Upward Current

"Old man!"

When they returned to KureKke's residence, a large crowd had already gathered there. At the front stood a gorilla and an orangutan.

"Black Winged Great Demon, what are you trying to do to our old man?!"

As people who often sailed out to sea, the Ape Brothers recognized Cifer at a glance.

"Rather than worrying about him, you should worry about yourselves. You're both wanted pirates."

Cifer's icy words made KureKke's heart tighten. He spread his arms and stood in front of the two of them.

"Please spare them, Mr. Cifer! Ever since they went to sea, they've never harmed anyone!"

From what Cifer had said back in Mock Town, KureKke could roughly guess that he liked killing wanted pirates. He could only do his best to lessen their crimes.

"That's right! At most, we steal a little money and salvage sunken ships. And we only take a little—we've never hurt anyone!" the Ape Brothers hurriedly explained truthfully.

"Since I still need you, I'll spare you this time. But from now on, you're not allowed to steal money either."

Considering that they were merely greedy for wealth and had never taken lives, Cifer unusually showed them mercy.

"Yes!"

Everyone finally relaxed. Then Cifer and the others sat cross-legged and began enjoying the food, while KureKke and the Ape Brothers went aside to discuss going into the sky.

Originally, they had intended to help Cifer modify his ship so it could use the wind to rise into the sky more smoothly, but Cifer refused.

"They aren't really bad people, are they?"

Hina elegantly nibbled at the food in her hand and asked Cifer without even raising her head.

"If they were bad people, they'd already be dead."

Cifer's answer was brief and clear. To him, bad people he had no use for were better off dead.

"Mr. Cifer! The Upward Current will appear at noon today! We're out of time! We have to find a Guide Bird and leave at once!"

KureKke shouted as he ran toward Cifer, his face full of urgency and seriousness.

"A Guide Bird?"

As Hina stared in confusion, Cifer had already stood up and vanished from everyone's sight.

"The Upward Current will appear in the south. Once you're adrift on the boundless sea, no one can accurately determine the direction, but a Guide Bird can!"

KureKke explained earnestly to Hina.

"Let's go!"

In the time it took to say a sentence or two, Cifer reappeared with a Guide Bird in his hand. There was a huge bump on its head.

Does this mean it's time to part ways?

Hina felt somewhat uncomfortable. Even if she wasn't his companion, she had traveled with him for so long. Was he really leaving without even saying a word?

The orangutans and gorillas of the Monkey's Union Army had already prepared themselves aboard their respective ships. Their goal was to guide Cifer's ship to the Upward Current.

"What are you doing? Get aboard already."

Cifer frowned as he looked at Hina and Wright, who were standing there in a daze.

"Us? Didn't you promise Admiral Sakazuki that we'd part ways after taking you to Jaya?"

Hina was both shocked and delighted, unsure whether Cifer had forgotten or simply hadn't cared.

"The journey to Jaya isn't over yet. I meant that Jaya!"

Following the direction he pointed, and recalling the legends of Sky Island as well as the story of the great liar Noland—

Hina looked toward the half-ruined structure and naturally came to a realization—half of Jaya was in the sky!

"Set sail!"

Hina could not contain her joy, nor did she question whether Sky Island truly existed.

If the man before her said it existed, then it existed. She would not think about what to do if it did not.

"Old man! Mr. Cifer! Look over there!"

As time passed, the sky had completely darkened. Wind and waves raged across the sea. The Ape Brothers' two ships swayed constantly, but Little Ul remained as steady as a mountain.

Following where they pointed, they saw an incomparably enormous whirlpool emerge upon the sea. Even several Sea Kings had been dragged into it, unable to break free.

"Old man! We can only take you this far!"

The Monkey's Union Army had no intention of going into the sky, so they did not dare approach too closely. If they were swallowed by that whirlpool, reaching the sky would be the best possible outcome. The alternative was unimaginable.

"Mr. Cifer! What do we do? That whirlpool is huge!"

Wright, who was at the helm, looked panicked. Having always stayed in the kitchen cooking, when had he ever seen such a scene?

Hina and KureKke said nothing. Since they had chosen to follow Cifer, they only needed to wait for his orders.

"Take us closer!"

Before his words had even faded, the enormous whirlpool vanished into thin air. Everyone grew tense, sensing that something was about to happen.

"Find something on the ship and hold on tight. We're leaving."

With a blast of heat from the depths of the sea, an Upward Current shot into the sky, carrying Little Ul upward with it.

Suddenly, a Sea King was flung out by the current and fell from the sky. Hina recognized it—it was one of the creatures that had been sucked into the whirlpool earlier!

"This is unbelievable! Why is the ship staying stable?"

Hina looked at Cifer with confusion. Thinking carefully about the Upward Current, she could roughly guess it was some kind of natural phenomenon. After all, this sea was full of every sort of natural disaster.

But if Little Ul was riding the current straight upward, the bow should have lost balance. It should even have been flung away like that Sea King!

And Cifer was not holding onto anything. He simply stood on the deck without losing his balance at all.

"Because the ship is already flying."

Hearing that, Hina immediately leaned her head over the side of the ship and discovered in astonishment that it had actually left the sea and was flying through the air!

The moment the ship had ridden the Upward Current, Cifer had wrapped its hull in his immense Spiritual Pressure, lifting its bottom away from the surface of the current before using the wind to fly onward.

As for himself, walking through the air had never been difficult for him, much less maintaining his balance.

"It was that blast of heat!"

Hina understood at once. This man truly had everything under control. But would his future also be controlled by someone else?

"Old man succeeded!"

Having moved far away from the whirlpool, the Monkey's Union Army watched Cifer's ship ride the wind into the sky. They excitedly embraced each other and shouted.

"Old man will definitely prove it! His ancestor Noland wasn't a liar—the Sky Island really exists!"

At this moment, Cifer and the others were continuously weaving through the clouds. After passing through who knew how many layers, they finally stopped, the entire ship resting amid the clouds!

"This is amazing! It can actually stop on top of the clouds!"

Wright was exceptionally excited. Ever since setting sail with Cifer, he had experienced countless things he had never even imagined possible in his life.

"Since the ship can stop on the clouds, this must be a Sea of Clouds. Mr. Cifer, you don't mind if I take a swim, do you?"

Wright had already taken off his outer clothes and put on diving goggles, looking fully prepared.

"Go ahead. Don't dive too deep, or you'll fall back down below."

Now that they were here, Cifer naturally did not mind wasting a little time. They could play as they pleased.

KureKke also stripped off his clothes without hesitation and followed Wright into the Sea of Clouds.

Everything was too wondrous for him, as though the Golden City his ancestor had spoken of was only one step away from being proven real!

"Not you. The White Sea is still a sea, after all."

Cifer casually leaned against the wall and sat down.

"Hina wasn't planning to go in anyway."

She put on her sunglasses as usual and comfortably sat in a lounge chair on the deck, continuously exhaling smoke. It was obvious that she was in a good mood.

Cifer's Neural Scan continuously spread outward. While watching the two people swimming below, he also searched for a route.

Two people entered the range of his scan and kept approaching the ship.