In the Sky God Kingdom, two years had passed since Yake became the new god.
"Hasso! Teacher Conis, are you going to school? I'll take you there!" A passerby warmly invited Conis along when he saw her walking down the road with a harp in her arms.
"Hasso, no need, thank you. I can walk there myself. Sorry for the trouble," Conis politely declined the parent's invitation.
After Sky Academy was completed, Conis volunteered to become a music teacher, responsible for teaching music classes. The children of the Sky God Kingdom all adored their gentle teacher.
Conis slowly made her way to the entrance of Sky Academy, where two heavily armed guards stood watch over the school gates.
"Hasso, Mr. Jerry, Mr. Kerry." Conis greeted them with a smile. Only silence answered her, but she did not mind. They were emotionless clones, after all. Still, it was her daily habit. She handed her citizen ID to Jerry.
After Jerry inserted the gold citizen ID into the machine, the academy gates opened, and he motioned for Conis to enter.
"A new day has begun! Goodbye, Jerry, Kerry!" Conis walked through the academy gates with her harp in her arms.
Pagaya was Conis's father, and he now ran a Sky Shell breeding farm.
As usual, he inspected the Sky Shells in the rocky coastal area. Ever since the research institute's staff had figured out the habits of Sky Shells, their cultivation had become an industrial-scale business. Pagaya alone had contracted five kilometers of coastline for Sky Shell farming.
"Mm, looks like today's harvest will be good." Pagaya happily smiled at the various shellfish clinging to the rocks. Sky Shells now had two new varieties: Thunder Shells and Ice Shells. Thunder Shells in particular had become daily necessities for the Sky God Kingdom's residents. Not only did all kinds of agricultural equipment rely on Thunder Shells for power, but transportation also used them as their core energy source.
After thoroughly inspecting his shellfish fields, Pagaya took a civilian miniature airship home.
Upper Yard.
Wyper was drilling soldiers. He had now been promoted by Reiju to commander of the God's Kingdom Special Forces, and he was also one of the instructors at the military academy. He was responsible for training recruits and turning them into qualified soldiers.
The military was divided into three branches: the city defense force, the Special Forces, and the combat force. In the Sky God Kingdom's military system, Clone Soldiers formed the basic fighting force. They were assigned to various posts for guard duty, while the excess followed human officers and obeyed their commands.
The Sky God Kingdom had been completely transformed. This was the result of the joint efforts of all Sky Island residents.
Life had become more convenient for the residents. Everyone could live and work in peace and enjoy peaceful lives.
The Sky God Kingdom had everything: cafes, bars, schools, factories, breeding bases, and more. It had even been troubled by a shortage of manpower, but that problem would soon disappear.
Because the Sky God Kingdom would officially open tomorrow.
Ever since the Ark Pirates had received bounties as an entire crew, they had vanished without a trace for two years. Everyone found the Ark Pirates' disappearance strange. The pirate crew seemed to have appeared only briefly before disappearing after every member received a bounty.
Now, the most famous figure in the New World was undoubtedly the Whitebeard Pirates' new Second Division commander, Fire Fist Ace. After Yake's group vanished, Ace quickly rose to fame in the New World. After repeatedly failing to challenge Whitebeard, he chose to join the Whitebeard Pirates.
The Whitebeard Pirates were now known as the most terrifyingly powerful pirate crew in the world.
"Gurararara, Ace, what happened? You seem to be in a good mood!" Whitebeard could not help asking as he looked at the smiling Ace.
"Haha, Pops, my idiot little brother just turned seventeen today. I bet he can't wait to head out to sea!" Ace gazed into the distance, recalling his promise with Luffy. That idiot Luffy had surely begun his adventures on the sea by now!
"He's an interesting guy too, Pops. When the time comes, let's have him join our big family as well!" Ace laughed heartily. He had completely integrated into Whitebeard's fleet and sincerely regarded Whitebeard as his father. Among the Whitebeard Pirates, aside from Marco, who had followed Whitebeard from the very beginning, perhaps no one respected Whitebeard more than Ace did.
"Gurararara, then bring him here. Speaking of which, I thought of another brat too. I wonder what he's been up to..." Whitebeard thought of Yake, who had challenged him two years ago. He had assumed Yake would keep causing major incidents after that challenge, but there had been no news of him for two whole years.
