The group that had appeared on Skypiea was a band of pirates who traveled for the love of adventure.
They hadn't committed any heinous crimes.
Their leader was the captain of the Black Cat Pirates—Elliot Sarly.
He was an Ability User of the Zoan type Devil Fruit—the Cat-Cat Fruit.
He appeared to be a very slender young man.
Dressed in a well-fitted suit, he held his favorite dried fish snack in his hand.
Back when Raleigh was still a captain in the East Blue branch, he had crossed paths with them.
Since they hadn't committed any crimes at the time, the Marines hadn't issued any bounties for them.
So, Raleigh had let them go, though he did confiscate their pirate flag.
Just then, a commotion erupted downstairs.
"Bam!"
A chubby figure was sent flying, hurtling straight toward Elliot Sarly.
Seeing this, Elliot immediately abandoned his dried fish snack and dodged with all his might.
BOOM!
The flying figure crashed into a stall across the way under everyone's watchful eyes, completely wrecking everything on it.
"My, my, I nearly got attacked as soon as I arrived on Skypiea. What a shame about my dried fish snack." Elliot's tone was full of regret, but his expression appeared remarkably relaxed, as if he didn't take the matter to heart at all.
His crew members laughed heartily and said.
"Typical of you, Sarly. Every time we arrive in an unfamiliar place, you always get such a warm welcome from the locals."
"Last time we were on another island, we had just stepped ashore when someone gave you a big bottle, hahahaha!"
Hearing the teasing from his crew, a faint blush spread across Sarly's face, and he quickly changed the subject.
"Hey, what's this all about? Last time on Birka, you guys got struck by a little boy."
"If he hadn't held back, whether you'd even be able to talk to me right now would be a question."
The crew members of the Black Cat Pirates immediately grew displeased and quickly retorted.
"His Devil Fruit ability is just too overpowered. It's not like we haven't encountered pirate with ability users before."
"But we've never seen a pirate with such a broken ability. Before we even saw anyone, we were knocked out by streaks of lightning."
"Besides, we were just struck unconscious. How much better did you fare?"
"By the time we woke up, your originally sleek black fur had already been charred to a crisp."
Upstairs in the restaurant, Raleigh quietly listened to the pirates' discussion below.
In truth, he was quite interested.
From their conversation, Raleigh guessed that the little boy they mentioned was likely Enel.
Only Enel's ability and Devil Fruit could achieve such an effect.
Struck by lightning without even seeing the person.
Because Enel possessed the talent for Observation Haki that could cover the entire island, along with the Logia-type Devil Fruit, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
For Raleigh, this was relatively good information—it at least proved that Enel was still in his hometown, Birka, recently.
Noticing Raleigh's unusual reaction, Gion leaned over and asked.
"Do you know those pirates?"
"Moreover, I can tell you're very interested in what they're talking about."
Raleigh glanced strangely at Gion across from him. No wonder people say a woman's intuition is the most terrifying.
Having spent so much time with Raleigh, Gion could now keenly detect even the slightest unusual behavior from him.
"They're a group of pirates I encountered back in the East Blue."
"To put it simply, at that time, they mainly traveled around the East Blue and never plundered civilians."
"Although we spotted their Jolly Roger within the 133rd Branch's jurisdiction, there were no bounties issued for them by the Marines."
"So back then, after confiscating their Jolly Roger, we could only let them leave freely."
"But their pirate crew is just a small fry, not worth much in my eyes."
"What really interests me is the Ability User they mentioned on Birka."
"If I'm not mistaken, based on their description, it should be the user of the top-tier Logia Devil Fruit, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit."
"The Rumble-Rumble Fruit?"
Gion covered her mouth to prevent her voice from being too loud and heard by others in the restaurant.
As an outstanding member of the Marine Headquarters, Gion had been personally taught by senior officers since childhood.
Identifying Devil Fruits was naturally a top priority.
For the more famous Devil Fruits, the Marine Headquarters would meticulously record their shapes, appearances, and abilities in detail.
This was to prevent failing to recognize a Devil Fruit in the future or to devise targeted strategies when encountering Ability Users.
Logia-type Devil Fruits are the most powerful category among Devil Fruits.
Their users hardly need any training to possess combat strength far surpassing their peers.
Moreover, the Logia-type Devil Fruits possess the characteristic of elemental body transformation in the early stages.
This inherently makes Logia Devil Fruits nearly invincible across the four seas.
Currently, the Marines is aware of only three top-tier Logia Devil Fruits.
These are Sakazuki's Magma-Magma Fruit, Borsalino's Glint-Glint Fruit, and Kuzan's Ice-Ice Fruit.
Although Raleigh's fruit is also a Logia-type—the Storm Fruit—he never intended to report it to headquarters.
Even during his battle with Bryndy World, Raleigh avoided using his Devil Fruit abilities whenever possible.
"Someone with such talent must join the Marines. Otherwise, if he were to become a pirate, he would cause catastrophic damage to the world."
Raleigh spoke earnestly to Gion.
"Mhm, mhm."
Gion swallowed the food in her mouth and nodded in agreement.
...
A week later, the Marines's vessel had quietly arrived at a remote corner of the White Sea.
This was Enel's hometown—Birka.
Before even setting foot on the island, the crew sensed an ancient aura washing over them.
The island felt entirely different from others in the White Sea, exuding a profoundly ancient vibe—perhaps because all the young people had left, leaving only a community of elders.
The warship quickly docked at the shore under the soldiers' guidance.
Cricket stared at the surrounding buildings, growing increasingly familiar with them.
"Raleigh-sama, the architecture here seems somewhat similar to the Golden City described in my ancestors' notebooks."
Cricket wasn't entirely certain, but he swore that many architectural elements on the island had been recorded in his ancestors' notes.
"The Golden City, Shandora."
Raleigh said nonchalantly, "Ah, that shouldn't be possible. Shandora was located on Jaya Island in the Grand Line a thousand years ago. How could it be connected to this place?"
Raleigh glanced at Cricket and remarked, "Nothing in this world exists in isolation. Just like the winged inhabitants of Skypiea and the Shandia People."
"Alright, our goal is to first locate that Ability User with the special Devil Fruit power."
"We can delve into these historical questions after we find Shandora."
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