Shirogai walked through the forest beneath the fading sunset, flanked by Robin and Nami. The three moved cautiously, searching for the missing Zoro.
"The environment here is unusual," Robin murmured. She took the chance to conduct a few small tests, examining the age of tree trunks and the soil moisture around an old well.
She frowned slightly. "The Shandia Tribe… it seems they've decided to fight Enel to the very end."
"The Shandia?" Nami tilted her head curiously. "Shirogai, who are they?"
Shirogai gave her a calm smile. "They're the same tribe as the man who attacked you when you first arrived on the Blue Sea today."
"That lunatic who fired cannonballs at me out of nowhere!" Nami huffed, remembering when she had piloted her Waver to God's Island. She clenched her fists at the thought of how close his reckless actions had come to harming her.
Shirogai chuckled lightly. "Wyper made you that angry? I'll make him apologize to you later."
Nami's eyes widened. "Wyper? You think you can make that barbarian apologize? Don't tell me… you've already fought him?"
"Heh, I had a short encounter," Shirogai admitted with a casual shrug. "Let's just say I'm something like his teacher."
"Eh?! How did you end up becoming a Sky Islander's teacher?" Nami asked in disbelief.
"It's a long story," Shirogai replied calmly. "In short, the Shandia are the original inhabitants of God's Island, Upper Yard. Their ancestors were the same people who befriended Noland—'Noland the Liar' in the story you saw."
He explained briefly how the Shandia had once lived on the island before it was cast into the sky by the Knock Up Stream.
"I respected their determination," Shirogai continued, "so I decided to guide Wyper a little in combat."
"Hiss!" Nami gasped. "Wait, when the island was blasted into the sky, the people living on it were carried up too? They actually survived all these years?"
"Exactly," Shirogai said. "But after the Sky Islanders occupied Upper Yard, the Shandia were driven out. They've been exiled from their ancestral land for centuries."
"Then the Sky Islanders are their enemies!" Nami snapped, her tone sharp.
Her disgust was plain. The smiling, polite Sky Islanders suddenly felt no different from Arlong's crew, who had stolen her own village long ago.
"They stole the Shandia's home… how vile."
Shirogai's smile was faint, but his words were steady. "To the strong, the lives of the weak are treated as nothing more than property."
"Hmph! I'll never accept that kind of reasoning!" Nami crossed her arms and pouted in anger.
"Indeed, there's something unnatural about this whole place," Robin observed. She poured out the water she had collected and added, "The growth rate of the forest is dozens of times faster than when this island was still in the Blue Sea."
"Probably the adaptability of the plants," Shirogai replied, gesturing to the towering trees around them. "Too bad the Shandia themselves didn't mutate like the forest. Otherwise they'd be giants by now."
Robin nodded slightly. "It must be the unique climate—endless sunlight and abundant moisture. The plants changed, but the people didn't."
"Zoro! Over here!" Shirogai suddenly called out toward the forest.
A familiar voice answered, calm and steady. "Oh, it's you guys. I've been looking for you for ages, you guys got lost." Zoro emerged from the trees, swords at his waist and goggles pushed up on his forehead.
"What! We?!" Nami snapped at once.
"You're the one who's lost, you blockhead!" she shouted, glaring daggers at him.
"I'm not lost," Zoro said flatly. "I just wanted to find that so-called God."
"So you admit it—you're lost!" Nami's voice rose, her anger bubbling over.
She gritted her teeth, nearly shaking with frustration at his stubbornness.
"Unbelievable… while a certain directionless idiot was wandering around, Shirogai already fought that 'God,'" she said sarcastically.
"What?!" Zoro's eyes widened. "Damn it, Shirogai beat me to it again!" He turned to Shirogai with sharp determination. "How strong is that God? Did you kill him?"
Shirogai shrugged casually. "He slipped away."
That only made Zoro's fighting spirit burn hotter. "To escape your hands, he must be worth facing. Good… then I'll fight him myself!"
Shirogai gave him a knowing smile. "Soon enough. But tell me—did you really leave Chopper alone on the Going Merry? You didn't stop to think he might be in danger?"
The three exchanged guilty looks.
"We left him the whistle to call the Sky Knight," Nami said quickly, though her tone carried guilt. "So he should be safe."
Shirogai already knew that Gan Fall, badly wounded, had been saved alongside Chopper by Pierre. But he kept the knowledge to himself, answering only with a light smile.
"Let's return. Night falls fast on Sky Island, and Luffy and the others are probably at the altar already."
"Mm!" Robin and Nami nodded, and the group began heading back together.
"Zoro!" Nami barked. "Stay close this time, don't you dare get lost again!"
…
Far across the White Sea, the Shandia tribe rallied. Every warrior, young and strong, had gathered. Not one stayed behind.
At their head stood Wyper, the "War Demon." Flames erupted in his palm, white and pure, yet they didn't burn him in the slightest.
"The Holy Flame!" the Shandia cried out in awe, their eyes wide with reverence.
Wyper raised his hand high, the fire blazing bright enough to light the night sky.
"This flame," he roared, "was gifted to us by Teacher! It is the fire of our counterattack! With it, we'll show that false God that the Shandia never bow!"
"Shandia, never surrender!" the tribe cried out in unison, voices shaking the clouds.
Wyper's voice thundered over theirs, filled with conviction. "We will fulfill Great Warrior Kalgara's final wish and rekindle Shandora's light!"
"Rekindle Shandora's light!" the tribe echoed, tears streaming from eyes hardened by generations of struggle.
Flames surged across Wyper's body, cloaking him until he looked like a man of living fire.
"Shandia! Charge with me!"
With fire burning from every limb, Wyper soared unsteadily into the sky, streaking toward the forest. His first collision came against Priest Shura, astride his strange bird.
"Wyper?" Shura narrowed his eyes. "What is this? You think setting yourself on fire will scare us Priests?" He laughed mockingly at the sight.
But Wyper's gaze was fierce, his voice a battle cry.
"Perfect timing, Shura! You'll be the first to fall!" He drew back his arm, fire erupting in a torrent. "Fire Fist!"
The white inferno roared forth, engulfing Shura and his mount in a wave of flames.
"AAAHHHH!"
The unprepared Priest was swallowed whole by Wyper's burning attack.
____
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