From the cynical veterans of Mock Town, Bardock managed to verify that the next eruption of the Knock Up Stream was predicted to occur around noon the following day. They decided to set sail early tomorrow morning to intercept it.
Meanwhile, a certain photograph and its accompanying intelligence report, after passing through numerous underworld brokers and Marine intelligence channels, finally landed on a desk in Marineford.
Marine Vice Admiral Tsuru, the Great Staff Officer, reviewed the intelligence report and picked up the photograph. She carefully scrutinized every single face. They were all young, unfamiliar rookies.
However, when her eyes landed on a specific young woman wearing sunglasses, Tsuru's expression shifted. She remained silent for a moment before calling in an aide. "I recall Vice Admiral Kuzan is currently on leave at Headquarters. Please ask him to come see me."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
The young Marine scurried off.
A short while later, the door creaked open and a highly lethargic Kuzan strolled in, rubbing the back of his neck. His iconic sleeping mask was currently resting on his forehead.
"Tsuru-san... I finally managed to secure a few days of vacation..." Kuzan whined, sounding thoroughly exhausted.
Seeing the lazy Vice Admiral, Tsuru sighed softly. "Kuzan. Take a look at this photograph."
She slid the photo across the desk. She didn't say a word, simply waiting for his reaction.
Kuzan picked up the photo with half-open eyes. The moment he actually focused on the faces, his lazy demeanor vanished instantly. A sharp, incredibly serious glint appeared in his eyes.
Nico Robin.
He was absolutely certain. He had secretly kept tabs on her over the past twenty years, though she had managed to stay completely off the radar in the West Blue for quite some time. Between her low profile and his own mountain of Marine duties, it had been a few years since he last received an update on her whereabouts. But no matter how much she had grown, he would instantly recognize her anywhere.
"So she finally showed her face in the Grand Line..." Kuzan murmured, a complex array of emotions swirling in his eyes.
He let out a long, heavy sigh. "Tsuru-san, where is she? Let me handle her capture. It's time I personally put a definitive end to the Ohara Incident."
"According to the intelligence report, she was spotted in Mock Town on Jaya Island. It appears she has formally joined a pirate crew, though we have yet to confirm if they actually fly a Jolly Roger. I've already ordered the West Blue branches to dig up any background information on them. It seems the young captain of this crew possesses a considerable level of strength," Tsuru explained calmly. "If you are willing to take this mission, it would be for the best."
Tsuru hadn't called Kuzan because she thought Bardock's crew was a massive, unmanageable threat. She called him because she knew that Nico Robin and the tragedy of Ohara were the heaviest burdens resting on Kuzan's heart. If resolving this finally allowed the young Vice Admiral to move past his trauma and regain his former conviction, it was worth dispatching him.
"Is that so? Looks like my vacation is officially over," Kuzan sighed, standing up. Jaya Island was quite far away. Riding his bicycle across the ocean all the way from Marineford would take far too long. He decided to hitch a ride on a battleship heading toward that general sector, and then cycle the rest of the way alone.
Bardock was currently entirely oblivious to this development. In his mind, there was absolutely no logical reason for a Marine monster like an Admiral or a top-tier Vice Admiral to target a rookie crew with zero global infamy. He figured that if the World Government actually paid attention to them, they might send someone like Vice Admiral Momonga or Onigumo—which he considered to be the absolute highest level of respect they could possibly command right now.
He severely underestimated the absolute priority the Marines placed on the sole survivor of Ohara.
The next morning, the crew finalized their preparations and followed the directions of the South Birds out into the open sea south of Jaya. They didn't have to sail very far; as long as they were in the general vicinity, Bardock was confident they could intercept the Knock Up Stream.
As noon approached, the entire crew was scattered across the deck, anxiously scanning the ocean. It was Perona, floating high in the sky in her astral ghost form, who spotted the anomaly first.
"Bardock! Look over there! A massive whirlpool is forming! Is that it?!"
Bardock followed her spectral finger. Sure enough, the ocean surface was violently churning, spiraling inward into a massive, terrifying vortex. The eruption was imminent.
"Everyone, brace for impact! We're flying over there right now!" Bardock ordered, raising his hands. "Leo, do a final sweep of the ship! Make absolutely certain every single item on this ship is bolted down or tied off! If something looks loose, stitch it directly to the floor!"
Summoning the Flying Nimbus, Bardock commanded the golden cloud to expand and wrap entirely around the hull of the White Dragon, gently lifting the massive galleon out of the water and flying it directly toward the center of the vortex.
"Understood, Captain!"
Leo moved like a blurred projectile, zipping through the cabins and cargo hold. Bardock had actually ordered him to secure everything the day before, so he was merely doing a final quality-assurance check.
"Yay! We made it just in time!" Mansherry cheered, her eyes sparkling. She was incredibly excited to finally see the Golden City and clear her hero's name.
As the White Dragon hovered directly over the center of the vortex, the ocean violently exploded upward. A colossal, apocalyptic pillar of highly pressurized water erupted from the seabed, shooting straight into the sky with deafening force.