"God Yake? I heard Marco mention him. He's very strong, right?" Ace remembered the man he had met briefly on the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Ace, he's the most talented young man I've ever seen. Two years ago, he was already stronger than you are now." Whitebeard wanted to provoke Ace a little. He had already begun to see Roger's son as his successor.
"Hmph, Pops, if I run into him, I'll definitely defeat him." Ace's competitive spirit was immediately ignited. It would not matter if anyone else said such things, but he had to prove to Pops who was the strongest.
"Gurararara, keep up that spirit, Ace. One day, we'll see him again."
Over the past two years, Yake had periodically brought Germa's snails to the Blue Sea to purchase supplies, though he never showed himself. Most of the gold found in Upper Yard had been used to buy various materials for building the Sky God Kingdom. Yake only had gold worth over ten billion Beli left. The Sky God Kingdom could be called a city built from gold.
Cloud End.
This was the entrance and exit of the Sky God Kingdom. Beside it stood the enormous Heaven's Ladder. It was the key facility for reaching the Sky Islands. Leaving was much simpler: one could take Heaven's Ladder down, or ride the Sky Islands' specialty, tiny octopus balloons, to experience the thrill of bungee jumping.
This was also the only project Yake needed to oversee personally. Heaven's Ladder had originally been intended as a route made from compressed Island Cloud, but they later discovered that Island Cloud quickly dissipated in the Blue Sea and could not be used. At Judge's suggestion, they built this enormous lift out of Seastone alloy. After several rounds of testing, it had officially been confirmed ready for use. The black box was Heaven's Ladder itself. Its operating principles were similar to an elevator, and it could accommodate up to one thousand people and sixty tons of cargo at once, provided the passengers were normally sized humans.
Now, Yake only needed to move the artificial island housing Heaven's Ladder to the Blue Sea. The artificial island was a supporting facility for Heaven's Ladder, used to receive tourists and dock ships. It was essentially the Sky God Kingdom's ticket office.
"We can begin, Lord Yake." After conducting the final inspection, Judge spoke with certainty.
Yake did not waste words. He transformed into his dragon form, lifted an artificial island beside Cloud End, and carried it to the waters near Long Ring Long Land.
A gigantic black box slowly descended from the sky. It was Heaven's Ladder. Yake aligned it with Heaven's Ladder's landing position and placed the island onto the sea, precisely within the target waters measured by Judge's research team.
An island called Skyward Island now stood in the sea. The massive project that had taken two years had finally been completed. Over those two years, the skill Yake had used most was Thunder Metallurgy...
Only after seeing Heaven's Ladder operating steadily did Yake relax. He took Heaven's Ladder back to the Sky Islands. It took about an hour. Although it was slow, that was the only option for now. Cloud End stood more than seven thousand meters above the Blue Sea's surface, and this speed would greatly extend its service life.
"Not bad. We can start moving the Sky God Kingdom's residents and soldiers down there," Yake told Judge as soon as he stepped out of the elevator.
"Oh, right. Tell Morgans's people to come over first."
To let the world learn of the Sky God Kingdom as quickly as possible, newspaper publicity was naturally indispensable. For that reason, Yake had also made a deal with Morgans. The deal was, naturally, to create a sensational news story.
After arranging the tasks, Yake went to Amazon Lily.
Bare-chested and wearing beach shorts was Yake's usual attire. His appearance had also changed greatly compared to two years ago. Yake no longer had a dragon-man form. Or rather, his dragon-man form had become his normal state.
The scales, claws, and other features that emerged when Yake transformed into his dragon-man form had originally been materialized lightning. He had not been idle for two years, devoting himself to merging the dragon-man form with his human form. Now, even in dragon-man form, he retained a normal human appearance, though various patterns appeared across his body. Yake called them Thunder Dragon Mark.
The characteristics of his dragon-man form had become pale blue tattoo-like marks imprinted on Yake's body. As long as he unleashed his strength, the patterns would erupt with dazzling lightning just as their name implied, instantly granting him all the power of his dragon-man form.
At the training grounds on Nine-Colored Island, two curvaceous women were locked in an intense battle.
