The sky above the sea had never behaved like this before.
Clouds gathered without wind.
Thunder rolled without rain.
Lightning flickered without rhythm.
It was as if the heavens themselves were waiting for a command.
Far above the water, seated on a throne shaped from condensed thunderclouds, Monkey D. Luffy calmly poured himself a drink.
The liquid barely rippled despite the speed they were traveling.
Sanji sat stiffly to Luffy's left, gripping the edge of the cloud with one hand while pretending not to be terrified. His cigarette trembled between his fingers despite his attempt to look composed.
Yosaku, on the other hand, had abandoned all dignity.
"This—this isn't normal!" he yelled, eyes locked on the ocean shrinking far below them. "We're flying! We're actually flying!"
Luffy took a slow sip of whiskey.
"Technically," he said, "we're floating."
Sanji swallowed.
"…That's not better."
The cloud surged forward, skimming across the sky like a living thing, responding to Luffy's will with unsettling obedience.
Sanji finally tore his eyes away from the sea and looked at Luffy.
"How did you even do this?" he asked. "The clouds… the lightning… that ship back then… you're not just some regular Devil Fruit user, are you?"
Luffy glanced at his right hand.
Electricity danced lazily across his fingers, bright blue arcs snapping and fading like playful sparks.
"Goro Goro no Mi," he said casually. "Lightning."
He turned his hand fully into electricity for a brief moment, the crackling energy illuminating his calm face.
"I can become it. Control it. Move through it."
Sanji stared.
"And the clouds?" he asked carefully.
Luffy shrugged.
"Side effect," he said. "Lightning needs somewhere to live."
Yosaku whimpered quietly.
Sanji exhaled slowly, forcing himself to accept reality before redirecting his thoughts.
"…Alright," he said. "Then tell me this."
He turned toward Yosaku.
"What's waiting for us where Nami went?"
Yosaku stiffened.
The humor vanished from his face.
"She went to Arlong Park."
The air changed instantly.
Luffy's eyes sharpened.
"Arlong," he repeated. "Saw-Tooth Arlong."
Yosaku nodded.
"She keeps staring at his wanted poster," he said. "Not like greed. Not like fear. Like… obligation."
Sanji frowned.
"You think she's hunting his bounty?"
"Twenty million," Yosaku said. "Enough to change everything."
Luffy didn't respond immediately.
Something about that explanation didn't sit right.
"Arlong didn't stay in East Blue by accident," Yosaku continued. "Jimbei left him here."
Luffy shook his head.
"No," he said calmly. "Jimbei didn't leave him."
Both Sanji and Yosaku stared at him.
"Arlong left on his own," Luffy continued. "He hated humans. Always did. Fishmen supremacist. Jimbei tried to restrain him."
Sanji blinked.
"…How do you know that?"
Luffy smiled faintly.
"I've been to Fishman Island."
Silence.
"…What."
"Jimbei fed me meat," Luffy added helpfully.
Sanji stared, his brain visibly failing to process that sentence.
"…I'm going to need to hear that story someday," he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow.
Yosaku swallowed.
"So… Arlong Park," he said again. "Fishmen control the islands around it. Villages pay tribute."
Luffy's gaze drifted to the horizon.
"This girl," he said quietly. "She's not chasing money."
The cloud suddenly accelerated.
Yosaku screamed.
"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
"Shortcut," Luffy replied.
The thundercloud shot upward, punching through layers of sky until the air thinned and the ocean became a distant blue mirror.
Sanji's face went pale.
"…Captain," he said carefully. "We are far too high."
"Faster," Luffy said.
The world blurred.
Thirty minutes later, the cloud descended.
An island rose from the sea ahead—green, deceptively peaceful.
And beyond it…
A silhouette.
Tall.
Wide.
Built like a fortress.
"Arlong Park," Yosaku whispered.
Luffy turned the cloud away.
"What are you doing?" Yosaku asked. "That's where Nami is!"
"I know," Luffy replied. "And that's why we're not landing there."
Sanji nodded slowly.
"Regroup first," he said. "Smart."
They circled the island, descending toward a secluded beach.
The cloud dissolved beneath their feet, leaving them standing on warm sand.
"So," Sanji said, lighting a cigarette. "What's the plan?"
Luffy looked up.
"You'll see."
He raised his hand.
The sky answered.
Arlong Park
Zoro sat bound near the water, blood dried across his chest.
Nami stood nearby.
Cold.
Detached.
Wearing arrogance like armor.
Arlong lounged behind her, watching everything with bored amusement.
"She played you well," Arlong laughed. "A human who betrays her own kind is useful."
Zoro chuckled softly.
"That's funny," he said.
Arlong raised an eyebrow.
"You find this amusing?"
"You're wrong about one thing," Zoro replied. "We never trusted her."
Nami flinched.
"And stealing our ship?" Zoro continued. "That just means you pissed off the wrong captain."
A shadow passed overhead.
The sky darkened.
Thunder cracked across the island like a declaration of war.
Fishmen looked up.
Nami went pale.
Zoro smiled.
"He's here," he said.
Lightning split the clouds.
And far away—
Monkey D. Luffy watched the storm he had summoned roll across the island.
Uncontrolled.
Unrestrained.
Angry.