"The construction materials of Sky Island are all derived from processed clouds. At first glance, they look just like ordinary clouds. But after processing, depending on the method, they can change in color and texture.
It's similar to how 'cloud rock' here resembles your White Sea people's limestone—but in truth, it's due to the added materials that it becomes what it is."
Urouge dutifully guided Ren and the others into a tall cloud-made building.
His earlier explanation had been made while pointing at the ground beneath them.
On Sky Island, actual land was an incredibly rare thing, and naturally, rocks were seldom seen.
When Robin discovered the existence of rocky ground here, her curiosity compelled her to ask about it—and Urouge had provided a thorough and professional answer.
As for why he was so cooperative, that was easy to explain: he had already agreed to Ren's terms.
To Urouge, as long as he fulfilled his duties as their guide,the explosive collar strapped to his neck could be safely removed.
After all, he was the one who had provoked Ren first and been utterly defeated.
As the loser, it was only right to honor the deal.
And after experiencing a lightning strike firsthand—after being taught the hard lesson that "a man shouldn't be too arrogant"—the people of Anka had also paid the price for rashly marking Ren's crew as enemies and attacking them.
A compensation of 100 million Beli was settled. On that basis, Ren's group and the residents of Anka Island reached a harmonious understanding.
During their stay, the Ankans would handle all their accommodations,while any normal expenses would be settled as fair trade.
Of course—it was worth noting that the Blue Sea pirates who had started the trouble were mercilessly annihilated by Ren's lightning.
"So, why do you have wooden furniture here?" Nami asked curiously, running her fingers across the bamboo and wooden furniture that decorated the cloud house.
"Sometimes," Urouge explained, "we find seeds or soil from the Blue Sea carried up by ocean currents. We combine those to create small patches of arable land—and from there, cultivate whatever resources we can."
He added with a wry smile, "But these materials are far more expensive here than in your Blue Sea. For construction, we mostly use cloud rock. Only a few items—like furniture—are made from wood or bamboo."
"I see... What an incredible place this world is." Vivi stood beside Nami by the cloud window, gazing at the vast expanse beyond.
"What's that area over there?"
"That's the cloud beach—akin to your Blue Sea beaches," Urouge said. "If you're interested, you can go play there.
Just remember—there's no seabed beneath the cloud ocean. Don't go too far from Sky Island. The areas nearby are patrolled regularly, so it's safe enough.
But if you venture far, you might run into sky beasts."
He added in earnest, "I know you're all powerful, but it's still better to be careful. And for Devil Fruit users, the cloud sea is just as dangerous as the real ocean."
"You seem to know quite a bit about the Blue Sea." Ren reclined lazily on the sofa, giving Urouge a curious look.
"To be honest," Urouge replied with a hopeful smile, "I've always wanted to visit the Blue Sea—to see that vast, boundless world for myself. A place overflowing with Vearth... it must be magnificent."
"Vearth?"Nojiko tilted her head.
"It means land—or more precisely, soil," Urouge explained. "On Sky Island, Vearth is an incredibly rare resource. Entire wars have been fought over it. Though, of course, those are for enormous chunks. Smaller amounts of Vearth usually just attract sky pirates."
He then cast a meaningful glance at Ren. "So, I'd advise you to be cautious."
"Oh?" Ren raised a brow.
"I noticed your ship has some Vearth onboard—a garden, if I'm not mistaken?"
"That's my weather plantation, and my sister's tangerine grove," Nami said. The two sisters had taken over the ship's second floor—it was spacious enough that normal rooms wouldn't have needed that much space. So, with Ren's permission, they had created two gardens.
Urouge nodded gravely. "That's exactly what I meant. Vearth is as valuable here as gold. If an ignorant sky pirate spotted it, they'd definitely attack you. After all, it's sitting right there in plain sight."
He spoke earnestly, clearly fearful of being misunderstood. "So when that happens, please don't think I've done anything suspicious."
Obviously, he was just making sure he wouldn't get his head blown off by mistake.
"How strange," Zoro murmured, raising a brow. "Something worthless on the Blue Sea is a treasure up here. Guess this is just another sight on the Grand Line."
"Exactly," Ren chuckled. "This world never fails to surprise."
He clapped his hands and looked at everyone—Nami, Nojiko, Zoro, Vivi, Robin, and Karasu all turned toward him.
"All right, everyone—dismissed! Do whatever you like for the next two days. Get used to the environment first, then we'll move out. If any trouble shows up, handle it. If it's too much, come find me."
