Monkey? Ape-Man?

"They really had no energy left." Li Ziming felt the gentle sea breeze as he watched Luffy and the others sprawled across the ship.

"Seriously, I should've just tied her up and brought her along," Zoro said fiercely.

"Whoa, you barbarian!"

"You're the worst!"

"Moss-head!"

"Three-Sword Style!"

"Hey, Three-Sword Style isn't an insult!"

"Four-Sword Style!"

"Adding another sword doesn't change anything!" Usopp seemed to have switched into full snark mode. "Isn't there some kind of really stinky natto? Just let him stink to death in a pile of that."

"All right, all right, just cry yourselves to death, then." Zoro had completely given up on them.

"It really has changed," Robin said with a smile as she watched them clown around.

"My beautiful lady, please try my freshly made juice." Sanji approached Robin with a glass.

"Thank you, Sanji." Robin's smile nearly stole his soul.

"Ooh, Robin, you're so adorable!" Sanji wore a lovestruck grin.

"Drip." "Drip."

"Is it raining?" Zoro asked in confusion. Yet the skies around them were perfectly clear.

"No, something pretty serious seems to be falling. Everyone, get ready to protect the ship!" Li Ziming used Geppo to rise into the air directly above the Going Merry.

"Up..." Luffy was stunned.

"A huge sailing ship is falling from the sky!" Nami cried in disbelief.

"How is that possible?" Chopper thought he must still be asleep to be seeing something so crazy.

"This isn't the time to debate whether it's possible! Hold on to the ship. I'll blast apart the big pieces, and you handle the small ones!" Before Li Ziming finished speaking, the ship was already right in front of him.

"Don't!" Li Ziming was about to activate his power, but Nami's shout brought him to an abrupt halt. A moment later, the ship knocked him straight into the sea.

"Nami, I..." Li Ziming sank beneath the water, trailing bubbles.

"Nami, what are you doing?!" Luffy shouted in panic and immediately prepared to jump in.

"What do you think you're doing?" Zoro grabbed Luffy. "You're a Devil Fruit user too! I'll save him!" With that, Zoro jumped in to rescue Li Ziming. Luffy and Usopp ran off to explore the wreckage, while Robin stayed aboard and examined some debris, hoping to learn something about the wreck.

"Nami, could you explain why you told me to stop?" After being rescued, Li Ziming gave Nami a deeply disgruntled look.

"Are you an idiot?!" Nami's eyes turned into Beli symbols. "There could be treasure in that wreck! What if your explosions damaged it?!" She looked even angrier than Li Ziming, overwhelming him through sheer force of presence.

Li Ziming wanted to say something, but faced with Nami's utterly self-righteous expression, he had no idea what to say.

"Look what I found!" Usopp proudly produced a map.

"A map of Sky Island?" Robin was rather surprised. She hadn't expected them to find anything like that.

"All right, let's set sail for Sky Island! Turn the rudder upward!" At that moment, Luffy radiated a captain's authority.

"You idiot!" Nami punished him with Nami's Iron Fist. "How is a ship supposed to go upward?!"

"But isn't Sky Island up in the sky?" Luffy asked, clutching his head.

"But our ship can't fly," Li Ziming said helplessly. "So if we want to reach Sky Island, we'll have to find another way."

"Does Sky Island really exist?" Nami shook her wrist vigorously. "Could the needle be broken?"

"Never doubt the Log Pose on the Grand Line. If you're going to doubt anything, doubt your own common sense," Robin said gravely. "There must be an island wherever the Log Pose points!"

"Sky Island really does exist," Li Ziming suddenly said. "Legend has it that there's countless treasure up there, along with a bell made entirely of gold and a Poneglyph on the bell."

Li Ziming's words captured everyone's attention. Even Robin stared at him in disbelief.

"A Poneglyph?"

"Gold?" Nami rushed excitedly to Li Ziming's side. "Then how do we get to Sky Island?"

"No idea." Li Ziming smiled as he gave the answer that nearly drove Nami to a breakdown.

"What do you mean, no idea?!" Nami immediately prepared to punish Li Ziming with Nami's Iron Fist, but Robin stopped her.

"If that sunken ship had a map of Sky Island, I imagine it should also have instructions for getting there," Li Ziming said. "We just need someone to dive down and salvage the wreck."

"I'll go!" Luffy said eagerly. "I've got to see what good stuff is inside!"

