A few minutes after Xiaobai left, many huge bubbles began to rise in the sea not far in front of Vic. When the bubbles burst, a lot of high-temperature steam appeared, and the sea surface became illusory.
These were signs that a great change was about to occur in the sea. Then a whirlpool appeared, and as time went on, it grew larger and larger, drawing Vic's small boat closer and closer to it.
Just as Vic's small boat was being sucked into the increasingly rapid whirlpool, the whirlpool suddenly stopped. This was because the underwater cavity below had filled with water and was about to be swept into the sky.
Vic's small boat was in the center of a whirlpool several meters below sea level, Vic released his Observation Haki to sense the movements on the seabed.
What Vic needs to rely on is the strong wind generated by the Knock Up Stream. This wind will allow Vic to conserve a lot of energy in case of any unexpected situations that may occur after reaching the Sky Island.
Soon, Vic sensed a surge of violent energy about to erupt. With a tap of his foot and a wave of his hand, the small boat disappeared from the sea.
Vic flew upwards for about ten meters, stepping on the air, when the Knock Up Stream caught up with him and propelled him upwards, enveloping Vic in the current.
Vic remained calm and stood upright in the seawater. This might be the last time he could relax so easily in the water!
It wasn't until he was two thousand meters in the air that Vic was thrown out by the ocean current. Vic easily rose up with the help of the wind blowing into the sky. This was much easier than using Geppo to go into the sky directly. If he had used Geppo directly, the height of tens of thousands of meters would have completely exhausted his physical strength.
Before long, Vic followed the Knock Up Stream to the White-White Sea at an altitude of 7,000 meters. This current only had this much power; it had already lost its strength by this point.
After breaking free from the ocean current, Vic flew to a soft Island Cloud to rest. Reaching this point basically meant he had successfully ascended to the sky. The rest of the journey would take him directly to a real Sky Island via a cloud path.
Vic recovered all his strength in no time, and even the weakness caused by the thin air subsided.
Afterwards Vic continued to rise into the air by stepping on the air. He needed to see where the Heaven's Gate was located. Judging from the direction of Jaya, Angel Island couldn't be too far away.
Soon, Vic saw a magnificent archway appear at the end of the crisscrossing rivers in the middle of the Island Cloud. That was the Heaven's Gate. Finding this place was equivalent to arriving at the Sky Island. Upper Yard and Angel Island were right in front of him.
Vic rode on the soft Island Cloud toward the Heaven's Gate, where there was a giant lobster that could take you straight to Angel Beach. Vic wanted to ride that to the real Sky Island, since the cloud path wasn't a straight ascent, and it would be too much trouble to go by himself. It would be better to do some sightseeing along the way.
With a few leaps, Vic arrived in front of the Heaven's Gate. Instead of going in directly, Vic stood in front of the gates and gazed at this sky portal whose history was unknown.
The design of the Heaven's Gate resembles a unique light rail station; it's not called a high-speed rail station because it's not very large.
Since the founding of the World Government, few people have been able to come to Sky Island, and there is more than one Sky Island. However, this island must be the most important and special among them, simply because it contains the City of Gold and the Poneglyph that record the Poseidon.
Aside from some oddly shaped features, there's nothing particularly special about it. Behind the door is the entrance to the Cloud River, which connects to the upper-level Sky Island.
Vic flashed into the wide doorway. Vic now looked like he was standing on a light rail platform. There were platforms on both sides of the river where people could stand, and Vic was standing on one of the platforms.
The surveillance officer, Granny Amazon, who was reading in the duty room, looked up to ease her stiff neck and dry eyes, then glanced outside the duty room before preparing to continue reading.
But just now, in a casual glance, a tall figure caught her eye. She thought it was just a hallucination from reading for too long.
This is a place where it's common for only one person or one boat to come here every few years. She can only read books to pass the time all year round; it's a completely idle job.
This isn't the gateway to those islands in the ocean; this Heaven's Gate. Skypieans Islanders generally don't come here, and even Blue Sea people might not be able to get here. Not many people even know that Sky Island exist.
Amazon closed her eyes to catch her breath, then looked up at the window again. The figure was still there, smiling at her.
Amazon was startled. There was someone else there without her noticing, and he was even smiling at her. She was almost scared to death.
Facing such loneliness every day, she was already quite brave, but the scene was indeed somewhat eerie. This wasn't real heaven; there were no elusive gods here.
"Who are you? How did you get here?" the Granny Amazon asked, her voice trembling as she clutched her chest.
Although she is not as old as she will be more than ten years later, her face still has many wrinkles, like a dried plum. If it weren't for the pair of pure white wings growing from her back, no one would know that this thing is also an angel.
"My name is Vic! I come from the Blue Sea below. I want to go see Angel Island. Do you have any way to do that?"
Vic knew there was a giant lobster there, but he didn't reveal this information. Amazon was a ruthless character who had deceived the Straw Hat Pirates and informed Enel.
Vic doesn't know whether her true nature is that she dislikes the Blue Sea people or pirates, or whether she wants to use external forces to eliminate the invincible god Enel.
If it's the latter! Although her initial intentions were good, the enemy is the invincible Enel! It's hard to say how many people she sacrificed before Straw Hat, so it's difficult for Vic to define what kind of person Amazon is.
Are you here for sightseeing or to fight?
Amazon calmed herself down before mustering the courage to ask. This suddenly appearing young man gave her a strong sense of pressure, completely different from the feeling she had towards God.
"Is there any difference?" Vic asked casually.
"If it's about war, then so be it. Our gods are very powerful."
If you're just visiting, you'll have to pay a fee of 100 million Extol to enter Heaven. This is a law ordained by God. It's your choice; I'm just asking as a formality!
Amazon bullied Vic because he was an outsider, constantly using the word "god" to frighten him. Mysterious and unknown beings might be intimidating to some people, but Vic was not one of them.
Vic didn't expect that the entry fee at this time was only one-tenth of that during Enel's time. Even if it were converted to Beli, it wouldn't be too expensive. And Gan Fall, this god, wasn't particularly greedy!
"I'm just curious about the Sky Island and want to go up and take a look. I'm not here to fight, but I don't want to pay either. What do you think we should do?"
"This... this! Well, you'll have to figure it out yourself. I'll call Express Shrimp to take you up there!"
Amazon was relieved to hear that Vic wasn't going to war. If he didn't want money, he didn't want money. The country wouldn't suffer any losses. If they forced money and offended this person, even God might not be able to defeat him. He was a ruthless person who came here silently from the Blue Sea!
"Then let's call over that Express Shrimp thing, I'm in a hurry!"
Vic could tell that the Amazon might not actually be as cunning as they seemed; they simply wanted to bring in external forces to overthrow Enel's rule, which was a sign of patriotism.
However, it's very unfair to those she dragged into this. It's only because the Straw Hat Pirates are easy to talk to that she's easy to deal with. If she tried to trick Vic like that, Vic wouldn't let her get away with it.
Amazon didn't say anything more, but took a long whistle out of his pocket and blew it.
Less than twenty seconds later, a huge, bright red lobster burst out of the waterway in the Heaven's Gate. This Express Shrimp only showed its two large claws and a big head, and its expression was as if someone owed it a lot of money.
Vic guessed it was just working for free here, having to catch its own food without pay, hence its peculiar expression.