Monkey? Ape-Man?

"Really no motivation at all," Li Ziming said, feeling the gentle sea breeze as he watched Luffy and the others sprawled across the deck.

"Seriously, wouldn't it have been easier if I'd just tied her up and taken her away?" Zoro said with a fierce expression.

"Whoa, barbarian!"

"You suck!"

"Moss Head!"

"Three-Sword Style!"

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

"Four-Sword Style!"

"Adding one more sword doesn't change anything!" Usopp seemed to have entered full-on commentary mode. "Isn't there some kind of stinky natto? Just let him stink to death in a pile of natto."

"Fine, fine, just cry yourselves to death," Zoro said. He had completely surrendered to these idiots.

"They really have changed," Robin said with a smile as she watched everyone fool around.

"Beautiful miss, please try the latest juice I made," Sanji said, carrying a cup over to Robin.

"Thank you, Sanji," Robin said with a smile that nearly stole Sanji's soul away.

"Ooh, Robin is so cute!" Sanji said, his face utterly lovestruck.

"Drip." "Drip."

"Is it raining?" Zoro asked in confusion, though the skies around them were clearly sunny.

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

"Up..." Luffy was completely dumbfounded.

"A huge sailing ship is falling!" Nami said in disbelief.

"How is that possible?" Chopper felt that he had to still be asleep to witness something so insane.

"Now isn't the time to discuss whether it's possible. Hold on to the ship! I'll blast apart the large debris, and you handle the smaller pieces!" Before Li Ziming could finish speaking, the ship had already reached him.

"Don't!" Li Ziming was about to use his power, but Nami's shout froze him in place. The next second, the ship slammed him straight into the sea.

"Nami, I..." Li Ziming sank beneath the waves, blowing bubbles.

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

"What are you going to do?" Zoro grabbed Luffy. "You're a power user too. I'll save him!" With that, Zoro jumped in after Li Ziming. Luffy and Usopp ran onto the wreckage to explore, while Robin remained on the ship, examining fragments in hopes of learning something about the wreck.

"Nami, can you explain why you told him to stop?" Li Ziming asked unhappily after being rescued.

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

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

"Look what I found!" Usopp said proudly, pulling out a map.

"A map of Sky Island?" Robin asked in surprise. She had not expected them to find something like that.

"Alright, we're heading for Sky Island! Turn the helm upward!" Luffy's captain-like aura was on full display.

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

"But isn't Sky Island 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."

"Sky Island really exists?" Nami shook her wrist hard. "Could the Log Pose be broken?"

"On the Grand Line, never doubt the Log Pose. If you must doubt something, doubt your own common sense," Robin said seriously. "There must be an island where the Log Pose points!"

"Sky Island is real," Li Ziming suddenly said. "Legend says it has countless treasures, a bell made entirely of gold, and a Poneglyph on that bell."

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

"A Poneglyph?"

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

"I don't know." Li Ziming's smiling three-word answer nearly made Nami collapse.

"You don't know a damn thing!" Nami was about to punish Li Ziming with Nami's Iron Fist, but Robin stopped her.

"I think that since the sunken ship had a map of Sky Island, it should also have a way to get there," Li Ziming said. "We just need to send someone down to salvage the wreck."

"I'm going!" Luffy said impatiently. "I have to see what good stuff is inside that ship!"

"Then Sanji and Zoro, the ones who aren't power users, should go down. You have to find a way to reach Sky Island!" Nami encouraged them while suppressing Luffy, who kept insisting that he wanted to go too.

"You really don't know how to get to Sky Island?" Robin asked, looking at Li Ziming suspiciously.

"I only know that we need to use an upward current, but I don't know where to find one. Still, there should be a descendant of the legendary Noland nearby. That guy knows the detailed method," Li Ziming said helplessly. "Besides, even if I told him that, would our captain give up on exploring down there? Better to give him a reason to go down with peace of mind. And it'd be good if we could salvage some treasure anyway."

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

"It's information from the King," Li Ziming said with a shrug, dropping this explosive piece of news. "Though I doubt many people can obtain it."

"So the King truly exists in physical form in this world," Robin said, rubbing her forehead. "That really is quite shocking."

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

"I really want to know where you learned all these secrets," Robin said curiously.

"Hey, you're still chatting?" Usopp's voice was full of shock. "A ship is coming!"

"A monkey?" Robin asked in confusion.

"Calling him an ape-man would be more accurate," Li Ziming said, rubbing his nose. "They're pirates too, and it looks like they're also preparing to salvage that ship."

"Chopper, hurry and pull those three guys up!" Nami said anxiously.

"It's fine. That guy's an idiot," Li Ziming said with an expression that suggested he had seen through everything.

"Hey, there seem to be people under the sea! You should be careful!" the ape-man on the other ship shouted as a warning.

"Alright!" Nami replied with a smile. "Looks like you were right. He really is an idiot."

"Thanks, but people underwater are secondary. The most important thing is the Sea Kings," Li Ziming warned them. "After all, encountering Sea Kings underwater is quite terrifying."

"That's true, but we're a professional salvage crew!" the ape-man said proudly. "Even Sea Kings are no problem for us! Boys, don't mess up just because we have an audience!"

"Yes!"

"These guys really love showing off," Usopp said calmly, continuing to step on the pump beneath his feet.

"Yeah, they really like performing," Nami said, cold sweat covering her forehead as well.

"..." Li Ziming simply stared into the sea.

"What is it?" Robin asked hesitantly.

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

"You're not joking, are you?" Robin looked at Li Ziming uncertainly. He knew many hidden secrets, but this was no secret. This was practically prophecy.

"Who knows?" Li Ziming remembered that something like this had happened, but he could not be certain it would happen again.

"There really is one..." Nami pointed at the water in terror as a massive shadow appeared beneath the surface.

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

"Whew, so it was a dream," Chopper said, letting out a long breath.

"If we don't save them soon, we'll be able to replace our captain," Li Ziming said, sending them straight into the abyss of despair.

"Don't come out!" the three of them cried out in breakdown.

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

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

"That's right, this is the time to test our unity." Usopp walked over to the air hose.

"Exactly!" Nami immediately gave the order. "Cut the air hose and save ourselves!"

"Devil!" Chopper cried in terror.

Just as everyone panicked, Li Ziming suddenly said, "It's dark."

"What's going on?" Everyone looked up at the sky in disbelief, just as Luffy and the others fell down.

"Luffy!" Usopp shouted excitedly. "You're alright!"

Zoro then briefly explained everything they had encountered in the sunken ship, and when he mentioned treasure, the ape-man jumped aboard.

"We can't let this guy start making trouble on our ship," Sanji said, already preparing to fight.

"Hey," Li Ziming suddenly said. "Now isn't the time to fight." He lifted his chin, and only then did everyone notice a gigantic figure emerging from the thick fog at the edge of the sea.