After passing through the Western Sky Summit, the altitude where Jotaro and the others were kept rising, going from the earlier one or two thousand meters up to seven thousand meters now.
The air was thin at such heights, and everyone's body showed some minor adverse reactions.
However, for people of their physical constitution, such negative reactions didn't really count as anything. After adapting for a while, they could easily overcome it.
On this journey, Jotaro had already passed several islands.
What caught his attention was that the residents of those islands all hinted vaguely that if they went further ahead, their situation would become quite dangerous.
After all, every year only a handful of ships could safely pass through the Sky Islands.
Yet no matter how he asked, those people simply refused to reveal more information, muttering instead crazy talk about some god, some punishment.
Jotaro felt a bit helpless, but he didn't have any intention of stopping.
At the moment, if he wanted to return to the original sailing route, this was the only path left.
He himself didn't really care much about these warnings, quickly immersing himself into research on the different types of sky fish.
The structure of the Sky Island clouds also greatly fascinated him.
Compared to the others, he was the most excited one to come to such a place.
"Hey! What's that thing!"
Mr. 9, holding Nami's telescope, squatted at the lookout on the mast, and noticed that in the distance, some unidentified object was quickly approaching them.
As it came closer, Mr. 9 could see its form clearly, a person, a person wearing a strange mask.
"Mr. 9, what did you see?" Vivi lifted her head and asked.
"Someone is approaching us!" Mr. 9 reported. "And he's carrying weapons."
"What kind of shoes are those, that let him move at such speed!"
He exclaimed, but then the figure in the telescope suddenly accelerated, vanishing from his field of vision.
Mr. 9 slid down from the mast, warning loudly, "An enemy!"
At the same time, he pulled out his baseball bat, alert to his surroundings.
In the whistling wind, a shadowy figure leapt high into the air, it was the masked man from earlier.
In his left hand he held a shield, in his right a pitch-black musket.
Without any warning, he directly launched an attack on those present.
"Miss Wednesday, Nami, you two get out of the way!" Mr. 9 swung his bat and rushed forward. "Beast, take this!"
He swore to show the dignity expected of Jotaro's underling.
The masked man didn't reply. Spinning his body once, he kicked hard, his leg sweeping across Mr. 9's face.
Mr. 9's brain rattled, and he was kicked straight off the ship.
Splash!
He plunged directly into the sea of clouds.
"Mr. 9!"
Vivi prepared to rush and grab him, but the masked man had already darted up in front of her.
He held nothing back, his moves ruthless, his leg viciously kicking at Vivi's abdomen.
Boom!
A dull sound rang out, the masked man felt like he had kicked steel.
He raised his head slightly, only to see that blocking his attack was a cute-faced, seemingly delicate girl.
Nezuko.
After stopping the masked man's kick, Nezuko didn't waste time. Using his leg as a stepping stone, she lifted her other leg high and drove it straight into his stomach.
The masked man, "!@#￥%..."
With a splurt, he vomited a mouthful of blood and his body flew backward.
'Impossible!'
'This woman's strength was actually greater than mine!'
"What's going on?" Hearing the noise outside, Jotaro pushed open the door and stepped out from the cabin.
"Jotaro-san, Mr. 9 fell down. Go save him quickly. Leave things here to me."
Nezuko said with a bright smile.
Jotaro glanced at the injured masked man, asked no more questions, and with Star Platinum floating behind him, its sharp eyes pierced through the clouds, quickly locking on Mr. 9's position.
Then he leapt straight into the sea of clouds.
Unconscious, Mr. 9 was plummeting rapidly toward the bottom of the clouds.
"Star Platinum!"
The instant time froze, Jotaro's descent speed suddenly increased, and soon he caught up to Mr. 9, scooping him up.
———
Meanwhile, back on deck, the masked man was already being beaten into doubting life itself by Nezuko's kicks.
Her attacking style was simple, straightforward, just running up and kicking you. Yet it was highly effective. The masked man knew this, but had no way to block it.
Bang!
His shield was kicked apart by Nezuko in one strike.
Her delicate little foot burst forth with a strength he couldn't believe.
'This damned woman!'
"Answer me, why did you attack us?" Nezuko's beautiful eyes carried a touch of anger. "Or else I'll kick your face."
As her leg slowly lowered, the masked man suddenly raised his hand. In his palm was a strangely shaped shell.
'Impact Dial!'
Nezuko blinked, confused.
In her impression, shells weren't dangerous at all.
But the shell in his hand unleashed a violent impact, generating a hurricane-like force that blasted Nezuko away.
She crashed hard into the ship's hull, shattering the wall into pieces.
Taking advantage of the gap, the masked man slung his musket across his back and, with the aid of the wind dial, leapt into the sky.
Nami and Vivi hurried over, intending to help move away the heavy planks pressing on Nezuko.
But to their surprise, Nezuko herself pushed all the debris off.
"Nezuko?"
Everyone noticed that her appearance now was somewhat different from before.
Nezuko had grown a bit taller. Her snow-white skin was now covered in black vine-like markings. In her pink eyes appeared sharp vertical pupils.
Aside from that, there were no other changes. No strange horns sprouted on her forehead.
"Leave this to me!"
With that said, Nezuko's eyes locked onto the masked man like a hawk. In the blink of an eye, her figure vanished from the spot.
"Die!" The masked man was just about to fire his musket, planning to use a flame shell to destroy Jotaro's ship.
But in the next second, Nezuko appeared right beside him, her small hand pressing against the musket.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The weapon groaned under the strain, countless cracks instantly spreading across it.
"What!" The masked man's face went pale with shock.
Nezuko gave him no chance to react. Her foot swept across, smashing into his face.
The terrifying impact shattered the mask on his face. At that instant, he completely lost consciousness, falling like a cut kite.
"Looks like Nezuko has completely mastered the demon techniques." Shinobu, watching this, let out a soft sigh.
Nezuko had already possessed demon potential before, but she hadn't grasped the knack of it.
This poisoning had caused Nezuko's cells to resonate with each other, allowing her to quickly comprehend the skill.
In some sense, her combat potential might even surpass Jotaro's original self.
Even without using Haki yet, she was already showing frightening destructive power.
One day, when her combat potential is fully developed, she will definitely become a great help to Jotaro.
Even if she cannot grow to the height of Four Emperors, she will surely be far stronger than people like Marco who are mere second-in-commands.
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