Sea Wonders, the Blackbeard Pirates' First Appearance

"Hahaha, I knew you were an ape!"

"Oh dear, don't praise someone like that!"

"It's decided, I'll call you 'Handsome Ape'!"

"Oh, I can't possibly be that handsome!"

"No, no, no, you are General Ape—"

"Since you put it that way, then the title of 'General Ape' is rightfully mine!"

········

Damn it!

Are you two Doflamingo and Diamante? You're putting on this "three praises, three pushes" act...

What language are those two guys speaking?

Even Zoro couldn't help but complain.

"I don't know, maybe it's just that like attracts like."

With a cigarette dangling from his lips, Sanji has already kicked Luffy out of the ranks of 'humans'.

Regardless of Roman's inner turmoil, Luffy was indeed having a pleasant conversation with the other's captain—that is, the one who looked like Masira dressed in clothes—and it seemed like they were about to chop off a chicken's head and become sworn brothers. Roman had no choice but to cough and step forward to make his request.

"The Log Pose is malfunctioning. Do you want to come with us to 'Mock Town'?"

Faced with Roman's words, Ape Commander... ah, no. It should be the leader of the Ape Salvage Crew, 'Ape', touched his protruding lips and nodded.

"Sure, just follow behind us after we finish the salvage."

"Very good!"

Nami breathed a sigh of relief. Because her Log Pose had been magnetized by Sky Island, the Golden Merry was now directionless and could only navigate by sheer luck—a notoriously unreliable endeavor. Unless Roman...

"Huh? So, Roman, you were so calm because you knew there were ships around all along?"

"Certainly,"

Do you think Roman would make up something like this, given the Straw Hat crew's strange luck (super good fortune and attraction to anomalies) that they can't feel at ease without releasing paper cranes to circulate around the Golden Merry for a long time to scout?

Bumping into Sea King is nothing, bumping into Great Pirates hundreds of millions is normal.

So Roman wasn't afraid! He was cautious! Yes, cautious...

"In short, we can get to Mock Town by following their ship. After resting and making full preparations there, we can then go to the 'Sky Island' to explore."

Roman remembered that there was actually a 'legitimate' way to reach Sky Island —although that route supposedly only a few out of 100 people who set out survived. But compared to Luffy's choice to go upstream with the Rising Current, which only offered the possibility of either all survival or all death...

No, let's stick to the 'Rising Current'.

If other ships fail to ascend the 'White Sea' into the sky along the Rising Current, they are certain to be destroyed and all lives lost. But with Roman there, they can simply deploy a giant parachute.

With Roman's current capabilities, maintaining the 'paper umbrella' that allows the Golden Merry land safely at sea shouldn't be a problem. If he wanted to go even further, he could just use a hot air balloon...

Forget about that. The Golden Merry is a sea ship after all. Even if Roman worked himself to death, he couldn't lift it to an altitude of 10,000 meters unless he abandoned the ship and went into battle lightly equipped... Obviously, not only Luffy, but even Roman himself was unwilling to do that.

"Hmm, where's Luffy?"

After finishing his thoughts, Roman looked around and noticed that several people were missing.

"They went down to the seabed with the sailors from that ship," Nami speechlessly, pointing to the 'monkey ship' next to her. "They all went to salvage the sunken ship."

Ah, this—

Even with protective gear, Devil Fruit user go into the water. But the danger... well, Roman certainly wouldn't want to try it.

Perhaps this is why I can't learn Armament Haki?

Isn't that reckless enough...?

Roman fell into deep thought again, while Nami, Usopp, and the others applauded with exclamations of "Amazing!" The giant salvage ship beside them had already hauled the sunken sailboat ashore. They'd even fished out—

"What is that? The mainland?"

"It must be a dream! It's all an illusion, it can't fool me!"

"It was just a dream, phew~~~"

Seeing the self-deceiving 'coward trio', Roman had no choice but to shatter their 'fantasy'.

"It's not a dream, it's a sea turtle—only it's huge, its head is twice the size of the salvage ship next to it."

········

"Aaaaaah, Roman! Don't make us face this horrific reality!"

"Don't panic,"

Roman remained calm in the face of the even larger sea turtles attracted by the wrecked giant sailboat being pulled out of the water by the salvage ship, and Luffy and his Luffy jumping up and down in the turtles' mouths.

Although this sea turtle is enormous, perhaps even comparable to Laboon, the whale at the entrance to the Grand Line, the scarcity of natural predators for such giant creatures means they won't possess any truly terrifying fighting power. In fact, they pose far less of a threat than an 80 million bounty pirate! Besides:

"At worst, I'll just fly you all away to hide. Anyway, this sea turtle can't fly."

"Roman, you're so reliable—let's go now."

Seeing Nami, Usopp, and Chopper clinging to Roman, Nico Robin was speechless once again!

Shouldn't you all be united at this point, trying to find a way to rescue the captain or something...?

Um?

