Thunderous Records at the Rogue Town Weather Observatory

Su Hang stored the challenge letter in the captain's cabin, and Dawnbringer turned toward Rogue Town.

Twenty-one new cables, pressure-resistant canvas, and the stable conductive materials needed for the Sky Island Record Shell could all be procured at once only in the largest port in the East Blue.

The moment the ship entered the outer harbor, three Marine patrol boats sealed off the channel.

White smoke spread from the docks.

Smoker rode a stream of smoke onto the pier, his Jitte resting across his shoulder. His gaze swept over the wooden plaque at the bow before settling on the bounty poster at Su Hang's waist.

"Pirate Su Hang. Thirty million Beli."

Su Hang stood before the gangplank.

"Sharp eyes."

"Rogue Town does not welcome wanted criminals. Lower your sails, seal the holds, and everyone will submit to inspection."

Qi Hai stepped half a pace forward.

"You may inspect the cargo. Detaining people requires a formal order."

Smoker clenched two cigars between his teeth.

"The bounty poster is the order."

"A bounty poster permits arrest. It does not authorize the detention of accompanying crew members with no bounties."

Su Hang tossed over a document tube.

"Read it before you make a move."

Smoker caught the tube but did not open it.

"You think a few sheets of paper can buy you entry into port?"

"You do not have to read them."

Su Hang pointed toward the outer harbor.

"If Dawnbringer turns around now, every merchant ship in Rogue Town will know by nightfall that the Marines refused to inspect medical escort records and chose to arrest people based solely on a bounty poster full of holes."

"Threatening me?"

"Reminding you that if you act, you should leave yourself a reason."

The smoke abruptly sank lower.

The Seastone-tipped end of the Jitte was less than half a foot from Su Hang's chest.

Qi Hai rested his right hand on his sword, while Mia hugged the lead box tightly without taking a step back.

Smoker stared at Su Hang for several breaths before finally opening the document tube.

The first document listed the seal numbers of three medical ships.

The second was a receipt from the Greenleaf Island clinic.

The third came from Thorne, noting the models of seven stolen torpedoes, where they had been seized, and when they had been discovered.

The final document recorded Dawnbringer's hull damage, medical supply losses, and the testimony of fourteen medical workers.

Smoker flipped to the last page.

"If Thorne signed this, why did he not detain you?"

"You should ask him."

"I am asking you now."

"Because the order in his hands required him to arrest me, but did not allow him to investigate where the torpedoes had gone."

Smoker's gaze grew colder.

"You are accusing East Blue Marine Headquarters?"

"What is written on those papers is not an accusation. It is a set of numbers. Seven torpedoes vanished from the 16th Branch warehouse, then attacked a medical ship in the White Reef Channel. If you think it is false, send someone to verify it now."

Smoker handed the documents to his adjutant.

"Check the numbers. Contact the Greenleaf Island clinic and Vice Admiral Thorne."

The adjutant reported in a low voice.

"Sir, Headquarters ordered that Dawnbringer be detained on sight."

Smoker exhaled smoke.

"I can read the order."

"And I can see this cargo manifest."

Half an hour later, the Den Den Mushi delivered report after report.

"Greenleaf Island confirms receipt of all medical supplies."

"None of the fourteen medical workers died."

"Vice Admiral Thorne confirms that the signature and torpedo numbers are genuine, but refuses to explain the source of the intelligence."

Smoker lowered his Jitte.

"You may enter port for four hours. Dawnbringer may not replenish gunpowder, recruit personnel, or leave the western procurement district."

Su Hang asked, "What about the weather observatory?"

"That is not part of the procurement district."

Mia opened the lead box, revealing the Ancient Record Shell.

"We need to examine records of an abnormal thunderstorm from twenty years ago. It concerns navigational safety, not military intelligence."

Smoker looked at the seven layers of cloud patterns on the shell.

"You are looking for Sky Island?"

"You can follow us."

Su Hang said, "You can see everything we investigate."

"Do not think releasing a few records will make me trust pirates."

"I do not need your trust."

Su Hang stepped off the gangplank.

"It is enough for you to act according to your own rules."

The old weather observatory stood on Rogue Town's northern slope.

