Riding on the Azure Dragon's Back

Was Yake strong now? He was indeed very strong.

The disaster-level Rumble-Rumble Fruit gave Yake immense destructive power and elusive, unpredictable speed, with an attack range on the scale of a map-clearing bombardment. The Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon Fruit, an even rarer and more precious Devil Fruit than a Logia, provided unparalleled vitality and recovery. The gap between Yake and the monsters of the New World had narrowed infinitely.

What Yake lacked were advanced applications of Conqueror's Haki and extensive combat experience. He could not be called invincible; the sea still held all kinds of unreasonable Devil Fruit abilities.

"All right, girls, we're not going to Gold City!" Yake clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Huh? Captain, why? I really wanted to see it..." Perona said pitifully.

"Is it because of your new ability?" Robin analyzed calmly.

"Uh... I'm planning to take you all to Skypiea in my dragon form, then turn it into the base of my pirate crew," Yake said confidently.

"Skypiea? Isn't Skypiea just a legend, Captain? I heard the story of Big Talker when I was little!" Reiju said in surprise. Born in the North Blue, she was clearly no stranger to the name Skypiea. The tale of Big Talker Noland was known by every child in the North Blue.

"Big Talker Noland? That's right, he didn't lie. Skypiea really exists," Yake said with certainty.

"How is that... possible?" Reiju found it truly difficult to believe. In the North Blue, almost everyone knew Noland as a foolish-looking fraud.

"Because the captain came to the Blue Sea from Skypiea," Robin said in Yake's place. Yake had only told her about his childhood.

"The captain is a Skypiean?" Perona looked utterly disbelieving.

"Ever since I could remember, I lived on Birka in Skypiea... I was an orphan... Until I found the Rumble-Rumble Fruit at the age of eight, I jumped down from Cloud End and was taken in as the adopted son of Rayleigh and Shakky."

Yake told Perona and the others about his childhood. Other than Robin, who had already heard Yake's story, everyone was immersed in his vivid account. They gained a basic understanding of Skypiea and learned about Yake's past.

"Sob, sob, Captain, you were so pitiful when you were little! You were even an orphan... Captain, keep it up!!" Perona's eyes were full of encouragement.

Yake: Was that supposed to be polite?

With an icy expression, Yake grabbed Perona and pinched the tender spot on her shoulder.

"Ah, it hurts, it hurts, Captain! I was wrong..."

"What were you wrong about?"

"I was wrong about... I... I didn't do anything wrong!"

Yake gave Perona a proper lesson. She rubbed her shoulder hard in pain, still not recovered.

"All right, back to business. Climb onto me in a moment," Yake said, and his body underwent a drastic transformation. He slowly rose into the air, preparing to assume his dragon form.

"Whoa, I still can't believe this is what the captain looks like transformed," Reiju could not help sighing.

A few breaths later, an enormous dragon appeared above the sea, coiling through the air.

Yake grabbed the ship and placed it atop his head, letting Robin and the others climb down first.

"Robin, watch over them. You need to hold tightly to my mane, or you'll fall off." Yake's voice in dragon form was deep and imposing, resounding through the heavens.

"Don't worry, leave it to me, Captain!!!" Robin shouted, or Yake would not have been able to hear her at all.

"Is everyone off the ship?"

"Yes! Captain! We can set off!!"

After hearing that, Yake stored the Eternal Truth in his inventory and prepared to depart!

Robin and the others sat behind Yake's horns, where they could at least block some of the wind. From afar, Robin and the others were almost impossible to spot. Compared to Yake's enormous body, ordinary humans were far too tiny.

"All right, hold on tight. We're setting off!!!"

┗|｀O′|┛ Roar~~

Yake roared excitedly.

In the distant sea.

"Captain, that looks like Kaido?" Benn Beckman watched the giant dragon flying toward the sky. As everyone knew, Kaido was the only one on this sea who could transform into a dragon.

"It really is. Forget it, leave him alone. As long as he doesn't cause us trouble." Shanks spoke indifferently.

"Boys! Let's throw a party!"

Yake had no idea that the Red-Haired Pirates had spotted him. Right now, he was focused on finding the location of Skypiea.

With Flame Clouds, Yake could freely fly up to an altitude of seven thousand meters without much effort, but he was a little too slow. He therefore elementalized the rear half of his dragon body to increase his speed. Still, he did not dare travel at full speed. He himself was fine, but he was mainly afraid that his crew would not be able to endure it.

The main issue was that everything before him was a vast expanse of white, making it truly difficult to identify anything.

"Everyone, how do you feel? Are you having any trouble breathing?"

Robin: *************

Robin had indeed heard Yake's voice, but the wind was too loud, drowning out her own. She had no choice but to ask Perona for help.

So Perona summoned a ghost and had it hide inside Yake's ear, allowing them to communicate normally.

"It's fine, Captain. Nothing serious."

Only after hearing the rustling from his ear did Yake realize it was the ghost speaking. Hearing that there were no major problems, he was relieved. He still had not escaped the constraints of Blue Star knowledge. In the anime, Luffy and the others had only felt slightly uncomfortable.

"Everyone, I'm going to keep ascending. Notify me immediately if anything happens!"

As he spoke, Yake broke through the cloud layer and arrived above it. White clouds spread beneath him, making the search much easier.

Yake was flying toward Gaya Island in the first half of the Grand Line, an entry point he knew of. He had abandoned the other route because it was too far away.

Before he knew it, Yake had already crossed the Red Line and arrived above Water 7 in the first half of the Grand Line. However, Yake himself did not know where he was and could only keep flying in one direction.

"So this is what it feels like to be in the sky? It's amazing, meow!" Anna shouted excitedly as she watched the clouds continuously recede behind them.

"Yes. No wonder it was a fruit the captain specifically sought out. What terrifying power." Robin brushed back her windblown hair.

"I really don't know what else the captain can't do."

After spending so long in the sky, the novelty gradually wore off. Aside from Anna, who remained excited, Robin and the others had begun discussing Yake's abilities.

To be honest, after flying for nearly the whole morning, Yake was gradually becoming anxious. If worse came to worst, he could only land on a nearby island first. It would not be too late to fly back up once he found the Mock Town he had turned into ruins.

"Wait, that is... Heaven's Gate!" Yake stared at the somewhat familiar sign before suddenly realizing it. He had already arrived; he had simply mistaken the cloud layer beneath his feet for ordinary clouds and paid it no attention.

"Everyone, we've arrived at Skypiea! Get ready to land!" Yake shouted excitedly.

"Really? We've already reached Skypiea!!"

"Heaven's Gate? Are we dead already, meow?"

Yake flew straight past Heaven's Gate, intending to head directly for Angel Beach.