Time flew by,
A week later.
Early morning,
Moses got up, washed, dressed, and took a glance at his room in the Castle Space, quite satisfied with the sight before him.
The layout of the room had undergone a significant transformation. The tables, chairs, and beds had been replaced with more comfortable cloud-material products from Angel Island.
The bedside lamp and ceiling lights had also been replaced with Light Shells.
In short, over the past week, Moses and the others had been indulging in food, drink, and entertainment on Angel Island—though not just that.
Moses had purchased a large batch of shell resources and placed them in the Forging room. After several days of analysis, he had roughly figured out the operational principles of these biological remains.
The crow flock had already thoroughly explored Angel Island, Upper Yard, and the sky island of Birka to the northeast.
Reading the books had also given Moses and the others a comprehensive understanding of the history of Angel Island and Upper Yard.
On this sky island, there were two factions locked in irreconcilable conflict.
One was the native inhabitants of the sky island, led by God Ganfall.
The other was the original indigenous Shandians, descendants of the half of Jaya Island that was sent skyward by the Knock Up Stream nearly four hundred years ago—now known as Upper Yard.
The sky islanders coveted "Bass" (earth), regarding the soil of the land as sacred.
They viewed the landmass of Jaya Island, which had been carried ten thousand meters into the sky by the Knock Up Stream four centuries ago, as a divine Blessing.
Thus, a war over the land erupted between the two sides. The sky islanders, with their superior weaponry and strength, drove the Shandians out of Upper Yard and claimed it for themselves.
To reclaim their ancestral land, the Shandians and the sky islanders began a nearly four-hundred-year-long war over the sacred land of Upper Yard.
There was no right or wrong—only strength and weakness.
A brutal, bloody reality.
The book recorded these events from a relatively objective perspective, though it still somewhat glorified the rulers of Angel Island at the time—the "God."
Moses didn't dwell on it, treating it merely as an interesting read.
Moreover,
"The City of Gold truly exists!"
Though he had already known this, the book still revealed some clues to Moses.
Stepping into the living room outside,
He glanced at the kitchen.
Seeing Bear Cub skillfully using Heat Shells like ovens and Flame Shells like stoves to cook, Moses curled his lips into a faint smile.
Soon after, they finished a hearty breakfast.
"Let's go. Time for training," Moses said to Robin and the others, who were already prepared.
Before long,
With Crow Dabao's transportation, the group arrived at the sacred land of Upper Yard.
The island was lush with vegetation.
And exceptionally vast.
Hundred-meter-tall trees were everywhere.
Not just the trees—even the animals on the island had grown to enormous sizes.
Shortly after, perched on a tree branch, Moses watched Robin below as she fought a giant bear.
Using Paper Drawing techniques to dodge and her Flower-Flower Fruit abilities to manifest limbs for various restraining effects, she traded blows with the five-meter-tall, upright-standing beast.
Kureha was gathering some oversized medicinal herbs in the distance, Perona was doing physical training, and Bear Cub was nibbling on things here and there.
At this moment, Moses turned to Crow Dabao beside him. "Let's go. To that place."
In the blink of an eye, Moses' body shrank as Crow Dabao stored him inside the castle.
Before long, a crow led the way ahead, with Crow Dabao following alongside.
Three hours later.
High in the sky, Moses looked down at the massive sky island that had appeared below. The layout of its buildings resembled that of Angel Island, but it seemed nearly ten times larger.
Soon after, Crow Dabao arrived at the summit of the largest structure at the island's center.
This was the shrine of Birka.
The building was solemn and towering.
Even in broad daylight, security remained tight.
Priests patrolled everywhere.
"Is this the place? Where you saw that special fruit? Crow Five."
Perched on Moses' left arm was a white-necked crow—the youngest of Crow Dabao's family, the last to hatch from the five crow eggs.
"Caw~ That's right. Crow found it here. On the altar at the very center inside, there were two things—a book made of some kind of leather and a strange golden fruit."
At that moment, Crow Dabao descended from the sky, landing near a ventilation opening high up on the shrine's structure. Through the castle window, Moses observed the altar at the shrine's very center.
Covered in pristine white silk, two items lay upon it, just as Crow Five had described.
One was a thin leather-bound book.
The other was a golden Devil Fruit, its surface covered in raised, lightning-like "arabesque" patterns.
Unlike the heavily guarded exterior, the shrine's interior was completely empty.