"Don't worry,"

Roman misunderstood Robin's gaze, thinking she was afraid of the giant sea turtle beside her, so he gave the intellectual beauty a hearty laugh.

"You'll get used to it."

Back when he first entered the Grand Line, Roman was terrified by Luffy's various amazing ways of Luffy. But now? Even if a giant tortoise, as big as an island, suddenly started talking, Roman could calmly accept it.

·········

Nicole Robin: Is it too late for me to get off the ship now?

Black--

Just then, the sky suddenly darkened!

"Hey, hey, hey? What's going on?"

"Why has the sky darkened? Is this the 'midnight' that Roman was talking about?"

"Don't panic," Roman waved his hand. "Although it looks dark, it's not completely black; it's more like the 'dark clouds looming over the city' situation before a storm. In other words,"

"We've encountered unusual weather here, 'Thick Clouds'..."

Shock--

"Monster!!!" XN

On the dark horizon, there were several enormous figures that seemed to reach the sky and touch the earth! They had wings on their backs and carried spears in their hands. Even the giant sea turtles that were like islands next to them looked like rabbits in front of these figures.

"What the hell is this?!"

"Set sail quickly!!"

Run!

"Roar roar roar—"

In an instant, even the fearless Luffy lunged at the sail! Faced with that towering figure, estimated to be several thousand meters tall, it wasn't a matter of courage anymore. Even Nico Robin joined in turning the triangular sail, only:

Is this the 'projection' of the Sky Island?

Ah~~ It was supposed to be a terrifying scene, but once you know the truth, it all becomes rather dull...

Faced with this colossal giant, even the island-like sea turtles nearby were shocked and dived into the sea! The Golden Merry and the Orangutan salvage ship sped off at full speed, leaving two long white trails in their wake! Only after leaving the area, when the sun reappeared and the crisis was over, did the group of people collapse onto the deck.

Sanji: "What day is it today?"

Zoro: "First, a huge ship descended from the sky,"

Nami: "The Log Pose then points to the sky!"

Usopp: "Then we encountered a strange Ape Salvage Crew..."

Chopper: "It even attracted an island of sea turtles,"

Robin: "Even when night falls,"

Luffy: "A 'giant figure' dozens of times taller than a giant..."

"Good, we didn't lose them." Roman glanced at the salvage ship with a deck full of ape-men lying on it. "Tsk tsk tsk, more than half of their men have wet themselves. Compared to them—"

Even Usopp, a member of the Straw Hat crew, has regained his composure, demonstrating his remarkable resilience. Luffy with Luffy, aside from anything else, is an absolutely invaluable way to hone one's courage!

"Why aren't you panicking at all?!" X7

Faced with everyone's complaints, Roman spread his hands.

"That's because I know the reason behind all of this, so do you want me—"

"Don't want!"

Luffy was the first to stand up and refuse, saying, "I feel like any interesting adventure will become boring the moment Roman opens his mouth."

That's a really keen intuition.

Indeed, the truth about the Titans is that they are merely a 'projection' of the people on the Sky Island. Their true forms might just be a few weak children...

"Okay, but anyway, let's go take a break first."

He pointed ahead, and although it was invisible to the naked eye, Roman's 'paper crane' had already flown far away. He observed an island with a pleasant climate and a small town on it.

"Jaya Island, Mock Town".

The Jaya Island ahead is a Spring Island, with gentle breezes and a pleasant climate, which is why Roman's paper cranes were able to fly so successfully.

!?

"What's wrong, Roman?"

Noticing Roman's changed expression, Nami was the first to ask a question. Roman's current look clearly indicated he had encountered a formidable enemy!

"It's okay, my paper crane was 'knocked down'."

?

"No way, your paper crane is so small, and it's white too..."

"No one would notice us flying in the sky, right?" Usopp thought, but he also knew that Roman was a serious person.

"So, we've met a master."

The last message the paper crane sent was about a person on the rooftop of that small town, wearing a strange hat, with a monocular telescope over his right eye, a long face, and a black cloak, and a long gun he was aiming at.

If Roman hadn't possessed Observation Haki that allowed him to observe from a distance, he wouldn't have even known where the attack came from.

Van Oka?

The future third captain of the Blackbeard Pirates, currently a sniper under Blackbeard, a master of ultra-long-range and high-speed shooting.

For the Straw Hat crew right now, he's a more dangerous person than Blackbeard himself!

Fortunately, they don't seem to have any intention of becoming enemies with the Straw Hat crew right now. —It'd better hurry up and go to Sky Island to 'relax,' otherwise, encountering these pirates who casually throw around hundreds of millions of bounties every day is driving Roman crazy.

"A seagull? No, it's a paper crane."

Sitting on the rooftop of the town, a man named Van Augur laid down his beloved gun, 'Senriku'.

"I felt a gaze fall on me; perhaps I've offended a formidable enemy."

Despite saying this, there was no trace of fear on his face. Because:

"This is fate~~"