How to Return to the Sea

"Yes, yes, although I don't know what you mean by the New World, just remember one thing: never disobey the will of the gods." Conis nodded in agreement.

"Just like I said before, none of those who clamored to overthrow the gods were even able to enter the God's Temple before being completely defeated by the God's Guard."

"I still remember how desperate those pirates screamed and howled when the God's Guard threw them off from ten thousand meters in the air," Conis said with lingering fear.

The three cowards swallowed hard, imagining themselves being thrown from ten thousand meters in the air, and instantly burst into tears, crying, "No, absolutely not!"

"Huh? How are we supposed to get back to the sea? I don't want to stay in the sky forever!" Luffy cried out in despair.

"Actually, there are ways for you to leave the God's Nation."

Luffy's eyes lit up, and he instantly revived, urging, "Tell me quickly!"

"The safest way is naturally to join the God's Guard. You all said you are very strong, so you should have the ability to join the Guard."

"The guard will be rotated every year, and then you will be able to follow in the footsteps of the gods and return to the world below."

"Wait, you mean that god isn't on Sky Island, but on the Grand Line?" Nami's eyes turned into the symbol of Beli, and her hands began to twitch uncontrollably.

Conis immediately became alert and warned, "Don't do anything reckless, and don't even think about having any bad ideas. Every one of those God's Guard is a powerful warrior who can take on a thousand men. More importantly, there are holy angels guarding the God's Temple, and anyone with ill intentions will be punished by the angels."

"An angel?" Everyone's eyes scanned Conis up and down, their faces revealing subtle expressions.

Conis said, embarrassed and annoyed, "Oh dear, I'm not an angel like you. No, I'm not an angel at all. I'm just a human with an extra pair of wings. But there are real angels deep within the God's Temple. They are the true angels with the divine magic to heal wounds and the power to destroy all things."

Perhaps Conis's words were too fantastical, and everyone couldn't help but become suspicious again.

"Are there really any angels in this world?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Of course there is! Miss Conis is my angel!" Sanji exclaimed, spinning around in circles.

"Perhaps it's some kind of Devil Fruit User?" Vivi offered a more plausible answer.

"I... I haven't seen it myself, but everyone says so, so it must be true!" Conis stammered.

The crowd twitched helplessly at the corners of their mouths; this explanation simply didn't hold water.

They had already made up their minds. The God's Guard might indeed have great strength, but that so-called angel was probably just something the Skypieans imagined.

However, they did not argue, as arguing with the believers of the gods would ultimately only lead to meaningless results.

So Luffy didn't think much of it, and instead, for once, he was quite clever. "You said before that this is the safest method, which means there's more than one way to do it."

"Yes, there is." Conis hesitated for a moment, then said, "But this method is too dangerous, you'd better not try it."

"Is it dangerous?" Luffy's eyes gleamed as he replied casually, "Is it a method we'd rather not try?"

The three cowards looked utterly devastated, on the verge of tears, "They clearly really want to try it."

"Yes, the White Sea below the God's Temple is the End of the Clouds. You can return directly to the Azure Sea from there, but doing so is almost certain to result in certain death. The ship will be smashed to pieces. The only way is to use the Octopus Balloon, a specialty of the Sky Island, to take you back to the sea," Conis said.

"Huh? Octopus Balloon, what's that?" Luffy asked.

"It's a super-large hot air balloon that can wrap around the ship's hull and use buoyancy to slow it down."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Luffy's eyes lit up. "How do we get that Octopus Balloon? Do we buy it? Or do we make it ourselves?"

"No, that won't work. Octopus Balloon are prohibited items by the God's Temple. Only the God's Temple can possess them. Not only can you not buy them, but the entire production process is also firmly controlled by the God's Temple. Not a single bit of it has leaked out to the outside world," Conis said, shaking her head.

"So, no matter what, there's no way to bypass this God's Temple?" Zoro asked, frowning.

"Is the God's Temple on this island?" Nami asked curiously.

"Well, if you want to return to the Grand Line you speak of, dealing with the God's Temple is an essential step. As for the location of the God's Temple... come with me." Conis pushed open the door and led Luffy and the others out.

"Look, the God's Temple is located at the Heaven's Dome, overlooking all living beings." Conis pointed into the distance, where Giant Vine seemed to pierce through the heavens and earth, and the Cloud Layer at the very top were the God's Temple shining with endless radiance.

"Wow... that's amazing!" Luffy dropped in surprise.

"The color of gold... it's so beautiful!" Nami's eyes turned into the Beli symbol as she became completely captivated by the alluring color.

"It is indeed grand and luxurious!" Vivi recalled the scene when she went to the Holy Land Mary Geoise to attend the Reverie two years ago. Even the palace of the Celestial Dragons, the descendants of the creator, could not be more impressive than this.

"This so-called god... really knows how to enjoy life!" Sanji said enviously.

"A god? How strong could someone who dares to call themselves a god be?" Zoro's right hand, gripping the hilt of his sword, trembled slightly.

"This is a rich and powerful nation, where everyone is proud to be a child of God. To join the God's Guard is an even greater honor. Therefore, I hope you will participate in the selection process for the God's Guard."

Conis patiently explained to them, "Besides, there's only a little over a month until the next rotation. I think you can't even wait that long, can you?"

"No... I don't want to be someone else's subordinate. I'm going to be the Pirate Kings! How could I... Waaah!" Before Luffy could finish speaking, Nami and Usopp covered his mouth and dragged him aside.

"Luffy, don't be impulsive! Since there's a safer method, don't act recklessly. The opponent could very well be a terrifying monster from the New World!" Usopp whispered a warning.

"That's right, it's only a little over a month. We can use this time to avoid Nightmare's pursuit. Brother Ace said that Nightmare has monsters under his command that even he can't deal with. If we run into them, we'll be finished!" Nami decisively brought up Ace to make her words more convincing.

"Although we've found Sky Island, we still don't have a clue about the Golden Land that Uncle Kureha mentioned. We can take advantage of this time to investigate further. Luffy, don't you want to help Uncle Kureha realize his dream?" Vivi said.

"Oh... oh right, I almost forgot I came here for an adventure on Sky Island." Luffy suddenly realized, his energy instantly returning. "Alright then, let's begin our Sky Island adventure!"