The Grand Line, a certain sea area.
The Going Merry was capsized, floating upside down on the sea.
Roronoa Zoro's head popped out of the water, gasping heavily, and threw a completely exhausted Monkey D. Luffy onto the bottom of the Going Merry's hull.
Franky was carrying a similarly exhausted Tony Tony Chopper as he climbed onto the hull.
Usopp emerged from the sea in another direction, breathing in the air greedily after surviving the disaster.
"Where's Carina? Where's Sanji?"
He climbed onto the bottom of the Going Merry, soaking wet, and shouted loudly.
Roronoa Zoro was forcefully pressing on Monkey D. Luffy's bulging belly.
Streams of water gushed out of Monkey D. Luffy's mouth like a fountain, reflecting colorful light under the sun.
Roronoa Zoro looked toward the distant sky, his face grim. "The eros-cook went to chase that blond old man."
Not long ago, the Going Merry was sailing toward the East Blue.
Suddenly, they encountered a storm.
Also in the storm with them was a huge pirate ship floating in the sky.
A large amount of earth and stone was condensed at the bottom of the pirate ship, making it look like an island in the sky.
The figurehead was a huge golden-maned lion head statue.
In the storm strong enough to capsize both the Going Merry and the pirate ship in the sky, Carina, as the navigator, remained calm in the face of danger, directing everyone to control the ship and successfully survive the storm's assault.
She even used a loudspeaker to shout instructions, helping the Golden Lion pirate ship floating in the sky survive the crisis.
As a result, a blond old man flew down from the Golden Lion pirate ship.
He claimed to be "Golden Lion" Shiki.
Monkey D. Luffy and the others were no strangers to "Golden Lion" Shiki.
Previously, when Luo Chen was captured and sent to Impel Down, they had heard Ace mention him.
Golden Lion Shiki was a legendary great pirate from the same era as Pirate King Roger.
After Roger was arrested, to verify the truth, he single-handedly attacked Marine Headquarters.
After killing many Marines, he was arrested by Sengoku and Monkey D. Garp and imprisoned in Impel Down.
Not long after Roger's death, Shiki cut off his own legs and escaped from Impel Down.
Before Luo Chen, he became the first person in history to escape from Impel Down.
Faced with such a legendary pirate, apart from the carefree Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro and the others were somewhat wary.
However, they didn't expect to still be deceived by Shiki, who then snatched Carina away.
Shiki, having been saved by Carina in the storm, took a fancy to her navigation skills.
He decided to take her away to become the navigator of the Golden Lion Pirates.
First, under the pretext of inviting them as guests, he used the ability of the Float-Float Fruit to make the Going Merry fly high into the sky.
Then he launched a sudden attack, captured Carina, and released the floating power acting on the Going Merry.
This resulted in Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, and the others, who couldn't fly, falling into the sea along with the Going Merry.
Only Sanji, who had mastered Sky Walk, chased after the Golden Lion alone.
They didn't know what the situation was now.
Franky handed Tony Tony Chopper to Usopp, turned around, and dived under the sea surface again.
He prepared to use the Going Merry's jet system to flip the ship back over.
They had to sail and chase Shiki as soon as possible.
Soon, the Going Merry's spare lifeboat sailed out and floated on the sea.
Roronoa Zoro transferred Monkey D. Luffy and Tony Tony Chopper, whose stamina hadn't recovered yet, to the lifeboat.
Franky controlled the jet at the rear of the Going Merry underwater.
The entire ship rushed into the sky, then miraculously flipped upside down and landed steadily on the sea surface.
"Come up quickly, let's chase them!" Franky shouted, standing in the cockpit of the Going Merry, which had returned to normal.
Roronoa Zoro and Usopp rowed the lifeboat back to the Going Merry.
When everyone arrived on the deck, a black dot appeared in the distant sky.
Soon, the black dot expanded; it was Sanji returning from the pursuit.
He landed on the deck, his face extremely ugly. "They got away."
Sanji had chased at full speed, but he still couldn't catch up with Shiki's Float-Float Fruit.
He could only watch the Golden Lion Pirates fly away.
Usopp rushed into the cabin and returned shortly, holding a piece of white paper in his hand.
He looked at everyone. "Carina's Vivre Card can lead us to her."
Sanji immediately rushed to the cockpit, leaving a sentence behind.
"Set off immediately! We must rescue Miss Carina, that damn crippled old man."
Roronoa Zoro and Franky nodded, their opinions unanimous.
They originally wanted to return to the East Blue to solve the crisis of animals going berserk.
As a result of this unforeseen event, they could only rescue Carina first.
Usopp had a clear head. Observing the direction of the Vivre Card, he frowned and said:
"The Golden Lion Pirates are heading toward the New World."
Currently, they couldn't be sure where exactly Golden Lion Shiki was going.
But Carina's Vivre Card pointed to the path they were taking back from the Sabaody Archipelago.
Roronoa Zoro untied the three long swords from his waist and poured out the seawater.
He said in a deep voice, "Before falling from the sky just now, I saw a few strange beasts on the Golden Lion's ship."
"They looked similar to those beasts that appeared in the East Blue in the newspaper."
"Beasts falling from the sky also fit Golden Lion Shiki's Float-Float Fruit ability."
"Is it possible that the chaos in the East Blue was caused by him?"
Franky rubbed his chin in thought. "It's been several days since the news report about the East Blue."
"Shiki also flew from the direction of the East Blue, so it's not impossible."
He clashed his mechanical fists in front of his chest and said solemnly, "No matter what, we must rescue Carina!"
Usopp clutched his stomach, looking painful. "I seem to have been injured from the fall just now. Defeating Shiki depends on you guys."
Roronoa Zoro shook his head helplessly.
Pretending again.
The most gullible ones, Monkey D. Luffy and Tony Tony Chopper, were still unconscious.
Did he really think anyone would believe him?
He wiped the water stains off the three long swords, expectation in his eyes.
Golden Lion Shiki was a powerful swordsman.
With both legs severed, the other party had tied two peerless long swords to his thighs to walk as feet.
Roronoa Zoro had his eyes on Shiki's two long swords.
Unsurprisingly, both swords were graded as Supreme Grade Blades.
...
In the azure sky, the flying pirate ship flew rapidly, heading toward the New World.
Inside a palace, Shiki sat on a large chair, looking down with a smile.
"Miss Carina, then it's settled. From today on, you officially join this old man's Golden Lion Pirates."
Carina smiled sweetly. "It is my honor to serve under Lord Shiki."
However, she was secretly anxious.
It had been a while since she was captured.
No one had come to rescue her yet; presumably, Monkey D. Luffy and the others were temporarily shaken off.
She only hoped they would remember to use the Vivre Card to find her location.
Carina knew that facing a former legendary pirate, she could never escape with her own strength.
Currently, she could only pretend to comply and wait for her companions to rescue her.
Her beautiful eyes flashed, and she asked with a smile, "Lord Shiki, where are we going?"
"I need to know so I can plot the most reasonable course based on the destination."
The smile on Shiki's face disappeared, making Carina's heart skip a beat.
She thought her question was presumptuous and had annoyed him.
"To Wano Country, to meet Kaido and Charlotte Linlin."
"I wonder if they are interested in joining me to kill Luo Chen."
Shiki's displeasure was not directed at Carina at all.
Instead, it was at Luo Chen.
This puzzled Carina a bit.
Did this person have some enmity with Luo Chen?
She lowered her head silently and didn't ask any more questions.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]