Back with Nami, she sped away on the Waverider across the sea of clouds, putting a good distance between herself and the others.
Unsurprisingly, Apayado came into view. Nami gazed at the dense forest and towering trees, her curiosity piqued.
So, she steered the Waverider closer.
However, Nami was still a bit cautious and didn't immediately venture into the forest.
Her luck, however, wasn't great. She happened to encounter a guy surfing the clouds, wearing a bizarre mask. This was the exact same person who had attacked the Going Merry earlier, wielding a cannon in one hand and a shield in the other.
"Out of my way!"
The masked man fired directly at Nami.
Taken aback, Nami quickly maneuvered the Waverider to dodge.
The masked man was more accustomed to fighting on the sea of clouds, so he moved with impressive speed. Gliding swiftly, he reached Nami, and his shield swung directly at her.
Yet, the moment the shield touched Nami's skin, it slid harmlessly aside.
The masked man froze for a fraction of a second, then quickly ducked his head, narrowly avoiding Nami's high kick.
"So, Observation Haki! Damn it!"
Nami cursed under her breath, abandoning the Waverider entirely. She used Moonwalk to step onto the air and land in the forest of Apayado. The masked man paused, seemingly surprised that Nami could move in the air, but he still pursued her.
As soon as he entered the forest, an iron rod came swinging his way.
The masked man swiftly dodged. Although his special cloud shoes weren't as agile on land as in the sea of clouds, they didn't hinder him too much, and his speed remained considerable.
"Shave!"
He vanished and reappeared behind the masked man, swinging his staff.
Despite the masked man's speed, he was slower than the Six Powers of the Marines. Before he could block with his shield, Nami's staff struck him squarely on the back, eliciting a cry of pain.
Nami had probably anticipated that a single blow wouldn't take him down.
After all, this was the same person Usopp had kicked in the waist, sending him plummeting into the sea, yet here he was, alive and kicking. This indicated a certain level of resilience.
But that resilience wouldn't be enough to deal with Nami.
Staggered by Nami's attack, the masked man quickly regained his footing, leaped onto a tall tree trunk, and fired three shots at her. Nami didn't even bother to evade; she let the cannonballs hit her. They then harmlessly slid off, smashing into several large trees.
The masked man was stunned once more, but this gave Nami the opening she needed.
"Just waiting for you! Lightning Tempo!"
Nami swung her iron rod, and as if on cue, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and a bolt of lightning struck the masked man. Before he could react, he was jolted as if his bones were shattering.
Finally, the cannon and shield fell from his grasp, and he collapsed to the ground.
"Hmph! If you dare to sneak attack me, you're still way out of your league!"
Nami stepped forward, poked the masked man's back with her iron rod, and felt a sense of relief when she confirmed he had truly passed out.
However, more questions filled Nami's mind.
Strange islands and forests, peculiar guerrillas… it was as if there were secrets she was unaware of. Yet, Nami had a slight fear of the unknown, and unless she thought there was money to be made, she wouldn't delve into it.
So, she disregarded the masked man and used Moonwalk to return to the Waverider.
She hastily turned back.
However, before she had traveled far, she encountered a submarine head-on.
Robin, Tashigi, Mari, Luffy, Chopper, and Beppo were all on the submarine's deck. When they saw Nami, they were overjoyed and quickly helped her onto the deck.
Then, the two groups exchanged information.
Nami was quite annoyed about the so-called gods and the White Beret troops.
Although the initial "entry fee" was only 3 million Berries, it was still too expensive for Nami. As for the tenfold increase later, it was even more outrageous. If she had been there, she probably would have started a fight herself.
For Nami, it didn't matter if someone was a god or not; they just couldn't touch her money!
Otherwise, even a god would face her wrath!
Robin and the others were also surprised to hear that Nami had been attacked by Shandian guerrillas.
Especially when Nami mentioned seeing a forest with actual land, they were even more intrigued.
This Sky Island seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mystery, waiting for everyone to uncover it. And Robin was particularly interested in this kind of thing, so their next destination was naturally the forest Nami had described.
Initially, Nami was against it, but when she heard that she might be arrested by Sky Island's law enforcement if she returned to Angel Beach, she also chose to go to the forest with them.
As for the Waverider, it could be returned to Uncle Pagaya later.
Not long after, the submarine arrived at the densely forested island.
"There really is land here, and these trees look like they're hundreds of thousands of years old. I wonder if there are any related written records."
"The guerrillas looked like primitive people living here, but Conis said this place is considered sacred."
"There are too many suspicious things about this place. It would be wonderful if we could find some relics."
Robin thought silently and went ashore first.
The team here was led by Robin, primarily to find Nami.
Now that Nami had been found, the next step was to explore freely. Robin was also very courageous; she dared to venture into unknown places, not only because of her confidence in her own strength but also her trust in Luffy.
Luffy was now among the top five strongest in the Straw Hats. With Luffy around, nothing could go wrong!
"...The person I knocked down should be here… Huh? Why is he gone? Did he run away?" Nami looked around but couldn't find the masked man.
Robin also examined the area and found clear signs of a recent struggle.
"He must have run away. Although Nami struck him with lightning, she didn't intend to kill him, so she was merciful. He was probably in good shape, woke up quickly, and naturally fled."
Robin analyzed the situation and took the lead, trying to find any potential ancient ruins.
Meanwhile, Carl chatted with Aisha for a while and gained a general understanding of the Shandian people's situation.
Four hundred years ago, this island was brought up to Sky Island by a massive sea current. The original god of Sky Island coveted the land here, so he forcibly seized it for himself and drove away the native inhabitants, the ancestors of the Shandians.
The Shandian people had always considered it their mission to reclaim their ancestral land and had been fighting for four hundred years. Even with the change of gods on Sky Island, they still wanted to take back Apayado.
However, Enel's power was beyond imagination.
Countless Shandians had lost their lives at Enel's hands, and Aisha had witnessed the permanent silencing of many voices since she was born.
Aisha's innate Observation Haki was incredibly strong, no less than Enel's, almost covering the entire Sky Island. Therefore, Aisha basically knew every time Enel killed someone and who he killed. However, it was truly remarkable that this young girl hadn't been driven mad by this constant awareness of death.
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