Bardock expertly angled the Nimbus-wrapped ship, catching the momentum of the catastrophic geyser. The White Dragon rode the vertical water pillar, rocketing violently into the clouds.
"This is completely insane!" Sai yelled over the roaring water, clutching the railing tightly. He had experienced many wild adventures in the Kano Country, but deliberately riding a catastrophic, sky-shattering water geyser into the clouds was undeniably suicidal! "Are we literally the only people crazy enough to try this?!"
"Not necessarily!" Bardock laughed, his voice barely audible over the roaring stream. "I guarantee there's going to be a group of reckless idiots who do exactly this in the future!"
If he didn't possess the Flying Nimbus as a fail-safe to catch the ship if they slipped off the stream, Bardock honestly wouldn't have attempted this either. The Straw Hat Pirates truly were completely fearless—even the 'Cowardly Trio' had actively enabled Luffy's suicidal idea.
The vertical ascent lasted roughly a minute. Before the crew could even fully process the sheer terror and exhilaration of the ride, the White Dragon punched straight through the final layer of dense cumulus clouds and launched into the open sky.
The Knock Up Stream dissipated, and the ship gently settled down onto a vast, boundless ocean of fluffy white clouds.
"Is this the White Sea...?" Robin breathed in awe, looking over the railing. "We're 7,000 meters in the air... and it's literally just an ocean made of clouds."
"It's so beautiful!" Perona gasped, immediately pulling out her camera. "Everyone, gather around! We have to take a group photo!"
"I wonder how many people have actually seen this view in their lifetimes..." Daz Bonez murmured, his stoic expression softening slightly.
"It feels a bit hard to breathe," Chopper panted, clutching his chest.
"We are at a completely unnatural altitude, Chopper. The oxygen is much thinner up here. Take deep, slow breaths," Robin advised him gently.
After a chaotic, joyful photo session, Bardock pulled out the standard Log Pose. The needle, which had previously been pointing completely vertical, had now stabilized and was pointing diagonally upward toward a specific direction.
"Alright, let's move out! This is only the White Sea. Above us is the White-White Sea, located at 10,000 meters! We just follow the Log Pose, and we'll reach the true Sky Island!" Bardock announced, taking the helm.
"Captain," Mansherry tilted her head in confusion. "If the Golden City of Shandora is on Sky Island... how did Noland find it? He explicitly recorded finding it on the Blue Sea, not in the sky."
"A very astute observation, Mansherry," Robin smiled before Bardock could answer. "I assume it involves the exact same method we used to get up here. Isn't that right, Bardock?"
Bardock nodded. "Exactly. Four hundred years ago, a truly apocalyptic Knock Up Stream erupted directly underneath Jaya Island. It was so impossibly powerful that it physically tore the entire right half of the island—including the Golden City of Shandora—off the bedrock and launched it directly into the sky. That's why Noland couldn't find the city when he returned; the island was literally blasted into the heavens."
"An ocean current powerful enough to launch half an island into the sky..." Chopper gasped in sheer horror. Having heard the story of Noland from the dwarves, he couldn't help but feel a deep pang of sympathy for the executed explorer. It wasn't a lie; it was just the most catastrophic, unlucky prank of fate in history.
The White Dragon sailed smoothly across the cloud ocean, eventually turning onto a specialized 'Milky Road'—a river of denser clouds flanked by solid, fluffy banks. Following the road, they soon arrived at a massive, ornate archway: Heaven's Gate.
A short, wrinkled old woman stepped out from a small tollbooth. "Are you explorers from the Blue Sea? The immigration fee is one billion Extol per person."
"Are you serious? It costs that much already?" Bardock muttered to himself. He had assumed the extortionate toll was a policy implemented later by Eneru; he didn't realize Gan Fall was charging this much as well.
Despite his complaints, Bardock gladly paid the toll. One billion Extol was roughly equivalent to 100,000 Berries—absolute pocket change for a pirate crew. Since Bardock had already explained the currency conversion rate to his crew beforehand, no one panicked when they heard the word 'billion'.
Once the toll was paid, a massive, incredibly fast Speed Shrimp surfaced beneath the White Dragon. Its colossal claws securely clamped onto the hull, and it rapidly propelled the ship up a steep, spiraling Milky Road, significantly faster than the ship could have sailed on its own.
The Speed Shrimp aggressively pushed them up the final rapid and deposited them smoothly at the entrance of the White-White Sea. The moment its claws released the ship, the giant shrimp immediately dove back into the clouds and swam away as fast as it physically could.
That human's eyes were terrifying! He looked like he wanted to eat me!
Bardock leaned over the railing, staring at the retreating ripples in the clouds, absentmindedly wiping a bit of drool from his chin. 'If only it had been a wild shrimp and not an employee... A shrimp that massive would have tasted absolutely incredible boiled with some garlic butter.'
"Alright, crew!" Bardock clapped his hands, shaking off his hunger. "We've officially arrived at Sky Island! Let our heavenly adventure begin!"