Lu Zhuo lightly wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a smile, "This really is a wonderful place. Let's treat it like a vacation and enjoy ourselves for a month before heading to the White-White Sea."
That was what he said, but in truth, Lu Zhuo's goal was to train his body.
Although Lu Zhuo was a swordsman with a formidable physique, in terms of physical strength alone, he was no match for even a Navy vice admiral.
Moreover, the powerful techniques he had created consumed enormous amounts of stamina, so he couldn't use them often.
Nami and Robin had no objections to what Lu Zhuo said.
The scenery here was so lovely that taking a vacation and relaxing would naturally make for a very pleasant time.
A month later, Lu Zhuo stood at the bow of the Holy Sword, swinging Kitetsu.
It was only a gentle downward swing, but whenever the sword fell, it sent tremors through the White Sea below, carving a hundred-meter-long fissure across its surface.
Looking at the fissure, Lu Zhuo let out a breath, returned his sword to its sheath, and sighed softly.
After all, this was the White Sea. On land, in the real Blue Sea, he would probably have to put all his strength into a single slash just to carve a trench a hundred meters long.
In the original story, Hawk-Eye, the World's Greatest Swordsman, could casually swing his sword and unleash a massive slash hundreds of meters long. The gap in strength between them was still enormous.
But he should be able to catch up soon. Lu Zhuo's eyes filled with confidence, and then he called out to Nami and Robin, who were lazily sunbathing.
"It's about time. Set sail! Our destination is the White-White Sea!"
Robin put down the newspaper in her hands and stood up with a chuckle.
"So you're finally going to keep your promise? I can hardly wait to see the Poneglyph on Skypiea."
Nami jumped to her feet, too. After a month, she'd grown tired of everything the White Sea had to offer. Lu Zhuo had told her about the sights on the White-White Sea, and she was eager to see them. Especially those vehicles that could move without sails... the Wavers held a great deal of appeal for Nami.
The ship sailed across the White Sea, gradually approaching a waterfall made of clouds in the distance.
"Gate of Heaven. Hehehe, does that mean heaven lies beyond it?"
Robin chuckled as she looked at the enormous gate ahead, which was slowly coming into view.
Although Lu Zhuo had already given them a general introduction, satisfying much of their curiosity, they wouldn't be content until they saw it with their own eyes.
Just then, Lu Zhuo turned around at the bow and smiled at Nami and Robin. "People in Skypiea have a deep reverence for gods. It'd be easier to get things done if we had a proper identity."
"Hmm?" Nami tilted her head and asked, puzzled, "What kind of identity?"
Lu Zhuo reached out and lightly flicked her on the forehead, making her lash out in protest and drawing a chuckle from Robin.
"Since there's someone here called Enel who claims to be the Thunder God, I'll call myself the Sword God. Having a god's status should make things easier."
At his words, Nami's face was covered in dark lines, while Robin continued to chuckle as before. Lu Zhuo gritted his teeth, almost wishing he could grab her and spank her right then and there!
As they spoke, the Holy Sword had already reached the base of the Gate of Heaven. An old woman slowly emerged, holding a camera and snapping pictures of them furiously.
"I'm Amazon, the monitoring official at the Gate of Heaven. Are you here to sightsee or to wage war?" The old woman Amazon had a gloomy expression, which irritated Lu Zhuo.
"To enter heaven, you need to pay one billion Extol. Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't pay."
Lu Zhuo gave her a cold look and snorted. "You dare charge a god? I'll punish you in the name of the divine!"
Hearing Lu Zhuo's words, Amazon's eyes widened instantly, her wrinkles bunching together. She was just about to scold him when Lu Zhuo gripped the sword at his waist with both hands and drew it with a vicious pull.
A huge sword beam streaked across the sky. Lu Zhuo remained expressionless as he slowly returned the sword to its sheath.
Seeing this, Amazon scolded him. "Blue Sea person, how dare you call yourself a god? Disrespecting the gods will bring down divine... What?!"
At that, her words abruptly caught in her throat, and her face filled with utter horror.
The entire upper section of the Gate of Heaven had collapsed! The cut was incredibly clean, as if it had been sliced through by a blade.
"How is this possible? How could a sword cut through the Gate of Heaven?" Staring at the fallen gate, Amazon looked at Lu Zhuo as if she were seeing a ghost. Her wrinkled old face was filled with terror.
Nami and Robin weren't surprised at all. They had witnessed Lu Zhuo's incredible destructive power countless times already.
"Are you going to send this god to Skypiea or not? I am the Sword God, and I'm going to meet that fellow on Skypiea who calls himself the Thunder God!" Lu Zhuo snorted at the stunned Amazon, bringing her back to her senses.
Amazon hurriedly bowed her head, not daring to look at Lu Zhuo again. She immediately summoned the Express Shrimp, which carried Lu Zhuo's ship rapidly along the upward-moving cloud road.
Only after Lu Zhuo and the others had gone far away did Amazon finally breathe a sigh of relief. She quickly reported what had just happened to the god and his priests. Someone had destroyed the Gate of Heaven for the first time. That would probably be considered a first-degree offense.
But that terrifying power... He'd destroyed the Gate of Heaven with a single sword strike. And that Blue Sea person had called himself... the Sword God?!
She didn't dare think about it any further. After finishing her report, she returned to her vacant expression and stared helplessly at the collapsed Gate of Heaven.
"Oh? They destroyed the Gate of Heaven? Then let them undergo the Divine Trial."
At that moment, in the holy land of Upper Yard, Enel was utterly calm as he listened to the news. Reaching the endless land was what mattered most to him; everything else was trivial. They could simply be executed.
The four priests received the order, each wearing a cruel grin.
It had been a long time since any Blue Sea people had come up here. Their trials were practically famished for new victims.
The Express Shrimp was incredibly fast. In less than ten minutes, the Holy Sword had traveled from the White Sea, seven thousand meters above the ground, to the White-White Sea, ten thousand meters above the ground.
The scenery here was completely different from the White Sea. The White Sea was a vast, uninhabited expanse of water, but the White-White Sea had many islands, all floating atop the Sea Clouds as Island Clouds.
As they neared Angel Island, they could see countless houses made of white clouds at a glance, along with streets of clouds. Even some of the strange fruits and flowers were things that had never been heard of or seen in the seas below.
"So this is the White-White Sea? It really is a place with a long history. It seems there really could be a Poneglyph here, just as you said." Robin brushed back her hair as she looked at the scenery around her and smiled.
Hearing that, Lu Zhuo's eyes widened. In a flash, he was in front of Robin and smacked her hard on the butt.
"You little rascal. You never believed me, did you? I know everything—I'm an all-knowing god! If you dare disrespect a god, you'd better be ready to face the consequences."
"Hehehe." Robin blushed, but she wasn't embarrassed or annoyed. Instead, she smiled sweetly and grabbed Lu Zhuo's mischievous hand before leaping down.
Seeing this, Lu Zhuo shouted, "Don't run! This god is going to punish you!"
At that moment, Lu Zhuo didn't look like a god at all. He was more like a street thug.
With that, he jumped down after her.
Nami watched the scene with a smile and jumped off the ship as well. After spending so much time together, she and Robin had become close friends. Although she still felt a little heartache, she understood just how dazzling and outstanding Lu Zhuo was now.
She knew it would be hard to win the heart of a man like him. She only hoped that he would keep a place for her in his heart. That alone would be enough for her.
Before you continue