Aboard the Yomi.
Captain Brook, fighter Redfield, sniper Silvers, navigator Shakky, shipwright Tom, intelligence officer Antonio, pets Memory Seahorse and Wuzhu, their mount Qilin Lion, and the Island Whale Laboon towing their ship.
They sat together, celebrating the excitement of setting sail. From then on, they would be companions who shared life and death.
"Captain Brook, we're really heading for the New World this time, aren't we? Almost all of this year's Supernovas have reached the Sabaody Archipelago, and powerful figures like Golden Lion have been adventuring in the New World for ages."
Shakky could hardly wait to see just how terrifying the legendary New World, said to be so dangerous, really was!
"Without strength, going into the New World is just asking to get eaten alive. So everyone needs to master Haki and the Six Powers. Our target this time is Jaya Island, home to the legendary Golden City.
"Moore Thomas has already moved the World Economic News Agency's headquarters there. We're going to conquer Sky Island and establish a base of our own."
"Captain, does the legendary Sky Island really exist? Could you have been tricked?"
Silvers had never believed in the legend either. After all, he had heard plenty of stories about the big-talking Noland.
"The other half of Jaya Island, the Golden City of Shandora, really exists. Three or four hundred years ago, a gigantic Knock-Up Stream sent it soaring to Sky Island. And it's true that there's a great deal of gold up there!"
Brook spoke earnestly to his crew, his serious expression making it clear he wasn't pulling their leg.
"Then we're going to be rich! This is the great treasure of the Golden City?"
Shakky exclaimed excitedly, as if she could already see herself decked out in gold and jewels, the richest woman in the world.
"We'll definitely make a fortune. I'm going to bring the World Economic News Agency under my control and move it to Sky Island. There might even be shipbuilding technology up there. I just don't know whether that Devil Fruit is on Sky Island."
Brook wasn't sure if the Rumble-Rumble Fruit had respawned on Birka Island. If it hadn't, could they use a large number of Breath Dials and Thunder Dials to achieve short-term flight?
It was also time to let Tom take a look at the blueprints for the Ancient Weapon Pluton. Brook wondered if he could use them to build a propulsion device like the Wind Roar Cannon.
"Captain, what Devil Fruit are you so interested in? The Rumble-Rumble Fruit you mentioned once?" Shakky asked curiously.
"That's right. The strongest Logia Devil Fruit, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Its lightning can make a specially designed ship fly. If we really find it, who would you want to eat it?"
Everyone fell silent. This was a legendary Devil Fruit, after all. Who wouldn't want it?
Fish-Man Tom and Crocus said they had no desire whatsoever to become unable to swim, so they wouldn't consider eating a Devil Fruit. Silvers thought that if he did eat one, he'd only want one useful for sniping.
To be honest, Redfield had great confidence in his strength and talent. He didn't want to leave himself with the fatal weakness of fearing the sea, either, and had never considered eating a Devil Fruit. But now that Brook had mentioned the strongest Logia, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he did feel a little tempted.
As for Shakky, of course she wanted it more than anything. She was just as captivated by that Devil Fruit!
"Haha, we don't even know if we'll find it, so don't fret over it yet. There'll be Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits that can fly in the future, too. You'll all have a chance!"
That filled everyone with anticipation for the future. Redfield silently berated himself, too. My resolve still isn't strong enough!
Even without a Devil Fruit, I'll still reach the very top of the world!
"True enough. We don't even know if we can get up to Sky Island, Captain," Shakky said after thinking it over. Even if they knew the Golden City was on Sky Island, how were they supposed to fly up there?
Brook had indeed taken it for granted. It seemed he really didn't have a safe way to reach Sky Island. Were they supposed to ride a Knock-Up Stream up there, like Roger and Luffy?
Did they really have the same powerful good fortune protecting them as Roger and Luffy? One wrong move, and their ship could be destroyed and everyone killed!
"That's a serious problem we'll have to face. The Knock-Up Stream is too dangerous, and Golden Lion Shiki, the Float-Float Fruit user, isn't one of our people!"
Brook sighed, suddenly realizing how tricky it was. He wondered if Moore Thomas's seagulls could fly up to Sky Island.
Based on what Brook had learned from edited videos in his previous life, only one kind of bird on Earth could fly ten thousand meters above sea level: the black-and-white vulture, which could reach a maximum height of 11,000 meters. Its body had a certain kind of hemoglobin that let it use the scarce oxygen at high altitudes to keep flying normally.
Brook wondered whether the people living on Sky Island had evolved this special hemoglobin, too. Otherwise, how could they survive at an altitude of ten thousand meters? Or could Sky Island produce its own oxygen?
Several other kinds of birds could fly above 7,000 meters, including the great swan, Himalayan griffon, bar-headed goose, yellow-billed chough, and bearded vulture. The White Sea around Sky Island was 7,000 meters high, while the White White Sea was at 10,000 meters.
Oxygen was a major factor limiting how high birds could fly. Even if they struggled to reach such heights, they might die from lack of oxygen. If they could solve the oxygen problem, would that mean seagulls could fly up to the White Sea at 7,000 meters?
Could they equip the seagulls with oxygen masks? The seagulls working for the World Economic News Agency could even carry its entire headquarters away. They were incredibly strong and capable fliers, able to travel throughout the Four Blues delivering newspapers.
At that thought, Brook hurriedly called Moore Thomas, who was already on Jaya Island, to ask how high the News Coo could fly and how much it could carry.
He also asked Moore to prepare oxygen and other supplies. Oxygen production existed in the world of One Piece; the Jaya Island salvage crew and the oxygen tanks used to treat Whitebeard's illness were proof of that.
That meant they might be able to solve the problem of flying up to Sky Island.
On Jaya Island, Moore Thomas had moved the World Economic News Agency's headquarters there under the protection of his own guards, avoiding the pressure imposed by the World Government's World Peace Dove News Agency.
Without the threats posed by the pirates on the Sabaody Archipelago, they were safer here. The pirates in Jaya Island's pirate town were weaker, and Brook had said he'd soon arrive on Jaya Island and find the legendary Sky Island.
"Equip the seagulls with oxygen masks?"
He didn't understand why, but he could only follow Brook's instructions. At this point, he had tied his family to Brook's fortunes.
His family's secret method for raising News Coo had attracted plenty of envious eyes. Based on his family's experience, it was time to have Morgans eat a Bird-type Devil Fruit, then raise him from a young age to form a bond with him and make him the new king of the News Coo.
Guided by the Eternal Pose for Jaya Island, Brook's Hell Pirates sailed straight there aboard the Yomi without stopping along the way.
Provided by Great God Great Karma Fire, author of One Piece: Hell Brook.
Before you continue