The Straw Hat crew was confused, exchanging glances.
Vivi, however, stood frozen. She'd caught on to what Marcus was suggesting.
"Are you serious about this?" she finally asked.
Marcus nodded firmly. "You've seen the situation between these two tribes. Getting them to live together peacefully through cultural integration would take decades, maybe generations. Gan Fall's already an old man, he doesn't have that kind of time left."
He gestured toward the unconscious Enel. "And this guy's a Logia user. Even if we let him go, who's gonna stop him from just running off and coming back for revenge later?"
Vivi fell silent, clearly thinking through his logic. She kept staring at him with that weird expression, like she was trying to figure out if he was crazy or brilliant.
"What? Do I have something on my face?"
"No, it's nothing."
After a long moment, Vivi finally nodded. Marcus had convinced her.
Meanwhile, Gan Fall and Wyper had both been listening to this exchange. The former didn't know what to say, after all, Marcus had made it clear he wanted to solve the current crisis. The latter was still under the influence of the Shichiseiken, and his objections to Marcus' ideas were gradually fading.
After all, someone who could defeat a "god" naturally had the right to become one himself.
The rest of the Straw Hat crew remained thoroughly confused, still not understanding what was going on.
But they'd find out soon enough.
After Gan Fall led the Straw Hats to pay the expensive entry fee, Vivi began her part of the plan using her Devil Fruit powers.
The Whisper-Whisper Fruit gave her the ability to communicate with any animal, though it was just communication, not like Poseidon to command Sea Kings directly.
But that was only the basic application of her powers. The real ability was that she could whisper directly into someone's ear without anyone else hearing.
More than that, if someone accepted her ability's "invitation," she could communicate with them without even speaking aloud. She could even create something like a group chat where everyone connected could talk freely.
He had joked that this had nothing to do with "whispering" anymore and was basically just a psychic Zoom call.
The group chat ability had a limited range though, only within three kilometers of Vivi's position. Beyond that, it stopped working. She was basically acting as a living relay station.
When they'd tested the ability back in Mock Town, Luffy had said, "This is just like a Den Den Mushi!"
Then Nami had immediately smacked him. "I'm sorry," he'd muttered while rubbing his head.
Marcus had spent some time thinking about that comparison. Devil Fruits were said to manifest according to the imagination and beliefs of the first person who ate them. The Whisper-Whisper Fruit seemed almost too perfectly aligned with his own imagination of how such a power should work.
But that was a mystery for another time.
Back to the present situation. If he was going to become the new "god" of Skypiea, he couldn't just be a nice guy who tried to talk things out peacefully. That clearly hadn't worked for Gan Fall.
"Wait, Marcus is gonna become Skypiea's god?!" Usopp's voice exploded through the mental group chat Vivi had established.
Honestly, nobody fully understood the logic behind this plan yet.
"Forget the god thing for a second, Sanji said, lighting a cigarette. "What are we supposed to do?"
Marcus nudged Enel's unconscious form with his foot. "These Skypieans have been oppressed by this guy for years. There's no way they don't hate him. But the power gap was too huge, even if they wanted to fight back, they couldn't."
The others had gotten a rough understanding of Skypiea's current situation from Wyper and Gan Fall's explanations. Well, most of them had.
Luffy definitely hadn't.
Marcus saw their curious and confused expressions and shrugged. "Simply put, I'm gonna make them pick up their weapons and fight. Let them choose to resist instead of just accepting their fate. In the process, they'll witness the Shandians' courage, and that'll help resolve the rift between the two peoples. Of course, for that to work, we'll need Gan Fall's cooperation."
---
Gan Fall suddenly found everyone staring at him. Ever since Marcus had casually announced he was going to become the "god" of the new world, his brain had been scrambled. The young man hadn't said much, yet somehow it felt like he'd said everything. Then he watched as the Straw Hat crew cheerfully charged onto Angel Island and started bouncing around on the clouds like kids on a trampoline.
Weren't they just talking about becoming a god? Why were they playing around now?
