After arriving beside the pigeon, Gawain followed the pigeon's gaze and looked at the Island Cloud that had been concealed in front of him.
Unsurprisingly, Hidden Cloud Village) is among them.
Honestly, at this point, Gawain felt a little compelled to complain.
What if two strange guys suddenly rush out in a moment?
Who knows, one of them might be humming a ghostly rap while pulling eight knives out of his pants!
The other one was covered in lightning armor and immediately unleashed a powerful attack!
After all, the village in front of us is called Hidden Cloud Village...
Thinking of this, Gawain couldn't help but chuckle softly.
This was his first time traveling alone in this world, and even he seemed much more relaxed.
He dares to think about interesting things that he wouldn't normally consider, since he doesn't need to worry about his image anymore.
Ultimately, however, it was just a thought; after all, that's just the kind of person he is.
No matter how relaxed he is, he can't possibly become immature or brainless.
So, after a moment of laughter, Gawain put away his thoughts of making sarcastic remarks and slowly walked towards the Hidden Cloud Village, hidden in the Island Cloud.
Just as Gawain was getting closer, inside the village...
A little girl suddenly became nervous!
She quickly ran out of the pile of clouds where she was playing and ran towards the Guerrilla who were patrolling not far away.
"Laki Laki, something's happened! A very dangerous guy has found our village!!!"
"What?"
Hearing the little girl's alarm call, female Guerrilla Laki nervously squatted down in front of the little girl.
"Aisa, has your Mantra sensed an enemy invasion? How many of them are there?!"
There's only one!
The little girl, known as Aisa, tried her best to describe it.
"He wasn't particularly tall, but he was incredibly fast; he appeared in my senses in a flash."
He appeared out of nowhere!
Although he was alone, he seemed terrifying; his aura was like that of a chieftain!
No, he gave me a much scarier feeling than the chief; it was the kind of fear that could instill terror without him even needing to get angry!
Upon hearing Elsa's words, Laki quickly nodded.
"I understand. I'll go find Wyper right now and tell him to get things ready. Then I'll go see the chief!"
The person you're talking about is probably related to that giant ship whose flag is a large bird!!!
As soon as she finished speaking, Laki wanted to leave, but before she could take a step, Aisa beside her suddenly froze.
Aisa, stunned, grabbed Laki's hand.
"Laki, no... we don't need to look for them anymore."
That person... he seems to have heard what I said, he's found me!
As soon as she finished speaking, Aisa nervously gripped Laki's hand, then looked towards the open space not far away.
As she and Laki stared in disbelief, a bolt of lightning, seemingly slow but actually arriving in an instant, struck Aisa's side.
To Aisa's disbelief, Gawain, who had materialized from lightning, placed his hand on Aisa's head.
Gently rubbing the head of the little girl who looked only five or six years old, Gawain squatted down and said to her with a smile.
"You heard me from far away, that's impressive, little girl."
"I'm Gawain, and what's your name?"
"Why?!!"
Hearing Gawain's incredibly gentle voice, Aisa was completely stunned. She stood there frozen for a full six or seven seconds, unable to utter a single word.
Seeing Aisa's adorable, neurotic expression, Gawain chuckled and smoothed her hair at her temples.
"Hey, I'm not that scary, am I? Or do you want some candy too?"
As he spoke, Gawain took out a piece of candy, gently tore open the wrapper, and stuffed it directly into Aisa's open mouth.
At the same time, a female soldier from the Shandia Guerrillas suddenly erupted.
"Damn it, what did you feed her?!"
The moment she finished speaking, the female warrior pointed her gun, which was equipped with Flame Dial shell, at Gawain's head.
While aiming at Gawain, the female warrior shouted at Aisa.
"Spit it out quickly, it might be some kind of poison!"
"But... even if it's poison, it's so sweet..."
Aisa was almost moved to tears. Having lived with her tribe in Hidden Cloud Village for so long, and always struggling to make ends meet, when had she ever eaten dessert before?
It's a dessert specially supplied to Celestial Dragon' level!
And just like that, the little girl's eyes instantly filled with tears; she was actually moved to tears by the sweetness...
Seeing the little girl's tears, Gawain raised his hand and gently wiped away the drops.
Then, while ruffling the little girl's hair, he spoke to the female soldier.
"If I remember correctly, your name is Laki, right? Although you are just a warrior, you may not know much about etiquette."
