Grand Line, Drum Kingdom.
Mountain peaks rose in the distance, layered with gleaming snow like white waves cresting on the sea. Underfoot, the snow crunched and gave way, making it easy to lose your balance.
Amid the white expanse, several figures leaned on climbing picks as they made their way slowly along the rugged mountain path.
The man in front appeared badly injured. Every few steps, he had to stop and gasp for breath. Each time, the people behind him watched nervously, afraid he might collapse.
"Captain, let me carry you up!"
The speaker was Mole, Drake's former second-in-command and an old comrade who had followed him all the way from the Recruit Camp. Mole knew the man before him would never stop to rest unless his injuries had become unbearable.
"No need. Let's go."
Drake's face was deathly pale, though whether from the cold or blood loss, no one could tell.
As he spoke, Drake looked up at the Castle hidden among the clouds and swirling snow, then clicked his tongue.
"Is the mountain that Castle sits on five thousand meters high?"
Five thousand meters was a terrifying height even for people in the One Piece World! After all, Sky Island lay in the White-White Sea, only ten thousand meters above the ocean below. What the Skypieans called the White Sea was only around seven thousand meters up.
Living in a Castle that high could give anyone the feeling that they looked down on all creation and stood above everyone else.
Just then, Drake's ears twitched. He called for his men to stop.
"Hold it. Something's out there!"
His Haki was nothing special, but as a Zoan Devil Fruit user, he had the beastly instincts his Devil Fruit Powers granted him. Something was watching them.
At Drake's warning, the