocket launchers at the ship, launching an attack.
Enel glanced down at the chaos below and smirked disdainfully. "Heh, how pitiful."
With that, he casually sent a few lightning bolts down, knocking the incoming projectiles and weapons back to the ground.
The soldiers below saw their own weapons and rocket rounds falling back toward them and scrambled to get out of the way. Some of the slower ones were caught in the blast of their own rockets and were injured.
Watching the airship successfully fly past the first gate, the soldiers' faces turned pale.
One of them immediately grabbed a Den Den Mushi and dialed Spandam's office.
At that moment, Spandam was leisurely sipping tea in his office.
The sudden ringing of the Den Den Mushi startled him, causing him to spill hot tea all over his hand.
"Argh! Hot, hot, hot!" Spandam's face turned a mix of red and blue as he glared at the still-ringing Den Den Mushi. Angrily, he grabbed the receiver.
A panicked voice came through the Den Den Mushi: "Calling from the main gate of the Outer Island, sir! A flying ship has just breached the island!"
"What? A flying ship?" Spandam shouted, "Are you kidding me? How can there be a flying ship? Do you think I'm some kind of fool… Wait, did you say a flying ship?"
"Y-yes, sir, a flying ship…"
Suddenly, Spandam remembered the reports from Water 7. Although he hadn't seen it himself, many had reported seeing a strange flying ship. And most importantly, that ship seemed to belong to the crew he hated the most—Takumi's crew.
The soldier on the other end, hearing Spandam's silence, continued, "There's a Devil Fruit user on board, sir. All of our attacks were blocked by lightning."
"Lightning?" Spandam stood up abruptly, his body trembling with excitement. "Hahaha, talk about luck! Takumi, Enel, you're bold to come to Enies Lobby. Fine, I'll make sure none of you leave!"
"Uh… sir? What are you saying?"
"Where are Oimo and Kashii?" Spandam demanded, referring to the two giants from Elbaf.
"Sir, it's almost nightfall. They're probably getting ready for bed…"
"Bed? Forget about sleep!" Spandam yelled. "Nobody is allowed to sleep! I want every intruder taken down, no exceptions!"
"Yes, sir!" the soldier replied.
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Spandam shouted toward the door of his office, "Someone, get in here!"
The office doors opened, and two soldiers appeared at the entrance.
Spandam ordered, "Go and fetch Kumadori and Jyabura!"
"Yes, sir!" they responded in unison, before closing the office doors behind them.
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