"Zoro!"
"Amazing!" Usopp and the others were surprised. When had Zoro's sword skills grown to such a level? To be able to cut an enemy ship in two with a single slash...
"What a Shi Shishi Sonson," Moonlight said with a thumbs-up. Zoro was indeed a genius. Combined with his diligence and practice, his sword skills could now easily cut through steel.
"It was nothing," Zoro said with a humble expression, though a strong confidence shone in his eyes.
The crew of the Shoujou Pirates were all thrown into the sea, and Shoujou himself had no time to attack the Going Merry; he was too busy trying to save himself. At this time, the Merry, scarred and battered, headed towards the other side of Jaya Island. By the time they arrived at Montblanc Cricket's place, the ship was in a dilapidated state and could no longer sail.
"Damn, the Merry is already overwhelmed," Usopp said, his voice filled with distress. The others were all silent. The Merry had suffered too many injuries on their journey, and she had to be intensively repaired before she could carry them again.
At that moment, a strong man with a diamond-shaped face and a chestnut-shaped head swam out of the sea. He seemed to have just returned from a diving trip, and he went ashore with a tired face. He leaned on the edge of the Merry to recover his strength, but his face suddenly turned blue, and his body began to tremble violently. It was like he was having an epileptic seizure.
"No, he has decompression sickness," Chopper said, recognizing the symptoms at a glance. He took out his medicine and jumped off the boat to rescue him.
"If I'm not mistaken," Robin said, looking at the man, "that is the Montblanc Cricket we're looking for."
"He's Montblanc Cricket?" the others were all surprised. What a coincidence.
"Did you save me?" At this time, under Chopper's treatment, Cricket's body gradually calmed down, and the pain on his face disappeared. He opened his eyes and looked at Chopper, a smile on his face. Chopper blinked and was about to answer, but at that moment, in the distance, the Masira Pirates, having salvaged their own ship, arrived. From a distance, Masira and Shoujou saw Luffy and his group, and when their eyes fell on Cricket, they couldn't help but be shocked. "Big Brother!"
"Did they hurt you?" the two of them roared, jumping off their boats and rushing angrily towards the Straw Hats. But after Cricket explained, the two of them realized that their older brother's old problem had acted up again, and the Straw Hats had saved him. The two of them immediately changed their expressions, all smiles, and bowed in thanks. "Thank you, thank you for saving our big brother."
"It was a misunderstanding before, Straw Hats," they said.
And Luffy and the others finally learned that the three of them were in the salvage business together, a group called the Saruyama Alliance, which was very famous in the area. The diamond-shaped man they had rescued was, as Robin had said, Montblanc Cricket, a descendant of Noland. Like them, he was constantly searching for the Sky Island. He firmly believed that his ancestor was not wrong, that the Sky Island was real, but that ordinary people could not reach it. Before, Jaya Island had not been like this, but a sea current that soared to the sky had washed the other half of the island into the sky. The legend of the City of Gold was also true, and he even showed them evidence.
At this time, everyone was excited. Especially Luffy and Zoro; nothing was more exciting than this. Robin was also very curious and asked how to get to the Sky Island. Cricket hesitated for a moment, but then he confessed. If it were anyone else, he would not say a word, even if he were to die. On this island, no one believed what he said, but Luffy and the others were completely different. He could see it, and they had also saved his life. He did not hide anything and told everyone the way to get to the Sky Island. The prerequisite for all of this was to go to the forest ahead and find a South Bird. This was a strange bird whose head was always facing south. The ocean currents of the Grand Line were constantly changing, and to ride the current that rose to the sky, they had to be directed by a South Bird.
Hearing this, the group immediately entered the forest excitedly, looking for the South Bird. Now that the Sky Island was in sight, everyone was excited and looked for it with all their might. Even Moonlight was no exception. After the group left, Masira and Shoujou volunteered to renovate the Merry. They had contributed a lot to its current state. And even if they found the South Bird and had a way to go to the Sky Island, the current state of the Merry would be absolutely unable to withstand the intensity of the ocean current. This was necessary as a way to repay their benefactor. Besides, they had stayed here for so many years, not just to find the Sky Island. Now was the time to verify all of this.
