Sailing on the seas can be incredibly time-consuming. After Claudius and his crew took a warship to the West Blue and then made their way from there to the White Sea above the sky, several months had already passed. In that time, they had visited several other Sky Islands.
By the end of 1497 on the Sea Circle Calendar, the Sky Island expedition of Claudius and his group was finally coming to an end.
Getting to Sky Island had been difficult, but descending was much easier. Using a balloon octopus, they wrapped the ship, and much like a hot air balloon, they "jumped" down from the sky safely into the Blue Sea.
Aboard the warship, Vice Admiral Tsuru sighed with some regret. "In the end, the mission failed. I was prepared for it, but it's still disappointing."
That was right. After they annihilated Birka, Vice Admiral Tsuru had led the group to visit a few more Sky Islands. Claudius had been particularly curious about Angel Island, but they failed to reach it. The other Sky Islands they visited were also unwilling to join the World Government, despite their fear of what had happened to Birka.
While Tsuru regretted the outcome, Claudius wasn't particularly surprised. To be fair, Sky Island was somewhat of a "paradise." Whatever happened down below didn't affect them much.
Why would they join the World Government? Seek protection? From what? They had no enemies, and the Marines couldn't exactly send a lot of forces up there to protect them if something did happen.
It would just feel like they were paying a pointless protection fee. Joining the World Government wouldn't give them any benefits, only the obligation to pay taxes. Why would they want that?
Claudius smiled and turned to Tsuru. "Still, it wasn't a wasted trip. We managed to gather some of Birka's Sky Island technologies, right? Though we only have enough special shells to arm a small unit for now, it's a start."
Tsuru nodded. "Yes, but it's a pity we only brought one warship. If we had an entire fleet, we could have evacuated all of Birka's resources and created a fully armed special unit."
Claudius laughed. "Imagine what we could've done if we had more ships. Those power shells would be invaluable for naval battles, especially when boarding enemy ships or landing on beaches."
Tsuru smiled but quickly caught herself. "I almost forgot we're Marines. For a moment, I felt like a pirate thinking that way."
"Hahaha! Didn't it sound like that?" Claudius joked.
They exchanged a few more words before Tsuru's expression shifted to something more serious. "But I think the greatest gain from this trip wasn't technology. It was that boy, Enel. I didn't expect Your Highness to have such a kind moment, rescuing a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, no less. And he turned out to be the wielder of the Thunder Fruit. If I'd known that, I would've acted first!"
Tsuru, who had been with Claudius the entire time, knew full well that he had no reason to know that the boy had such a powerful fruit ability when he saved him. She assumed Claudius had just been feeling particularly generous at that moment, and by sheer luck, he had stumbled upon a treasure.
Little did she know that Claudius, with his knowledge of the future, had specifically targeted Enel. If it had been anyone else, Claudius likely wouldn't have bothered. After all, he wasn't someone who went around saving everyone.
But that wasn't something he could explain, so Claudius just smirked and said, "Ah, see? Good deeds are rewarded! It looks like I'll need to do more in the future. Do a good deed, and you're bound to gain something from it!"
Tsuru chuckled but couldn't help thinking to herself, "If 'good deeds' for Claudius involve wiping out entire islands, the sea might not survive another year of him."
After a moment, Tsuru's expression turned serious again. "Your Highness, this Enel boy is still young. Perhaps it would be best to send him to Marine training. I can guarantee that we'd use the best resources to train him. With his abilities, he could easily become an Admiral one day. It's a bright and promising future for him."
Claudius immediately waved her off, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Sister Tsuru, stop trying to steal my treasure. That's not happening."
He then grinned mischievously. "The whole reason I took the risk of going to Sky Island was to find the Thunder Fruit. I didn't find the fruit, but I found the boy who possesses it, so my goal is achieved. Enel will be a great asset to me. I know what resources Marine can offer him, but don't worry, my CP-X will provide just as much, if not more. He'll be one of my trump cards in the future, so I'm not handing him over to you."
Tsuru's expression showed clear frustration. The Thunder Fruit was one of the strongest Logia-type fruits, and Enel was still a blank slate. If they trained him within Marine, he would become a powerful and loyal force for the government.
