Above the Clouds

Above the White Sea.

The slightly tense standoff continued... but Reg was growing more confident by the moment.

Good thing they weren't hotheads... If he had run into someone who saw their companion captured and came screaming to fight him to the death, that would have been a real headache.

"Take me to where you live."

Reg casually released Gar and leaped backward onto the ship... he had already shown plenty of sincerity.

Those two had gone for lethal blows from the start, while he had held back at every turn... they should have been able to see that.

"My name is Gada." The cannon warrior finally gave his name.

Gada then caught his companion and supported Gar... the outcome of the fight was already obvious: they had been utterly defeated.

This guy called "Mont Blanc Reg"... clearly possessed some mysterious power. Even without seeing them, he could sense their movements.

"I'll take you to the village... I hope what you said is true. Otherwise, the others in the village won't let you off."

That was what Gada said... Reg was strong, but not so strong that the village could not handle him. Otherwise, even if it meant death, he would never have brought him there.

"Fine... I also want to know why you ended up in the sky after coming from Jaya Island." Reg began taking down the sails again... the first step had been accomplished.

Next, he just needed to give an impromptu speech at the Shandian village, Hidden Cloud Village, earn their trust, and then see what to do next.

A few minutes later, Reg had hung up the new sailcloth... and Gar had woken up as well.

After the two spoke quietly for a few moments, they said no more... it was better to leave the matter of his identity to the chief.

"All right..."

"Two ropes... we'll pull you over." Gada, who had been handling the conversation, held out his hand.

Reg nodded and began preparing the ropes... this was for the best. It would save quite a bit of time.

Puff, puff... A few minutes later, pulled along by the two men, the Empty Number sped through the White Sea.

Reg glanced at the Log Pose... it was at a slight angle from the direction of Messenger Island, roughly northeast.

That was only natural... after all, the Shandians often raided and attacked Upper Yard in order to reclaim that one patch of land in the sky, which had been taken from them centuries ago.

Sky Island was a general term for all sky islands... just as they called the world below the Blue Sea.

There was no need for the Shandians to explain for Reg to understand the difference between the White Sea and the White-White Sea.

Not only were they separated by 000 meters in altitude, but they even used different names for the clouds.

The clouds in the White Sea were called Sea Clouds.

Meanwhile, in the White-White Sea ten thousand meters above the ground, clouds that people could walk on were called Island Clouds.

As the name implied... Sea Clouds were a "sea" that carried ships, just like the ocean.

Island Clouds, on the other hand, were the primary "land" forming islands... the portion of Jaya Island blasted into the sky had landed near Messenger Island and was treasured by the residents there as though it were priceless, revered as Upper Yard. After all, before that, there had been neither minerals nor soil on the sky islands.

The current god was not Enel, but Gan Fall... he had once said that land was the eternal yearning of the people of Sky Island.

Even Enel, for some reason, had been misled into longing for the so-called "Endless Vearth," which was the moon. He had even built the Ark Maxim, an enormous golden ship, because of it.

"Is the moon's land area bigger than the land below..."

Reg rubbed his chin as he thought... in the memories of his previous life, Earth's surface area had been roughly fourteen times that of the moon.

And land accounted for nearly 0% of that... meaning it was equivalent to roughly forty-seven times the moon's land area.

"This world..."

Reg lowered his head, his gaze turning subtle... the sea here was far too vast and there was too little land. Perhaps there really was less land here than on the moon.

Thump, thump, thump... his heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

Reg looked up and saw another hidden path atop the White Sea... it was quite wondrous, concealed within clusters of sky clouds connected to the White Sea.

Unless one actually entered it, it was impossible to notice... this faintly transparent, spiraling passage that resembled a slide. Something like this had probably been made using Cloud Dials.

Splash, splash... the Shandian warriors dragging the ship slowed down.

"Huff... huff..."

After taking two deep breaths, Reg suppressed the discomfort caused by the ascent and lightly jumped to the rear of the ship... the path beneath his feet felt remarkably solid.

"It's fine if you step hard," Gada's voice drifted over from ahead.

"Mm."

Reg nodded. Without showing off, he honestly helped the two shoulder part of the burden... chirp, chirp!

The two South Birds let out delighted cries... Reg understood that they were smug about him becoming a laborer too.

But Reg could not be bothered with those two dumb birds... if you didn't smack them, they would start tearing the roof tiles off. What chance was there of changing that arrogant attitude?

Once Reg got moving, his body adapted even faster... visibility around them gradually shrank from several dozen meters, then smaller and smaller, until only a pitiful few meters remained.

Reg expanded his Observation Haki but did not sense any threats higher up... which made sense. How could something used as a concealed passage be fraught with danger?

As Reg pushed the ship forward, the wings extending upward from the backs of the two warriors reflected in his eyes... though they connected to their bodies without the slightest sense of incongruity, they did not resemble living things at all. They merely swayed in the wind created by their running.

"They look more like decorations..."

Reg recalled Nami's confusion when she arrived on Sky Island... Then why did the Shandians, who had originally lived in the Blue Sea, have the same "ornaments" as the people of Sky Island?

Perhaps the two shared the same ancestors? Or... As Reg's thoughts began to wander, he thought of the four priests Enel had brought from his hometown, Birka.

Enel himself had no wings, yet four thunder drums were embedded in his back... The priests, on the other hand, had wings, except the tips of their wing feathers pointed downward.

What was the difference between pointing up and pointing down... Or was it simply to distinguish them from the residents of Messenger Island?

"Forget it... I should focus on what's in front of me first."

Reg shook his head slightly, pulling his thoughts back... No matter what, he would soon see it with his own eyes.

"We're here."

At Gada's voice, Reg raised his head... The visibility around them was nearly zero.

But the next moment, as Reg followed the ship out of the passage, his eyes lit up... Just when it seemed there was no way forward, a new village appeared beyond the shade of the willows.

The first thing that appeared before Reg was blue... The second was a tall, upright totem pole carved with intricate patterns.

Above the pillar sat a large black cauldron... Fierce flames blazed within it.

Looking around... In the distance, tents decorated with colorful patterns were scattered in an orderly fashion. The Shandians walking across the clouds turned their gazes toward them at the sound of the ship's arrival.

There were men and women, old and young... Yet without exception, the looks they gave Reg were filled with confusion, indifference, displeasure, and hostility. Not a trace of goodwill toward outsiders could be felt.