In the World of One Piece: I Can Copy Any Talent

Robin stamped on the clouds beneath her feet and smiled with satisfaction. "Now we can still feel what clouds are like even after we leave Sky Island."

Conis stood stiffly aboard the Ark Maxim, cradling Sisi the Cloud Fox. Robin quickly took her aside to show her around the ship.

Wyper sat in a corner of the ship, his arm wrapped in bandages and his expression as hard as ever.

A few days earlier, Shandia had held a ceremony to ring the Golden Bell. Wyper, chosen to ring it, had slammed his own flesh and blood into the several-ton bell.

Its toll had echoed across the sky. Nearly everyone on Sky Island could hear it, and even people down on the Blue Sea could too.

He had stopped only when his fist was a bloody mess.

As Noil put it, the man was a blockhead. Of all the ways to ring a bell, he had to use his fist.

But after fulfilling his mission, Wyper had shown no concern for the pain. He had simply let out a long breath.

Afterward, Wyper had sought Noil out himself and officially become his crewmate.

As for Enel...

At first, he had tried to use his powers to slip away while Noil wasn't looking. Fortunately, Noil had caught on quickly.

After giving him a thorough beating, Noil had come up with a better solution: soak him in water.

Nearly a month had passed, and Noil had only remembered Enel was still in the water right before they left.

Enel had suffered enough to feel thoroughly wronged, but he didn't dare complain. Then he saw the remodeled Ark Maxim and nearly fainted on the spot.

Years of work! They'd changed it beyond recognition!

Noil locked Enel in the ship's power-supply room so the "Big Road-brand power bank" could provide electricity to the Ark Maxim whenever needed.

The Ark Maxim—now properly the ship Ark Maxim—descended into the White Sea and slowly headed for Sky Island's exit.

Holding Sisi, Conis said goodbye to her elderly father through tears. Wyper stood solemnly by the rail, watching his fellow Shandians see them off.

On shore, Langi held Aisa's hand and watched Wyper with obvious reluctance to part.

Noil was curious enough to want to ask about the two of them.

Gan Fall led the others as far as the exit. Ahead lay a cloud-sea waterfall that dropped at nearly ninety degrees.

Gan Fall called out to Noil, "Lord Noil! Whatever you do, don't bring Enel back!"

Down in the hold, Enel heard him and nearly coughed up blood. With a heavy heart, he silently told himself:

Goodbye, my youth...

Noil gave Gan Fall a sailor's salute. Then, under everyone's gaze, the Ark Maxim plunged into the White Sea below and hurtled toward the Blue Sea!

"Goodbye!"

"Come back and visit!"

"Except Enel!"

With the Sky Island residents cheering them on, the Ark Maxim rushed downward without a backward glance, bound for more adventures on the Blue Sea.

Noil had reached Sky Island with only one companion. Now he was returning to the Blue Sea with a crew of five and a fox!

Holding the rail, Noil stepped inside, picked up the ship's Transponder Dial, and shouted, "Big Road! Power us up!"

Enel sat gloomily in the supply room. He heard Noil's hateful order but didn't dare disobey.

Blue light flashed over his body, and electricity flowed through the ship's systems into the entire hull.

Two rows of small openings ran along the ship's sides. Once powered, oars extended from them, while the propellers on either side spun furiously.

The Ark Maxim gradually steadied itself in midair. A moment later, it began flying slowly in one direction.

Wyper held the wheel in the pilothouse.

Noil raised his wrist and studied the Log Pose. Once he saw nothing wrong, he told Enel, "Keep the power coming. You can rest when the Ark Maxim lands on the Blue Sea."

Reduced to an invaluable laborer, Enel had long since gone numb. He supplied power without a word.

It wasn't as though he had never considered resisting. He had even thought of threatening Noil with his powers so they couldn't control the Ark Maxim.

But Noil had unleashed El Thor right in front of him, and that had put an end to the idea.

This isn't surrender! It's enduring humiliation for a greater purpose!

Once everyone aboard let down their guard, Enel could seize his chance to escape.

Of course, Noil had thought of that too.

Enel clearly wasn't loyal to him, and Noil had never expected one beating to win over someone so proud.

Keeping Enel in check would be simple. Noil just needed to find some Seastone to seal away his powers.

Until he found any, though, he would have to stick with the old method.

Whenever night fell, or no one was watching Enel, they could stuff him in a water tank. How was he supposed to run away then?

Hmm... I really am a genius!

Enel had no idea that the moment everyone aboard relaxed their guard would be the moment he ended up back in the water.

Wyper had changed his clothes. Gone was the bare-chested man in a grass skirt.

Now he wore a blue short-sleeved shirt and baggy shorts. With that expression of his, he looked like a mob boss vacationing in Hawaii.

Conis and Robin chatted on deck. Noil lounged in a chair, soaking up the sun with a little fox in sunglasses nestled against him.

Thanks to Noil's guidance, Wyper had learned some basic Armament Haki training methods. He had gone to work out in the training room.

Everyone seemed perfectly at ease—except for a certain lonely self-proclaimed god belowdecks, silently generating electricity.

Kuzan Appears

The flying Ark Maxim finally returned to the Blue Sea. Noil stood at the bow and took a deep breath.

"That's the smell—"

The sea breeze blew past him. It had been far too long.

