Forced Crime: Sky Island Trial

Hehehe~~

?

Hehehe~~

??

"Mr. Roman ~~"

???

What's the meaning?

Awakening my dignity gone.

Am I, Roman, too weak to wield a knife? Or have the three of you gotten too cocky again?

After checking that he hadn't been painted on the face or had notes stuck to his back, Roman could only conclude that Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper's training wasn't enough, leaving them with the energy to goof around again. —Originally, he planned to wait until their physical abilities were stronger before proceeding with the planned upgrades, but it seems they're already 'impatient,' right? Very well, very well~~

Usopp and Chopper felt a chill run down their spines and quickly composed themselves, sitting up straight.

"Usopp is an idiot!"

On the other side, as Luffy released the seashell, his own voice came from inside.

"Usopp is an idiot!"

"What? Even the seashells look down on Usopp?"

Snap!

"That's your own voice! It's the same voice you just spoke."

"This is a 'Tone Dial' that can record audio," a gentle blonde girl with pigtails explained as she watched Usopp and Luffy playfully fighting. "We usually use it to play music."

This is an ordinary family living by the Cloud Coast. The head of the household is a middle-aged man named Pagaya, and his daughter Conis —the girl who is currently explaining these various seashells to the Straw Hat crew.

"Our Sky Island civilization is basically built on 'shells,' with various applications for storing shells..."

Nice one!

Roman immediately entered a mode of thinking about enhancing combat power; the seashells of the Sky Island were definitely a convenient tool that could greatly improve combat power.

For example, Sky Island warriors almost universally use the 'Wind Dial' equipped on skateboards and skates for rapid movement; the 'Slash Shell' can absorb slashes and inflict slash damage; the 'Impact Shell' can absorb impact and then release it...

Moreover, apart from the 'Cloud Shell' which can only be used in the White White Sea, other shells can be used normally even in the Blue Sea below!

Especially certain seashells, such as the Spray Wind Shell: a type of Wind Dial that can spew out even stronger winds. They could easily be used for short bursts of speed and solo flight!

How powerful and precious is the ability to fly? Just ask those who have fallen into the water.

"Roman, why are you doing this again..."

Nami, standing nearby, covered her forehead in exasperation. It was obvious Roman was thinking about something like enhancing his combat abilities again, but:

"I can't even feel safe driving the 'Waver' like this~~"

"It's already ridiculous that you can master something that others need ten years to learn in just a few minutes, isn't it?"

Usopp couldn't help but complain, "What happened to the promise that we'd all be weak together? It's no fun if you guys are all so strong..."

"We can take one of those Waver back and have some fun with it. But before that—"

The most powerful shells are mostly in the hands of two factions on Sky Island: the priests led by God Enel, and the Shandia warriors. Leaving aside the Shandia, Enel's side will definitely want some...

"Roman, Roman! He's awake!"

?

Where were we?

·······

"We were just talking about the gods and the holy land where they reside..." Nami whispered to Roman, "Look at Luffy's eager expression, he's probably planning to sneak off to some holy land..."

"Be more confident, and remove the 'mostly'."

········

Most of the day has passed, and although the Straw Hat crew hasn't broken any laws thanks to Roman's vigilance and attention, there haven't been any ridiculous trials yet. But—

As Roman observed from the paper cranes he had released, a group of people wearing White Berets were crawling closer. This was the group known as the 'White Berets,' roughly equivalent to a police force, and their purpose was...

When officials want the people to rebel, the people have no choice but to rebel.

A few easy excuses are all it takes to set a trap for the Straw Hat crew. Besides, given Luffy's personality, he wouldn't even need any sophisticated techniques to get him to act. Under the laws of this place, that would be certain death! They'd be sent straight to the Holy Land for trial...

That's fine.

Since it was something he couldn't avoid anyway, Roman had been mentally prepared ever since he arrived on the Sky Island.

"Let's go, Luffy."

???

"It's getting late, let's go back to the Golden Merry."

"But--"

Just as Usopp was about to say something, Luffy stood up and dusted off his pants.

"Yes, sir, we're sorry to have bothered you! We'll be going now."

"Huh? Dinner?"

"No, let's go back to the ship to eat."