Ren wasn't in a rush to reach Angel Island. The route was already planned, and taking a few days to enjoy the sights of this foreign sky wasn't a bad thing.
Besides, ten thousand meters above sea level wasn't exactly easy on Blue Sea lungs. Even after a few days of acclimation, their combat ability was still only at about eighty to ninety percent.
And of course, Ren needed to monitor the world below for new developments.
"Yay!" Nami cheered first, soon joined by Vivi and the others.
Nojiko took Vivi to explore the local cuisine. Karasu followed Robin to study Sky Island's unique environment. Zoro headed to the edge of the cloud beach, training while admiring the view.
As for the Enlightenment, with sixty-four Iron Knights stationed aboard, not just anyone could dare covet it.
Ren himself took a Den Den Mushi and went sunbathing by the cloud beach—joined by Nami, now in a change of attire.
This particular beach was private, belonging only to this cloud house,surrounded by thick walls of cloud rock.
So yes—Nami's new outfit was... a swimsuit.
Pure white fabric wrapped tightly around her curvaceous figure, radiating allure and temptation.
Her confidence made the view even deadlier—pure white, soft curves, and a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
"How is it? Looks good, right?" Nami spun in place, her ample chest bouncing hypnotically.
What's even the difference between swimsuits and underwear...Ren muttered inwardly, giving her a sincere thumbs-up. "Looks great—can I touch?"
He was honest, at least.
But before he could second-guess his words—Puff!
A strange, springy sensation met his fingertips.
Ren blinked—his crimson eyes widening as they reflected Nami's teasing smirk. She had grabbed his hand herself and pressed it right onto her chest.
For a second, he froze, but instinct made him gently squeeze.
The world fell into silence.
Realizing what had just happened, Ren's hand reflexively pressed again—feeling the exquisite rebound beneath his fingers.
Nami's cheeks flushed pink as she released his wrist. Another soft puff echoed—like the wobble of pudding.
Ren couldn't help studying that fascinating elasticity...until, after about a minute, Nami sighed and slapped his hand away.
"All right, enough! I'm going for a swim!"
She smoothed out the finger-shaped wrinkles on her swimsuit and dashed toward the cloud shoreline, laughing.
Ren flexed his hand thoughtfully—that was certainly an unforgettable experience, one he'd never had in either lifetime.
Buru buru~
The Den Den Mushi in his pocket began to ring. He shook off the lingering "yellow thoughts," plugged in a white anti-eavesdropping line, and picked up the receiver.
"Who's this?"
"Is now a good time?"
A calm, familiar male voice came through—the Den Den Mushi now resembling Kuma.
"Yeah. The white line's connected," Ren replied, sitting up straight. He knew what this was—a report.
"I'm afraid the proposal I made to the World Government has been rejected," the voice said—it was Bartholomew Kuma.
"They seem to have their own plans. I consulted some comrades in the Revolutionary Army and shared intelligence. It turns out... the main reason is Red-Haired Shanks.
That man seems to have a background even we don't fully understand. Even though he shows no intent to cooperate with the Government, the Five Elders still denied your appointment as a new Warlord of the Sea, specifically because of something related to him."
Kuma had clearly gone to great lengths behind the scenes.
Ren narrowed his eyes.He hadn't expected things to develop like this.
In his memories, before the Marineford War, Shanks had gone to Mary Geoise to meet the Five Elders. From what followed, it was clear Shanks wasn't their lackey.
And the words exchanged back then were... very intriguing.
"We only made time for you because it's you."
"What brings you here, of all places?"
Those were words spoken between equals—because otherwise, the Five Elders wouldn't have bothered with him at all. Even an admiral was just a disposable dog before the Celestial Dragons.
Which meant...Shanks' identity or his position carried some serious weight.
But what exactly it was, Ren didn't know. His knowledge of One Piece stopped around the Wano Arc—anything after that was fragmented, bits and pieces from social media posts about Egghead Island.
He didn't know the full picture.
"So you're saying," Ren asked bluntly, "as long as Shanks is alive, I'll never become a Warlord?"
Silence. Then Kuma replied, "Not necessarily. Think of it as a balance. The weight of your achievements simply doesn't outweigh his—for now."
"I see." Ren tapped the armrest, thoughtful. "So if I kill a few Warlords... that'll tip the scales?"
"I can't say for certain," Kuma admitted. "But it's... plausible."
"Then I'll just kill another Warlord."
Kuma fell silent.
The call ended soon after. Ren thought for a moment, then contacted the Revolutionary Army directly.
After the Alabasta incident, Karasu had given him a special number—a private communication channel assigned solely to him.