Moses' Observation Haki detected no presence inside the shrine.
Glancing at Crow Dabao beside him, Moses said, "Take it."
At the same time, Crow Dabao pushed off from the ventilation opening with both claws, shooting like an arrow straight toward the altar.
In less than three seconds.
A blur of motion.
After flying a round trip inside the shrine, Crow Dabao landed back at the ventilation opening.
Inside the Castle Space.
Holding the Devil Fruit in his hand, Moses felt a sense of unreality. One of his goals in coming to the sky island had been this very Devil Fruit. He had expected some kind of battle of wits or strength.
Yet, in the end, it had been this easy.
Though, perhaps "easy" wasn't the right word—not everyone had a Crow Dabao, and not everyone could squeeze through a ventilation opening less than forty centimeters in diameter.
It was all just luck.
「Appraisal」
[Logia-Type: Rumble-Rumble Fruit (EX)]
Playing with the so-called strongest Logia-Type Devil Fruit in his hand, Moses curled his lips into a faint smile. For the first time, he had obtained an EX-grade treasure.
Turning his attention to the other item.
It bore written records. Moses opened it.
"Ark Maxim"
After a quick skim, he realized it was blueprints for a type of airship.
At the same time.
[Detected presence of an item with legendary properties.]
This wasn't referring to the Rumble-Rumble Fruit but rather the design blueprints of the "Ark Maxim".
Moreover, Moses noticed that the Ark Maxim's evaluation grade was 「B」—meaning it could be refined for a full ten thousand Merit Points.
Just then, Moses saw the shrine guards below suddenly become frantic.
A sharp, piercing alarm blared out.
Seeing this, Moses casually tossed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and the Ark Maxim blueprints onto the bedside and said to Crow Dabao beside him:
"Let's go. Find a spot near the island's edge to stay for a while."
Flap flap flap!
Amidst the sound of flapping wings, Crow Dabao soared into the sky and disappeared into the clouds.
As for why he didn't leave immediately after obtaining the item—since it had been enshrined in the temple for who knows how long—Moses wasn't sure if the people here had any tracking methods.
Caution never hurt. Though Moses wasn't afraid, it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
He certainly didn't want to be chased all the way to Angel Island later.
So, he decided to stay on Birca Island a little longer to see if they had any means of tracking him. If nothing happened, Moses could leave all the more happily.
At a secluded shallow reef in the sea of clouds on Birca Island, Crow Dabao landed here.
Moses emerged from the Castle Space.
Barefoot, he stepped into the shallow waters of the sea of clouds, where the cloud-like waves barely reached his calves.
Moses smiled as he felt the soft, comfortable friction of the sea clouds between his toes.
Sensing the intriguing fluctuations of Breath frequencies in the shallows, Moses began searching around.
Before long, he found a dead shell the size of a soccer ball. Pressing the top of the shell and aiming its opening forward—whoosh!—a fierce gust of wind erupted from it.
A Jet Dial.
A far more powerful variant than the ordinary Wind Shells.
「Appraisal」
[D-grade Item: Jet Dial]
Moses grew excited and began combing the area like a beachcomber.
With great enthusiasm, he started searching.
A grin on his face, Moses gathered all sorts of shells—Slash Dials, Impact Dials, Flame Shells, Iron Wire Shells, Laser Dials—occasionally diving into the sea of clouds to scour the shallow reef, turning it upside down.
In the state of Unity of Heaven and Man, he could accurately sense the unique Breath frequency fluctuations emitted by these Sky Island shells.
Many rare shells recorded in the books he had bought earlier—ones already extinct on Angel Island—were dug out by Moses from hidden corners of the sea of clouds.
While Moses was busy with his treasure hunt, the Birca Temple was in an uproar.
The entire temple guard force was mobilized, conducting searches throughout the city.
Recent outsiders who had arrived from the Blue Sea were rounded up and taken away for questioning.
It was utter chaos.
Of course, none of this concerned Moses.
Diving 200 meters deep into the sea of clouds, surrounded by a vast expanse of white, Moses descended to this depth.
Following the sensed Breath frequency fluctuations, he swam into a natural opening in the Island Cloud.
About three meters in diameter.
After swimming roughly a hundred meters, the surrounding sea clouds grew sparse, and Moses stood up. He pulled out a palm-sized Light Shell he had found earlier and pressed its top. A hazy, milky-white glow emanated from the translucent shell.