As Luffy goodbye with a grin, the others also got up and left one after another, leaving the middle-aged man and the blonde girl, who were the hosts, looking quite embarrassed.

"No need to see me off~~~"

After the group had walked a distance towards the beach, Luffy looked at Roman with a serious expression.

"Roman, have you discovered something?"

"A group of people is approaching us," Roman gestured with his chin towards the nearby woods. "And their goal is to lure...or rather, force us to 'commit a crime' and then be tried under the laws of this island..."

"So that's why you told us to leave, so as not to involve Uncle's family?"

Luffy seriously, then pointed to the woods next to him with a speechless expression.

"But if what you're talking about are those perverts—"

"They're underestimating us too much, aren't they?"

·······

"Blue Ocean people, that ship belongs to you, right?"

A group of soldiers crawling forward, wearing White Berets, vests, and camouflage pants, blocked Luffy! The scarred man leading them pointed at Luffy, Roman, and the others with an air of righteous indignation.

"Yes····"

"That Sky Fish tied to the side of the boat, was that also hunted by you?!"

"Yes····"

"According to the laws of 'Heavenly Punishment,' you have committed the crime of 'hunting rare animals,' which is a level 9 offense. Please accept your punishment—but judging from your tone, it seems you intend to resist?"

"Yes!"

What else is there to say? The other side was deliberately looking for trouble, and the Straw Hat crew aren't the type to back down (unless they suddenly acted out of character). It was undoubtedly a real-life showdown, and the result?

These soldiers were surprisingly weak; Roman hadn't even considered whether to join in and get some assists before Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji took them all down with just a few punches and kicks!

"Hehehe,"

However, the officer lying on the ground didn't get angry; instead, he laughed.

"The attack on the police 'White Berets' is a serious offense."

"This is a Level 2 crime, punishable by 'Trial of God'! You—"

"Alright, alright,"

Roman waved his hand to interrupt the other party's verbal sparring; he had already anticipated this outcome.

"Let's get back to the ship now. Forget about the trials, get on with the arrangements!"

???

Not to mention the bewildered beret-wearing police officers who had just been knocked over, even the Straw Hat crew exchanged bewildered glances. However, trusting Roman, the group decided to return to the Golden Merry first, and then:

"Yes, I know what you want to ask. Let me explain it to you."

When facing the others, Roman had no choice but to release a whole bunch of information at once.

"Simply put, this Sky Island is extremely hostile to outsiders."

"Actually, this is quite normal. After all, there is the Golden City of Shandora here, and those who dare to go up to this height of 10,000 meters are mostly lawless pirates... We don't count. Strictly speaking, our profession is more like 'adventurers'."

It's all that Shanks's fault, that charlatan! He completely fooled the Marine King. I wonder what Luffy will think when Luffy remembers Shanks with his Three Types of Haki losing an arm to the Lord of the Coast...

"In short, the police here will find all sorts of pretexts to force the Blue Sea people—that is, people like us—to break the law. Then they will hand them over to the so-called priests for trial."

"The priests are a few powerful figures under the throne here. Whether they kill for pleasure or to make an example of us, we are now their target."

Ah, this...

Although Roman's explanation was simple and easy to understand, the crowd still found it hard to accept.

It was supposed to be a fairytale-like Sky Island, where I encountered a kind old man and a gentle blonde girl, but then I turned around and discovered it was a place deliberately designed to lure people into committing crimes and then killing them. —That's a bit of a fantasy breakdown, isn't it?

"Alright, that concludes the explanation. Now we can just obediently await our 'judgment'."

"Can't we just run away first?"

In response to Usopp's suggestion, Roman pointed behind him with his thumb, "Ask those two."

"Trial~~~"

Luffy's eyes are full of stars.

"Gold~~~"

Nami's eyes turned golden.

"Me~~"

Usopp, with tears streaming down his face, gave up on treatment.

Boom!

Just then, the ship beneath their feet shook violently as a giant 'Express Shrimp' slammed onto the Golden Merry's head, gripping it tightly with its pincers before speeding away—

"Aaaaaah, quickly kill this giant shrimp!!!"

"Don't panic, it's the 'vehicle' that will take us to the trial site."

P. S.: Just asking for votes as usual~~~~