Chapter 82: Skypiea – Nami's Golden Hunt & the Three Solo Adventures
"Where are you going, Nami?" Sol asked, watching the navigator who was completely focused on fiddling with her maps.
"Of course to find the gold first!" Nami didn't even lift her head. Her fingers deftly folded two maps together—one provided by Robin of Jaya Island, the other the Sky Island map Luffy had found earlier.
She overlapped them cleverly, gave a light fold, and a victorious smile spread across her face: "Look! This is the full outline of Jaya Island from four hundred years ago!"
Sol leaned in for a closer look. The island's shape on the combined map unmistakably formed a massive skull.
"The right eye of the skull… so that's what it meant!" Sol suddenly realized.
"The Golden City must be right there! As for that so-called 'God'? We'll deal with him later!" Nami waved her hand dismissively, her eyes blazing with fiery greed for treasure.
She grabbed Sol's arm and dragged him forward without waiting: "Come on! Gold won't jump into our treasure chest by itself!"
Sol gave a helpless smile and let her pull him toward the target.
Meanwhile, Robin led Vivi along the traces of ruins in their exploration. They passed through dense jungle and finally reached an open area where they found the half-house where Cricket once lived.
"So… the half of the house with the stairs is here on God Island?" Vivi stared in astonishment at the broken walls and remnants.
Robin gently touched the weathered surface, her eyes gleaming with an archaeologist's insight: "Looks like Sol's earlier guess was correct. This God Island is exactly the part of Jaya that was carried up to the White Sea by the upward current four hundred years ago."
She paused and pointed to the clean break in the structure: "And this half-house was right on the fault line when the island was lifted into the sky, splitting it perfectly in two."
Vivi couldn't help but marvel: "The power of nature… it's really unimaginable."
Robin gave a soft smile: "Indeed. This world has vast desert kingdoms like Alabasta, and also miracles like Jaya being lifted into the sky by an upward current."
She looked up at the sky, her voice carrying a distant tone: "The vastness of the sea is far deeper than what we can see."
Vivi gazed at her profile, a longing for the unknown rising in her heart: "I really hope one day I can witness even more miracles like this with my own eyes."
Robin turned to her with a gentle smile: "You will. After all… that's the meaning of adventure."
"Yahhoo! Zoro, run!" Luffy shot past Zoro like a gust of wind, straw hat whipping in the airflow, face lit with pure excitement.
"Hah? You idiot—why are you running toward me?!" Zoro hadn't reacted yet when the ground beneath his feet suddenly trembled violently.
Accompanied by a bone-chilling "hissssss," a purple giant python as thick as a hundred-year-old tree burst out of the forest. Its golden vertical pupils locked dead on the two of them.
"Tch!" Zoro instantly leaped onto a nearby tree, watching the python slither nimbly through the jungle. Its scales scraped against trunks with harsh grating sounds. "That huge body and it moves this fast?"
"Hey big dumb snake! Your lunch is right here" Luffy hung from a branch laughing, stretching and retracting his rubber arm teasingly in front of the python's face.
The python was enraged. It lunged with its blood-filled maw wide open—BOOM! The bitten tree instantly corroded into a pitch-black pit; acrid acid mist spread everywhere.
Luffy landed beside Zoro and patted his chest: "Phew, that was close—almost got bitten."
Zoro grabbed Luffy's rubber cheek and yanked both sides: "What the hell did you do, you moron?!"
"Ow ow ow! I accidentally stepped on its closed eyes while it was sleeping!" Luffy mumbled through his stretched face. "Who knew it'd have such a bad temper when it woke up!"
The python suddenly whipped its tail; the whole forest collapsed like wheat under a storm. "I'll let you off for now—this snake's venom is no joke," Zoro quickly let go and drew his swords. "Three Sword Style · Demon Slash!" Blades clashed against scales, sparking violently, leaving only shallow white marks.
"Venom incoming!" Luffy suddenly stretched his arm and yanked Zoro away. The next second the ground they stood on was submerged in bubbling poison.
The python's slithering body crushed countless bushes; everywhere it passed, the soil turned purple-black.
After half an hour of life-and-death chase, the two finally shook off the python. Zoro leaned on his knees gasping, staring at his trembling right hand: "If I had Armament Haki…" The rebound force from earlier slashes had left his entire arm numb.
Luffy laughed without a care: "But it was exciting, right!"
"Get lost! Too hot!" Zoro shoved that beaming face away—only to hear more trees collapsing in the distance. The two exchanged a glance and jumped up at the same time.
"No way—it's back?!"
"Run run run~"
......…
Sanji wandered alone across the cloud sea, fingertips gently brushing floating clouds as he carefully selected the most beautiful flowers. "This one's color is gorgeous—Vivi-san will definitely love it…" he murmured to himself, then leaned down to sniff another cloud blossom. "This fragrance is fresh and elegant—perfect for Robin-san's aura."
Before he knew it, his arms were overflowing with colorful cloud flowers. "Did I walk this far?" He looked around and suddenly noticed several round, ball-shaped cloud clusters floating ahead. "Hm? What's this…"
Curiosity drove him to poke one of the cloud balls. Puff—a golden flower bloomed from it. "Oh? An interesting new variety."
Excited, he turned to another cloud ball. This time, instead of a flower, he was met with a gaping, bloodthirsty cloud python!
"Tch!" Sanji leaned back to dodge the strike, his long leg drawing a graceful arc in the air. A hanging golden hook kick sent the cloud ball flying. "Scared the hell out of me—this damn place has a snake nest?"
Before he could catch his breath, an even larger cloud ball floated toward him. Without hesitation Sanji raised his leg and kicked—BOOM! A deafening explosion rang out. The cloud flowers in his arms instantly turned to ash; only a few charred stems remained clutched in his hands.
"Roar roar roar! This is a Surprise Cloud—isn't it amazing?!" A round figure suddenly appeared, bouncing around him like a ball.
The man who called himself Satori tilted his head and spoke in a mocking tone: "Why aren't you saying anything? Did the blast make you stupid?"
Sanji's head was lowered; smoke rose slowly from his golden hair. Suddenly, raging fire ignited around him. When he turned, the cold light in his eyes made even Satori flinch.
"You…" Sanji spoke slowly, each syllable forced through clenched teeth. "Do you know… these flowers were meant for Vivi-san, Robin-san, and Nami-san?"
"Oh dear me So sorry" Satori shook his round head without a shred of sincerity. "But the one who trespassed into the Trial of Balls is you. As one of the four Skypiea priests, I oversee the 'Trial of Balls' with a survival rate of only 10%."
"Excellent." Sanji slowly assumed a fighting stance. His dress shoes ground sparks against the cloud surface. "Since you're one of that damn god's subordinates…" He snapped his head up, murderous intent surging skyward. "Then use your life to compensate for these flowers!"
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