Light Shells were fascinating, capable of producing lights of all colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—or even mixed, exotic hues.
These natural creations were truly miraculous.
Walking through the tunnel inside the Island Cloud, illuminated by the milky glow, Moses noticed sparse clusters of shells—some alive, some dead—clinging to the walls. Seeing this, he turned and left without hesitation.
Five minutes later.
Moses returned, shaking a thoroughly drenched and utterly exhausted Crow Dabao in his hand. With a grin, he asked,
"How do you feel? Recovered yet?"
The seawater in this world temporarily drains the stamina of Devil Fruit Users. Once a user's body comes into large-scale contact with seawater, they become unable to actively use their abilities at all.
Of course, certain enhanced physical traits, such as those from superhuman modifications, remain unaffected.
This is the common understanding among most Devil Fruit Users.
A more accurate explanation is that the sea contains a substance called "Pyrobroin."
This substance is widely present in both seawater and freshwater across the world, which is why the sea suppresses the unnatural, peculiar creation that is the Devil Fruit.
Unfortunately, this same substance also exists in the Sea Clouds of Skypiea.
Crow Dabao took a moment to recover, coughing out the seawater in his mouth before flapping his wings and landing steadily on Moses' shoulder.
"Seawater is terrifying. Crow will be careful from now on. Crow doesn't want his girl to become a widow so young."
Moses chuckled and scolded, "Don't worry, as long as I pull you out in time, you won't die. Besides, this feeling of exhaustion can be adapted to. I'll make sure you get used to it properly in the future."
"This will also be part of your training. Who knows how many years it'll take for you to adapt, but the sooner we start, the sooner you'll benefit."
"Crow understands," Crow Dabao replied hoarsely and helplessly. "Crow will work hard."
Moses patted the crow's head and smiled. "Then let's get to work now. There are shells everywhere here—why aren't you moving?"
Crow Dabao: "???"
With no other choice, Crow Dabao flapped his wings and began gathering the shells from the surrounding tunnels, hauling them into the castle.
"Oh, right, Da Bao, take the shells to my forging room."
"Crow got it."
Holding a Light Shell, Moses continued forward while the diligent little crow worked tirelessly.
After walking about three hundred meters, the tunnel ended in a cave roughly ten meters in diameter.
Inside, shells of all shapes and sizes were scattered about. With a single glance, Moses spotted no fewer than ten different types—most of them dead.
"Did we stumble into a shell graveyard?" Shaking off the thought, Moses picked up a palm-sized shell shaped like a round dried persimmon and pressed down on its top.
BOOM!!!
A terrifying cylindrical blast erupted from the shell's opening, striking the Island Cloud wall ahead and blasting out a three-meter-wide, ten-meter-deep hole.
"So it's a Reject Dial. The impact it releases really lives up to its reputation—ten times stronger than an Impact Dial."
Moses muttered to himself, glancing at his trembling right hand as excruciating pain radiated throughout his body.
It felt like having his chest crushed by a boulder a hundred times over.
"Hiss—Good weapon, but it really takes a toll on the body."
Taking a deep breath, Moses transferred the Reject Dial to his left hand and flexed his right.
Crow Dabao stared wide-eyed at the massive hole beside him, his voice hoarse as he asked, "Moses, what did Crow do wrong?"
Moses gave an awkward chuckle. "Sorry, my mistake. I thought it was an Impact Dial."
Crow Dabao glanced at Moses' still-shaking hand and suddenly let out a strange, cackling laugh. "Moses, you're so dumb. Does your hand hurt?"
Moses twitched his lips, glared at him, then laughed along: "Why don't you give it a try? It loosens the tendons and invigorates the blood—feels absolutely fantastic."
With Qi Circulation Throughout the Body accelerating his blood flow, he gripped the impact clam with his left hand. As he pressed the shell's apex, the muscles in his arm tensed up:
"Iron Body."
BOOM!!!
Another section of the cave wall was blasted into a massive crater by the cylindrical shockwave.
A faint smile curled at Moses' lips. "Still hurts, but not as much as before."
Crow Dabao sighed helplessly and continued gathering clams. Before long, every last shell in the cavern
had been collected.
Moses left the area, taking Crow Dabao along for another round of full-body exhaustion massage.
They swam upward continuously.
SPLASH!
Moses burst through the sea of clouds above his head, emerging into the open. Swinging his arms and legs, he swam toward the shore.
(End of Chapter)