Immediately, everyone was excited to sail in. But as soon as they approached, an old woman with a pair of white wings and a face like a prune appeared, looking at them with a blank expression. "You who have come from afar, welcome to the Kingdom of God. I am Amazon, the inspector of the Gate of Heaven. If you wish to enter, everyone must pay one billion Extol."
"Huh? Wings? An angel?"
"One billion Extol?" Seeing the wings behind the old woman, everyone was surprised at first, thinking they were seeing a mythical angel. But when they heard the price, they were shocked. Pay again? And a billion... so much?
Hearing the mention of money, Nami couldn't help but step forward. "Can we not pay? Isn't this the Kingdom of God?"
To Nami's surprise, Amazon nodded. "It's fine if you don't pay." Hearing this, everyone was overjoyed, but before they could react, a huge, scarlet express shrimp suddenly appeared from under the clouds, lifted the Going Merry, and hurriedly carried them inward.
"What?" everyone was shocked, and soon they had disappeared through the Gate of Heaven. But just as they had left, a dark smile appeared on Amazon's prune-like face. "Almighty priests and soldiers," she said to the sky, "there are eight people who have entered the country illegally. Please give them the judgment of heaven."
"That Amazon just now... there was something wrong with her," on the Going Merry, everyone was rushing forward, looking at the white clouds around them. Luffy and the others were quickly becoming excited. Moonlight, however, frowned and looked at Robin. There was no inspector in this world who would only give half a story. She had only said that it was fine if they didn't pay; she hadn't said what would happen if they didn't. And then they had been brought in directly. It was as if she had deliberately lured them in, and it was full of malice.
"Yes, I feel it too," Robin nodded, her eyes flashing with a solemn light. "But now that we are in, we can only take one step at a time."
"Haha! This cloud can be stepped on!"
"It's so comfortable! It's soft like cotton!"
"It's so soft..." At that moment, a burst of cheers came from in front of them. The express shrimp had brought the Going Merry to a stop in a vast sea of clouds and had then disappeared. This sea of clouds was different from the one in the White Sea; it looked more solid. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp, their curiosity piqued, touched it lightly and found that it was as solid as the ground. So they got off the boat and found that they could indeed walk on it. It was like walking on land, but the ground was extremely soft, like walking on the world's most expensive white carpet. And now, they were really walking in the clouds. The feeling was incredible. The three of them screamed with delight and then began to roll around on the clouds like balls, having a great time.
Seeing this, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Moonlight, and Robin also disembarked. Sure enough, the cloud was as thick as land and could be trampled on. And this feeling was the most comfortable they had experienced in all these years.
"Is this the Sky Island?" everyone couldn't help but be excited, their hearts full of expectations. Though they were not as wild as Luffy's trio, they also fumbled and explored, looking like curious babies.
However, at that moment, the melodious sound of a harp came from afar. Someone was playing. The sound was ethereal and pleasant, like the sound of nature. Who was playing? Everyone looked at each other and then in the direction of the sound.
Between the white clouds, a woman with blonde hair, wearing a light pink skirt and with white wings on her back, was gracefully playing the harp. The sound was coming from her. The woman had exquisite features and a beautiful face. Under the sun, she was holy. This was not an angel; who was?
"An angel?" Usopp looked straight and almost blurted out. Luffy and the others also looked shocked. But no one interrupted the melodious sound of the harp. They just listened to the sound floating among the white clouds, as if traveling through time and space, and it was extremely intoxicating.
"You are from the Blue Sea," after a long time, the sound of the harp stopped abruptly, and everyone, who had been intoxicated and unable to extricate themselves, was startled by a soft and beautiful voice. The angel had, at some unknown point, come to them.
"The Blue Sea?" everyone reacted. In the eyes of the people of the Sky Island, they were from the Blue Sea.
"My name is Conis, and I am a resident of Angel Island," she said with a chuckle.
"Angel Island?" everyone looked curiously and saw a cloud-shaped island faintly appearing.