Salt frost coated its wooden doors, but the observation instruments inside remained intact.

Smoker followed them the entire way with six Marines, his Jitte never leaving his right hand.

Mia opened the index of abnormal weather.

"Normal thunderstorms in the East Blue move from southwest to northeast. We are looking for reverse records. The wind must have blown westward."

The administrator shook his head.

"The paper archives from twenty years ago were damaged. Only the observers' manuals remain."

"Where are the manuals?"

"In the underground archive. They were sealed by the Marines and cannot be retrieved without authorization."

Smoker tipped his chin toward his adjutant.

"Open it."

The administrator did not dare obstruct them further.

Dozens of crates of moldy documents were piled in the underground archive.

Mia did not search page by page. She only pulled out three wooden crates containing records from years with heavy rain, then narrowed them down to nine manuscripts based on cloud height.

Su Hang looked at the thinnest one.

Its cover bore scorch marks from lightning, and fine white powder clung to its edges.

The system screen flickered to life.

[High-altitude mineral residue detected.]

Mia reached for it at the same time.

"This one."

The manuscript opened to reveal a faded observation chart tucked into page twenty-seven.

"Oceanic Calendar 1500, the thirteenth day of Winter Island Season. Thunderclouds moved in reverse, from northeast to southwest, for ninety-seven breaths. A second thunderclap occurred above the clouds, with no rainfall."

Qi Hai frowned.

"Thunder above the clouds?"

"The observer did not believe it either."

Mia pointed to the latter half.

"After the storm ended, a white stone fell north of the town. Its surface bore unknown writing."

The administrator spoke quietly.

"That stone is still here. Someone once tried to buy it, but the observatory did not sell it."

The Cloudstone was locked in a glass cabinet, no larger than a palm.

Its surface was covered in honeycomb-like holes, with three curved characters carved into the center.

Mia drew in a sharp breath.

"Vika script."

Su Hang took out the bronze compass he had obtained from Hawk's private vault.

The needle, which had originally pointed toward the Grand Line, suddenly trembled and slowly rose.

It pointed straight at the sky.

Smoker saw it, and the cigar froze at his lips.

"Why is the compass pointing upward?"

"It was never tracking a route across the sea."

Su Hang looked at the Cloudstone.

"The fragmentary map from Hawk's private vault, the Sky Map, and the Record Shell all came from the same high-altitude route."

Mia flattened the observation chart.

"There is also a cycle record. Before that reverse thunderstorm twenty years ago, sea pressure dropped continuously for twenty-one days, and deep currents rose upward."

Qi Hai responded.

"The Rising Current."

"Right. The observatory's data from recent days overlaps with that year's."

Mia rapidly calculated the tides.

"The next Rising Current will occur in twenty-one days. Its entrance is near the border between the East Blue and the Grand Line. The margin of error will not exceed thirty nautical miles."

Su Hang asked, "Can you determine the coordinates?"

"We lack data from the thunderstorm layer. If the route stored in the Record Shell can be activated, we can reduce the error to five nautical miles."

Smoker closed the manuscript.

"The four hours are up."

Su Hang put away the compass.

"Lorne will pay the research fee and the Cloudstone examination fee."

"The Cloudstone cannot be taken away."

"I was not planning to steal it."

Smoker fixed his gaze on him.

"If you truly find Sky Island, the people there will suffer because of the trouble you bring."

"Will Marine bounty posters chase us into the sky?"

"The World Government will."

Su Hang's steps paused slightly.

"That warning was not part of the port-entry procedure."

"I simply do not want to see another casualty report that gets erased."

Smoker turned toward the exit.

"Once you leave port, I will pursue you according to orders. For the next four hours, the Marines will not interfere with your purchases."

At the docks, rising sails and conductive copper wire had already been loaded aboard.

Mia had just locked the weather records into a waterproof case when a broker in a wide-brimmed hat approached the mooring post.

"Mr. Su Hang, someone asked me to deliver a message."

Qi Hai blocked the man.

"Who?"

"The person who bought the information left no name, only an admission token for an underground venue."

The broker placed a bronze token engraved with a pink feather on the mooring post, then stepped back two paces.

"The sky route you are looking for has already been put up for bidding at an underground auction."