Of course, Marcus wasn't actually just playing. He was climbing the island's unique trees, shaking branches to collect seeds from Sky Island's special fruits. These plants didn't exist in the Blue Sea, and he wanted samples for experimentation.
Wyper observed the scene with a complicated expression before finally choosing to slip away quietly. He'd been given orders to proceed with the original plan. But Enel had already been captured. How was he supposed to continue the plan now?
Normally, he would've exploded in protest at being given contradictory orders. He might have even taken it upon himself to finish off Enel personally, just to make a point. But now, his eyes glowed faintly purple as he turned and left the Straw Hats' ship without a word.
The only reason he'd stuck around this long was because Marcus had confiscated his Breath Dials boots. Don't get the wrong idea, he just wanted to study how the Breath Dials converted and amplified kinetic energy. It was fascinating technology that didn't exist in the Blue Sea.
After Wyper left, Gan Fall also departed, muttering something about needing to check on his people.
Once those two were gone, the previously rowdy group finally relaxed and dropped their carefree act.
Vivi let out a long sigh of relief. "They're both gone."
Marcus nodded, examining the seeds he'd collected in his palm. "Then let's move on to the next phase of the plan."
Vivi hesitated.
"If you've got something to say, just spit it out," he said without looking up from the seeds.
"Is all this really necessary? That guy's already been taken down. The rest will sort itself out with time, right? Shouldn't we just let them handle it themselves?"
It wasn't just Vivi who thought that way. The other crew members who'd been paying attention felt the same.
After all, Gan Fall had already been working to reconcile the two peoples during his time as God. And according to his story, it had been working until Enel showed up.
Now that Enel was out of the picture, wouldn't the two tribes naturally come together if they just followed the same path?
Marcus glanced at his minimap. Gan Fall was tailing Wyper, and both were already on the move.
"Want to see what happens when we don't interfere?"
Vivi, Robin, and Sanji all looked at him curiously.
He pulled out a fragment of the ender eye and tossed similar shards to the three of them. When they held the strange items, their vision suddenly expanded.
They could see Wyper returning to the Shandian village. Gan Fall arrived shortly after, Pierre landing nearby.
The two leaders met, and it should have been a moment of reconciliation. After all, Enel was defeated. The tyrant was gone. This should have been when they started working together.
But something was wrong.
In Gan Fall's own story, he'd claimed that he and the Shandian leaders had already agreed to work together on a plan to unify Skypiea. And according to him, it had shown promising results before Enel had burned everything to the ground.
But as the two men met now, the atmosphere between them was hostile, like they'd never had any such agreement at all.
Vivi's eyes widened as she watched through the ender eye's vision. "That's not right. Why are they acting like that?"
While the others continued watching the tense confrontation unfold, Marcus stood and walked back toward the Going Merry's deck.
By the time he arrived, Enel had already regained consciousness.
"You're awake," Marcus said.
Enel was clearly still disoriented. Countless memories of his defeat were flooding his mind, leaving him momentarily blank and unable to process what had happened. Once he managed to gather his thoughts, he looked up at Marcus.
"What do you want?"
His eyes gleamed with madness, and that faint purple hue began to spread once again.
Marcus studied him for a long moment, then smiled.
"What do I want? That's an interesting question."
He noticed Enel's weird condition, and tapped the hilt of the Shichiseiken strapped to his waist.
The cursed sword trembled slightly. Then, thin strands of purple energy began withdrawing from Enel's body. The strange, compliant state Enel had been in faded away. Once his mind cleared, confusion flashed across his face. After taking a moment to process everything, he looked at Marcus with newfound wariness.
"So that's your power? You can control people's thoughts... Even now, I don't feel like anything's wrong."
Even though Marcus had withdrawn the influence, the remnants of those implanted thoughts and that lingering sense of loyalty made it hard for him to feel violated. Part of him still thought his earlier ideas had been perfectly reasonable. But his rational mind was screaming that this was completely abnormal.
Marcus shrugged. "It's not exactly my power, but close enough."
The truth was more complicated. The Shichiseiken's Loyalty VI didn't just make the sword itself loyal to him, it made anyone influenced by the sword's cursed energy loyal as well.