At this time, a News Coo suddenly came to Jaya Island and released the latest issue of posters.
At this time, in Mock Town, after Moonlight had left, Bellamy and the others had quickly recovered. Thinking of the previous scene, though there were lingering fears, they were quickly filled with hostility. They threatened to find Luffy to avenge themselves. Especially Bellamy, his face was hideous. As long as he thought that he had been scared and unable to move by a pirate with a bounty of 30 million, he would be extremely angry. This was a great shame. However, when they were just about to set off to chase the Straw Hat group, they suddenly saw the latest poster. Especially when they saw the wanted list of the Straw Hats and others—Luffy's bounty was as high as 100 million, Zoro's 60 million, and Moonlight's was actually 200 million Berries—he took a sharp breath. The whole room was silent. After a long time, someone shouted, "Bellamy..." Everyone looked at Bellamy. But he was just staring at Moonlight's wanted poster, his body shaking, and he didn't respond for a long time. It seemed he was scared.
"Is this the person?" On the sea, the Blackbeard pirates who were fast advancing on their broken ship also saw the latest poster. "The 200 million Berry reward... so powerful. It deserves to be the sword that destroyed our man." Doc Q's gaze immediately locked on Moonlight, and he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. Then he looked at Blackbeard.
"Zehahahaha! Is this the guy?" Blackbeard laughed, holding Moonlight's wanted poster. "200 million Berries. If we can bring down this guy, we will definitely be famous." Subsequently, the group chased in the direction of the Straw Hat group at an even faster speed.
"Is this the South Bird?" At the same time, Luffy and the others had finally found the South Bird. At first, the bird was still struggling, ignoring Luffy and the others at all, but when Chopper talked with it, the bird immediately nodded and agreed. It turned out that it also wanted to go to Sky Island.
"Are you also looking for the Sky Island?" everyone was surprised, but the South Bird ignored them.
Cricket seemed to know something, but he didn't say anything. He just pointed to the repaired Merry, then looked at the suddenly changing weather on the sea, and said with a dignified and expectant expression, "Everyone, let's go now, and follow the direction of the South Bird. The best time has come."
"The time has come?"
"Go now?" Upon hearing this, Luffy and the others hurriedly looked in the direction Cricket pointed. They saw that in the south, the sky had become dark. A massive cumulus cloud, with a flat bottom and covering a hundred-mile radius, had appeared quietly. The sea under the cumulus cloud seemed to be moving.
"That is a cumulus cloud," Nami, as a navigator, immediately understood. "After the surface air is heated, it will form a rising warm air flow. Now that the sun is not visible, the heat must be coming from the bottom of the sea. Could it be..." She couldn't help but stare wide-eyed in surprise.
"What a great navigator," Cricket said, surprised that she could see so much just from the clouds. "Yes, there is a volcano below that sea, which erupts every once in a while. And at that time, it will form a current that rises into the sky. If you take this ocean current, it will send you to the Sky Island. Okay, it's already started. You should set sail."
"Luffy, Moonlight, Zoro, Usopp, Chopper, Sanji, Robin, let's go!" Nami nodded and looked at everyone. Everyone did not suspect her and immediately pulled up the anchor and set sail, following the direction of the South Bird, all the way south.
"They are there!" At this time, the Blackbeard crew finally saw Luffy and the others. Van Augur, with his keen eyes, was the first to see them, pointing to the sea ahead.
"Hurry up! Don't let them run away!" Blackbeard became excited, and the group chased after Luffy and the others even more quickly.
"Look!" At this moment, on the Merry, someone suddenly shouted. When everyone was shocked, they saw a huge super-vortex with a radius of hundreds of meters suddenly appear in the sea ahead. From a height, it looked like a ferocious beast had appeared in the sea, its mouth open, trying to swallow everything on the sea. The Merry was like an ant, heading towards the huge mouth. However, this was not the most shocking. The vortex lasted for a quarter of an hour, and the seabed suddenly surged, and the waves rolled, as if something was about to gush out from it. In the next moment, a column of water as large as 100 meters rose into the sky, a waterway to the sky.
"What?!" Usopp widened his eyes and exclaimed.
"The ocean current... the ocean current rising to the sky!" Sanji couldn't help but be surprised, and the cigarette butt in his mouth fell.