His trip to Sky Island felt almost like a dream. Now that he was back on the Blue Sea, reality seemed strangely unreal.

On that journey, Noil had gained a fighter and a musician, plus a high-capacity power bank.

The crew was still small compared with some pirate crews, but at least it had the essentials.

The Ark Maxim was nowhere near its original size, yet it was probably still larger than an ordinary pirate ship, with plenty of rooms.

Besides the bedrooms, Conis had her own pink music room, and Robin had a study packed with books.

Noil and Wyper also spent plenty of time in the training room. Noil intended to teach him Armament Haki.

Wyper's fighting style was a mixed bag, but his main offensive tools were the Impact Dial and Burn Bazooka. He could loosely be called a weapons master.

Noil wanted him to change his approach, though. Wyper's talent for combat showed most clearly in his physical toughness.

Noil had personally tested Wyper's trump card, the Reject Dial, which struck with ten times the force of an Impact Dial. Its recoil was no joke.

Even Noil's arm had gone numb after using it. Yet Wyper's body could withstand that backlash.

Given Wyper's toughness, Noil focused on teaching him Armament Haki. Wyper didn't disappoint: before long, he could sense Haki.

It would probably take more training before he could use it in battle.

Noil hadn't neglected Observation Haki either, though Wyper's progress there was slower.

After putting Wyper through his daily training, Noil went out on deck alone to practice swordsmanship.

The power of a dark-gold talent exceeded even Noil's expectations. His swordsmanship improved by leaps and bounds.

As long as he wore a sword at his side, his understanding of the blade seemed to deepen every moment.

When the day's training ended, it was time for dinner.

Once the others tasted Conis's cooking, they were stunned.

Noil marveled again at how right he had been to invite Conis aboard.

After dinner, Conis held Sisi and asked curiously, "Noil, what's the next island like?"

Noil worked out the distance and said, "Our next stop should be Water 7. It's a shipbuilding island famous around the world."

Full and content, Wyper patted his stomach. "The most famous shipbuilding island on the Blue Sea? Are we going to improve the Ark Maxim again?"

Noil nodded. "Since we're going there anyway, we might as well. It won't hurt anything."

Before flying away from Sky Island, Noil had taken nearly every gold object and material he could find. Money was hardly a problem now.

They could give the ship a little work—a beauty treatment for the Ark Maxim.

The thing most worth watching out for in Water 7, though, was those CP9 agents.

Noil looked at Wyper, lost in thought.

The World Government and Marines' Six Powers seemed well suited to Wyper, who had only just arrived on the Blue Sea and was still getting used to it.

Once they got there, Noil could find a way to get his hands on the Six Powers.

As for Conis, finding a Devil Fruit for her would give her a way to protect herself. That sounded good too.

There were also Bellemere and Nojiko, far away in the East Blue. He could find fruits for them as well—Logia fruits, ideally.

Then, even when he wasn't by their side, the East Blue's average fighting strength would give him little cause to worry about them.

What? And Nami?

That girl was tough. She probably wouldn't die.

Several leisurely days passed aboard the ship. But with more people aboard, trouble still had a way of finding them.

"Oh, damn it!"

A miserable cry rang through the Ark Maxim early one morning.

Noil crawled out of his warm bed, stared at the Log Pose on his wrist, and roared, "I adjusted our heading before bed! I know I did!"

"Why the hell are we sailing back the way we came?"

"Where are we?!"

Noil's wail spread through the whole ship. Next door, Wyper emerged with his hair sticking up, his eyes still heavy with sleep.

A tuft of red hair hung over his forehead. Yawning, Wyper asked, "What's wrong? It's so early..."

Noil pressed a hand to his forehead and held up the pointer. "We've been sailing the wrong way."

Wyper headed outside, puzzled. "That's impossible. I kept watch for ages last night, and everything was fine."

Robin came over too, with a half-asleep Conis clinging to her waist. Robin explained to Wyper:

"This is the Grand Line. Its weather is strange. This doesn't happen often, but it does happen."

Conis asked drowsily, "Then... where are we now?"

Noil's extraordinary sense for weather stirred, and a bad feeling came over him.

"Don't you feel it? Something's strange."

Wyper nodded thoughtfully. "The sea breeze seems to have stopped completely."

Silence fell over the Ark Maxim.

Robin broke it, her voice hesitant. "We haven't... entered the Calm Belt, have we?"

"The Calm Belt? There's a stretch of sea like that on the Grand Line?" Wyper asked in surprise.

Noil sighed helplessly. "If we're in the Calm Belt, we'll have to use the Wind Dials to get out."

At least their ship was the Ark Maxim. It could fly and propel itself through the air, so traveling through the Calm Belt shouldn't be a problem.

Robin seemed to read his mind. "We don't have many Wind Dials left."

Noil's eyelid twitched. He forced a smile. "Then we'll fly out! Tell Big Road to get ready!"

Wyper climbed up the ladder from belowdecks. "He says we used the Ark Maxim's flight system yesterday. It needs more time."

Only then did Noil remember that, on a whim, he had made the ship fly for a while yesterday...

And unlike the completed ark of a few years later, the Ark Maxim could fly only a limited distance before it needed to recover.

"Forget it." Noil sat down helplessly on the Cloud Deck. "We'll have to wait for the flight system to recover."