That was the effect of the modified enchantment he had applied. Even when the sword wasn't actively releasing its ghostly aura, once someone was touched by that loyalty effect, removing it was nearly impossible.
That's why he rarely used this ability deliberately. It felt too much like mind control, and that made him uncomfortable. There was a difference between defeating someone and brainwashing them.
Enel forced himself to breathe steadily, using pure willpower to suppress the lingering compulsions. He stared at Marcus.
"What do you want? Whatever it is, I can give it to you. Just remove this condition from me."
Even tied up and defeated, Enel's tone carried no humility. Years of being worshipped as a god had made submission foreign to his nature.
Marcus studied him for a long moment, then asked something completely unexpected.
"What did the Rumble-Rumble Fruit look like when you ate it?"
Enel blinked, clearly confused by the seemingly random question. But after a moment's hesitation, he described it.
Marcus pulled out several fruits that had similar pear-like shapes, and placed them in front of Enel.
"What are you doing?" Enel asked, his confusion growing.
Marcus gestured at the fruits. "Which one looks closest to it?"
"That one," he said, pointing to a tropical fruit.
Marcus looked at the fruit and nodded.
"What... what are you planning?"
"Nothing complicated. I just want to reclaim the Rumble-Rumble Fruit."
"WHAT?!"
Enel's face went pale. He understood immediately what Marcus meant.
---
Marcus left the Going Merry's cabin and stepped out onto the deck. The moment he emerged, he saw the rest of the Straw Hat crew already interacting with Skypiea's residents.
A young Skypiean woman named Conis was earnestly explaining the island's unique plants to Luffy.
They'd actually paid the entry fee.
Vivi walked over to Marcus. She handed him back the ender eye fragment she'd been using to observe Gan Fall and Wyper's meeting.
"How'd it go?" Marcus asked, though he could already guess from her face.
Vivi shook her head. "They're about to start fighting. The whole thing's falling apart."
Marcus wasn't surprised. In the original timeline, Angel Island had been destroyed by Enel's final attack, forcing the Skypieans and Shandians to cooperate out of pure necessity. They'd shared pain, witnessed Luffy ring the Golden Bell, and gradually found common ground through a series of fortunate accidents.
But now? Without that shared trauma, the two peoples had simply reverted to their default state of mutual hostility.
Neither side was willing to give up their claims or compromise on territory. The Shandians still had their sacred mission to protect Shandora and honor their ancestors. There was no way they'd just roll over and accept peace on Skypiean terms.
Robin had sharp instincts for this kind of situation.
"If this continues, we're looking at another war. Maybe worse than before, since both sides have had time to recover their strength."
Sanji nodded in agreement. "Yeah. You can tell just from watching them. Even without sound, the body language says it all."
Marcus just smiled and spread his hands. "The timing's not right yet anyway. No point stressing about it. Let's just enjoy the island for now."
Robin and Sanji exchanged glances, then shrugged and joined the others who were playing on the cloud formations. But Vivi remained behind.
"I don't understand. Why wouldn't they want peace now?"
As someone who'd witnessed Arabasta's near-destruction and helped prevent a civil war, she thought she could see through the flow of events. But this didn't make sense to her. Logically, both sides should be willing to sit down and negotiate.
"You're thinking too rigidly. Not everyone can set aside their position and speak purely from reason. Here, let me put it in terms you'll understand."
Mario gestured broadly. "Imagine if Arabasta and Drum Kingdom tried to merge into one nation. What do you think would happen?"
"They'd form a larger republic?" Vivi answered immediately.
Marcus chuckled and shook his head. "No way. Think it through."
"Even if they agreed to merge, who would run things? Koza or Dalton?"
"Well... maybe both of them could share power?"
"That's impossible. Two leaders can't share authority equally, not for long. Either Koza gives up power, or Dalton does. One of them has to yield, and neither wants to be the one to back down."
He pointed back toward where Gan Fall and Wyper were meeting. "That's exactly what's happening here on Skypiea. Both sides have legitimate claims, suffered, and neither is willing to be the one who surrenders their position."