"Then Sanji and Zoro should go down, since neither of them has a Devil Fruit power. Make sure you find something about how to get to Sky Island!" Nami encouraged them while suppressing Luffy's repeated demands to go too.

"You really don't know how to reach Sky Island?" Robin looked at Li Ziming skeptically.

"I only know that we need to use an upward current. I don't know where to find it, though. There should be a descendant of the legendary Noland somewhere nearby, and he knows the exact method," Li Ziming said helplessly. "But even if I told our captain that, would he give up on exploring down there? We might as well give him a reason to go down in peace. Besides, salvaging some treasure would be nice."

"Is there really a Poneglyph on Sky Island?" Robin asked curiously.

"Information about one of the ancient kings." Li Ziming shrugged as he dropped that bombshell. "Though I doubt many people could actually get their hands on it."

"So that king really does physically exist in this world." Robin rubbed her brow. "That's quite a shocking revelation."

"Oh, should I tell you about the last Ancient Weapon too?" Li Ziming looked at Robin with amusement. "That one is the easiest of the three Ancient Weapons to obtain."

"I really would like to know where you learned all these secrets." Robin studied Li Ziming curiously.

"Hey, you're still chatting?" Usopp's voice was full of astonishment. "There's a ship coming!"

"A monkey?" Robin asked in confusion.

"An ape-man might be a better description." Li Ziming rubbed his nose. "They're pirates too, and it looks like they're also planning to salvage that ship."

"Chopper, hurry and pull those three back up!" Nami urged anxiously.

"It's fine. That guy's an idiot." Li Ziming looked as though he had already seen through everything.

"Hey, there seem to be people underwater! You'd better be careful!" Shoujou called out a warning from the other ship.

"Okay!" Nami answered him with a smile. "Looks like you were right, Ming. He really is an idiot."

"Thanks, but people underwater are a secondary concern. Sea Kings are the real problem, aren't they?" Li Ziming reminded him. "Running into a Sea King underwater would be pretty terrifying."

"That's true, but we're a professional salvage crew!" Shoujou said proudly. "We have ways to handle even Sea Kings! Men, don't get nervous and mess up just because we have an audience!"

"Yes, sir!"

"These guys really love showing off," Usopp said, continuing to work the air pump beneath his foot as casually as he could.

"Yes, they certainly like to perform." Nami was also drenched in cold sweat.

"..." Li Ziming watched the water below.

"What is it?" Robin asked hesitantly, looking at him.

"Wouldn't it be interesting if a huge Sea King suddenly appeared right now and bit down on that sunken ship?" Li Ziming asked.

"You're joking, aren't you?" Robin looked at Li Ziming uncertainly. He might know plenty of secrets, but this wasn't a secret. This was practically a prophecy.

"Who knows?" Although Li Ziming remembered something like that happening, he couldn't be certain it would happen now.

"There really is..." Nami pointed at the water in terror as an enormous dark shape appeared beneath the surface.

"No, no, no, we're just dreaming. This has to be a dream!" Usopp said, as if trying to hypnotize himself.

"Whew, so it's a dream." Chopper let out a long sigh of relief.

"If we don't rescue them soon, we can pick a new captain." With that one sentence, Li Ziming sent them plunging into a bottomless abyss.

"Don't come out!" all three screamed in desperation.

"And our captain's air hose is still connected to the ship. If Luffy and the others really get swallowed, our ship will be wrecked too," Li Ziming added helplessly.

"Brothers, pull the ropes tight and bring our captain back! Fight for our honor and pride!" the Ape-Man Pirates shouted.

"They're right. This is when our unity is put to the test." Usopp moved beside the air hose.

"Exactly!" Nami decisively issued her command. "Cut the air hose and save ourselves!"

"You're a demon!" Chopper cried in horror.

As everyone panicked, Li Ziming suddenly said, "It's gone dark."

"What's going on?" Everyone looked up at the sky in disbelief. Just then, Luffy and the others came falling down.

"Luffy!" Usopp cried excitedly. "You're all right!"

Zoro then briefly explained everything they had encountered in the wreck. When he mentioned treasure, Shoujou jumped aboard.

"We can't let this guy run wild on our ship." Sanji was already ready to fight.

"Hey," Li Ziming suddenly said. "Now isn't the time to fight." He tipped his chin toward the distance, and only then did everyone notice the enormous human silhouettes that had appeared in the thick fog.