The three of them flew through the night on the clouds. Heavenly Cloud was soft, and since both Mari and Yuriko had exhausted a lot of energy during the day, the mother and daughter fell asleep in each other's arms.
Dan looked down at the Log Pose on his wrist.
Navigating in the New World required more than just a single Eternal Pose. Compared to the relatively stable magnetic fields of the first half of the Grand Line, the magnetic fields of the islands in the New World were far more chaotic. As a result, even the Log Pose had to be upgraded.
The one on Dan's wrist was an advanced version with three Log Pose needles.
Without it, even the most skilled navigator would find it impossible to move through the New World.
However, this wasn't an absolute rule. If one had an Eternal Pose for a specific island, they could still find their way. Another method was to rely on the movement of a Vivre Card, though that was more for tracking people.
Dan had a map of the seas that Higurashi had explored during this time. The territorial divisions in the New World weren't as fixed as they would be during the era of the Four Emperors. Aside from the territories controlled by the Rocks Pirates, the rest of the unclaimed lands were in complete chaos.
Higurashi had clearly marked the territories of the Marines and the Rocks Pirates on the map. The Marine presence could be ignored; at this point in time, and for decades to come, the New World was essentially abandoned by the Marines. It wasn't that they didn't want to intervene, but the cost of doing so was too high.
Moreover, the World Government wanted to see the powerful pirates in the New World balancing each other out.
To maintain their unjust rule, the World Government needed the existence of pirates as an opposing force. This way, ordinary nations would willingly pay the Heavenly Tribute. If there were no pirates and the world was at peace, which country would still be willing to pay the tribute?
Dan wasn't some greenhorn who had just sailed through Paradise. Those rookies, after sailing smoothly through the first half of the Grand Line and being dubbed "Supernovas," often became arrogant, believing they could establish themselves among the countless pirates of the New World. In their quest for fame, they would challenge well-established pirate crews.
The result, of course, was a brutal beating and a humiliating retreat.
This kind of thing happened all the time. People like Crocodile, Moria, Ace, and Kid...
These individuals had all overestimated their abilities and tried to challenge the Four Emperors. Moria was slightly better off; he had lost to Kaido, who at the time was far from his peak and only slightly stronger than Moria.
Dan had no intention of provoking Rocks or getting involved with the World Government too early. The map provided by Higurashi helped him avoid these troubles.
In addition to the map, Higurashi had also made other preparations, including Eternal Poses for several islands.
As for the location of the sky island Birka, Higurashi had already scouted it out. Dan had long planned to obtain the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, but reaching the sky island was troublesome, which was why Higurashi hadn't acted on it yet.
Now, Birka was Dan's first destination.
However, the journey to Birka was quite long. Although Birka was close to the New World, it was still located in the first half of the Grand Line. Just as communication between islands on the sea was limited, communication between different sky islands was also difficult.
After Enel ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he destroyed his homeland, Birka, and then moved to Upper Yard. Without a doubt, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was located in Birka.
"Such a long distance... Flying the entire way would be a hassle," Dan sighed. Although he could maintain the Heavenly Cloud for a long time, he couldn't constantly monitor the sky. The weather in the Grand Line was unpredictable, and a storm could strike at any moment.
Moreover, many things would become inconvenient, such as eating and using the bathroom.
"It seems we still need a ship. Even if we're flying with the ship, having a place to rest would be better."
Originally, he hadn't planned to use a ship because he was concerned that Yuriko might get seasick. But now, that was no longer a concern.
"Let's see if there are any pirates nearby. We might as well steal a ship," Dan thought, setting his sights on those rookies from Paradise. It would be a good lesson for those overconfident newcomers, teaching them the harsh realities of the New World.
However, finding a pirate crew in the vast ocean wasn't an easy task.
This wasn't yet the true Golden Age of Piracy. While there were many pirates, their numbers paled in comparison to what they would become. Especially in the years following Roger's execution, when men, inspired by his words of fame and wealth, would impulsively set out to sea.
By the next evening, he finally spotted a ship on the distant horizon.
By the time he sped up to catch up with it, the sky had already darkened.
Most pirates hadn't received much education, and their crew names were often chosen haphazardly. Names like the Big Mom Pirates or the Beasts Pirates were actually quite cultured by comparison.
Usually, the crew name was based on some characteristic of the captain.
If the captain had red hair, it was the Red-Haired Pirates. If the captain had a white beard, it was the Whitebeard Pirates. As a result, names like the Scar Pirates or the Giant Bear Pirates were common, with many crews sharing the same name.
However, the pirate crew Dan had found this time didn't have such a casual name.
To celebrate their recent plunder, the Nightlight Pirates were holding a banquet—a bonfire party on their ship.
The captain of the Nightlight Pirates was one of the current Supernovas, with a bounty of 70 million Berries.
While 70 million might not seem like much, this was nearly forty years ago, and the value of the Berry hadn't depreciated to the extent it would in the future. For example, Crocodile, who would enter the New World with great force over a decade later, had a bounty of only 80 million Berries.
In this era, a bounty in the tens of millions was enough to make one a famous pirate in Paradise.
What's more, the captain of the Nightlight Pirates was a rare Logia-type Devil Fruit user.
The Ember-Ember Fruit, which sounded similar to the Mera Mera no Mi (Flame-Flame Fruit), was actually an inferior version of it. The relationship between the Ember-Ember Fruit and the Flame-Flame Fruit was like that between the Snow-Snow Fruit and the Ice-Ice Fruit.
Freezing and burning could both be understood as states of matter.
However, the interactions and counteractions between Devil Fruits in the world of pirates didn't align with real-world physics or chemistry. After all, the creator of this world was just a manga artist who knew little about pirates, physics, or chemistry.