"You did that on purpose, didn't you, Robin."
Seeing the situation, Sherlock shook his head. He then pointed toward the Going Merry's adorably dim-looking sheep figurehead. "And there's another problem: what do we do about the Going Merry? I certainly can't bring something this heavy up into the sky, and it's not like we can buy a new ship on the Sky Island."
Luffy and Usopp immediately shook their heads back and forth like rattle-drums.
"But since a galleon that massive could fall from the sky," Zoro said in all seriousness, arms crossed over his chest, "then it naturally stands to reason that the Going Merry can go up there too!"
"But the real question is, what are we supposed to do right now?"
Nami let out a tragic wail. "The Log Pose is useless! Without it, we're basically blind in the Grand Line. Never mind the Sky Island, we won't even be able to reach the next normal island!"
No matter how confident she was in her navigation skills, Nami had absolutely no guarantee she could guide the Going Merry safely to the next island without relying on the Log Pose.
"Why don't we salvage that sunken ship?" Sanji suggested, pointing toward the spot where the galleon had gone down. "Maybe there's still something useful down there. With that, plus Robin-chan's archaeology, we might be able to find some information about the Sky Island."
"Information? Right! We need information!"
"It's a miracle that a curly-brow like you actually thought of that."
"If we're salvaging a sunken ship, leave the equipment to me, the [Great Inventor] Usopp!"
"Well, I'm not entirely sure why you guys want to do this, but it sounds like a lot of fun~"
Aside from Luffy, the rest of the crew nodded in deep agreement. Having spent so much time with the Sorcerer, they had all been thoroughly influenced by his habits and acutely recognized the importance of "information."
Watching his crewmates huddle together, excitedly planning how to salvage the sunken ship, Sherlock calmly pushed up his glasses.
(Though information from over 200 years ago has almost zero practical relevance, this is the only option we have right now... Hmm?)
Sherlock's expression suddenly shifted. Driven by an inexplicable sixth sense, he seemed to sense something, and without hesitation, he activated his Devil Fruit ability.
—Image-Transmitting Mirror!
Because they were out on the open sea with no obstructions, the range of the Image-Transmitting Mirror was drastically increased. Very quickly, a distant scene slowly surfaced in the Sorcerer's mind.
It was a giant, strangely designed galleon with a monkey figurehead. Although the ship's aesthetic was rather bizarre, judging by the equipment on board, it was clearly a salvage ship meant for raising wrecks from the seafloor.
Since a professional salvage ship had arrived, the Straw Hat Pirates naturally didn't need to exert themselves anymore. After all, Nami and the others only wanted information.
Perfectly matching the bizarre salvage ship was its captain—a massive ape-man. The sailors under his command were all dressed as monkeys, banging on gongs and beating drums, jumping up and down on the deck in a lively clamor.
Nami and the others all wore extremely strange expressions upon seeing this. If it weren't for the fact that these guys lacked tails, the crew would have genuinely suspected that the monkeys from [Monkey Island] had collectively attained human form and come to follow "King Luffy"!
"Ukiki! Hey, did you guys see a sunken ship around here?"
The ape-man, who called himself Salvage King Masira, hopped onto the railing of his ship. He flexed his exaggerated biceps and shouted at the Straw Hat Pirates, "All the sunken ships around here belong to me! I'm the man who's going to salvage every sunken ship there is! If a ship is still floating, then I'll just sink it first and then salvage it!"
"Ukiki~ Sink it first, then salvage it! Sink it first, then salvage it!" x N. A huge crowd of monkey-dressed sailors excitedly chanted in unison.
"Isn't that completely counterproductive? Are they idiots? Their IQs seem even lower than the monkeys on Monkey Island! At least those monkeys knew how to brew wine," Nami muttered sarcastically. Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp nodded silently in agreement.
"Are they here to cause trouble?" The little blue-nosed reindeer fearfully hid behind Zoro's pant leg.
"Still, this monkey makes a lot of sense," the dimwitted captain nodded with utmost seriousness. "If you want to salvage a sunken ship, but it's still floating, then you have no choice but to sink it before you can salvage it! Tsk tsk, it just can't be helped... Hmm? Why are you all staring at me?"