"An island made of clouds?" Under the magnification of his spyglass, Usopp wanted to see farther and more clearly, and he was astonished at the moment.
"The clouds on this island are divided into sea clouds, island clouds, and man-made clouds," seeing everyone's curiosity, Conis explained with a smile. She seemed to have seen people from the Blue Sea like them before. She walked forward and, without any sense of being an outsider, began to introduce the island. "Sea clouds are clouds like the sea, capable of sailing on. Island clouds are this kind of cloud that can be stepped on. This kind of cloud is related to the sea-stone. There is a kind of particle called pyrobroin in the sea-stone. This kind of particle comes into the air with a volcanic eruption and combines with the water and air in the cloud to form an island cloud. The clouds you saw when you came here, those are man-made clouds. In short, there are three kinds of clouds on this island: sea clouds, island clouds, and man-made clouds."
Finally, Conis concluded. At this time, they had arrived at her house. It was a very distinctive house. When they heard this, everyone was very curious. Just as they were about to take a look, an old man riding a strange, motorcycle-like vehicle rushed over on the sea cloud.
"What is that?" everyone exclaimed. It could actually sail on the sea cloud.
"This is my father, Pagaya," Conis smiled and introduced. But Luffy had already passed straight by him, not looking at him, but surrounding the motorcycle-like boat, like a curious baby.
"It's amazing! Is it a ship? This is the first time I've seen this kind of ship!"
"It's kind of like a motorboat, but it doesn't have a power unit. It's weird."
"So cool!"
"I really want to ride it!"
"I'll go first," with that, Luffy rode up directly, and it flew out like an arrow, swift and fast.
Pagaya and Conis were speechless.
"Don't worry, they are like this," Robin said with a soft smile.
"That's a Waver," Conis also smiled. "People on the island generally don't ride it well."
"Ah!" At this moment, Luffy overturned.
"Luffy!" seeing this, Zoro jumped down quickly. A quarter of an hour later, he dragged the dying Luffy up. Luffy was spitting water and complaining, "It's too difficult for me."
"This is a Waver, a means of transportation that can move on the sea cloud," Pagaya explained. "Even people on the Sky Island are not easy to grasp."
"Really? But I don't find it difficult," as soon as his voice fell, Nami was riding the Waver across the sea, rushing from left to right with an extremely relaxed look.
"This..." Pagaya was stunned. Conis was also stunned. They had lived in Sky Island for decades, and it was the first time they had seen someone like Nami, who could do this on her first try. What's more, she was from the Blue Sea.
"Is that your ship? It seems to be a little damaged," Pagaya said with an awkward smile, pointing to the docked Merry.
"My father is a repairman," Conis explained immediately.
"If that's the case, then I will trouble you, uncle," hearing this, Usopp said quickly, pulling Pagaya to the Merry. The Merry had been damaged all the way, and Usopp had been repairing it. But he was only half-hearted. At this time, when he encountered a professional like Pagaya, he suddenly had many questions to ask. Pagaya smiled kindly and followed Usopp to the Merry.
The others, led by Conis, came to her house. Conis's home was decorated very dreamily, especially with the many shells in the room. Before everyone asked questions, Conis took the initiative to introduce them. "These are the specialties of our Sky Island and are closely related to life." With that said, she picked up shells one by one. "This is called a Tone Dial, which can record and play sounds. This is a Light Dial that can emit light, this is a Water Dial that can store water, and this is a Flame Dial that can..."
Following Conis's introduction, the group seemed to be in the world of shells, all of them like curious babies, looking east and west, and even personally experiencing the magic of the shells. Afterwards, Sanji used the special products of the Sky Island to cook a feast on the spot. He was a top chef, and the dishes he cooked were so beautiful that Conis was full of praise, and even her pet su, a cloud fox, cheered. After a while, Usopp and Pagaya returned, and the Merry had been repaired. When Usopp saw the house full of shells, he couldn't help exclaiming again and again.