When Vivi thought about it honestly, if she hadn't joined the rebel army back in Arabasta, and if her father hadn't loved her enough to accept that choice... the outcome might have been exactly like this. Civil war and endless bloodshed.
"So what's your plan? If talking won't work, what will?"
"Everyone can endure hardship together. When everyone's suffering equally, they bond over their shared pain. But the moment one person, or one group, gets something better than the rest?" He snapped his fingers. "Anger. The ones still suffering will never forgive those who've been elevated above them. That's the situation here. These people could endure oppression together under Enel. But now one side's been liberated while the other's still fighting for their homeland? The Shandians will attack the Skypieans with everything they have. And the Skypieans, who've finally escaped tyranny, will fight back twice as hard to protect what they've gained."
Vivi thought back to the scene she'd witnessed through the ender eye fragment.
"So for the Shandians and Skypieans to coexist peacefully, they must first experience the same pain? I guess anyone who's never known real suffering can't really understand peace."
She blinked as she quoted a certain shinobi's words of wisdom.
Marcus chuckled and waved her off. "Go enjoy yourself for now. You'll understand when the time comes."
"Okay..." Vivi wandered away looking confused, leaving Marcus shaking his head.
He couldn't help but suspect she might be walking down the same path as that shinobi. The parallels were getting uncomfortably close.
He looked down at his status screen, Level 67 now.
Defeating Enel had boosted him six whole levels in one go, which meant the guy still had major importance to the future storyline despite being taken out early.
But what role could he possibly play now?
Maybe something to do with the moon?
He had read those cover story chapters, of course. In some ways those side stories connected directly to One Piece's endgame. Enel had reached the moon, awakened the ancient machines sleeping there, and declared himself the new god of that dead world.
After that, his story had just stopped. At least, he had never seen any continuation before getting transported to this world.
Theoretically, defeating Enel shouldn't have granted this much experience. The guy was supposed to be done after Luffy took him down.
But he'd gotten massive experience anyway, which could only mean one thing, Enel still had a significant role to play in the future of One Piece. Or maybe Oda had just forgotten about the guy. It wouldn't be the first time a villain got left behind as the story moved on. One Piece has too many characters to avoid forgetting some of them.
"Should I check out the moon?" he muttered, squinting up at the bright sky.
In the One Piece world, space apparently had breathable air. There were even so-called "space pirates" roaming around up there, according to the lore.
If all that was true, it raised an interesting possibility, maybe One Piece would one day be told as a story in a galaxy far, far away.
Hell, maybe the destruction of the Ancient Kingdom had been caused by moon people or aliens coming down, planting trees to harvest energy and leaving civilization in ruin eight hundred years ago. Or perhaps the Force had been at work even then, though as Obi-Wan said, "The Force will be with you, always," maybe it had chosen the wrong side.
"The Ark's finished, and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit just needs a bit more time... guess I'll take things one step at a time."
He shelved the thought. He'd uncover the moon's secrets eventually. Right now, there were more immediate concerns.
Just then, Conis' father Pagaya came racing toward them on a waver, the jet-ski-like vehicle that Skypieans used to navigate the clouds.
Unfortunately, he completely failed to brake in time and slammed face-first into a tree.
Blood streaming down his face, he staggered to his feet. "Are you all okay?"
"You're the only one who got hurt," Usopp pointed out.
"Hahaha, terribly sorry about that." Pagaya scratched his head sheepishly, apparently unbothered by the blood.
"Chopper, get over here and patch him up!"
"Huh? Oh! Right, I'm a doctor!" Chopper froze mid-step, as if suddenly remembering his job on the crew.
Ever since joining the Straw Hats, he hadn't really needed to practice medicine much. Most of his time went into preparing medications and studying new treatments. Now that someone was actually injured right in front of him, he'd momentarily forgotten he was their ship's doctor.
Flustered, he rushed over and started his examination. Just a simple fracture, nothing serious. Without hesitation, he pulled out a perfectly cooked steak.
"Uh..." Pagaya stared at the meat in confusion. Why was he being told to eat when he had a broken bone?
