"Open the gates! All hands on deck!"
Following Sabo's roar, the massive reinforced doors of Upper Yard's underground dock ground open. The Eclipse, its black steel hull gleaming with streamlined menace, slid out into the brilliant sunlight of the White-White Sea.
On the island's edge, Wyper and Gan Fall stood with the Shandia and Sky Island citizens, watching the departure of the war beast with heartfelt awe.
"Listen up, Long-Ears! Follow the frequency I taught you and pump the juice into the Golden Circuits!" Jeno's gruff voice crackled through the ship's speaking tubes. "This is a maiden flight! Don't you dare roast my ship with a stray bolt!"
On deck, Enel snorted. He hated being ordered around by a "Blue Sea monkey," but the proximity of his dream—the Infinite Land—made his lightning hum with restless energy.
"Talkative mortal."
Enel gripped the Pure Gold Conductive Pillar at the base of the main mast. He closed his eyes, focusing his spirit with the precision he'd spent three months honing.
"300,000 Volts: Discharge."
Blue current surged into the pillar. Instantly, the dark-gold tracer lines etched across the Eclipse's hull flared to life like glowing veins of divine blood.
Inside the Hold.
The ultra-high-pressure steam boilers, supercharged by Enel's electricity, let out a mechanical roar.
"Energy storage at maximum! Dial array valves, flip to vertical thrust! TAKE OFF!" Jeno slammed the red lever home.
RUMBLE—!!!
Dozens of modified Breath and Impact Dial matrices beneath the waterline erupted. The soft sea of clouds was blasted into a massive vacuum vortex by the downward gale. The ship vibrated violently, then, defying every law of the Blue Sea, the black steel behemoth rose. It didn't need a Knock-Up Stream. Like an inverted blade, it pierced the sky.
"We're flying... we're actually flying!" Carina gripped the wheel, her face flushed with the exhilaration of breaking gravity.
The Eclipse climbed vertically. The greenery of Upper Yard shrank into a tiny emerald dot. They punched through the cumulonimbus layer, the blue sky fading into the deep, star-strewn velvet of the void.
In this world, the "sea of stars" wasn't a vacuum death-trap; it was an extension of the sky. The ship floated quietly, propelled by Enel's steady current.
"What a view," Ace murmured, leaning against the Vermilion Bird figurehead. His trench coat snapped in the thin wind as he watched the grey-white celestial body grow until it filled his vision. This was a horizon even Roger had never reached.
Beside him, Enel was trembling. After six years of tyranny and obsession, the "Final Destination of the Gods" was finally within reach.
The Surface of the Moon.
With a rhythmic hiss from the deceleration thrusters, the Eclipse's shadow swept over craters and jagged rock. It touched down smoothly on the silent, desolate grey dust.
"We're here."
The engines cut out. The silence of ages welcomed the newcomers. Enel was the first to leap from the deck. His feet hit the coarse, grey rock. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, expanding his Mantra with everything he had. He expected to hear the voices of a million subjects. He expected to feel a supreme divine power.
One minute passed.
The wind whistled through empty craters. There were no voices. No fertile land. No gods. Only cold, stiff stone and an absolute, maddening desolation. Enel's fanatical grin froze. It felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured down his spine.
"How... how is this possible?" his voice cracked. His Mantra hit nothing but a dead tomb.
"Not quite what you imagined, is it?" Ace's steady footsteps approached as the crew disembarked.
Buggy poked his head out and groaned. "What a dump! Just rocks! Is this the 'Infinite Land' Long-Face was crying about? I don't even see a patch of weeds!"
Leona spun her knife, looking equally disappointed. "Air's fine, but there isn't even a monster to roast. What kind of 'Holy Land' is this?"
Every word was a needle in Enel's pride. The spiritual pillar that had sustained his ego for years was crumbling into a joke.
Ace walked up and slapped a heavy hand on Enel's stiff shoulder. "See? This is the destination you longed for. A graveyard."
Ace turned him around, forcing him to look at the living world below. "Stop looking for a purpose in dead rocks. Your dream is shattered? Good. Set a new one. If you want territory and real fun, go back down to the sea of monsters and take it with your fists!"
"Hey, Buggy! Crack open the good wine!" Ace laughed. "Consider this a celebration for our new Lightning Helmsman waking up from his nap. This place is boring, but it makes for a hell of a campsite!"
Enel looked at the hand on his shoulder, then at the crew already gathering wood for a fire. For six years, he had been a solitary "God" surrounded by people paralyzed by fear. This was the first time, in his moment of total failure, that he heard the unpretentious laughter of equals.
Compared to being a ghost on a dead rock, the "Hell" of the Blue Sea that Ace described suddenly possessed an indescribable, magnetic pull.
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