"It finally appeared!" Zoro looked excited.
"Is this the ocean current rising to the sky?" Robin was shocked.
"Hahahaha!" Luffy shouted excitedly.
Moonlight wiped away the cold sweat and found that the palms of his hands were a little cold at this time. The Grand Line was so incredible, and the sea was so awesome. This kind of incredible thing actually happened, and coupled with the unparalleled power of the sea, it could be said that all beings were ants in front of the sea.
"Everyone prepare!" Nami immediately calmed down and began to give orders methodically. "Usopp, turn left! Zoro, sail! Sanji, go and help! Everybody, we are on!" Everyone did not dare to neglect and moved one after another. Immediately under the command of Nami, the Merry entered the vortex smoothly, following its direction, and was about to ride the ocean current that soared into the sky.
But at this moment, the Blackbeards arrived. "Stop, Straw Hats!" Blackbeard shouted at Luffy from a distance. The sound was so loud that all of them could hear it.
"It's that person," Luffy, Zoro, and Nami immediately recognized him as the only man who hadn't laughed at them and had encouraged them to look for the Sky Island. But why was he here now?
"Straw Hats, stop! I want to capture you!" Blackbeard shouted, expressing his purpose. It was actually an enemy.
"You go first, and I will come later," hearing this, before Luffy and the others could speak, Moonlight suddenly jumped down, and with his Raptor's Air Rend, he stood in the sky in the endless vortex.
"Moonlight!" Luffy and the others couldn't help but be surprised.
"He stopped at sea!" Blackbeard and the others couldn't help but widen their eyes.
"What is he going to do?" Van Augur suddenly felt a bad feeling.
BOOM!
At this moment, Luffy and the others had already boarded the ocean current soaring into the sky and soared into the air. The Merry went forward turbulently towards the sky, extremely fast, and soon there was only one black spot left.
WHOOSH!
At the same time, Moonlight also swung his sword. The sea was rushing, violently turbulent, but at this time, Moonlight's sword energy was more turbulent than the sea. A huge sword energy was condensing in front of him, and the surrounding sea was frantically surging on both sides. The next moment, the sword energy exploded, slashing towards the Blackbeard crew. "Phantom Sword Dance!" Moonlight drank coldly, then raised his head to look at the sky, his expression calm, his body in the air. His Raptor's Air Rend activated, and he followed the ocean currents rising to the sky, moving frantically, chasing after Luffy and the others.
"He's flying!" Seeing this scene, everyone in the Blackbeard crew opened their eyes, as if they had seen something incredible, their faces shocked.
"Not good!" With his sharp eyes, Van Augur saw a huge cloud of crescent moon-like sword energy, expelling the sea water and slashing towards them. At this time, the sea was turbulent and extremely violent. Everything within a hundred-li radius became extremely violent under the eruption of the huge whirlpool. However, this sword energy was even more fierce, slashing the violent sea all at once. From a height, it was like a fault had appeared in the whirlpool. And the speed was extremely fast, coming toward them fiercely.
"What a terrible slash!" Blackbeard was shocked. At this moment, the sword energy had already cut their ship. The hull split instantly and was scrapped on the spot. A group of people grabbed a board and drifted on the sea. The strange thing was that a landlubber like Blackbeard, whose body was soaked in the sea, did not lose all his strength like Luffy, but still maintained his strength, marveling and drifting along the current.
"Captain!"
"What a powerful swordsman!"
"Not only did he cut the sea open, but our ship was cut to pieces!"
"Is this Moonlight, the vice-captain of the Straw Hats? I feel that this person can be compared with Hawkeye," the four of them gathered together quickly, marveling again and again. Especially Laffitte; he was also a swordsman, and he felt that a swordsman like Moonlight could be comparable to a swordsman like Hawkeye. Then the four of them looked at Blackbeard. What should they do now?
"Zehahahaha! There's no way," though he was sinking into the sea, and the waves were raging and rough, he was still optimistic. "We've met such a man. Let's go."
WHOOSH!
At this moment, above the ocean current, a blue figure moved quickly. It was Moonlight. After stopping the Blackbeard crew, he had hurriedly chased after them, and now he had finally seen them. "The Merry!"