"No, it's nothing!" Nami and the others waved their hands in unison, their mouths twitching slightly.
(No wonder those monkeys wanted Luffy to be their king back then; it's because this idiot's brain operates on the exact same wavelength as a monkey's!) Sherlock gently pushed up his glasses and let out a helpless sigh.
The Sorcerer was increasingly beginning to feel that being stuck with such a clown of a captain was a tremendous test of one's patience and mental fortitude.
According to the research of some bored scholar in the Grand Line:
Idiots possess a unique type of brainwave. When two idiots meet, these brainwaves create a bizarre resonance, meaning that idiots are naturally predisposed to having a high affinity for other idiots.
And perhaps the reason the Sorcerer disliked dealing with idiots was simply that he couldn't lower his own IQ to be on the exact same level as theirs...
Therefore, Sherlock unapologetically pawned off the arduous task of "negotiating with idiots" onto Luffy. And based on the current situation, the straw-hatted idiot was getting along famously with that crew of clowns.
The salvage ship got to work. Watching the sailors' practiced movements, it was clear they were veterans in this line of work.
"Hey, monkey! Hurry up and tell me what you know about the Sky Island," the dimwitted captain shouted bluntly at the ape-man on the opposing ship.
"Ahahaha, you don't need to keep flattering me! I already know I've got a lot of monkey-flair to me, Ukiki~!" Masira blew a narcissistic whistle; it seemed he genuinely loved being called a monkey.
"But I wasn't complimenting you. You're a pretty funny monkey."
"I told you to stop... Sigh!!! There really aren't many honest folks like you left in this world!" The comedic ape-man sighed, then fished an Eternal Pose out of his pocket and tossed it forcefully to Luffy.
"Didn't you want information on the Sky Island? Take this thing as my greeting gift, Ukiki~!"
(Damn, it was that easy? It really does take an idiot to handle an idiot!!) Zoro and the others stared bizarrely at the Eternal Pose in Luffy's hand, unsure of what to say.
"Jaya?" Robin glanced at the engraving on the Eternal Pose, her delicate brow furrowing slightly. From what she knew, this island named Jaya wasn't exactly a nice place.
"Excuse me, but is there some kind of necessary connection between this Eternal Pose and the Sky Island?" Nami raised her hand and asked loudly.
"If you want to know about the Sky Island, then go to Jaya and look for the 'Old Man'!" The ape-man Masira ran his fingers through his hair. "Plus, the closest island nearby happens to be Jaya anyway."
"Old Man?" Zoro curled his lip. "Just who is this Old Man you're talking about?"
"Huh?? How do you guys not even know who the Old Man is? The Old Man is obviously—"
The clownish ape-man was about to say more, but suddenly, the originally bright and sunny sky turned pitch black! It was as if something gargantuan had completely obscured the sun.
"Strange, why did the sky go dark? Nami-san, is it going to rain?"
"Impossible! There's been no change in the atmospheric pressure or the clouds. Even for the Grand Line, it shouldn't be this abrupt!"
"B-Boss!!! You... you need to look over there!!!" a sailor stammered, pointing in a direction for the ape-man Masira. He looked utterly stupefied, practically on the verge of a breakdown from some immense shock.
???!!!
The Straw Hat Pirates and the clownish ape-man turned their heads to look. The moment they got a clear view of the scene before them, they collectively petrified.
They were enormous human silhouettes—so massive they defied imagination. Even the giants of Little Garden couldn't remotely compare to these terrifyingly colossal figures.
Just one look at these sky-obscuring shadows was enough to scare the life out of anyone. Even the carefree and empty-headed Luffy wore an incredibly exaggerated look of sheer dumbfoundment right now, let alone the rest of the crew.
(What in the world is that!)
Sherlock was also momentarily stunned by the sheer, staggering disparity in size. However, he quickly noticed that on the backs of these "giants," there appeared to be a pair of small wings.
Looking at them, it was exactly like the "angels" from the legendary Sky Island.
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