"Waaahhhhhh! Dad, you died so miserably!!"
East Blue, Loguetown Harbor.
Under the curious gazes of numerous fishermen, a massive man—nearly seven meters tall—knelt at the dock, clutching a corpse and wailing at the top of his lungs.
"Alright, Weevil. Old Man Golden Lion's final wish was to be buried in the seas of the East Blue. Now send him off."
Xia Te patted Weevil's shoulder from behind.
"Th-Thank you, big brother…"
Weevil picked up Shiki's body and gently cast it into the sea.
"And now? What's next?"
Shiryu, clearly adopting a "I'll just play along and pretend I don't see through this" attitude, glanced sideways at Xia Te and asked:
"Aren't we supposed to profit from that war? Shouldn't we head straight to the Sabaody Archipelago? Even with your speed, there's not much time left to waste."
From the East Blue to Sabaody, an ordinary ship would take months—if not longer.
But with Xia Te's Float-Float Fruit ability, he could compress that journey to under ten days.
Even so, recruiting Weevil and delivering Shiki's body here had already taken up quite a bit of time.
There were less than half a month left until Ace's execution.
"Given our current strength, I don't think escaping unscathed from the Marines vs. Whitebeard Pirates war will be difficult,"
Xia Te said with a smile.
"But there's one more person I want to recruit—if he's still around. Since we're passing by anyway, no point wasting the opportunity."
Shiryu couldn't quite figure out what Xia Te was planning.
But seeing his confidence, he didn't press further.
…
…
Two days later, 7,000 meters above the sea—within the White Sea.
"Skypiea… it appears in the book The Great Liar Noland. I always thought it was fiction. Never imagined it actually existed."
Looking out over the endless sea of clouds, Shiryu couldn't help but sigh in amazement.
"If you'd stayed stuck in that godforsaken place like Impel Down, you'd never see sights like this, right?"
Xia Te chuckled.
Shiryu remained silent—but for someone like him, silence was agreement.
"Big brother! There's a ship coming toward us!"
Weevil suddenly shouted.
"Hmm?"
Xia Te and Shiryu both turned to look.
BOOM!!
In the next instant, a massive column of seawater shot through the clouds, launching a pirate ship up into the White Sea.
"That's…"
Shiryu frowned instinctively.
"The Knock-Up Stream. That's how ordinary ships reach Skypiea."
Just as Xia Te finished explaining, he noticed the emblem on the pirate ship.
Shiryu recognized it as well and spoke first:
"The Donquixote Pirates."
"All the Seven Warlords should've been summoned by the Government to prepare for the war. Why would the Donquixote Pirates be here?"
"That's not Doflamingo himself. Probably one of his subordinate crews."
Xia Te remembered.
Doflamingo's number one bootlicker—Bellamy.
After being beaten senseless by Luffy and expelled from the Donquixote Pirates, he led his crew to Skypiea,
stole a golden pillar, and presented it to Doflamingo.
Didn't expect to run into him here.
"What an eyesore."
Xia Te remained lounging in his chair, hands clasped together, glancing sideways at Shiryu.
"Aren't you craving blood, Shiryu? I'll leave this to you."
"Understood~"
Shiryu slowly drew his famed blade, Raiu, and in the next instant, vanished.
Slash—BOOM!!!
A single sword strike tore through the clouds, splitting Bellamy's entire ship clean in half!
"W-Who are you!?"
"H-Help! Don't kill me! Aaaah!"
"I'll do anything! Just don't—AAAH!!"
Soon, miserable screams echoed from the enemy ship.
Meanwhile, Xia Te and Weevil remained completely unfazed aboard their own vessel.
[Ding! Discovered new sign-in location—Enel]
[Sign-in reward—Advanced Observation Haki (innate, island-wide sensing range)]
Hearing the system notification, a smile appeared on Xia Te's face.
So he's still here. Coming this way was definitely worth it.
"Shiryu, don't waste time on small fry. We've got real business."
At Xia Te's call, Shiryu flicked the blood off Raiu and leapt back onto the ship.
Using the Float-Float Fruit, Xia Te guided the warship higher.
Soon, they spotted a vessel—slightly inferior in size to a Marine warship, yet extravagantly built.
Its prow was forged in gold, with no masts or sails, and a large kanji for "God" emblazoned at the front.
The Ark Maxim.
"Going to follow pirate tradition and loot it?"
Shiryu guessed, eyeing the gold embedded all over the ship.
"Not just the ship—we're taking the man too. If he refuses… his Devil Fruit will be yours, Shiryu."
"His Devil Fruit?"
Shiryu's interest was piqued.
Crack—BOOM!!!
In the next instant, a massive lightning bolt over ten meters wide crashed down from the sky.
"A Logia!?"
Shiryu's expression changed.
"Don't you dare hurt my big brother!"
Weevil roared in fury, raising his naginata and slashing upward.
With Armament Haki infused—and combined with his monstrous natural strength—
he split the lightning pillar clean in two!