The Going Merry bobbed gently, its reinforced wooden hull resting not on saltwater, but on a vast, endless ocean of pure, fluffy white clouds. The deafening, apocalyptic roar of the Knock-Up Stream had completely vanished, replaced by an absolute, breathtaking silence that felt almost holy.
The sun shone with a brilliant, unfiltered intensity, reflecting off the sea of clouds and painting the world in blinding, pristine white.
"We... we really made it," Nami whispered, her eyes wide as she gripped the ship's railing. She looked down at the swirling white mass beneath the hull. "This isn't vapor. The ship is actually floating on it."
Luffy threw his arms wide open, a massive, uncontainable grin stretching across his face. "SHISHISHI! I TOLD YOU! THE SKY ISLAND IS REAL!"
"It's incredible," Robin said, walking to the bow with her signature calm smile. "A sea situated seven thousand meters above the Blue Sea. The White Sea."
Kai let out a long, heavy breath, leaning against the mainmast. The adrenaline from the violent ascent was finally starting to wear off. He looked down at his left wrist. The sleek, orange-and-black Power Watch vibrated gently against his skin. On its small digital screen, a bright orange waveform pulsed in a steady, slightly erratic rhythm.
"Bot, what's our status?" Kai asked, his voice rough.
"Atmospheric pressure is incredibly low, Kai," Bot's robotic voice buzzed from the watch's small speaker. The orange waveform on the screen spiked rhythmically with his words, shifting into a pair of worried digital eyes. "Oxygen levels are significantly depleted compared to the surface. I highly recommend avoiding strenuous physical activity until your cardiovascular system adapts to the altitude."
"Too late for that warning!" Usopp cheered. The sniper, completely overcome by the sheer joy of not dying in the geyser, stripped off his shirt, backed up, and sprinted toward the railing. "I'm going for a swim in the clouds!"
"Usopp, wait!" Sanji yelled, taking a drag from his cigarette. "We don't know how deep that—"
SPLASH!
Usopp dove headfirst into the clouds. Instead of falling straight through, the clouds displaced exactly like water. Usopp bobbed back up to the surface, spitting out a mouthful of white foam.
"It's just like the ocean!" Usopp laughed, splashing around. "It's cold, but it's totally buoyant! Come on in, guys!"
Zoro scoffed, crossing his arms and closing his visible eye. "Idiots. Let him freeze."
But Luffy didn't need to be told twice. He stretched his rubbery arms out to grab the railing, preparing to launch himself in.
"You're a hammer, you moron!" Sanji barked, kicking Luffy squarely in the back of the head before he could jump. "If it acts like the ocean, you'll sink to the bottom!"
Suddenly, Usopp's cheerful laughter turned into a panicked gurgle.
Something massive and flat was moving through the cloud sea just beneath him. It looked like a giant, flattened eel, gliding smoothly through the dense white vapor. It unhinged a jaw lined with razor-sharp teeth and snapped at the sniper's legs.
"MONSTER!" Usopp shrieked, paddling frantically backward.
"I've got you!" Zoro grunted. He stepped up to the railing, drawing a single sword. But as he swung his arm to unleash a flying slash, a sudden, violent wave of dizziness hit him. He gasped for air, his sword arm dropping heavily as his knees buckled.
"Zoro?" Chopper gasped, his blue nose twitching in alarm.
"My lungs..." Zoro wheezed, falling to one knee and clutching his chest. "I can't... breathe..."
"It's the altitude!" Nami yelled, realizing the danger. "Bot warned us! The air is too thin up here! If you exert yourself too fast, your body will give out!"
The giant sky-fish breached the surface of the clouds, diving straight for Usopp's head.
"Hang on, Usopp!" Kai shouted.
He didn't hesitate. Channeling his pure willpower, he focused entirely on the elemental core inside his watch, his voice ringing out.
"Elemental Power: Leaf!"
A brilliant, vibrant emerald light washed over his body. His clothes dissolved into geometric particles, replaced in a flash by a deep-green jacket and a green cap facing forward. He thrust his hands out toward the water.
"Binding Vines!"
Thick, sturdy green vines shot from his wrists like lightning. They whipped across the short distance, wrapping tightly around Usopp's waist just a fraction of a second before the monster's jaws snapped shut. Kai yanked his arms back, using the vines to pull the sniper violently out of the clouds and onto the grassy deck.
The giant flat fish snapped at empty air, thrashing angrily before diving back into the depths of the White Sea.
As soon as Usopp hit the deck, the green light faded from Kai's body, returning him to his standard clothes. Kai immediately collapsed to his hands and knees, gasping desperately for air. Black spots danced at the edges of his vision, his lungs burning as if he had just run a marathon.
"Warning! Heart rate critically elevated!" Bot buzzed frantically from the speaker, the digital eyes on the screen spinning in terrified circles. "I literally just told you not to do that!"
"He... he was going to get eaten..." Kai wheezed, clutching his chest as he struggled to pull oxygen from the thin atmosphere.
"Thanks, Kai," Usopp sobbed, hugging the deck and kissing the wooden floorboards.
"Everyone, stay down and breathe slowly!" Chopper ordered, immediately shifting into his doctor role as he checked on Zoro and Kai. "Our bodies need time to adjust to being seven thousand meters in the air!"
