To ensure the best (and most chaotic) experience on this voyage, please leave your precious brain here before boarding:
→ Brain Storage Locker
Present your claim ticket when you disembark to receive one random Devil Fruit. Side effects unknown. No returns.
There are already a million completed pirate novels, so read without worry.
Now, the story begins!
Sea Circle Calendar 1474, Birka Village on Sky Island.
Amid the warriors' cheers, a handsome young man standing six feet tall hurled a burly man well over six feet out of the ring. The crowd erupted!
"Rock! Rock!"
The man in the ring shook his sweat-soaked hair from his forehead, stepped forward, and pulled the fallen warrior to his feet. Then he raised both arms and calmly accepted the praise and cheers around him.
The bonfire flickered. The smell of roasting meat drifted on the night wind, while the white Cloud Sea rolled at the village's edge like a silent tide.
Children circled Rock, shouting about his spectacular throw. The older warriors drank ale and watched the boy with satisfaction.
He was no longer the skinny little kid they had found and brought back to the village.
After the feast, the night deepened and the village gradually fell quiet.
Rock returned to his hut and pushed open the creaking wooden door. A small shell lamp cast a soft glow across the walls, lending the cramped room a little warmth.
He sat on the edge of his bed, leaned against the wall propped up with cloudwood, and let out a long breath.
"Today should make ten years since I came to this world."
Ten years.
Rock raised a hand to shield his eyes from the lamp and looked at the ceiling through his fingers. Memories he had kept buried for years surged up in the quiet.
That was right. He wasn't native to this world.
To be precise, he had crossed into it as an infant, carrying the memories of his previous life.
Luckily, some kindhearted Skypieans had found him while hunting. Wrapped in Cloud Grass, he had nearly frozen to death.
Kai, a hunter who always wore a stern expression, had carried him back to the village and raised him bit by bit on what little milk and cloud-fruit juice he had.
At first, Rock had been utterly lost. But with the villagers' care and affection, he had gradually grown used to this world.
As he grew older, the memories of his previous life returned like the tide.
"Sky Island... Bilca."
Rock repeated the name silently. It meant nothing special to the locals, but his gaze grew complicated.
If I remember right, this is... Enel's birthplace, isn't it?
In his previous life, he had been a longtime anime fan. The Sky Island arc might not have been the most popular part of Pirate King, but its sheer romance, hidden beyond the clouds, had struck something deep in him.
The bell of the Golden City. A promise spanning four hundred years. An arrogant man wielding lightning, destroying his homeland, fighting his way to the upper reaches of Sky Island, and founding the Kingdom of God...
But I haven't seen any sign of him yet...
Rock frowned slightly.
The village was small. If someone had a baby or lost a fish, everyone knew by the next day.
As far as he could remember, no baby named Enel had appeared in the past ten years. He hadn't even heard a similar name.
And with news so scarce on Sky Island, he had no idea where he was in the story's timeline.
Rock sighed. "Anyway, one thing's certain: Enel hasn't risen to power. He probably hasn't even been born."
He looked down at his hands.
Years of training had left thin calluses on his knuckles and roughened his palms. Yet the moment he curled his fingers into a fist, steady strength welled up from deep in his muscles.
And it wasn't just strength.
There was something else.
It was as though an invisible mist surrounded him at all times. Whenever he focused, it spread outward, enveloping every blade of grass, every brick, and even the small beasts stirring beyond the village boundary in the dark.
It was the first strange thing he had noticed after coming to this world.
At first, he thought he was imagining it. But time and again, he dodged warriors' surprise attacks before they struck;
while hunting, he could pinpoint the path of a flying fish behind the clouds;
and when he could walk through the entire village at night with his eyes closed without hitting a thing, he knew it was more than intuition.
"Powerful spiritual perception..."
Rock murmured, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"It lets me anticipate where an enemy will attack. And it reaches pretty far—"
He closed his eyes and deliberately drew on that mist within him.
In an instant, his perception stretched outward.
He "saw" the guard patrolling outside and could make out his slightly hurried breathing;
he sensed Kai's heavy snores coming from his hut nearby;
and farther away, a white bird perched atop the enormous cloud tree at the village entrance, its wings tucked in as it dozed.
Every faint presence formed a three-dimensional map in his mind.