Hancock gently kneaded Yake's shoulders as they watched the duel between Robin and Reiju together.
"Thousand Fleur: Gigantesco Mano."
Robin conjured a gigantic hand and slammed it toward Reiju with terrifying force.
A smile curled across Reiju's lips as a powerful blast of air erupted around her.
"PICK: Storm!" Reiju used Geppo and the combat boots beneath her feet at the same time, generating a powerful shockwave as she dodged Robin's attack.
"Cherry Blossom Dance!"
In the blink of an eye, Reiju broke through to Robin's side and unleashed a rapid series of fierce strikes.
"Hundred Fleur: Flower Shield!"
All of Reiju's attacks landed against the shield formed from Robin's conjured arms.
"Hehe, Sister Robin, don't forget that some poisons are colorless and odorless too. Erupt!" As soon as Reiju finished speaking, the poison Robin had picked up during their earlier exchanges suddenly erupted. All her conjured arms dispersed, and pain twisted her face as her body swayed unsteadily.
Reiju promptly caught Robin in her arms, then pressed her sexy lips against Robin's cherry-red lips and sucked out the poison for her. She could have done it without using her mouth, but this was faster, though rather awkward.
Yake immediately got excited at the sight. He pursed his lips and whistled, causing Hancock to repeatedly pinch his waist. But Yake's skin was too thick, and he felt nothing.
Reiju was very clever. She knew Robin had been guarding against her poison, so she deliberately hid poison in every attack. Although there was not much each time, it accumulated over time and invaded Robin's body. Once it erupted, it would instantly rob Robin of her ability to fight. Robin had not lost unfairly.
"Cough, cough, Reiju, you still won." Robin felt much better after the poison was sucked out. Although they had trained for two years, everyone had improved greatly, and they all knew one another very well. Reiju's poison truly countered her. After all, even her conjured arms could be harmed by poison.
"You let me win, Sister Robin. Your arms really gave me a lot of trouble." Reiju affectionately held Robin as they walked toward Yake. If she had not known Armament Haki, her neck would probably have been snapped long ago.
Anna had also fought Perona, but unfortunately, Anna was utterly weak. Perona ended the battle with a single Negative Hollow, making Anna kneel on the ground and cry as she wailed that she was not worthy of eating fish and the like.
"After two years of training, everyone has made visible progress. But the enemies we meet from now on will only be stronger than you. Do not get complacent. I'm talking about you, Perona."
"Tomorrow, I'll head to the New World to challenge the Four Emperors, make a name for myself, and announce to the world that the Sky God Kingdom is my territory. The Sky God Kingdom will officially reveal itself to the world. Are you ready?" Yake looked solemn.
"Don't worry, Captain. I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
"Yake-sama, don't worry. With Anna here, nothing will go wrong. Sister Hancock will protect us too, right?" Anna said sweetly. Two years had passed, and she was already an adult. Her figure was gradually developing as she worked hard to catch up to Robin.
"That's right, Anna. While Yake is away, I will protect this country." Hancock smiled as she stroked Anna's head. This had long been the task Yake assigned her. For that, Yake had put her through merciless special training. Compared to two years ago, her strength had also advanced by leaps and bounds.
When Yake was not in the Sky God Kingdom, she was the god of the Sky Islands.
The Sky Islands' location was actually quite good. They were in the first half of the Grand Line rather than the pirate battlefield of the New World, and they were not far from Water 7. Yake had already reached an agreement with Mayor Iceburg of Water 7. Before long, the sea train would build a new route to Skyward Island, making it more convenient to reach Skyward Island in the future.
Without being tempered by the New World, pirates would not be too strong. Powerful monsters would eventually head for the New World, and Hancock's strength was enough to guard the Sky God Kingdom.
"Alright, everyone. Once I've finished challenging the Four Emperors, we'll continue our journey. Sorry for the trouble during this time!"
Meanwhile, East Blue.
Luffy was rowing a small boat, preparing to search for his crew members.
Zoro had already been tied to the execution rack for several days, exposed to the wind and sun.
Nami carefully looted gold and silver treasures aboard a pirate ship.
Usopp sat on a tall tree branch, telling Miss Kaya stories of his adventures.
Sanji carried exquisite dishes as he tried to please beautiful female customers.
A new era had begun...