Bloody Spearhead

Thick clouds of mist surged wildly from Roy's body.

Large masses of clouds continuously rose from Roy, merging into the Sea of Clouds overhead.

As more and more white clouds floated upward and merged into it,

these ability-created clouds gradually spread out, wrapping around the clouds above that contained Seastone particles.

"Disperse!"

Seeing that the white clouds he had released had reached a sufficient scale,

Roy let out an angry roar from his throat.

The Sea of Clouds above

seemed to come alive and obey Roy's command.

A tunnel forcefully spread open through the cumulonimbus clouds.

"Ha ha ha, it worked!"

Roy sensed the clouds overhead, now wrapped around and infused with Seastone particles.

From this point on, Roy felt that he would no longer fear any Devil Fruit user in the future.

The Sea of Clouds overhead was equivalent to an ocean floating in the sky.

And once Roy clearly sensed that he could control this Sea of Clouds through this method of wrapping it,

he gained another layer of capital for taking the stage in the future.

From then on, any Devil Fruit user who wished to fight Roy

would have to be wary of whether the white clouds overhead might become an ocean crashing down upon them.

The Dark-Dark Fruit could render all Devil Fruit abilities ineffective.

The Sea of Clouds Roy could control contained Seastone particles, which had the same effect as the Dark-Dark Fruit.

The cumulonimbus clouds that had remained undispersed for centuries were suddenly pierced by a tunnel.

The sunset's rays shot directly through that tunnel.

Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, Roy looked like an emperor about to ascend into the heavens.

And the golden tunnel between the clouds seemed like a ceremony prepared by the loyal sky to welcome its king.

Without any hesitation, Roy raised his head and stared directly at the path through the clouds opened by his power.

"Sound Release!"

Roy shot upward through the tunnel at supersonic speed.

Pfft!

Basking in golden light, Roy broke through the thick Sea of Clouds.

What entered Roy's sight was an incomparably beautiful scene.

The sunset's rays spread evenly across the Sea of Clouds.

At that moment, the Sea of Clouds in the sky resembled the Golden Fleece from Greek mythology.

A gentle breeze blew across the endlessly surging golden clouds.

Roy could even see large fish occasionally leaping out from within the clouds.

The sight before him left Roy unable to find enough words to describe it.

Fortunately, Roy did not forget why he had come into the sky because of the scenery.

"Echo Map."

Silent sound waves began spreading outward from Roy.

As Roy flew rapidly through the sky,

he was like a radar, swiftly searching the heavens for territory that belonged to him.

The loyal sky would eventually welcome its master.

And now, the king of the skies was searching for subjects he could conquer.

"I'm hungry, so hungry... Becky, I don't think I can hold on anymore."

A girl with two small wings on her back weakly cried to the companion beside her.

"Emma, just endure it and go to sleep. Once you fall asleep, you won't be hungry anymore.

Maybe by the time you wake up, Uncle Albert and the others will be back.

Believe me, they'll definitely bring back lots of food from Kalia. When that happens, you can eat as much as you want."

Beside the little girl, another girl who looked somewhat older but was likewise weak from hunger stroked her companion's withered yellow hair and comforted her softly.

"Can Uncle Albert really bring food back, Becky? I'm really so hungry!"

Watching her companion's voice grow weaker and weaker,

the girl called Becky had a lost look in her eyes as well.

Clearly, she was not certain whether Uncle Albert, whom she had mentioned, could bring food back either.

According to the information she had learned from the adults,

Kalia's situation was somewhat better than Puka's, but they had also suffered an attack from a Locust Fish Swarm.

Cloud islands in the sky had always been poor in resources.

And Locust Fish, creatures that ate practically anything they encountered, were practically synonymous with extinction in the skies.

Puka and several nearby islands had been unfortunate enough to suffer an attack from such a school this year.

Most tragic of all, Puka, which had originally been the wealthiest, had become the main target of the fish swarm's assault.

The once considerable soil on Puka had now been gnawed away by the fish swarm until almost nothing remained.

With massive amounts of resources devastated, Puka naturally suffered an unprecedented famine.

Faced with hunger under such circumstances, the people of Puka could not possibly sit still and wait for death.

Abelton, the god who held the highest authority on Puka, faced with the hunger of his people,

gathered every man on Puka capable of fighting, using the authority of a god.

Albert had told the children that they were going to request aid.

But the women and children who remained on Puka knew that these men were preparing to wage war for survival.

No one liked senseless slaughter, but at this moment of life and death,

nearly everyone on Puka prayed inwardly that their god would return safely.

More than half a month had passed since Albert and the others had set out.

With no news coming from the front, the women and children remaining on Puka gradually began to despair.

Though a bad feeling was steadily growing within them, those standing on the brink of despair would always plead for hope in their hearts.

They hoped the men who had set out would return safely.

And they hoped their spoils of war would allow the collapsed Puka to prosper once more.

Hunger and confusion shrouded the once-thriving Puka Island.

It was not only Becky and Emma who lacked the strength to move; all of Puka had fallen into the despair of hunger.

Ten thousand meters above the ground, the eye could see nothing but a vast, rolling Sea of Clouds.

When the sun in the sky was replaced by the moon, Roy flew swiftly across the silver Sea of Clouds beneath the moonlight.

Over the past several hours, Roy had not found any trace of a cloud island.

Although his stamina had not run dry, thanks to the Sea King jerky replenishing it,

the endless Sea of Clouds without even a hint of a target still left a trace of confusion in his eyes.

"Damn it, why is this Sea of Clouds so huge? Where is the cloud island I'm looking for?"

Flying at the speed of sound and using the Echo Map had allowed Roy to scan nearly all the sky above Red Copper Island.

Looking at the unobstructed moon hanging like a disk in the sky,

just as Roy was preparing to give up and return to replenish his stamina before continuing tomorrow,

"Huh, what's that?"

Through the Echo Map's detection, a Bloody Spearhead appeared within Roy's sight.