Somewhere in the primitive jungle.
"Did everyone get separated because of that giant snake? Oh man... this is going to be a problem..."
The goofy captain adjusted the precious straw hat on his head and looked around.
He was surrounded by countless towering trees that formed a natural labyrinth, making it impossible for this idiot to discern his position or direction.
"Hmm... what should I do now?"
Luffy wore a serious expression, crossing his arms and tilting his head as he pretended to think for a moment. Then, he clapped his hands together excitedly.
"Right! I'm getting kind of hungry. I'll eat the pirate bento Sanji prepared first!"
With that, the gluttonous captain impatiently opened his backpack and began happily gorging himself, completely tossing the fact that he was separated from his crew to the back of his mind.
"I feel like I just saw this tree..."
Zoro stared with a dark expression at the massive tree in front of him, which was thick enough to require several people to span its circumference. He then glanced at several other towering trees nearby that looked almost identical, his mouth twitching slightly.
It has to be said that this primitive jungle—a place where it's already easy to get lost—was far too unfriendly to this "Ultimate Directional Disaster."
"Damn it, is it impossible to find my way just because I'm separated from them?!"
The green-haired swordsman gritted his teeth, refusing to give in to fate. He muttered, "Nami said before that our ultimate destination is the Skull's Right Eye. Right eye, right... tsk, in that case, if I just keep heading right, won't that be enough?!"
At this thought, Zoro suddenly wore an expression that screamed, "I'm a freaking genius," and then unhesitatingly set off toward his left.
"Aaaaaah! Luffy! Zoro! Robin! Sherlock! Someone save me!"
Chopper, in his Reindeer Point form, was sprinting for his life while crying out toward the sky. Behind him, several uniquely styled God's Guards were in hot pursuit, gliding on skate-type Wavers. It seemed this blue-nosed reindeer was having a run of bad luck.
Let's wish him luck.
On another side, Nico Robin—the only one who hadn't deviated from the correct direction—had discovered a long-abandoned residence.
"Sherlock said earlier that the previous God was unaware of the gold's existence. In other words, the City of Gold, Shandora, should be buried beneath the clouds and remains undiscovered..."
Looking at the ancient building before her, which had been mostly destroyed by massive roots erupting from the ground due to the trees' gigantism, a flash of regret passed through Robin's eyes.
"...I hope that ancient city is still well-preserved."
Offering a silent prayer in her heart, the archaeologist—who possessed a mysterious obsession with historical ruins—intended to move closer for a detailed inspection.
Suddenly! A strange man wearing a God's Guard uniform descended from the sky, landing squarely on top of the ruins and kicking loose a stone brick.
Watching that fragment of the ruins roll to her feet, a certain "scheming" woman could no longer remain calm. Beneath the brim of her deep purple cowboy hat, a rare layer of murderous intent clouded her beautiful, dark blue eyes.
In this life, what she hated most were people who destroyed historical ruins!
Compared to the lively, cheerful "Cat Burglar" Nami—who would frequently transform into a demon with bared fangs—this intellectual beauty, Robin, had a much calmer temperament. Much like Sherlock, the noble and cold Robin rarely had large emotional fluctuations. However, that did not mean she didn't get angry.
Please believe that making this woman angry is absolutely nothing to be proud of!
"Seis Fleurs (Six Flowers Bloom)..."
She crossed her slender arms over her chest, and a faint fragrance of flowers suddenly drifted through the air.
"Woman! This road leads to the shrine, if you—ugh, AAAAGH!!"
Snap!
The tooth-aching sound of breaking bones was particularly piercing in the silent, primitive jungle.
Aisa regretted it very much now. She regretted telling Wyper and the others the news that two of the Priests had fallen.
From the moment she was born, this young Shandian girl possessed a powerful innate skill: Mantra, otherwise known as Observation Haki.
Her Mantra, which rivaled that of the Priests, could not only cover almost the entire Upper Yard, but her intuition was also incredibly strong.
Relying on these two gifts, this bold little girl even treated this forbidden land like her own backyard, coming here every few days to dig up some soil to take back.
The reason she followed them today was to persuade Wyper and the others to return, because her always-sharp intuition told her that Upper Yard was very, very dangerous today!
Well, it was indeed very dangerous. Not long after she stepped onto the island, this little thing was nearly eaten by a Sky Bear. Fortunately, a certain man in glasses arrived just in time.
Waving away the musket mirrors floating beside him, Sherlock looked at the little girl in front of him, who was holding a strange short stick with a look of extreme wariness. He pointed to the Sky Island giant bear in the distance, which had been turned into a sieve by his shots, and spoke in a flat tone:
"I say, I'm clearly the one who saved you. Is this how you treat your savior?"
"Shut up, Blue Sea dweller!"
Aisa maintained her "approaching a great enemy" expression, her smooth forehead covered in cold sweat. She gripped her weapon tightly with both hands and snapped, "Who knows what your real goal is?! Besides, I didn't need you to save me just now! How could a warrior of Shandia be afraid of a little bear like that?"
Although the little girl was pretending to be fierce, her "bluffing" tone combined with her slightly embarrassed expression made her look like a little tiger that was actually scared to death but was bristling its fur to show authority. She was quite adorable.
"Also, I advise you to leave this island quickly. It's very dangerous here right now!" Finally, Aisa gave a kind warning.
"Oh? Since you also know it's dangerous, why did you come here? Furthermore, I'm quite curious about what exactly you're holding in your hand." Sherlock lightly pushed up his glasses, his mind shifting.
"Mirror Manifestation!"
A pitch-black knight's gauntlet materialized out of thin air beside Aisa. Taking advantage of the moment the little girl was stunned, it snatched the strange weapon from her hand, tossed it to the Enchanter, and then dissipated into nothingness.
"Ah! My laser sword!" Aisa cried out in shock once she regained her senses.
"Laser sword? Could this be the extremely rare Laser Dial?" Sherlock took the so-called "laser sword." He first examined it with interest, then lightly pressed a button on it.
Whirrrrrrr... The sound of rushing air followed.
The cool laser he expected did not shoot out from the shell; instead, what puffed out was a stream of not-too-intense hot air.
Upon seeing this, the expressions of both the adult and the child froze simultaneously. The originally tense atmosphere immediately became awkward.
(This thing... couldn't it be...)
Blinking his eyes, Sherlock pondered for a moment. He raised his hand, pointed the air outlet of the shell at his own hair, and—amidst Aisa's "jaw-dropping" expression—proceeded to tidy up his hair, which had become messy from being chased by the giant snake.
"Unbelievable. I didn't expect this 'laser sword' to actually have the function of a hairdryer."
The Enchanter waved the short stick at the dumbfounded little girl opposite him and smiled. "You Sky Islanders really know how to have a good time..."
"This... this... Laki, I hate you!!"
Aisa's face turned various shades of blue and white. In truth, she had stolen this "weapon" from the bag of a Shandian female warrior named Laki. She had a deep impression of the laser sword held by Wyper's comrade, "Kamarkiri," so she had subconsciously assumed this similar-looking item was a laser sword.
(Sister Laki, although you often say girls should pay attention to their appearance, you don't need to pay attention to it to this extent!)
Thinking that she had been such an idiot as to bravely break into the God's forbidden land while clutching a hairdryer, the young Shandian warrior wished she could find a hole to crawl into. And when she saw the Enchanter's "kind" smile, her anger flared up even more.
"I... I'll kill you! You hateful Blue Sea dweller!"
Losing her cool, the frustrated Aisa lunged toward the "detestable" man in glasses as if she had finally found an outlet for her rage.
(This is just plain stupid...) Sherlock sighed inwardly.
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