Shandora

At this moment, Ye Mu still harbored a sliver of hope. He kept telling himself that if—perhaps—he could find another Devil Fruit, then he would not have to shamelessly take away the future that originally belonged to Enel.

Enel found Ye Mu's conflicted, struggling expression rather strange. He did not understand why Ye Mu had suddenly become like this, but after thinking for a moment, he answered.

"No."

"Don't answer so quickly. Think carefully. It doesn't have to look exactly like this fruit. As long as it has strange patterns like these, or something similar, that'll do."

Ye Mu pointed at the Devil Fruit clenched tightly in his hand.

Enel raised his head, placing a finger against his temple as he thought. Only then did he slowly speak.

"Now that you mention it, there really is one. But it doesn't look quite the same. Its patterns look a bit like flames, and it's red."

"Really?"

Flames, red... Could it be the Flame-Flame Fruit?!

After hearing Enel's words, Ye Mu's eyes instantly lit up. His entire body trembled with excitement, as if he had taken some miraculous tonic. All his strength returned in an instant, and he lunged toward Enel.

"Quick... take me... take me there..."

Enel was startled by Ye Mu's actions. Hearing his words, he found it strange that Ye Mu wanted him to take him there, but that was not what troubled Enel. What troubled him was whether he should take Ye Mu to the place where he had found the fruit.

Because by this time, the villagers who had gone out hunting should have returned. If they discovered that he had run away from the village, he would probably get beaten up. Besides, the place where he had found the fruit was extremely dangerous.

But when he thought of Ye Mu draping an arm over his shoulders, of that feeling of being acknowledged by someone else that Enel had never experienced before, Enel instantly cast all his concerns from his mind and said to Ye Mu.

"Fine. Follow me!"

Upper Yard, somewhere within a valley, held an extremely secluded spot.

It resembled a mountain ravine, surrounded by massive boulders, with a narrow stream running through the middle.

Enel and Ye Mu were hiding there now, cautiously watching Sky Island's soldiers flying back and forth through the sea of clouds.

"Hey, Enel, are you from Sky Island?"

Taking advantage of the brief lull while they hid, Ye Mu asked Enel. This was also a question that had always bothered Ye Mu when he watched the anime.

"I don't know."

Enel's expression darkened slightly after hearing that.

"But as far back as I can remember, I've always lived on Sky Island!"

"Oh. You don't have wings, while those soldiers all do, so I was a little curious."

Ye Mu shifted backward, using the shade of the trees to conceal himself.

At that, Enel's face became extremely unpleasant. Perhaps Ye Mu's words had touched a sore spot. Because he had no wings, Enel had suffered who knew how much discrimination and abuse on Sky Island.

Since Ye Mu had asked that question, he had naturally guessed a little about how Enel had been treated on Sky Island.

He had asked precisely to stir up Enel's resentment toward Sky Island.

So, pretending not to care, he continued.

"Maybe, like me, you're from the Blue Sea?"

Enel's body shook, and he stared at Ye Mu in disbelief.

"Look, neither you nor I have wings, and the people of the Blue Sea don't have wings either."

Seeing a trace of interest in Enel's eyes, Ye Mu continued to tempt him.

"So? Do you want to return to the Blue Sea with me?"

"Return to the Blue Sea?!"

Enel's eyes widened in surprise. Ye Mu's words made him want to leave Sky Island and see that human world where everyone was just like him, but...

"How do we get back?"

"Hehe, I don't know either."

Sky Island was more than ten thousand meters above the Blue Sea, after all.

Ye Mu scratched his head awkwardly. He had no idea either, but he could not let the desire he had just stirred up in Enel to go to the Blue Sea fade away. So he continued, "Even though I don't know how to get back right now, I will never give up on returning to the Blue Sea. After all, that is my hometown."

After saying that, Ye Mu looked at the deeply thoughtful, hesitant Enel and said, "More importantly, I have you. If I were alone, it might be impossible. But with your help, there won't be any problem at all."

"Me...?"

Enel pointed a finger at himself.

"What can I help you with?"

"You can't help with anything right now, but who knows about the future? For now, just wait until you take me to the place where you found that fruit."

Ye Mu still could not overcome his greed. He did not have the courage to tell Enel the truth about the Devil Fruit yet.

"Fine."

Enel was equally puzzled, not knowing what Ye Mu was talking about.

Fortunately, when the two looked up at the sky, the members of God's Army had already left. Only then did they sneak away.

Ye Mu followed Enel along a winding path. They encountered members of God's Army several times along the way, but fortunately, because they were both small, they were not discovered.

This seemed not to be Enel's first time sneaking in here, so he was familiar with the route and encountered no danger.

More than an hour later, Enel finally brought Ye Mu to a place resembling ancient ruins. Damaged buildings were scattered everywhere, bearing traces of an ancient civilization.

Seeing this, a thought surfaced in Ye Mu's mind.

"This can't be the Shandora from the story, can it?"

"Hey, hurry up and catch up!"

Enel shouted at Ye Mu, who was standing there dazed. Enel was clearly extremely nervous at the moment.

"Oh... okay..."

Ye Mu came back to his senses and immediately followed.

The two kept weaving through the ruined remains until Enel brought Ye Mu to a building hidden beneath the sea of clouds. Only then did they stop.

"We're here. This is the place."

Enel said excitedly.

"Here???"

Ye Mu looked around. There was nothing here besides broken bricks and rubble.

Seeing Ye Mu's puzzled expression, Enel looked very pleased with himself and boasted.

"It took me a lot of effort to find it back then. Come with me, and I'll show you."

Enel stepped into the sea of clouds. It was not very deep, barely reaching past his knees. Ye Mu watched Enel feel around in the clouds, and when he seemed to touch something precious, a flash of excitement crossed his face.

"Found it. This is it."

Then Ye Mu saw Enel straining to move something within the sea of clouds, his face turning red from exertion.

Seeing this, Ye Mu seemed to guess what was going on. He stepped into the sea of clouds as well and walked over to Enel's side.

"Let's do it together..."

Following Enel's arm deep into the clouds, he found it just as expected—a huge rock.

"Alright, if we push together, we can move it."

"Mm."

Enel glanced at Ye Mu but said nothing.

The two exerted themselves together, and the massive rock instantly shifted slightly. A thin gap appeared beneath it, and Ye Mu immediately felt a whirlpool-like pulling force.

"Come on, push harder!"

Enel shouted.

"The place where I found the fruit is underneath this."

Hearing Enel's words, Ye Mu felt as if he could already see the Devil Fruit beckoning to him. He immediately used every ounce of strength he had.

With an angry roar, the huge rock was shoved aside. At the same time, the enormous vortex of water sucked Enel and Ye Mu into a pitch-black cave.