A towering water column shot straight into the sky, piercing the clouds.
The Going Merry, using the powerful updraft, floated along the vertical current at a ninety-degree angle — like boarding a train that ran straight into the heavens.
Facing such a spectacle of nature, everyone was wide-eyed and breathless.
"Whoa! Everyone, we're really going up to the sky! Look at the view beside us — it's insane!!" Sandy was the first to shout in excitement.
"Yeah, it's amazing! Our ship's flying to the sky! What's up there, I wonder?" Luffy yelled with sparkling eyes.
Usopp glanced over the side and immediately froze. His legs trembled violently. "It's so high! Ahhh! I've got vertigo! Zoro, help!!"
"Bastard! You're choking me!!" Zoro roared, prying Usopp's hands off his neck.
"Charge straight into the clouds!" Luffy laughed, pointing ahead.
After a while, everyone's vision blurred. It felt like they were suffocating as they broke through the thick layer of cumulus clouds. Then —
A blinding light burst through. The Merry finally broke past the clouds and soared into the open sky!
"Space Field..."
Once the ship stabilized atop the Sea of Clouds, the entire crew collapsed on the deck, gasping for air. The thin oxygen at this altitude made breathing almost unbearable.
"This feels awful!" Zoro groaned, leaning against the railing. "What the hell happened? Everyone still here?"
Sandy replied between breaths, "We're all here. Just… can't breathe properly up here…"
Before he could finish, Luffy suddenly shouted, "Hey, look outside the ship!!"
"Where are we?" Sanji asked, squinting.
"It's all white…"
Chopper's eyes went wide. "Is that… clouds?!"
Everyone quickly got back up, their exhaustion forgotten.
Sandy facepalmed. "Are you all monsters? You were half-dead a second ago!"
Sanji rolled his eyes. "You're the monster here, idiot."
"Are we really on the clouds?" Nami asked, looking over the side. "Why aren't we falling through?"
"Why not?" Luffy grinned proudly. "You can sit on clouds!"
Sandy's face twitched. In his mind, he muttered — Yeah right. In the real world, you'd be dead from the altitude alone.
"There are so many clouds…" Usopp mumbled. "What even is this place?"
"This must be the so-called Sky Sea," Nami explained.
"But look!" She held up the Log Pose, which still pointed upwards. "It's still not done pointing! That means…"
Robin, sitting elegantly by the railing, said, "This should just be the middle of the cloud layer."
Chopper tilted his head. "So… we still have to go higher? But how?"
Robin shrugged. "I'm not sure."
"Hey, bastard!" Sanji suddenly yelled. "Sandy! Take your arm off Robin's waist!"
Sandy blinked. "What? I was just making sure she didn't fall!"
"Rooaaar!!" Sanji's eyes burned with fury, but Sandy ignored him completely.
Usopp, meanwhile, had stripped off his shirt, flexing his scrawny arms. "Heh heh heh… first step! Captain Usopp goes for a swim!"
Luffy whistled. "Cool!"
Chopper clapped. "Do it, Usopp!"
Sandy sighed, grabbed him by the collar, and yanked him down. "Idiot, didn't you notice that this entire place is made of gas? You think there's an actual seabed down there?"
Sanji's eyes went wide. "Wait… if you swim down, do you fall out of the clouds?"
Sandy nodded solemnly. "Exactly. Usopp, you can test it out if you like. I'll make sure to burn some extra paper money for you."
Usopp froze, then screamed, "Ahhhh! The Sky Sea's terrifying! I wanna go home!!"
"Huh?" Zoro asked, noticing Sandy moving strangely. "What are you doing?"
Sandy was practicing punches in the air. Without stopping, he said, "We should get used to the air pressure here. Never know when something unexpected might happen."
"Unexpected?" Luffy asked curiously. "What do you mean?"
Sandy's expression hardened. "Someone with bad intentions is heading straight for us."
"Where?! Where?!" Chopper panicked, spinning around. "Sandy, are you sure? I don't see anyone!"
Zoro drew his swords. "We just arrived, and someone's already picking a fight?"
Luffy grinned. "Man, when will I learn Observation Haki like that?"
Sandy smirked. "That's easy. Just cover your eyes, and I'll hit you with Armament Haki until you dodge. When you finally do, congrats — you've learned it."
Everyone fell silent. This guy's insane.
A moment later, Sandy's words proved true.
A masked man swooped down from the clouds, holding a cannon in one hand and a shield in the other, wearing strange shell shoes — unmistakably a native of Skypiea.
Without a word, he aimed at the Merry and fired.
"Stop right there!" Sanji barked, stepping forward. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
The man's cold reply came: "Exclusion."
"He's picking a fight," Sanji said, cracking his knuckles. "Sandy, leave this guy to me. Miss Nami! Miss Robin! Watch my cool moves—"
Zoro's face darkened. "He's got some nerve."
"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked.
Before anyone could blink, the intruder shot forward — and kicked Sanji clean off the deck!
"What the—?!"
Zoro unsheathed his swords but got kicked away before he could even counter. Luffy charged next — same result.
Nami gasped. "What's going on?! You three couldn't beat one guy?!"
"Hey, hey, don't look at me like that!" Sandy snapped. "They're probably just not used to the air yet!"
The attacker leapt high, cannon aimed directly at the Merry Go.
Chopper screamed, "Sky Island is so scary!! I want to go home!!"
But before the shot could fire—
Sandy vanished.
In the blink of an eye, he reappeared above the enemy, his expression cold.
"Eat my kick!!"
With a single powerful strike, Sandy's heel smashed into the man's chest, launching him straight down into the Sea of Clouds — just like he'd once done to Van Augur.
The crew watched in stunned silence as the enemy disappeared into the white abyss below.
...
Author's Note:
The fanfic One Piece: My Flirtatious System Adventure is now fully completed.
The entire story has been uploaded on Patreon as a dedicated collection.
📚 Category: One Piece (Chapters 1–657)
The complete fanfic is available there for you to read, so feel free to join Patreon and enjoy the full journey.
The chapters are carefully organized into multiple posts, with several chapters in each post for smooth and easy binge reading.
🔗 patreon.com/Shadow_demon_007
Thank you all for your continuous support and love throughout this journey 💙