But no matter what, I came here with a smile, so even if you don't give me a smile, you could at least move the gun away a little, right?"
At this point, Gawain reached out and grabbed Laki's gun. Before Laki could react, he actually tapped her finger, which was on the trigger, with Laki index finger.
Bang!
With a muffled thud, the Flame Dial, imbued with heat energy, struck Gawain squarely in the Gawain, but it passed right through Gawain body, leaving only a small, Inazuma mark on his head.
"Put down your gun, girl, I mean you no harm."
Since you've been shouting and yelling, and now you've opened fire, wait a moment, the person who can make decisions for your entire tribe should be here soon.
So just wait a moment, don't make a fuss."
At this point, Gawain nodded slightly to the female warrior Laki, then released Aisa's head and reached into his pocket to pull out a handful of candy and snacks.
Here, this is for you, to celebrate our meeting.
You're amazing, little girl! Your innate Observation Haki is truly extraordinary!
As he spoke, Gawain stuffed the snacks into Aisa's arms.
Beside her, looking at the colorful candies and snacks in her arms, Aisa nervously pursed her lips repeatedly. No matter how much she didn't want to show her fear, she couldn't help but lick the candy in her mouth.
This candy is so sweet...
Seeing that Aisa had stopped crying and instead showed a hint of joy, Gawain nodded in satisfaction, then simply sat down on the cloud next to him.
Seeing Gawain sit down, Aisa finally couldn't resist. She ate her candy while speaking to Gawain.
"Gawain, I'm Aisa, a reserve female soldier in the Guerrilla!"
"Hey, are you a soldier too?"
Upon hearing this, Gawain patted Aisa on the head.
"Sending children to be soldiers would make me look down on your Guerrilla. No matter how terrible the situation, children should not be sacrificed before adults!"
"No!"
Hearing Gawain's words, Laki felt inexplicably ashamed and quickly shook her head.
"Aisa is just a child. How could we let her fight? Even if she has a natural Mantra, we never take her out to scout!"
You are not allowed to slander the reputation of our Guerrilla!
"But isn't pointing a gun at unarmed guests exactly what Guerrilla are doing?"
Does this fact even need me to slander it?
As soon as Laki finished speaking, Gawain chuckled and teased her, and a moment later, Laki quickly put the gun away.
Seeing Aisa's action, Gawain smiled mischievously, then reached out his hand to Laki.
"Hello, I'm Gawain, it's nice to meet you."
"Why?!!"
Laki was stunned. This... this is...?
In her confusion, Laki unconsciously grasped Gawain's hand.
"Laki... it's me, Laki..."
She murmured something.
After introducing herself, Laki quickly withdrew her hand; for some reason, she felt a strong urge to laugh.
It's not mockery, nor is it finding it funny.
It's not just about feeling genuinely happy; it's a sense of happiness that comes from being respected or recognized.
At the same time, Gawain reached behind him and pulled out a small pot of flowers.
"Before I came, I guessed who I would meet, so I prepared a small gift for each of you."
Aisa's gift was candy, but Laki, you're not a child anymore, so I'll give you a pot of soil and flowers instead.
After all, you all love soil, right?
As he spoke, Gawain forcefully shoved the flowerpot into Laki's arms.
Meanwhile, he looked at the soil in his arms and the flowers growing in the soil.
Laki not only put the pistol back on her waist, but her cheeks also turned red.
"This... this is too precious. No, I mean, why am I getting a gift too?"
"What, can't Guerrilla fighters accept gifts? I can see you really like it."
And not just you, but everyone in your entire tribe, I have prepared a small gift for you.
So please accept it, don't feel pressured."
Gawain gently persuaded Laki, and his words made Laki blush and hug the flowerpot to her chest.
At the same time, people who heard the gunshots gathered around, and led by a group of soldiers, the people who were initially filled with righteous indignation prepared for war.
But when they arrived, they found there was only one enemy, and judging from Laki and Aisa's expressions, it didn't seem like an enemy at all...
Upon seeing this, the leading warrior frowned and rushed to Laki's side.
As he aimed his Flame Cannon at Gawain, he asked Laki.
"Who is this person? Is he an outsider from that big ship? Why do you know him?"
And you, outsider, get out of our territory!
"I'll spare your life since you're not one of those Skypieans. Now get out of here!!!"
Hearing the soldier's words, Gawain smiled and nodded slightly.