—Innate Observation Haki.
"Just like Enel's?"
Remembering the terrifying Mantra that could cover nearly all of Sky Island, Rock shivered.
"Well, at least I've got a decent start."
He shook off his tangled thoughts and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, they were firm.
Since I'm in this world, Enel hasn't appeared yet, and this is his homeland...
For the first time, ambition flashed in Rock's eyes.
"I can't let that fruit slip away."
Early the next morning.
A cool breeze swept across the Cloud Sea, carrying a trace of moisture.
At the Birka Village training ground, sweat darkened patches of the cloudstone floor as the young warriors went through their daily sparring.
Bare-chested and holding a wooden spear, Rock clashed with the tall young man opposite him.
"Again, Rock!"
Tagu grinned. "You threw me halfway across the ring at the feast last night. Let me win back a little pride today!"
Their wooden spears collided with a dull crack.
The exchange of attacks and blocks looked simple, but Rock moved with effortless ease.
To him, every thrust Tagu made was like writing on the air. Its force, angle, and speed were all perfectly clear.
He barely needed to think. His body naturally made the right dodge or block.
"Whoosh—"
Rock slipped sideways. The wooden spear skimmed over his shoulder, and he swept his own across to tap the inside of Tagu's calf.
Tagu's leg buckled, and he landed flat on his backside on the cloudstone. After half a stunned second, he cursed.
"There's seriously something wrong with you! I hadn't even raised my spear, and you were already out of the way!"
"Have you secretly learned some divine Future Sight technique?!"
The young warriors around them burst out laughing.
Rock brushed it off. "Save it. Your footing's so weak, anyone could knock you over."
The laughter grew louder.
Off to the side, several older warriors watched with approval.
"That kid's gotten stronger again."
"He was chasing flying fish when he was five. Now he's only ten, and even Tagu, who's hunted for years, can't beat him."
"Kai really found himself a treasure."
As they spoke, a middle-aged man with silver threaded through his black hair approached, a thick cloudwood spear resting on his shoulder. It was Kai, Rock's adoptive father and Birka Village's strongest warrior.
"All right, break it up. That's enough morning training."
Kai's voice wasn't loud, but it left no room for argument.
"Rock, come with me."
Rock wiped away his sweat, tossed his wooden spear to Tagu, and followed Kai out of the training ground.
They crossed the village and headed toward a distant cloud cliff.
It was the closest point in Bilca to the edge of the Cloud Sea. Below lay an endless expanse of rolling white clouds, and beneath that, the unknown Blue Sea.
"Did you hear?"
Kai spoke suddenly. "The village chief brought up God's Island again last night."
Rock's heart stirred, but he put on a puzzled look. "God's Island?"
"Tch. All these years in Bilca, and you still don't pay attention to such things."
Kai planted his spear in the cloud-covered ground and gazed at the slowly shifting sea of clouds. His tone grew complicated.
"According to Skypiean legend, there are many islands 'abandoned by the gods' above the Cloud Sea, scattered across an even higher sky."
"Sometimes strange-looking fruits fall from up there. Strange-looking corpses have come up from the world below, too."
Rock's heart tightened.
Strange-looking fruits.
Devil Fruits.
"The village chief said he's heard thunder out over the Cloud Sea for the past few nights," Kai said gravely. "But there haven't been any storm clouds."
"No storm clouds... but thunder."
A name immediately sprang to Rock's mind—
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
The Logia Devil Fruit that had made Enel a god, a power considered almost invincible.
"What are you thinking about?" Kai suddenly asked.
Rock quickly collected himself. "Nothing. I'm just curious... does God's Island really exist?"
Kai glanced at him, his gaze both appraising and concerned.
"If anyone else asked, I'd say no."
He paused, then continued. "But since it's you, I'll say this: the world is far bigger and far more dangerous than what you can see."
Rock fell silent.
Kai turned to face him. "Rock, you're clever and strong. Stronger than anyone else your age in the village."
"But remember this: don't let curiosity cloud your judgment."
"God's Island, the world below—both are far beyond anything a little village like ours should get involved in."
"Your job right now is to stay alive and grow up."
Rock looked up and met Kai's weathered eyes.
He could see the weariness and hope in them clearly.
His chest tightened.
"Okay."
Before you continue