The Magic Carpet, now incredibly fast after its Mirror-fusion, covered the distance in a matter of heartbeats.
The ornate rug carried Sherlock and Aisa through the air, coming to a halt before a jagged cliffside.
Following the direction of the voices etched in his memory, the two of them quickly located a cavern.
The entrance was narrow and heavily obscured by the surrounding towering vegetation, making it nearly impossible for an ordinary person to spot.
"It should be right here..." Aisa whispered, staring into the pitch-black maw of the cave. She felt a slight chill run down her spine. Swallowing hard, she looked tentatively at the Hexer and asked, "Um, Sherlock? Why are we here? Shouldn't our priority be meeting up with your friends so we can go take down Enel together?"
"Yes, you're right about that."
Sherlock nodded. He commanded the Magic Carpet to drift closer to the cave entrance. His gaze fell upon a flag emblazoned with a three-tomoe design, and he said softly:
"The former God, Gan Kohler, mentioned to me before that after Enel usurped his throne, the divine soldiers who refused to swear fealty to the new God were all imprisoned. From the look of things, this is likely where they are being held."
"I see... but I can't hear any voices coming from inside anymore." The young girl's expression was a bit strained. To a Shandia warrior like Aisa, the divine soldiers—regardless of which God they served—were still the enemy. After all, the Shandia and the Sky Islanders had been locked in a bloody feud for four hundred years.
"I'm aware, but that isn't the point."
The Hexer adjusted his glasses. The transparent lenses caught the light, flashing with a pale brilliance that made Aisa shiver involuntarily.
"That 'God' didn't keep them locked up for six years just so they could play house."
With a flick of Sherlock's willow, the Magic Carpet glowed faintly and glided into the dark tunnel without hesitation.
Wyper was in a foul mood.
It was understandable. No one would be happy after being chased across the ruins by a single-minded, prehistoric giant snake.
(How do I shake this damn snake? Wait, this beanstalk...)
As he watched the massive beanstalk loom larger in his vision, the Shandia warrior known as the "Berserker" narrowed his eyes. For a moment, he even forgot he was being pursued by the Master of the Sky.
(Am I already near the Shrine? The others must have arrived ahead of me. Just you wait, Enel. When you see my trump card, try not to look too shocked!)
At the thought, Wyper broke into a grim, predatory smile. He looked down at the Seastone-weighted "Ice Blade" Waver on his feet, and his confidence surged.
He couldn't wait to have a final showdown with a certain long-eared God.
"Hey!!! You with the rocket launcher up ahead!" Suddenly, a high-spirited voice drifted from behind Wyper, startling him so much he nearly lost his footing. He whipped his head around.
"Straw Hat?!"
Wyper's eyes widened in shock. He realized that at some point, a figure had managed to scramble onto the head of the Master of the Sky. The boy was clinging desperately to the giant snake's scales to keep from falling, his straw hat fluttering in the wind, held secure only by the string around his neck.
"Do you know where Sherlock is?" Luffy, perched atop the serpent's head, flashed his trademark grin—a look of pure cheer mixed with a healthy dose of idiocy. Wyper nearly tripped over a tree root just looking at him.
(Sherlock? Who is that? Why is this Blue Sea dweller asking me? And what the hell is he doing on top of that monster's head?!)
The Berserker was completely baffled by the Straw Hat captain's nonsensical behavior. He opened his mouth to shout something back, but another roar erupted from the sky above.
"Luffy! Hurry up and help me!"
As luck would have it, the Giant South Bird that had snatched Zoro was flying right overhead. The green-haired swordsman, dangling from the bird's talons, spotted the rubber idiot on the snake's head immediately and began shouting for help.
"Zoro?"
Luffy looked up and saw his swordsman hanging from the claws of the massive bird. He blinked once in surprise, then burst into a delighted laugh.
"Zoro! Is that your new ride? Hahaha! That's amazing!" Luffy had only intended to ask about the Hexer's whereabouts, but he hadn't expected to run into his lost crewmate in such a bizarre fashion.
"Amazing my ass! Find a way to blast this stupid bird out of the sky!"
Zoro roared, his teeth bared in fury. He was having a run of terrible luck. First, he'd gotten hopelessly lost (though he refused to admit it), and then he'd been carried off—luggage and all—by this oversized bird. It was a tragedy of epic proportions.
But then, things took an even more startling turn.
"Hssssssss—!" The massive Master of the Sky flicked its tongue, letting out a low, vibrating hiss.
Then, before the horrified eyes of the three men and the bird, the ancient, senile snake suddenly switched targets. It reared its head high into the air, unhinging its massive jaws to lunge at the bird and the swordsman dangling from its claws!
"Oh, crap..."
Zoro watched with a dark expression as the cavernous, bloody maw rushed toward him, all while his captain remained stubbornly glued to the top of the snake's head. His internal state was currently akin to a stampede of a hundred thousand Sea Kings.
"Zoro! Don't panic! I'm coming to save you! Gum-Gum..."
"Skreeeee!" The Giant South Bird let out a piercing, terrified shriek, nearly wetting its feathers in fright.
While Luffy and Zoro were busy dealing with the giant snake, Nico Robin, who had successfully located the ruins of Shandora, had encountered the current ruler of this land—God Enel.
"Oh? Three more have arrived? Counting these two Blue Sea dwellers and that Shandia warrior, the total number of survivors in this survival game is... tsk tsk, quite a few more than I planned."
"However... God's prophecy is never wrong!"
Enel sat casually atop a crumbling wall of the Shandora ruins. He munched on a vibrant red apple as he looked at the beautiful archeologist before him.
"Now, what were you saying? Something about a massive Golden Bell?"
(He doesn't know?!) The usually composed Nico Robin felt her expression shift slightly. The Golden Bell tower was the most likely place to find a Poneglyph!
"Did you really not see it? The Golden Bell that the Shandia were so proud of? Or was that bell tower not knocked into the sky with the rest of the island?"
"Wait... the sky. Yes, the bell tower you speak of should indeed be in the sky!"
Recalling the legends of the "Island's Song" from four hundred years ago, Enel glanced toward the Giant Jack piercing the clouds nearby and nodded thoughtfully.
(So that bell tower was made of gold too? In that case, I might as well take it with me before I head for the Endless Vearth.)
Enel's creed was to act on every whim. Finishing the last bite of his apple, the God of Thunder, with his four taiko drums mounted on his back, prepared to set off in search of the Golden Bell.
But just as Enel was about to activate his powers to leave, his powerful Mantra picked up something new.
"Huh?!"
Enel let out a sudden exclamation of surprise, his erratic reaction catching Robin off guard.
"Those two... they actually found the 'Hidden Reward' of this survival game!" As he spoke, Enel's lazy demeanor vanished, replaced by a look of fanatical excitement.
"Yahahaha! It seems those two truly are blessed by God!"
—Crackle! Snap!—
Flashes of blue and white electricity erupted. The blinding light forced Robin to squint, and by the time it faded, Enel had vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Lightning... a Logia type?" Robin's dark, striking eyes flickered with thought. She hadn't expected to encounter one of the rarest and most powerful Devil Fruit classes here in the sky.
"And what did he mean by 'blessed by God' and a 'Hidden Reward'?"
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