"Strange, why hasn't Nami come back yet?" at this moment, Moonlight looked at the time and frowned.
"By the way, where is Nami?" everyone was shocked. They had been so curious that they had forgotten her. She had had a lot of fun riding the Waver, but she hadn't come back yet. Was she lost?
Conis and Pagaya suddenly thought of something, and they looked at each other, a fright flashing across their faces. Conis's face changed even more. "No, she won't break into the Upper Yard," she said, a look of worry on her face.
"The Upper Yard?" everyone was taken aback.
"The Sky Island is also called the Kingdom of God," Conis explained, her voice filled with a new worry. "It is ruled by God Eneru. And the Kingdom of God is composed of Angel Island and Apayado. Apayado is also called the Upper Yard, where God lives. The sanctuary of God. And the Upper Yard is nearby. If she accidentally breaks into the Upper Yard, she will be punished by God."
"God's judgment?"
"Is there really a god in this world?"
"The island where God lives?" everyone couldn't help but be surprised. They understood what the Upper Yard was, and then they quickly came out, but they saw the clouds in front of them, and Nami was still gone.
Luffy suddenly became interested and boarded the Merry, threatening to see what the island where God lived was like. Although Zoro and the others were also surprised, they were more curious. Was there really a god in the world? What did he look like? Unlike the inhabitants of the Sky Island like Conis, they did not have much awe of God. At the moment, they were going to drive the Merry to the Upper Yard. As for Nami, it was just by the way.
However, when they were ready to act, suddenly a group of people with white hats came over on the ground. This weird scene immediately attracted everyone's attention.
"No, it's the White Berets," Conis exclaimed, her face ugly. A look of worry flashed across Pagaya's face. The White Berets had appeared, and those who came were not good.
"You are the Blue Sea people who entered the country illegally," at this moment, the headed middle-aged man wearing a white beret stood up and looked at Luffy and his group with bad eyesight.
"Who are you?" Luffy asked.
"I am McKinley, the captain of the White Berets. Now I officially inform you that you have committed a crime of illegally entering the country and must pay a 10-times fine, otherwise you will be punished by God," McKinley said, his face cold.
"A ten-times fine?"
"Illegal entry?" everyone was stagnant and looked at each other. They remembered that when they had first started, Amazon had said that they had to pay 1 billion Extol in tax. If it was 10 times, wouldn't it be 10 billion? It was too exaggerated.
McKinley said lightly, "The exchange rate between Extol and Berry is 1:10,000, so each of you has to pay 1 million Berries, and the total for eight people is 8 million Berries."
"8 million Berries?" When they heard the exchange rate, everyone was first relieved, and then when they heard 8 million Berries, their eyes widened. How could they have so much money?
"No? Then you have to accept God's judgment," upon seeing this, McKinley sneered. Then he ordered someone to do it.
Luffy and the others suddenly shrank their pupils. A fight?
"Hey, wait," Usopp jumped out to make a round. "The person in charge of the money is not here. Wait a while, and she will pay the money when she returns."
"This is... this is not something from the Blue Sea," hearing that, McKinley's face froze. "You stole it from somewhere. You have committed theft." Since he was willing to pay, it would be fine. It would be fine to wait a while. However, when his eyes fell on the Merry, on a destroyed Waver, his face became cold.
"No, no, this is not what we stole. This is what we found," Usopp quickly explained. However, McKinley did not respond at all and charged everyone with theft again.
"Who do you say is guilty?" upon seeing this, everyone's faces became cold. This person was too domineering and unreasonable. Luffy took a step forward, his face cold.
"Oh? Are you threatening me? Then you have committed the crime of intimidation again," however, McKinley smiled and deducted again.
"This guy," at this time, everyone understood that he was deliberately finding fault. At the moment, everyone's eyes became cold.
"Hey, hey, everyone, listen to me! It's not like this," Usopp suddenly sweated and explained quickly.