"I'll forgive your harsh words since you didn't intend to kill me outright."
However, you're not qualified to make me leave.
Where is your chief?
"You!"
Upon hearing this, the great warrior was about to attack, but just before he erupted in fury, Laki quickly pulled him back.
Laki introduced herself to Gawain first.
"Gawain, this is Wyper, our tribe's chief warrior, but he means us no harm!"
At this point, Laki spoke to Wyper, and also to the rest of her tribe.
"Wyper, and everyone else, this is Gawain from that big ship. He's not from the Skypieans, he's not our enemy!"
"You think you can just say it's not true? Laki, are you crazy?!"
Even if that guy isn't from Skypieans, his flag has already been planted on Sky Island!
"Look at the pattern on his clothes, this guy must be the new god of Sky Island!"
Wyper loudly refuted Laki's claim, and then, under his command, the Shandia Guerrillas fighters all pointed their weapons at Gawain.
Seeing this, Laki hugged the flowerpot in her arms tightly, and shouted to Wyper.
"But he really came alone, and he didn't draw his weapon against us!"
He even brought us gifts!
We are facing someone who shows us goodwill, and who is not our enemy of the past four hundred years.
Are we supposed to respond to his kindness in this way?!
Even after four hundred years of continuous fighting, shouldn't we remember the passionate traditions of Shandia?
At this point, Laki looked stubbornly at Wyper, her words causing the surrounding Guerrilla to hesitate.
Wyper is right; this guy is indeed an outsider, and his flag has indeed been planted on the Sky Island.
But what Laki said made sense; the outsider had a smile on his face, and he even brought gifts.
Wait, a gift...?
What gift???
A group of Guerrilla, especially the tribespeople who joined them later, couldn't help but look towards Aisa and Laki's arms.
At that moment, people immediately noticed the snacks in Aisa's arms and the flowers in Laki's arms.
So, this is the gift...
For a moment, the eyes of the tribespeople looking at Gawain were filled with one word.
You're really something!
While the tribespeople were lost in thought, the chief of the Shandia Tribe finally came over. As he walked through the crowd and saw the standoff between Gawain and the Guerrilla, he realized that...
The old chief immediately raised his right hand.
"To raise our weapons against a single guest while fully armed makes us seem cowardly, doesn't it?"
The old chief spoke heavily.
"Put down your weapons!"
Upon hearing this, Wyper and the others finally laid down their weapons.
At the same time, the old chief also came to Gawain.
"Esteemed guest, I am Chief Empad of the Shandia Tribe. May Empad ask who you are...?"
"Gawain, the captain of that big ship."
Gawain smiled and said to Chief Empad.
Upon hearing this, the chief was slightly taken aback, and he couldn't help but rub his little dinosaur feather hat.
"You are the captain of that great ship, therefore, you are the new god of the Sky Island?"
"You're too kind, Chief. Since you've already investigated these past few days, you should know that there are no more gods on the Sky Island!"
Gawain reminded him.
Upon hearing this, Empad shook his head noncommittally.
"So what if there's no god? You're the highest-ranking person on Sky Island. Even Gan Fall is now just working for you!"
"In that case, whether you are a god or not, it doesn't change the fact that you hold the highest position!"
"No, no, no, there are still many differences!"
In response to Empad's words, Gawain spoke with a slightly serious tone.
Whether someone is a god or not is indeed unimportant to the ruler.
But for a healthy nation, it is very important that the ruler is not a god!
I am indeed the current ruler of Sky Island, but I do not believe that everything people possess belongs to me. Perhaps that is the difference between me and a god."
At this point, Gawain stood up and gently shook hands with Chief Empad.
After the two let go of each other, Gawain laughed heartily.
"In short, now that I've met you in person, I'll explain my purpose as soon as possible."
After all, I have a lot of things to do, and I just can't stop exercising for a moment.
The reason I came here is simply to tell you one thing: the era of the Sky Island gods is over.
Whether it be Gan Fall, Enel, or the history of countless so-called gods in the past, all vanished the moment I arrived.
I am well aware of the historical conflicts between you and the Skypieans, but I'm sorry, they are now all my subjects.
Therefore, I will not allow you to continue looting or intimidating them, just as I will not allow them to continue to be hostile and look down on you!
Anyway, haha, I've prepared a gift for you all, and I think you'll like it.
Do you know what that gift was called?
It's called... Hometown!