The Reverie had ended.
At the harbor, old zeke reluctantly bid farewell to the kings and nobles he had just bonded with.
Not for political reasons he just really liked how nicely they spoke.
"Old man, I'll let the Navy take you back home. I've got other business to handle."
"Go on, you brat. I knew I couldn't keep you anyway."
Elsewhere, another farewell was taking place this one between Doflamingo and Ozz.
After spending some time journeying on the same ship, it was time for Doflamingo to set out for the New World. He was eager to get ahead and sink his teeth into the giant metaphorical pie Ozz had promised him.
"Fuffuffuffu... Then, I'll take my leave here, Lord Ozz. I'll be waiting for your arrival in Dressrosa."
Ozz patted his shoulder, visibly pleased with his devotion. He promised he'd visit eventually. And if Doffy ran into any real monsters out in the New World, like... say, a certain "Kaido" type, he could always ring him up.
"So, what's next, Lord Ozz?"
At the helm of the Oro Jackson, slowly drifting away from Mary Geoise, Crocodile's voice came up from behind. Ozz twitched at the honorific but played along anyway.
"You forgot the 'Lord,' didn't you, little Sandstorm?"
"Tch."
"We're heading up. To the skies. Skypiea."
"Nani?!" ×2
...
"Other than birds and clouds, there's literally nothing up here. Is Skypiea even real?"
Ten thousand meters in the air, a luxurious crimson ship was slicing through the white sea of clouds. In the blink of an eye, it had already soared past another ten thousand meters.
But after flying for a whole day, they hadn't found anything except the occasional salute from below.
Still, Ozz was sure it existed somewhere above that mushroomy town, maybe.
Mihawk had already located a relevant Log Pose, but couldn't confirm if it was accurate. After all, what if Skypiea moved?
So, operating on a "what have we got to lose" attitude, the crimson ship turned back toward the first half of the Grand Line.
About an hour later, within the vast range of Ozz's Observation Haki, something finally stood out.
"There we go!!!"
It was a massive cloud, denser than land itself, drifting lazily through the sky like it had flipped Newton's laws on their head.
"It's real... the legend is real?"
"What a wondrous sight."
The Oro Jackson gently descended and came to a stop on the white sea. Through his Haki, Ozz could sense plenty of winged islanders going about their daily lives.
"It's been a long time. Last time I came here, I was still just tagging along."
Back during the final voyage of the Pirate King, Ozz had visited Skypiea with Roger, seen the golden city of Shandora and the legendary golden bell.
If not for the fact that he had more gold than he knew what to do with and that this bell served more as a sentimental relic Ozz would've beaten Buggy to the punch and stolen it already.
"It's wild that this stuff really doesn't fall through."
Crocodile stomped on the cloud beneath her feet in mild amazement.
Mihawk was less subtle. He slashed at the ground with Yoru to test the cloud's structural integrity.
"Besides sightseeing, I actually came here for another reason…"
"And that is?"
"To find someone."
Ozz expanded his Observation Haki as far as it could reach, scanning for a specific target.
The goal was obvious.
After all, this was someone with one of the most powerful Logia Fruits out there. Only seventeen, but he'd had the fruit for a while now.
He hadn't even had time to finish growing up before fate dropped Ozz on his head.
Deep within a forest, beneath an apple tree, sat a tall, aloof teen with long ears and an apple in hand.
Almost the instant Ozz sensed him, the boy sensed Ozz too.
"More pests from the Blue Sea...?"
"Doesn't matter. God has matured. I fear no one."
Enel's expression remained calm and cold. He was confident. He had mastered his Devil Fruit, and in his mind, he was now powerful enough to reduce Birka to ash without effort.
He held the power of lightning.
He was God.
"How scary... a real 'god,' huh?"
In the very next second, a figure suddenly appeared within Enel's Mantra field.
That voice caught him completely off guard.
"When did he get there?!"
He looked up.
Standing before him was one of the very same Blue Sea people who had just arrived on Skypiea. The man was tall, imposing and somehow exuded a subtle yet chilling sense of danger.
Especially his ghost-like speed and complete lack of presence.
Even a self-proclaimed god couldn't move that quietly.
"What gloomy eyes..."
Hands in his pockets, Ozz studied the stiff, wary teen in front of him. Enel clearly hadn't expected to be approached so directly.
Oda once said Enel's power would place him somewhere around vice-admiral or low admiral level if he were in the Blue Sea. Ozz had kept that in mind.
If nothing else, it'd be good to have someone like him under his wing.
He needed more mobile enforcers muscle that didn't require Ozz to run around himself. His strong lieutenants were scattered all over the world, and their average power level wasn't cutting it anymore.
Plus, let's be honest an onboard power generator would be pretty handy.
"..."
Enel's face darkened.
Without hesitation, he turned into a streak of lightning and zipped away using his Mantra and elemental mobility.
This was the first time he had seen someone else who could move the same way.
Even if he wasn't panicking, he wasn't stupid either. He decided to observe from afar.
But just as he re-materialized at the edge of the island, breathing a small sigh of relief…
Ozz was already standing in front of him.
"What?! How?!!"
Enel's eyes widened in disbelief.
No matter how many times he bolted to a different spot in the sky island, every time he reappeared, Ozz was already there.
First.
Always.
"You... you..."
"You're being very rude, you know. Dashing around like that. I'm not even a bad guy."
"You brought this on yourself!!!"
Enel had never been the most well-adjusted individual. His personality leaned heavily toward antisocial and rebellious from a young age. Now, faced with this mysterious man who kept appearing out of thin air, his nerves snapped.
Zzzzzzt!!!
With blue lightning crackling all over him, Enel pointed his hand straight at Ozz, his body surging with energy.
"30 Million Volts: Thunder Beast!!!"
A beast of lightning lunged toward Ozz, who remained still, hands in pockets, watching with mild interest.
As it slammed into him
He merely rubbed his chin, then reached out with one hand.
And caught it.
"Oh~ Nice and tingly. You've got potential as a massage therapist, Enel."