Future Plans

"Of course..."

Tiger nodded. Although he was a Fish-Man, he had always longed for the human world and had read quite a few books and records about it.

"Then you must have heard the story of Gaya Island."

"Mm. Noland was a predecessor to explorers and travelers like us. I really liked his story, and I even went looking for Gaya Island before... Unfortunately, I found nothing... Captain Ye Mu, you don't mean..."

Ye Mu did not keep him guessing and spoke directly.

"Mm, just as you think. Gaya Island really existed, and Big Talker Noland's story was true as well. It was just that four hundred years ago, Gaya Island was blasted into the sky by a massive Knock Up Stream and landed on Sky Island, becoming God's Island, Upper Yard. That was where Enel and I lived for the past ten years..."

Tiger's mouth fell open at once. The shock of hearing a legendary tale from a book become reality left him dumbstruck.

"Haha... Once we're done here, I'll take you to Sky Island... I'll show you the legendary Golden Land... Hahaha."

Ye Mu said with a smile. Tiger's face was filled with yearning as he listened.

"That would be wonderful..."

Enel then introduced himself as well. His circumstances were much the same as Ye Mu's, and compared to Ye Mu, he was far less talkative, so he finished after only a few sentences.

Still, Tiger could sense that Enel had accepted him, so he spoke up as well.

"My name is Fisher Tiger. I'm thirty years old, a sea bream Fish-Man, born in the Fish-Man District. I'm an explorer and a traveler. Six years ago, I began traveling around the world. It took me five years to fulfill my dream, but just as I was preparing to return home... I ran into you two..."

Tiger clearly did not want to say much about that experience, but when he thought of what he wanted to do, he endured the pain and continued.

"I've traveled to countless places and seen plenty of darkness. But even the darkest, most evil places possessed less than one ten-thousandth of the darkness I saw there. I saw many of my own people there, and the treatment they suffered... That's why I..."

"I understand... Don't worry. I'll definitely do what I promised you. At the very least, I will rescue your people and the slaves imprisoned by the Celestial Dragons..."

Tiger looked at Ye Mu, who spoke with such certainty, and felt deeply moved. Yet there had always been one question in his heart.

"I'm sorry... Captain Ye Mu... Even though I've already asked this once... I still want to ask again... Why... are you willing to help me? And why do you dare kill Celestial Dragons? They're the descendants of the Creator..."

"I understand what you mean... I know you find it strange. Where did I get the courage, or rather, why would I kill Celestial Dragons..."

Ye Mu grew serious. After all, what he was about to say concerned whether he could gain Tiger's true recognition. This was also the first time he had revealed his true feelings to an outsider—words he had not even told Enel.

"The justice and evil I told you about are only one reason. More than that, it's because I want to challenge this world..."

"Challenge this world...??"

Tiger did not understand what that meant, but the implication hidden within those words shocked him.

"You may not understand the specific reason, but ever since I came to this world, I've felt the mission upon me—or rather, the meaning of my existence in this world. What I'm about to say may sound crazy to you, but I believe I was born to overturn this world..."

Tiger's eyes widened in an instant. The ambition and confidence in Ye Mu's words truly made him feel that this was madness.

"And later, fate gave me the power to overturn this world. First, it led me to Enel... Then it let the two of us eat the Flame-Flame Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, such incredibly precious Logia Devil Fruits... After that, we encountered the Roger Pirates led by the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. Not only did I awaken Conqueror's Haki, but I also obtained methods for training the other two types of Haki. And now, I've met you..."

As Ye Mu spoke, he looked toward Tiger.

Tiger was beginning to think this was madness as well. He had never expected Ye Mu's experiences to be so extraordinary.

"Roger? You met Pirate King Roger too..."

"Yes. Five years ago, he came to Sky Island. We spent three days together and obtained methods for training Haki... So with such a heaven-sent beginning, if I weren't a little crazy and didn't make challenging this world my goal, I'd feel like I was letting myself down... Hahaha..."

At that moment, Tiger suddenly believed that Ye Mu, the captain before him, was not speaking like a madman. He truly intended to make it his goal.

"The Grand Line... Laugh Tale... the Marines... the Celestial Dragons... the World Government... All of them are targets the Sky Pirate Crew will conquer next... Tiger, are you ready? The journey ahead will be crazy, and dangerous..."

Tiger did not hesitate. At that moment, he was thinking beyond simply rescuing his companions. He wanted to change the fate of all Fish-Man Island.

"I'm ready... Captain..."

"Hahaha... Good... Then it's time to talk about our next plan..."

Ye Mu returned to the matter at hand. Both Enel and Tiger listened carefully.

"The first thing we need to do is master the Six Powers during the remaining fifteen days of our voyage. In this world, strength reigns supreme. We may be madmen, but we aren't fools. Enel has already obtained the training methods for the Six Powers from those four CP9 members. With the physiques of the three of us, it shouldn't be difficult to master... The Six Powers may not do much to increase our strength, but those techniques are still quite interesting..."

At that point, Ye Mu suddenly thought of something and asked Tiger.

"Tiger, can you use Haki..."

Tiger shook his head.

"Then you'll need to master Haki as well. Both Observation Haki and Armament Haki... With your physique, Armament Haki shouldn't be difficult, and Observation Haki shouldn't take too long either..."

"Mm."

Tiger nodded. His strength was absolutely not weak—at the very least, he was at the level of a rear admiral. The fact that he had completed a journey around the world alone proved enough.

Not to mention that Fish-Men were naturally stronger than humans.

"During these fifteen days, improve as much as you can, whether it's the Six Powers or Haki. Fifteen days from now, we'll arrive at Loguetown on schedule. After seeing Roger off, we'll begin our journey. Our destination is the Sabaody Archipelago. We may stay there for a while to meet a friend. I need to learn from him a more advanced way to use Armament Haki. Once I master it, we'll head for the New World..."

At this point, Ye Mu spoke again to reassure Tiger.

"Our strength is still too weak right now. Even if we rescue your people, we won't be able to protect them. So, in the New World, we need to carve out territory for our Sky Pirate Crew and establish a Paradise that can shelter them. Only then will they truly be saved..."