The one in charge of that line... was Belo Betty.
Given their first encounter, the Revolutionary Army had decided Betty was best suited to handle all matters related to Ren.
Through her, he quickly learned how the world had changed since Alabasta.
The name Demon Pirates had spread worldwide.Crocodile's death had drawn the attention of powerful figures across the seas. Even now, agents from unknown factions were investigating Alabasta's ruins.
According to the Revolutionaries,many parties were seeking Ren's location and intel.
But what mattered most to him—was Shanks' response.
And as he expected, Red-Haired Shanks had made none.
In fact, he had done something... far more telling.
Betty faxed him a newspaper clipping—the front page of today's World Economic Journal.
Stripping away all the fluff, there was only one line that mattered:
"I'll be waiting for you."
An entire column analyzed that single sentence.Regardless of interpretation, one thing was clear—Ren's notoriety had exploded overnight.
After all, countless pirates claimed they wanted to challenge the Yonko every year. But only one rookie had ever received a direct response from a Yonko: Ren.
No matter how one looked at it,Shanks had seemingly accepted Ren's terms.
But Ren knew better. There was no way it was that simple.
"Something happened behind the scenes—between the Government and Shanks—that I don't know about."
He hung up the call and leaned back in his soft chair, lost in thought. Slowly, the picture began to form in his mind.
First of all—the World Government would never allow Shanks to leave the New World.That much was absolute. No amount of background could override political necessity.
He'd heard from Betty that last time this happened, the Government's communication lines had practically exploded from the number of calls—from member nations panicking.
Ordinary pirates weren't a problem. Even notorious ones came and went.
But if a Yonko left the New World—that was different. A Yonko wasn't just one man—it was an empire of pirates.
Frequent movement beyond their territory would terrify the world. Who knew when a bored Yonko might decide to "relocate" to a member kingdom and destroy it overnight?
Thinking from the Government's perspective, Ren reached a conclusion. Two countermeasures.
One: intensified Marine pursuit.
Two: intervention from the Warlords of the Sea.
The latter... most likely pointed to Donquixote Doflamingo.
Viewed from that angle, Shanks' "acceptance" made perfect sense. He couldn't risk retaliation against his crew or their families, so he agreed to Ren's challenge.
But that didn't mean he'd do nothing. Shanks wouldn't personally act—because the World Government would make sure he didn't need to.
"How interesting," Ren murmured, stretching lazily as he lay back again.
Things had reached this point—he might as well enjoy the sunlight.
He was on Sky Island, after all. For now, no trouble could reach him here. Once this sky adventure ended... who would be the hunter, and who the prey, was anyone's guess.
The sun felt wonderfully warm. Sometimes Nami would interrupt his relaxation—asking him to "apply" some oil.
Well... apply was a generous word. It was more like massage.
Later, Nojiko returned from her shopping trip, bringing Sky Island dishes inspired by Baratie cuisine—her newest culinary experiments.
Soon after, the others came back too, and the cloud house filled with lively chatter.
"All ready?"
Nami sat on Ren's lap, hips pressing against the "gun" beneath her teasingly. Ren sighed, giving her a playful smack as tiny flames danced across his fingers, drying her damp orange hair.
Thanks to the Fire Calabash template, he had incredible control over flame—enough to handle delicate tasks like this.
In a way, it was part of his training.
Once her hair was dry, Nami got up to leave, but Ren caught her wrist.
"Planning to walk back in that swimsuit?"
He frowned and slipped his coat off, draping it around her shoulders.
"Fine, fine," she giggled, pulling it snug around her. She buried her nose in the collar, inhaling his scent, and smiled softly.
It was hard to tell if she was teasing him or not—but Ren's heart certainly thought she was.
Back inside, Nojiko and Vivi carried out steaming dishes.
"Tonight's theme is seafood!"
The table was filled with all manner of exotic Sky Island seafood. Huge red cloud-lobsters, each as long as an adult's arm, steamed on white platters—their split shells revealing tender pink meat within.
Flat sky-fish had been scaled, deboned, and sliced into translucent fillets. Dipped in sauce, they were chewy and delicious.
And then there were the balloon-like sky creatures—which Nojiko had somehow transformed into edible bowls brimming with hot soup.
"All these creatures... I've never seen anything like them," Zoro said, descending from the second floor after a quick shower. He'd been chased off earlier for smelling like sweat.
"These are Sky Island species? Fascinating."
Ren was already eating. Karasu and Robin hadn't returned yet, still exploring outside. He didn't bother waiting.
(End of Chapter)