But seeing Chopper's serious expression, he obediently took a bite.
Immediately, the pain vanished. His broken bone felt completely fine.
"What?!" Pagaya's eyes went wide.
Conis stared in equal disbelief, watching her father move his previously injured arm without any sign of pain.
---
Meanwhile, hidden in the grass surrounding the beach, a squad of Skypiean soldiers had been observing the entire exchange.
"Captain, those are the Blue Sea visitors. They've already paid the full entry fee," one soldier reported.
The squad leader, distinguished by his white beret, studied the Straw Hat crew through his binoculars.
"Any orders from command?"
"Negative, sir. No instructions yet."
"Then maintain surveillance. The moment we get orders, we move. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
The White Berets began spreading out, crawling through the cloud-grass to establish a perimeter around the entire coastline.
Of course, their presence didn't escape the notice of Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji, all three had developed enough Observation Haki to sense the soldiers' locations. But none of them seemed concerned about a bunch of guys hiding in bushes.
After all, Gan Fall had already warned them about the White Berets when they'd first arrived.
---
Inside the divine palace at Upper Yard, the Four Priests and various attendants were conducting an increasingly frantic search for their absent god.
The temple servants had gathered in the throne room, looking worried and confused.
"Has Lord Enel disappeared again?" Ohm asked.
The attendants nodded in unison. "About thirty minutes ago, Lord Enel seemed to sense something unusual. He vanished from his chamber without explanation."
"Did he leave any message?"
They all shook their heads.
Ohm frowned but didn't seem too surprised. This wasn't exactly unusual behavior, Enel had a habit of disappearing without warning, often just to mess with his subordinates or investigate something that caught his interest.
"Carry on with normal operations then."
"Yes. We've received a report from the lower level, new arrivals from the Blue Sea have entered Skypiea."
Ohm's expression brightened. "New prey, then? Excellent. Proceed according to standard protocol."
"Understood."
The attendants scurried off to contact the White Berets unit and set the usual plans in motion.
Ohm turned back toward Enel's empty chamber. Something felt off.
Enel was definitely a hands-off ruler who never bothered with the day-to-day administration of Skypiea. If something interesting appeared, like visitors from the Blue Sea, he might simply teleport over using his powers to check it out personally.
So his disappearance wasn't inherently strange.
But still... something nagged at his instincts.
He looked back at the servants.
"Are you certain Lord Enel left no message?"
The attendants exchanged glances, thought carefully, then shook their heads again.
Ohm finally sighed and let it go. He was probably just being paranoid.
He'd barely made it two steps outside the throne room when he bumped into Shura.
The moment their eyes met, Shura spoke. "What's with the sour face? Did our god finally get tired of your boring personality?"
"Shut your mouth. Lord Enel has no reason to scold someone as loyal as me. He's simply elsewhere at the moment. I was merely concerned about his absence."
"Oh? So he's avoiding you now? That's even worse."
"You fucking—!" Ohm couldn't suppress his killing intent anymore.
In an instant, they clashed. The sound of Ohm's Eisen Whip striking against Shura's Heat Javelin echoed through the palace corridors.
Despite the violence of their exchange, neither priest damaged the palace structure itself. They were both holding back enough to avoid destroying their god's domain, even while trying to kill each other.
But no matter how fiercely they fought, Enel didn't appear.
In the past, any time the priests fought like this, he would show up within minutes. He'd blast them both with lightning for his own amusement, mock them for being idiots, and send them on their way with some dismissive comment.
But this time, even as both priests sustained serious injuries, their god remained absent.
After another brutal exchange, Shura suddenly disengaged and backed off several meters. "Looks like Lord Enel really isn't here."
He waved dismissively and turned to leave, blood dripping from his wounds.
Ohm stood there breathing hard, that earlier sense of wrongness growing stronger. They'd just had a full-blown battle in the palace corridors, and Enel hadn't appeared even once?
But he quickly pushed the thought away, disturbed by where his mind was going.
"No. That's impossible. Lord Enel would never abandon us."
Forcing himself to adjust his mindset and suppress the growing unease, he straightened his uniform and left the palace as well.