"Will they choose my ordeal of balls (swamp, string, iron)? What choice will they make?"
So said the priests, each hoping Luffy and the others would choose his ordeal.
Then, through their mantra, they sensed the group choose the Ordeal of Balls and enter the dark passage.
"Ah! This place is terrifying. What kind of ordeal is waiting for us?"
Usopp steered the Crow forward with his eyes shut.
"Hey, hey, don't close your eyes while you're steering the ship. It's not safe!" Sanji warned him.
"Ah! I still can't see anything with my eyes open. It's pitch-black in front of me."
He opened his eyes, but it was still pitch-black, and he kept steering it forward through the darkness.
"Shishishi! I wonder what's at the end of the passage? Maybe we'll fall right off Sky Island."
Luffy joked with a laugh.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't say stuff like that! If that really happens, we'll fall to our deaths. Nobody could survive that."
Usopp turned to tell him, afraid that what Luffy had said might come true.
After a while, the end of the passage appeared, and a glimmer of white light came into view.
"We're almost there! Let's go!!!"
Luffy shouted excitedly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm taking us there now," Usopp replied, steering the Crow smoothly toward the exit.
But as soon as the ship emerged, it found itself suspended in midair. Then it plunged downward as the three screamed in terrified shock.
"You bastard, this is all because you jinxed us! We really did fall out of the sky!"
Sanji kicked Luffy, who was sprawled on the ship, as he spoke.
"Sorry!!!" he apologized weakly.
"Hmm, right, where are we? Is this the place where the Ordeal of Balls is held?"
Usopp stood up and looked around for a while before speaking.
"I don't know, but it might be. Look, there are lots of white balls floating around us. I just don't know where the priest Miss Conis and the others mentioned is."
Sanji held a cigarette between the fingers of his left hand and pointed with his right at the white balls surrounding them.
"Where are you? Come on out, priest!"
Luffy walked to the bow and shouted, trying to draw the priest out into the open.
"Hey, Luffy, don't make a sound and provoke him! What if you really do draw the priest out?
"And what if it's that priest named Luo Chen from before? The three of you couldn't beat him together. Can we manage it?"
Usopp tried to dissuade him, afraid Luffy's words would draw him out. Unfortunately, the very thing he feared came to pass: a ball floated behind him, with a man sitting on it.
"Oh, oh, oh! He really showed up!!!"
The two exclaimed in surprise.
"Huh? Hey, what's wrong with you two? Why do you look so surprised? Is there something behind me...?"
Usopp looked at them in confusion as he spoke. When he turned to look behind him, a priest shaped like a ball appeared before his eyes.
"Ah!!! The priest really did show up!"
Usopp stumbled backward in fright, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"I'm delighted you chose my ordeal. I am Satori, the priest in charge of the Ordeal of Balls. Invaders from the Blue Sea, I look forward to our encounter. Heh-heh-heh!"
The priest Satori sat cross-legged on a white ball as he introduced himself.
"Tch, a priest like that guy? Luffy, be careful. He won't be easy to deal with."
Hearing Satori's introduction, Sanji and the others understood who the man before them was, so Sanji warned Luffy.
"Uh, got it. I'll use all my strength to send this guy flying."
Luffy clasped his hands together, his eyes serious.
"Heh-heh-heh! Don't make me laugh. I'm Priest Satori, Lord God Enel's strongest subordinate. How could the likes of you defeat me?"
Satori curled his lip, paying Luffy and the others no mind at all.
"The strongest... priest? Are you as strong as that guy? The priest named Luo Chen?"
Sanji walked over with a cigarette in his mouth and asked.
When Satori heard that name, cold sweat broke out on his forehead and his face stiffened slightly, but he insisted, "That guy? Priest Luo Chen? Of course! I, Satori, am Lord God Enel's strongest subordinate. How could I lose to him?"
"Really? Why do you look a little different, then?"
Luffy saw through the lie in his words and exposed him on the spot.
"Enough nonsense! You invaders can all die here!"
With that, Satori charged at him in anger. Usopp happened to be standing in his way, so Satori reached out his right hand toward him.
"Watch out! Mouton Shot!"
Sanji pushed Usopp down and kicked out to the right.
"Right leg, attack to the right!"
Satori spoke softly, and his body reacted instantly. He dodged the attack and pressed his right hand against Sanji's chest. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly as he said one word.
"Impact!!!"
A shock wave of tremendous force passed from his hand into Sanji's body, blasting him off the ship.
"Boom!!!"
Sanji slammed into the ground with a tremendous crash, sending dust billowing in all directions.
"Ah!! Sanji, are you okay?"
After seeing their companion sent flying by Satori's strange move, Luffy and Usopp hurriedly looked over and asked in concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Cough-wah!!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he coughed up a mouthful of congealed blood.
"Be careful. I don't know what move that guy just used, but it was really powerful."
Sanji immediately warned them.
"Yeah, got it. I'll be careful. Gum-Gum Rocket!"
Luffy stretched both arms back, then blasted them toward the priest.
"From the front... Surprise Ball." Satori dodged Luffy's attack again, then directed a white ball toward their ship.
"Boom!!!"
Luffy's fists flashed past and struck the large tree behind him like cannonballs. With a boom, they blasted a hollow in its trunk, sending wood chips flying.
"Explode!"
Bang!!!
As soon as he spoke, the white ball touched Luffy's face and suddenly exploded, blasting him down.
"Ah! Luffy! You bastard! Certain kill-Green Star!"
With a curse, Usopp picked up his slingshot and fired at Satori.
It was useless against his mantra, which could see the next attack coming. Dodging left and right, he reached Usopp, pressed his hand against him, and used the same move he had used to send Luffy flying.
"Impact!"
Bang!!!
"Ah!! That hurts!"
Usopp was sent flying too. He landed on the ground and rolled around, howling in pain.
"None of you can get past me. You can all die here! Heh-heh-heh!"
Satori bounced up and down on the ball, shouting provocations.
"Looks like they won't get through Satori's ordeal for a while. I'll go say goodbye to my superior Enel, who's been my boss for the past few years!
"After all, I'm about to leave this place. I can't be so heartless!"
With that, Luo Chen stood up and activated his fruit ability. A pair of blood-red wings unfurled behind him, and with a beat, he shot high into the sky, heading for the temple.
"Hehehe, what a magnificent, enchanting sight. I'm about to leave this place. If I don't look at it some more, I won't get another chance."
As he flew through the air and looked down, beautiful scenes passed before his eyes. He recalled how he had spent the past few years buried in cultivation and had never properly appreciated the scenery here, prompting him to speak with emotion.
Before long, he arrived at the temple above the enormous vine. He withdrew his ability, stood outside the entrance for a moment, then pushed the doors open and walked in.
"Hmm, I was wondering who it was. So it's you, Lord Priest Luo Chen."
Oyama, the captain of the divine soldiers, came over to greet him.
"May I ask what brings you here? Do you have business with Lord Enel?"
"Mm, I'd like to speak to him about something. Is he here?"
Luo Chen entered with him and spoke.
"I, your god, am always here!"
Enel's voice rang out. Then, with a crack, a bolt of lightning struck inside the temple and turned into Enel. Reclining on his divine couch, he picked up an apple and took a bite, then looked at Luo Chen and spoke.
"What business do you have with me, Priest... Luo Chen?"
"I've come to tender my resignation. I intend to step down as a priest and return to the Blue Sea!"
Luo Chen walked forward and spoke, looking Enel straight in the eyes.