"Kai, there's no need! We don't need that much stuff!" Nami exclaimed anxiously.
If it had been anyone else saying that, she would've already punched them. But since it was Kai, she hesitated.
Kai didn't reply, just kept his gaze locked on Les Les. Seeing this, Les Les felt thrilled. He had found himself a real sucker!
Quickly, he emptied out everything from his conch, piling the items all over the floor. Kai glanced at the mound of goods, curious about how such a small conch could store so much.
After taking stock, Les Les rubbed his hands together eagerly and said, "The total for all these items is 700 million Beli... What do you think?"
He couldn't hide his excitement as he stared at Kai, anticipating a big payday.
"Seven hundred million Beli?" Everyone's eyes widened. That amount was astronomical! Even combined, the bounties on their heads wouldn't cover half of it, and Kai's was the only one worth even mentioning!
But Kai stayed calm and casually said, "Okay."
He turned, about to head to the cabin for the money, but as he moved, a bounty poster slipped from his pocket and landed right in front of Les Les.
Curiosity got the best of Les Les, and when he glanced at it, beads of sweat instantly appeared on his forehead. His eyes widened in horror.
He cautiously glanced up at Kai, now trembling so hard his legs nearly gave out.
Kai picked up the poster with a sly grin, "Oops, I dropped something. My bad."
He paused dramatically, "You know, I was going to toss this out. It's ridiculous! Just because I wiped out an entire island after being scammed, they put such a high bounty on me!"
Kai leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "Don't you think it's overkill to put a bounty this high just because I dealt with a bunch of con artists?"
Les Les was visibly shaking now, his voice stuttering, "N-no, not at all!"
With sweat pouring down his face, Les Les stammered, "A-actually, I just remembered I have something urgent to take care of! Please, Mr. Kai, consider all these items a gift. Goodbye!"
In a flash, he jumped into his conch and plunged into the sea, disappearing from sight.
Kai, now with a satisfied grin, turned back to the crew. "All done!"
Everyone aboard the ship was frozen in shock, mouths agape. Luffy finally broke the silence, pulling out his own bounty poster with a thoughtful expression.
"So... we can use these like that?"
...
A few days passed, and Kai sat comfortably on his self-proclaimed throne, sipping on a fresh glass of fruit tea Sanji had just made for him. Life was good.
Suddenly, Kai narrowed his eyes as he sensed something. With two fingers, he swiftly reached to his side.
Clang!
A loud metallic clash echoed as Kai's fingers caught a blade mid-air.
"Nice one, Zoro. You've mastered Armament Haki, haven't you?"
"Just now," Zoro's voice came from behind, excitement barely hidden in his tone.
Kai smirked but couldn't help but comment, "And the first thing you do after mastering it is sneak attack me?"
"I'm just helping you keep your senses sharp. What do you know?" Zoro said nonchalantly.
Kai chuckled. Despite the annoyance, Zoro's frequent sneak attacks had indeed improved his Observation Haki, even if only slightly. Improvement was improvement, after all.
"But seriously," Zoro continued, puzzled, "Why couldn't I break your defense even with Haki?"
Kai gave him a look and replied bluntly, "You think you're ready to surpass me already? Come back after ten or maybe twenty years of training."
Without warning, Kai slapped his palm toward Zoro. Reacting quickly, Zoro raised his sword in defense, but sparks flew as he was sent flying back onto the deck.
Satisfied, Kai casually sipped his tea again, only to find his sunlight suddenly blocked. Looking up, his jaw dropped.
A massive ship was falling from the sky.
The rest of the crew noticed it too, with Chopper yelling in panic, "Ahhh! A ship is falling from the sky!"
"Idiot, ships don't fall from the sky!" Sanji scoffed, but when he looked up, his eyes widened. "The ship is falling from the sky!!"
Kai quickly composed himself and calmly raised his hand. "Stop."
With that single word, the massive ship halted in midair, defying gravity. Every piece of debris and wood around it hovered as well.
The crew was stunned.
"Wow, Kai, your ability is insane! You can even stop a whole ship!" Luffy exclaimed.
Kai tried to play it off cool. "Oh, you know, just some simple tricks."
But as they marveled at his abilities, the bigger question emerged.
"Why did a ship fall from the sky?" Luffy asked, scratching his head in confusion.
"This sea is strange," Nami added, showing her Log Pose. "It keeps pointing to the sky!"
"Maybe it's not broken. It could be pointing to an island in the sky," Robin said calmly, joining the conversation. "There are legends about a place called Sky Island."
"Sky Island!?" Luffy's eyes lit up, bursting with excitement. "That sounds awesome! Let's go there!"
Robin nodded, "Technically, it's a sea floating in the sky."
Luffy jumped up, "A sea in the sky? Even better!"
"It's possible that the Log Pose is being pulled by the magnetic force of the Sky Island," Robin explained, further fueling the excitement.
"Yes, Sky Island does exist," Kai added, confirming her suspicions.
Everyone turned to him.
"Alright, Sky Island it is!" Luffy shouted eagerly.
But Nami, ever the realist, raised an eyebrow. "How do we even get to Sky Island?"
Kai chuckled and looked up at the ship still hovering above. "Well, we could start by investigating that."
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Power Stones would be appreciated if you liked the story.