Crocodile had never minded using schemes and underhanded methods. Otherwise, he would not have entrenched himself in Alabasta, bullying weaklings while searching for the location of Pluton.
Even after those two club strikes knocked quite a bit of sense into him, he still had no intention of giving up on Pluton, the weapon he had set his sights on.
Those two girls and the woman who appeared at the end were difficult to deal with, but Crocodile could simply have someone else deal with them.
Becoming a Shichibukai had been his own choice, but in the eyes of other pirates on the sea, making that choice meant becoming a dog for the World Government.
Since he had already taken on that reputation, it would be a waste not to make use of the World Government’s power.
Given that the World Government was hunting the Lunarian race, Crocodile directly contacted them.
But after he gave a more detailed description of Amphitrite’s appearance, the other side’s attitude changed.
[There are plenty of people with white hair.]
[As for brown skin, you can get that from spending enough time in the sun. Doesn’t Alabasta have people like that too?]
[What? You say she also had wings on her back? Those might just have been decorations. She could be the user of the Flame-Flame Fruit, which would explain why she could fly while having flames burning behind her.]
In the end, they practically spelled it out for him: this was definitely not a Lunarian, so he should stop wasting time paying attention to her.
There was a reason they tried so hard to persuade Crocodile. Although all seven Shichibukai had yet to be assembled, the system had already demonstrated considerable deterrent power and had proven somewhat effective in suppressing this Great Pirate Era.
Suddenly losing a Shichibukai at a time like this would not be a good thing.
It was not that the World Government officials had absolutely no faith in Crocodile’s strength, but if his opponent was Nereus, there was no need to even consider the outcome. They might as well start deciding where Crocodile should be buried.
“That woman… just what kind of background does she have?”
Crocodile knew little about what had happened many years ago. All he could tell was that the other party seemed to be some immensely influential big shot with connections everywhere.
But speaking of immensely influential big shots, there actually was one present at this moment.
In the first half of the Grand Line, the Red Force was sailing across the sea, and its captain was named Shanks.
Ever since he and Buggy went their separate ways in Loguetown all those years ago, the two had taken completely different paths. Buggy remained in the East Blue, acting as a “true pirate” within his little patch of territory and striving for treasures.
Shanks, meanwhile, had gathered a group of companions, but likewise had not entered the New World. For the most part, they sailed only through the first half of the Grand Line, as well as the East Blue and South Blue.
“Beckman, I’m planning to leave for a while.”
“Shanks, where are you going?”
The one asking was not Beckman, but a girl aboard the ship whose hair was half red and half white.
“To a very special place. It might be a while before I come back, so Uta, you have to listen to everyone else while I’m gone, okay?”
Three years ago, Shanks and the others had defeated a group of pirates and discovered two-year-old Uta inside a treasure chest they had taken from them.
It was remarkably similar to how the Roger Pirates had once found Shanks. The Red Hair Pirates adopted her and treated her as the daughter of the entire crew.
As for the place Shanks intended to go, it was Mariejois. By now, he knew his true origins and wanted to return to Mariejois to do something he wished to do.
“I’ll pass by Fishman Island on my way back. How about I bring you an autographed record from Nanamo?”
Holding concerts and singing were merely hobbies for Nanamo, but for Uta, singing was her greatest passion. Nearly everyone aboard the ship joined Uta in playing games related to it.
The Red Force was her very first stage.
Nanamo’s singing voice might not have been the best on the seas, but among singers capable of holding solo concerts, Nanamo was certainly the one with the most impressive background.
After one or two concerts, she had gained a fair amount of fame. Since Uta collected all kinds of records from across the seas, she had naturally taken notice of her as well.
Shanks knew little about other divas, but he actually knew a fair bit about Nanamo. At the very least, he had met her a couple of times back when he sailed with the Roger Pirates. Getting an autograph as a fan would not be difficult.
Worst case…
He would just pay for it.
“Sure, it’s a deal!”
Uta held out her pinky and made a pinky promise with Shanks, while Shanks began telling the others what they needed to pay attention to while he was away.
Shanks returning to Mariejois was a relatively secret matter, both to the outside world and even within the Celestial Dragons themselves.
Outsiders knew little about the details to begin with, and the Knights of God on the Celestial Dragons’ side certainly would not go around publicizing the fact that one of their children had been taken away by Roger and that they had chased after him for years without managing to bring him back.
……
While Shanks was still planning how he should conduct himself as Saint Shanks after returning to Mariejois, Chloe and the others had already arrived near Jaya Island.
This place had originally been the location of the legendary City of Gold, Shandora, but because of the Knock Up Stream, the entire City of Gold had been swept up to Skypiea.
Noland was branded a liar because of this, and once ships sailed here, their Log Poses would also point toward the sky.
“Are there really islands in the sky?”
Looking in the direction the Log Pose was pointing, Yamato stared hard at the sky, as though trying to spot some clue up there.
But after looking for quite a while, all Yamato saw was the azure sky. She could not even make out a single black speck.
The weather on the Grand Line was unpredictable and routes were difficult to plan. When sailing here, the only thing that could be trusted was the Log Pose. Anyone who regularly sailed the Grand Line knew that.
But having the needle point toward the sky still went somewhat beyond common understanding.
“Of course there are. There are lots of Sky Islands up there, but some of them drift with the wind, so their locations aren’t fixed. There used to be a Sky Island above Dressrosa, but when I went there a second time, it was already gone.
“Before we set out, Sister looked over our route and asked me to bring back some gold and Skypiea Dials for her on the way home.”
Chloe was no stranger to Sky Islands. After all, flying was an ability she had been born with. Although Sky Islands were generally located extremely high up, that altitude was nothing much to a Lunarian.
Sometimes, when she was bored, she would simply keep flying and eventually end up at one. Still, this was indeed Chloe’s first time visiting the Sky Island above Jaya.
“You all wait here for a while. If nothing unexpected happens, we should be back within a day.”
“Yes, Queen Amphitrite. Please go without worrying. We’ll take good care of the ship.”
The sea current at Summit of High West could carry ships upward smoothly, but taking that route would mean making a detour. It was easier for the two of them to simply fly up directly.
As for Yamato, Chloe carried her up by holding her under both arms. Yamato showed absolute trust in Chloe. Throughout the journey, she displayed no fear of the high altitude at all. All she felt was novelty toward this world in the sky.
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