Chapter 78: Skypiea – Conis & Pagaya's Welcome & Nami's Cloud-Riding Talent
While everyone was enjoying the unique tranquility and sweetness of Skypiea, the melodious sound of a harp drifted over. Immediately afterward, a clear, gentle voice carrying a hint of surprise came from nearby:
"Haso… excuse me, are you all… Qinghai people?"
Everyone looked up at the sound. At the edge of a low-hanging cloud not far away stood a graceful young girl. Her light yellow twin braids ended in round balls; her cotton slippers highlighted Skypiea's distinctive fashion style. She gazed at them with a bright, welcoming smile.
Sanji shot up from his cloud sofa chair like a rocket. His eyes turned into massive pink hearts; invisible rose petals seemed to bloom around him. He "floated" as if walking on clouds straight to the underside of the girl's cloud perch, his voice dripping with honeyed sweetness.
"Ah~~! Beautiful lady of the sky island! Your attire is like an angel descended to the mortal world! This humble one is named Sanji—may I have the honor of knowing your lovely name?" He bowed dramatically in an exaggerated gentlemanly manner.
Thud!
With a crisp sound, Sanji's head plunged straight into the cloud beach. His legs twitched involuntarily.
Nami clapped her hands once. "Sorry for startling you. I'm Nami. Like you said, we really are from the Qinghai below. Nice to meet you."
"Hello, I'm Conis. I'm very happy to meet you too." Conis took Nami's extended hand and smiled warmly in return.
"Um… is your friend okay?" Conis asked with an awkward little laugh.
This was her first time meeting Qinghai people. Not knowing their customs, she could only maintain a polite smile.
"It's fine. He won't die from something that minor." Nami waved casually.
As if to prove her point, Sanji flipped back to his feet, pretended to dust off nonexistent dirt, and immediately struck a cool pose nearby.
"Haso. I'm Sol." Sol also greeted Conis using the Skypiea-style phrase.
"Haso. Pleased to meet you." Conis politely returned the greeting.
"Haso… what is that?" Usopp squatted down and whispered to Chopper. "Some kind of secret code?"
"Really, Usopp? Sol knows encrypted secret language?!" The innocent little reindeer Chopper immediately believed it.
"Hehe, it's not some encrypted code," Conis overheard their not-so-quiet whispering and couldn't help covering her mouth with a light laugh. "It's just our everyday greeting on Skypiea."
"I'm from Angel Island. This is Angel Beach. Very happy to meet you all!" Conis smiled and bowed again to the group.
The Straw Hats immediately bowed back: "We're happy to meet you too!" Then they enthusiastically introduced themselves to Conis one by one.
By the time introductions finished, a fluffy little creature had already climbed onto Conis's leg. She laughed and lifted it into the air: "This is my little pet, Cloud Fox Shoo."
"You've just arrived—would you like to come to my house as guests? I can give you a proper introduction to Angel Island." Conis extended the invitation warmly.
The Straw Hats happily agreed and were about to follow her when Zoro suddenly pointed into the distance: "Someone's coming—moving fast!"
"Haso, Conis daughter!" The voice arrived before the person. With the roar of an engine, a figure sped toward them.
"Haso, Pagaya father!" Conis waved back.
"Wow! So cool! Old man, what are you riding?" Luffy's eyes sparkled as he bounced excitedly.
"That's called a 'Waver.' It's a special Skypiea vehicle," Conis explained. "It's powered by Wind Dials or Jet Dials and can travel across the cloud sea. By the way, my father is a Waver mechanic."
"Sorry for the rude entrance!" Pagaya executed a stylish drift turn on his Waver. "I'm stopping now~"
Then, under everyone's speechless stares, he crashed straight into a tree and flipped upside down with all four limbs in the air.
"You guys… aren't hurt, right?" Pagaya clutched his waist and struggled back to his feet.
"Worry about yourself first!" Everyone retorted in perfect unison.
"Conis daughter, are these your friends?" Pagaya dusted himself off and asked curiously.
Conis nodded: "Yes, we just met. They're guests from Qinghai. I was about to take them home."
Pagaya's eyes lit up. He reached into the basket on his back and pulled out an enormous lobster: "Perfect timing! This is top-grade 'Sky Lobster' I just caught from the White Sea. Everyone, come to my house as guests!"
Unexpectedly, Luffy didn't charge off at the mention of food. Instead, he stared fixedly at the Waver, itching to try it: "Old man, can I ride that? It looks super fun!"
"Oh, of course! Actually the controls are quite sim—" Pagaya hadn't finished before Luffy jumped on, stomped the accelerator: "This is the throttle, right?"
VROOOM!
The Waver shot forward instantly—then immediately stopped. Luffy was flung off and his head wedged perfectly into the fork of a crooked tree, dangling in mid-air.
"Like I thought… it's still too hard?" he muttered.
"You can't ride at all!" Usopp clutched his head and yelled.
"Like I said—it's pretty difficult." Pagaya scratched his head with a wry smile. "Riding a Waver requires precise control of wind direction and cloud currents. The operation is very demanding—most ordinary people can't handle it."
"Yeah, I've been practicing since I was little and only recently learned to ride properly," Conis said, squatting down to explain to Chopper.
"Eh?! It's really that hard? I wanted to try too…" Chopper's jaw dropped, ears drooping.
"Yeah, it usually takes about ten years to master," Pagaya added.
"Ten years?! You Skypiea people have insane willpower!" Usopp stared wide-eyed, unable to stop himself from commenting.
While everyone was discussing, Nami had already quietly righted the Waver. With a whoosh—she shot off. By the time Conis and the others reacted, she was already racing across the cloud sea as smoothly as walking on solid ground, even pulling off several high-difficulty drifts and sharp turns with ease.
"Incredible! This girl… is a genius!" Pagaya's mouth hung open in shock.
Meanwhile Luffy was still struggling in the tree. With Robin's help he finally plop fell down.
"Hey! Stinky Nami! Dumb Nami! Come back! We're going to the old man's house to eat!" He shouted angrily into the distance.
"Say·that·again·if·you·dare, Lu·ffy?" Nami's eerie voice drifted back on the wind, instantly silencing him. "You guys go ahead! Old man, let me borrow this a little longer!"
"Luffy really is childish~" Vivi watched his puffed-up cheeks and couldn't help covering her mouth with a giggle.
"Hehe, indeed." Robin smiled in agreement.
"Then come find us later!" Sol called to Nami, then waved to the others. "Let's head out first. Let her play a bit longer."
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