Sig and Shanks, aboard a speedboat powered by Wind Dial, headed towards the Island Cloud where Beckman and Ritasha were...
The two also studied the "tax payment Record" on the way.
People from the Blue Sea rarely come to Sky Island. Although Blue Sea is vast and there are many ways to reach the Accumulating Emperor Cloud, and there are countless adventurous teams, the difficulty of reaching Sky Island itself and the test of "luck" sometimes mean that not a single boat from the Blue Sea comes for a whole month.
Of course, when the platform is frequently accessed, it's not surprising that ships might enter every day.
Furthermore, the time it took for "Yunlai at the Sky Island is actually inaccurate— Ritasha's Mom didn't know how long he had been on the Sky Island when she rescued him.
Furthermore, Yunlai's hands were bound at the time, suggesting he was being held captive. He later escaped, but in his panic, he fell into the White Sea...
Therefore, the time frame is very broad, with ships from six months to a year being suspects. Shanks and Sig also found quite a few "tax payment Record".
However, it was easy to spot the most conspicuous one among them— the John Pirates!
Like the Giant Axe Pirates that Sig knows well, this is a top-tier pirate crew, and... it seems to be their own crew?
"Huh? The John Pirates had already set sail by then..." Shanks remarked.
"Huh? Isn't John a member of the Rocks Pirates?" Sig was puzzled. Why did Shanks look like he had only set sail seven or eight years ago?
"No, it's true that Captain John was a contemporary of Captain Roger, but... eighteen years ago, John 'disappeared' for a long time, only to reappear ten years later," Shanks explained.
Sig really didn't know about this old story...
Seeing that Sig was interested, Shanks said a few more words, "It's that Uncle Garp! Eighteen years ago, eight years after the Battle of God Valley, it was rumored that Captain John was going to join forces with the Flower Country to completely dominate the West Blue, but the news was leaked."
So Uncle Garp, along with the current Sengoku Admiral, attacked the meeting place of the two sides. After the battle, Captain John disappeared... It was rumored at the time that he was killed by Sengoku. The pillar of the Eight Treasure Navy, Chinjao, was also seriously injured and went into seclusion.
It wasn't until ten years later, about seven or eight years ago, that Captain John reappeared in the New World, and everyone realized that he had only been recuperating from his injuries...
Although they had been missing for ten years and the John Pirates had long been destroyed, the legendary status of these Great Pirate quickly attracted many skilled followers, allowing them to once again rise to the ranks of the dominant forces.
Sig then understood the reason—no wonder Shanks said that Captain John had "just set sail" at that time, he must have meant "just set sail again".
This made Sig even more suspicious of John's pirate crew.
If "Yunlai" is truly a super expert, then considering the possibility of causing him to lose his memory, Captain John perfectly fits the bill.
Back on the Island Cloud, after meeting Ritasha, Beckman told Shanks and Sig about their discovery.
"Huh? The West Blue? The Eight Treasure Navy?" Shanks was taken aback upon hearing this.
"In that case, the John Pirates are even more suspicious!" Sig said confidently.
"No, because the alliance meeting eighteen years ago was disrupted by the navy, and both sides suffered heavy losses. John and the Eight Treasure Navy should not have had any contact afterward," Shanks reminded.
"John?" Beckman was puzzled. What did John have to do with this?
Shanks then handed him the tax payment Record...
After looking around, Beckman had another thought, "This... is a ship of the Flower Country's Second Treasure Marine! They've been here before!"
"After all, the High-Speed Sky Road is in the West Blue. Half of the ships that usually come to Sky Island are from the West Blue, and as a major Flower Country in the West Blue, half of the visitors from the West Blue are related to the Flower Country."
Sig, on the contrary, felt that it was normal for ships from the Flower Country to come to Sky Island; the John Pirates were the ones that were more conspicuous.
Of course, what Beckman didn't know was that Sig had another reference point— Ritasha's innate superhuman strength and Aisha's terrifying Observation Haki aptitude, which led him to conclude that "Yunlai" was probably not an ordinary person.
As for the Second Treasure Marine, although the pillars of the fleet are probably at the level of a naval Rear Admiral, they are no match for the pillars of the Eight Treasure Navy.
"Anyway... does the John Pirates, the Flower Country, or Wano Country have any connection or recent contact with it?" Shanks asked, looking at Gennosuke.
Gennosuke shrugged and said, "Never heard of it. Given how isolated Wano Country is, there probably wouldn't be any contact, right?"
Gennosuke wasn't entirely sure either, and he hadn't been in a very high Gennosuke these past two days.
I don't know if it was because I was thinking about what happened in Wano Country, or because I was convinced that Yunlai was a member of the Kurozumi clan!
Sig then held up a newspaper and said, "Wait, look, besides the news about the Eight Treasure Navy, there are several other newspapers here with news about Captain John, which have clearly been read many times!"
Ritasha was overjoyed to see that the Red-Hair Pirates had analyzed so many possibilities. Then, she was so moved that her lips parted in a small smile, and she looked like she was about to cry.
Shanks noticed this, patted her head, and said, "Don't worry! We'll definitely find your father!"
Although there are slight differences in speculation, whether the clues lead to Wano Country, the Eight Treasure Navy, or Captain John... the priority now is to find the Crying Pirates —if nothing unexpected happens, Yunlai probably hitched a ride with them to leave.
Shanks has achieved his goal of coming to Sky Island; now he needs to help Ritasha find her father.
The Crying Pirates are a rising rookie pirate crew; their Captain already has a bounty of over 100 million and has become Supernovas.
Furthermore, although they left the Sky Island via High-Speed Sky Road six months ago, another newspaper reported that they escaped during an annihilation operation led by a Rear Admiral two weeks prior.
Judging from their location, they seem to be preparing to head to the Sabaody Archipelago and venture into the New World.
Therefore, Shanks bought a balloon octopus directly on Angel Island, preparing to "land" in the Grand Line.
Griffin's previous "incident" left Shanks with a lingering trauma, so he specially prepared a balloon octopus to help him recover...
The next day, the Red-Hair Pirates prepared to leave Sky Island.
"I... take me with me! I'm very strong, I can help!" Ritasha said, gesturing a strong pose.
"No, Ritasha can indeed help, but right now it's your sister who needs Ritasha!" Shanks reminded her.
Ritasha calmed down when Shanks mentioned her sister Aisha.
"Take good care of your sister, and also... figure out how to scold your runaway Old Man!"