"Oh? So that's how it is?"
By the campfire, Naruto, who had already cleaned all the blood from his body using Water Release jutsu, nodded while stuffing large chunks of roasted meat into his mouth.
The wild beasts on this island not only possessed special abilities like lightning and flames, but even their meat was incredibly tender and juicy when eaten.
There was even a wonderful, unique texture that could be called a "delicacy."
Mecca hadn't been unconscious for long before being awakened by small water spheres that Naruto had summoned using Water Release.
After clearly seeing Naruto's appearance, she finally didn't scream immediately.
However, looking at the ring of various beast corpses, large and small, surrounding them, this woman still felt somewhat frightened.
Fortunately, Naruto was someone easy to talk to.
At least most of the time he was easy to talk to.
The reason he was called the "Great Hero" was because Naruto habitually helped others in need.
When he encountered trouble, he generally just took action directly.
After all, being alone without ties, he had no concerns.
"Don't be nervous. You can call me Naruto Uzumaki."
Obviously, Mecca, who had lived on this island for decades, had never heard his name.
But she at least understood that Naruto wasn't one of Shiki's people.
Then, though still somewhat fearful, Mecca gave a brief self-introduction.
She also described the situation on this island.
It was at this moment that Naruto learned who the ruler of this island was.
Speaking of which, he was quite familiar with the opponent's exploits, though the other party might not necessarily know him.
That was the legendary great pirate "Golden Lion" Shiki.
Unfortunately, when this guy was defeated by Captain Roger in the "Battle of Edd War," Naruto hadn't yet come to this world.
Therefore, he had only heard of this "Flying Pirate's" exploits from Captain Roger and the crew's occasional chatter.
No wonder these islands were all floating in the sky. This must be the ability of his "Float-Float Fruit."
Devil Fruits really were miraculous.
Thinking of this, Naruto's mind stirred, and he looked at the special arm feathers on Mecca.
Seeming to sense Naruto's gaze, Mecca naturally explained this small physical difference to Naruto, showing no unnaturalness on her face.
"Don't let it fool you, but it really allows us to glide."
After hearing this, Naruto's eyes lit up, as if he had made some decision.
Then he quickly devoured a huge roasted front leg in a few bites.
His highly bulging stomach rapidly shrank within seconds under Mecca's incredulous gaze.
Seeing Mecca's look, Naruto offered her another half-person-tall roasted scorpion leg.
"Would you like some too?"
Naturally, he received Mecca's panicked head shake of refusal.
Then, as if remembering something, Mecca suddenly said to Naruto anxiously:
"Naruto-san, we can't stay here long."
"Because of these beasts?"
"No, it's Shiki!"
"He has dozens of flying warships conducting patrols around the clock. Everything that happens on this island will be seen by him."
"Please hurry and leave before they discover you."
Mecca was a kind villager.
After witnessing Naruto's ability to easily kill fierce beasts, she had considered whether to ask him for help in finding IQ herbs.
But in her heart, Golden Lion Shiki was obviously much more terrifying.
Hearing this, Naruto was first stunned, then chuckled softly.
When hearing Mecca describe the island's situation and her experiences, Naruto had also sensed her intention to ask for help.
But Mecca hadn't taken "helping her" for granted. Facing the possibly approaching crisis, this ordinary middle-aged woman still maintained the clearest kindness in her heart.
This kindness seemed to shine brightly in Naruto's Observation Haki.
This was why.
It was because such people existed that Naruto chose to help others time and again.
There weren't many complex reasons.
Perhaps he simply didn't want to see such kind people suffer.
"No need."
He shook his head at Mecca, then handed her several red lantern-shaped medicinal herbs he had casually picked earlier, originally intending to use as garnish.
"They're already here. Take these herbs and go back."
Seeing Naruto give her the IQ herbs and hearing his words, Mecca's face showed not joy but greater worry.
"If possible, leave this island."
"That's impossible. The village has Shiki's watchers, and the surroundings are blockaded by his floating warships."
"Don't worry, soon you won't need to worry about these things."
Mecca wanted to say more, but Naruto directly stepped on air to rise into midair.
Then he looked in a certain direction, where a medium-sized warship was floating through the air, approaching this location.
Let me see what kind of character this old acquaintance of Captain Roger really is.
Naruto's face showed some fighting spirit.
The earlier "physical collision" with wild beasts could only be considered a warm-up. The real feast should be sea strongmen like Golden Lion, who had been famous for so long!
On the aerial patrol fleet, a video Den Den Mushi was broadcasting footage of Naruto's recent beast hunting on the island.
On another screen was Golden Lion Shiki's bald head with half a ship's wheel embedded in it.
"Shiki-sama, we've confirmed it. The intruder is the 'Great Hero' Naruto Uzumaki."
The technical staff under Shiki weren't lacking in skill. Not only could they concoct special biological drugs like "SIQ," but they also used more advanced communication technology than other pirates.
At least these video Den Den Mushi weren't widely circulated at sea, with most controlled by the World Government's intelligence agencies and the World Economic News Agency.
But on Shiki's sky islands, these surveillance and video communication Den Den Mushi were everywhere.
Not only that, these floating islands had been equipped with jammers by Shiki's subordinate Dr. Indigo, preventing any outsiders from contacting the outside world except through their Den Den Mushi.
It was thanks to this solid technology that Golden Lion's group could silently gather a large batch of pirate crews without anyone knowing.
Of course, this hadn't happened yet.
They had even used their Den Den Mushi network to "hack" into the Navy's communication systems, allowing Shiki to learn about events at sea earlier than his peers.
Such as the news of "Naruto Uzumaki stopping the Big Mom Pirates," or the Navy's recorded file information about the "Great Hero" Naruto Uzumaki.
"Naruto Uzumaki..."
Shiki chewed on this name, feeling like he had heard it somewhere before.
Perhaps because of the ship's wheel stuck in his head, his mind was sometimes sharp, sometimes not.
"Yes, Shiki-sama. Like Red-Haired Shanks, he was once an apprentice of Gol D. Roger."
Upon hearing that key term, Shiki's gaze instantly became fierce.
"Is that so? Roger..."
"Wait, I'm coming over now."
No one knew what Shiki was thinking, and no one dared object to his orders.
However, the communications officer swallowed and said somewhat stutteringly:
"Shi... Shiki-sama, Naruto Uzumaki, he..."
Before he could finish speaking, another face squeezed into the communication screen.
It was Naruto, who had just been far away.
He had somehow silently infiltrated this patrol ship.
"Yo, Golden Lion 'Senior'!"
Naruto greeted him, deliberately emphasizing the word "Senior."
"How could I let you come to me? I should be the one going to you."
Looking at this face that, when smiling, was very similar to a certain mustached guy, Golden Lion was silent for a few seconds, then also burst into maniacal laughter.
"Jihahahahaha! Good, come then."
"Naruto Uzumaki, I'll treat you well."