The beauty of night was like black silk.
Stars were scattered across that mysterious, profound silk like pearls.
Upper Yard, the "Sky Island" in the first half of the Grand Line.
A castle built entirely from white clouds stood atop the Heaven-Piercing Vine.
The light shining through the windows from countless Lamp Dials made it look like a lighthouse in the sky.
This had originally been the location of God's Shrine, but it was now Boros's territory.
And this "Collapsing Star City" had only been completed recently.
At least, it had not been here when Ace and Yamato last came.
Meanwhile.
Though it was hardly necessary, the Meteor Tribe had still sent a hundred warriors to guard the place inside and out as a sign of respect.
Inside the castle's vast hall.
Kaido, shrunken down to three meters tall, sat cross-legged on an extremely luxurious blue-black carpet.
He held four flower cards with pitch-black backs in his left hand.
With his right hand, he slid a card from the stacked deck in the center, picked up the top flower card, and flipped it over.
The moment he saw its face, his pupils contracted sharply, and a delighted grin appeared on his fierce visage.
"Pine!"
"Worororo~, I got Pine!"
However, people did not share the same joys and sorrows.
Aramaki, seated to Kaido's right, immediately let out a wail at the sight.
"No way!"
He had a Pine card in his hand as well, the five-point Red-Ribbon Pine.
Aramaki had been waiting for his turn to play so he could happily claim the twenty-point Crane on Pine on the table.
Who would have thought that Kaido's luck would be so good? He had directly drawn the other Pine card.
Though it was only worth one point, together with the Crane on