But the Grand Line—or rather, the sky above it—was never that forgiving.
The sound of a roaring, high-speed engine cut through the quiet clouds.
"What is that noise?" Sanji muttered, forcing himself to stand up despite his own heavy breathing.
Racing across the surface of the cloud sea at terrifying speed was a man. He wasn't swimming, and he wasn't flying. He was riding a strange, single-seater vehicle that looked like a jet-ski, leaving a massive wake of white clouds behind him.
The man wore a tribal mask that completely obscured his face, a grass skirt, and strange, shell-like contraptions on his hands and feet. But the most alarming thing was the massive, heavy bazooka slung over his shoulder.
"Intruders from the Blue Sea," the masked man growled, his voice carrying over the roar of his engine. "You are not welcome here. Eliminate."
He hoisted the bazooka, aiming it directly at the hull of the Going Merry.
"He's gonna blow up the ship!" Luffy yelled, struggling to stand up in the thin air.
Sanji lunged forward, raising his leg. "Mouton—"
But the cook's body was far too sluggish. Before Sanji could even execute the kick, the masked man expertly swerved his strange vehicle, effortlessly dodging the slow attack. He slammed the heavy butt of his bazooka directly into Sanji's ribs, and followed it up with a brutal kick that sent the cook crashing across the deck.
"Sanji!" Nami screamed.
The masked man leveled his bazooka at the mainmast, his finger tightening on the trigger. "Burn."
"PIIIEEERRRRE!"
A loud, piercing bird cry echoed from above.
A massive shadow fell over the deck. Dropping from the sky was an enormous, bizarre creature that looked like a pink, polka-dotted bird with the head and legs of a horse. Riding atop the strange beast was a towering, elderly man clad in shining, silver medieval armor. He held a long, gleaming steel lance.
The armored knight swooped down, positioning his steed perfectly between the masked man and the Going Merry.
"That is enough, Wiper!" the old knight's voice boomed with authority.
The masked man—Wiper—clicked his tongue in sheer annoyance. He lowered his bazooka, his eyes narrowing behind his tribal mask. "Gan Fall. The Knight of the Sky. You always interfere where you don't belong."
"These are Blue Sea dwellers. They do not know the laws of the sky," Gan Fall replied sternly, leveling his lance. "Withdraw, or you will face my blade."
Wiper stared at the knight for a long, tense moment. Then, he revved the engine of his strange watercraft. "This isn't over. The sky belongs to us."
With a sharp turn, the masked warrior sped away, disappearing over the horizon of the rolling white clouds.
The crew watched him go in absolute, stunned silence. The armored knight commanded his bizarre bird-horse to land gently on the deck of the Merry.
The knight dismounted, his silver armor clanking against the wood. He took off his helmet, revealing a wrinkled but stern face and a long, flowing white beard.
"Are you alright, travelers?" the old man asked, his voice unexpectedly gentle.
Luffy stared at the man, then at the pink dotted bird-horse. His eyes turned into massive, sparkling stars. "A KNIGHT! AND A WEIRD PEGASUS! SO COOL!"
"My name is Gan Fall," the old man smiled, bowing slightly. "And this is my partner, Pierre. He is a bird who ate the Horse-Horse Fruit. As you can see, he is a majestic pegasus."
"He just looks like a weird polka-dot horse-bird," Usopp muttered, though he made sure to say it very quietly.
Kai pushed himself up to a sitting position, finally catching his breath. "Thank you for saving our ship, Gan Fall," Kai said, offering a tired smile. "That guy was incredibly fast. And whatever he was riding... it didn't have sails."
"That was a Waver," Gan Fall explained, leaning on his lance. "It is a vehicle powered by a Breath Dial, a piece of technology unique to the sky. The man you faced is a guerrilla warrior. They are highly aggressive toward outsiders."
Gan Fall looked around at the panting, exhausted crew. "You have ridden the Knock-Up Stream. A perilous journey. But you are currently only at the White Sea, seven thousand meters above your home. The true Sky Island, Skypiea, is located on the White-White Sea, three thousand meters above us."
"Wait, there's another ocean higher up?!" Nami gasped, her navigator's mind struggling to process the physics.
"Indeed," Gan Fall nodded. He reached into his armor and tossed a small, silver whistle to Luffy. "I am a mercenary by trade. Should you face danger again, blow that whistle. I will come to your aid for the price of five million Extols... which equates to roughly five thousand of your Blue Sea Berries."
Luffy caught the whistle, grinning widely. "Thanks, old guy!"
Gan Fall mounted his bizarre steed. "Seek out Heaven's Gate. It is the only way to reach the White-White Sea. Welcome to the sky, Blue Sea dwellers."
With a flap of Pierre's massive wings, the Knight of the Sky took off, soaring higher into the endless blue above them.
The Straw Hats were left completely alone on the bouncing, white clouds. The air was thin, their bodies ached, and they had already been attacked within five minutes of arriving.
But as Luffy ran to the bow, pointing his finger toward a massive, swirling waterfall of clouds in the distance—the fabled Heaven's Gate—the spirit of adventure roared back to life.
"Set sail!" Luffy cheered. "Next stop, the White-White Sea!"