"Your Highness," Tsuru said, trying again, "as a Celestial Dragon, don't you think that by entrusting Enel to Marine, you'd be serving your own interests as well? Marine is here to serve you, after all. With him on our side, we could stabilize the seas more effectively. Surely we can discuss this?"
But Claudius shook his head again, still grinning. "Nope. This is non-negotiable. Besides, you've seen how close Enel is to me. He wouldn't want to join Marine anyway. Forcing him would be pointless."
"Who cares if it's not sweet? It'll still quench the thirst," Tsuru muttered under her breath, clearly annoyed.
But seeing how adamant Claudius was, she finally gave up. With anyone else, she might have been more forceful, but Claudius was Celestial Dragon royalty. Who would dare take something from him?
"It's a shame," Tsuru sighed. "Both you and Enel would be great assets to Marine. If only you were on our side, the seas would be much safer."
Just as Tsuru lamented the situation, Gion approached. "Vice Admiral Tsuru, we're approaching the edge of the White Sea."
"Good. Let's prepare for the descent," Tsuru nodded. "According to the map, the New World waters should be below us. It's not too far from the Red Line, so this is the quickest route back to Mariejois."
While they had ascended to Sky Island from the West Blue, they were now descending into the New World.
Claudius left the preparations to the professionals. He had little experience with sailing and no expertise in navigation. This was a job best left to the Marines.
Soon enough, the warship was securely wrapped in the balloon octopus, and they began their descent from the White Sea. Claudius couldn't help but feel the rush of excitement as they plunged through the sky.
"When we get back to Mariejois, the first thing I'm doing is soaking in a nice, hot bath," Claudius said, his voice a little shaky from the adrenaline.
Tsuru, standing next to him, was about to respond when she noticed something strange. Following Claudius's gaze, her eyes widened in horror.
It wasn't just her—Gion, too, was frozen in place, her face pale with fear. Panic quickly spread throughout the warship.
A massive storm was forming in the sky, not far from their position. Worse yet, it was moving directly toward them.
"Are you kidding me?!" Claudius cursed. "I made a joke about taking a bath, and now this storm shows up like a death flag?!"
Encountering a storm in the New World was dangerous enough, but to hit one in the air was practically a death sentence.
Claudius couldn't help but feel cursed. His past experiences in the New World hadn't exactly been smooth. The first time, he'd been shipwrecked and killed in a conspiracy, only to be revived in this new body. The second time, he had eaten his way into trouble during a Buster Call mission. And now, the third time he came to the New World, he was staring down a giant storm while still mid-air.
"Does the New World just hate me?" Claudius muttered.
Tsuru, too, was stunned. She had descended from Sky Island four or five times before and had never encountered a storm in this area. This region, surrounded by Spring Islands, was known for its stable climate. How could they have been so unlucky?
The storm grew fiercer, and the balloon octopus began to wobble, the air inside it swirling violently. It even started to shrink a bit.
"Shouldn't it be expanding in the storm?" Claudius grumbled, then quickly took action. Raising his hand, he unleashed a surge of nitrogen, filling the balloon octopus to stabilize it.
"If this keeps up, the storm's going to tear the warship apart!" Tsuru shouted, quickly assessing the situation. Desperate, she turned to Crocodile. "Crocodile, use your sand to encase the entire ship and create a protective wall. It's our only shot!"
At this point, it wasn't about strength—it was about survival. Tsuru, being a Paramecia user, couldn't do much against a storm of this magnitude, but Crocodile's abilities could provide some protection.
Without hesitation, Crocodile activated his powers. Yellow sand poured from his body, wrapping around the entire warship. In moments, the ship was encased in a thick protective barrier of sand.
From the outside, it looked like the balloon octopus was floating through the sky, carrying a massive sandball.
Not long after Crocodile's sand enveloped the ship, the storm fully hit them. The warship shook violently, the fierce winds trying to tear it apart. If Crocodile hadn't anchored the balloon octopus to the ship with his sand, it would've been blown away by now.
Inside the sand shell, Tsuru breathed a slight sigh of relief, but her expression remained grim. "This storm is only going to get worse. Even if we survive it, we have no idea where it will take us."
Claudius could do nothing but shake his head, resigned to the situation. "At this point, it's all up to fate."
What Claudius didn't know was that this storm was steering their warship, which was already on the brink of destruction, toward a mysterious and unexpected location: the sea of Edd War