Octopus Balloon

"Ah..."

"Ten thousand meters!"

Hearing this, everyone's mouths fell open as they all looked down.

Below them stretched a vast, endless sea of clouds, like a bottomless cloud-filled abyss.

The Going Merry shot downward like an arrow.

Though they could not imagine how high ten thousand meters was, falling at this speed would smash them to pieces even if there were an ocean below.

And it might not even be the ocean! "This is bad. At this rate, we're dead for sure!"

Usopp was the first to cry out, looking at Luffy.

"Luffy, you're the captain. Think of something, quick!"

"Hmm... this... is there a problem?"

Luffy was sitting at the bow, looking east and west below them and scratching his head with a baffled expression.

"Hey, hey, hey, Luffy, have you still not figured out what's going on?"

Zoro immediately jumped up.

"Give up on asking him. We should think of something ourselves."

Sanji shook his head.

"What could we possibly do? We're ten thousand meters in the air!"

Usopp cried out in terror.

"We could throw Luffy down first. Isn't he made of rubber? Have him grow bigger and hold us up from below."

Chopper suddenly had a flash of inspiration and came up with a brilliant plan! Hearing this, Usopp's eyes lit up and he clapped his hands. "Good idea!"

Zoro nodded. "Agreed!"

Sanji exhaled a puff of smoke. "I don't object."

Luffy nodded, standing at the bow and itching to try. "Okay, then I'll go down first."

Nami: "..."

"Captain, what if there happens to be an ocean down there?"

Resting her chin on her hand, Robin smiled at Luffy.

"It's fine. I've always had good luck."

Luffy swung his arms, speaking with complete confidence.

"Captain, we can only rely on you at a time like this!"

Usopp patted Luffy, encouraging him.

"Take care."

Zoro patted Luffy as well.

"Stay safe!"

So did Sanji.

"Then I'll pat you too!"

Chopper stepped forward, wanting to copy them, but he was too short and could only pat Luffy's leg.

"Don't worry, everyone. I'll definitely stop the Going Merry."

Luffy nodded solemnly and was about to leap overboard.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Five heavy blows rang out. The five stood in a row, bruised and battered, greeting the livid Nami.

"Hi, Nami!"

"You five idiots, shut up!"

Fire blazed in Nami's eyes as she shrieked, then she looked at Moonlight and tossed something over. "Moonlight, put this on top of the ship!"

Moonlight froze. It was an octopus.

"I remember Conis saying this isn't an ordinary octopus. On Skypiea, it's called an Octopus Balloon. When heated, its body fills with air and expands dramatically like a balloon. We can use the power of the air to land safely."

Robin chuckled.

"An Octopus Balloon?"

"Use the power of the air?"

"When did you bring that aboard?"

"Skypiea has something like that?"

Hearing this, the five troublesome children were full of question marks, utterly confused.

Thermal expansion and contraction?

Moonlight's thoughts stirred. It was the simplest principle, yet at a critical moment, it could be fatal.

Nami truly deserved to be called a navigator.

"Why am I on a ship like this?"

Seeing this, Nami burst into tears.

Bang.

Moonlight lifted the octopus and leaped onto the deck above.

He then lit a candle to heat it.

The next moment, an enormous Octopus Balloon unfurled. Its eight massive tentacles firmly gripped the Going Merry, immediately slowing its descent until it drifted lightly through the air.

"We're saved?"

Zoro finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"So this is an Octopus Balloon?"

Usopp's eyes widened with immense curiosity.

"It's huge!"

Chopper was astonished.

"Other than cooking, what else can octopuses be used for?"

Sanji's eyes gleamed as though he had discovered a new continent.

"That's awesome!"

Luffy cheered.

Not only them—even Robin and the others watched curiously.

Only Skypiea had such a magical species as the Octopus Balloon.

After a while, once things had stabilized.

Luffy finally could not contain his curiosity. He jumped onto it and, like an inquisitive child, poked and prodded the octopus's back.

Then he simply rolled around on it. "It's so soft, so comfortable!"

"I want to play too! I want to play too!"

Seeing this, Chopper cheered excitedly and climbed up as well. Before long, he was rolling around with Luffy.

Watching this, Usopp's interest was piqued, and he wanted to climb up too.

"Hey, hey, hey, Luffy, that's enough. We still haven't escaped danger."

Zoro could not help frowning.

It was not time to celebrate yet.

Even with the Octopus Balloon, who knew where they would end up landing?

Meanwhile, Nami kept looking below, judging where they might land.

They could already see the sea.

"This is bad."

Moonlight looked up and saw that, as Luffy and the other two played, the octopus's body was starting to shrink.

Thermal expansion and contraction—the octopus had expanded because of the air, supporting the Going Merry like a parachute.

However, the weight of Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp was constantly compressing the air inside it, which was extremely dangerous.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on? That octopus's body seems to be getting smaller?"

At that moment, Sanji seemed to notice the anomaly as well and could not help crying out.

"It looks like it's sweating!"

Robin saw it too.

"What?"

Hearing this, Nami hurriedly turned around.

Sure enough, as they jumped and played, the octopus's body kept shrinking. When Usopp successfully climbed aboard too, the octopus let out a muffled bang. The air inside it was rapidly compressed, then it shrank and fell from the sky.

Luffy and the other two cried out as they fell together.

Fortunately, Luffy reacted quickly and stretched out his arms to catch them both. Otherwise, they would have fallen into the sea.

But without the Octopus Balloon, the Going Merry was in trouble. It plunged straight down.

Though they could see the ocean now, they were still several hundred meters above it. At this rate, everyone, along with the Going Merry, would be smashed to pieces.

"This is all your doing!"

Nami's face was covered in tears. Couldn't they have just landed properly? "No, because of the air currents, the Going Merry's course is drifting around. Those are... mountains!"

At that moment, Robin suddenly pointed at the sea below. Several sword-like peaks could vaguely be seen scattered across it.

The Going Merry was falling toward them.

"At this rate, we'll crash into them!"

Zoro's expression turned grave.

"Moonlight, what do we do?"

Seeing this, Chopper hurriedly looked at Moonlight.

"Run!"

Moonlight shook his head and looked at Nami.

"Chopper, Nami, Robin, come to me. Luffy, take Usopp with you. Mr. Octopus, Sanji, Zoro, you'll be fine on your own, right? We can only jump."

There was no choice now but to abandon the ship and flee.

"Only one thing to do."

Hearing this, Zoro and the others nodded.

Luffy's expression also turned grave. He grabbed the octopus and stuffed it into his clothes.