After months of painstaking cultivation, it felt as though they were still standing in the same place.
That was the Straw Hat Pirates' genuine feeling when they saw Maud again.
The distance had not shortened. Instead, it had grown even greater.
Most ordinary people would have grown dispirited, but the Straw Hat Pirates not only refused to lose heart—they pushed themselves even harder.
Maud returned the Black Pouch to Usopp.
Destroying most of a mountainside with a single stone had relied on more than just the high-output Armament Haki. It had also relied on the Sky Island Shell Usopp had installed on the Black Pouch.
Maud, having just tested the Black Pouch, understood this deeply.
"A Sky Island Shell... It's clearly such a useful tool, yet it has so little presence. Is that because its 'production' is too limited?"
After deciding to transform Thriller Bark into the Sky Fortress, Maud had already planned to make a trip to the Sky Island.
He was not merely going there for the gold. He also wanted to collect as many Sky Island Shells with different functions as possible.
Now that Maud had personally experienced the value contained in Sky Island Shells, his resolve to visit the Sky Island had only grown stronger.
He did not understand why the major powers of this world had not acquired Sky Island Shells. In any case, he was determined to get his hands on them.
If conditions allowed, he even wanted to mass-produce Sky Island Shells.
If they could not be mass-produced, then he would obtain the entire stockpile.
"Master, Master..."
Usopp's soft calls from the side interrupted Maud's thoughts.
"What is it?"
Maud looked toward Usopp with a faint smile on his face.
Usopp twisted his fingers and said awkwardly, "About the Black Pouch's subsequent modifications...