After entering Asura Form, El spent an entire week searching the skies at an altitude of 7,000 meters.
For seven consecutive days, he swept every direction—
north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, and northwest.
Fortunately, they had prepared enough dials in their backpacks, and the White Sea itself was filled with marine life. Otherwise, El and the two girls would never have been able to sustain such a long, high-altitude search.
On the seventh day—
El's "radar" finally detected something abnormal.
In the southwestern region of the White Sea, his Observation Haki sensed an astonishing number of life signatures.
These life breaths were not gathered in a single location.
Instead, they were scattered across multiple areas, as if several Sky Islands existed there at once.
When combined, their number far surpassed even the population of Angel Island or Birka.
El immediately increased the output of his Observation Haki.
At the same time, he amplified it further using radio waves, pushing its range to the limit.
In the next instant—
An archipelago of floating islands of various sizes suddenly appeared within his perception.
This archipelago—
was none other than the base camp of Golden Lion Shiki.
There were still more than five years before Shiki officially began his plan to conquer East Blue.
To prevent discovery by individuals with exceptional perception or flight abilities—and to avoid ruining years of preparation—Shiki had deliberately hidden this archipelago within the clouds of the White Sea.
"I've found it."
El grinned.
"You two stay here and observe the battle."
"I'll go meet this legendary figure myself."
Without waiting for Carina or Kuina to respond, El unleashed a series of lightning teleports and vanished—arriving near the White Sea adjacent to the archipelago in an instant.
Bang—
White mist exploded outward.
Carina released Asura Form, expelling El and Kuina from Baku Baku Space.
Standing atop the jelly-like clouds, Carina stared at the floating archipelago in disbelief.
"This is ridiculous…" she muttered.
"Were all these islands lifted by a Devil Fruit ability?"
"That's normal."
El remained calm.
"Every top-tier Paramecia is unreasonable."
"The Float-Float Fruit allows its user to completely escape gravity, fly freely, and manipulate any non-living object they have touched—keeping it floating and reshaping it at will."
"These objects aren't limited to chopsticks or islands."
"They include seawater, oceanic crust, mountains—everything non-living."
"The only Devil Fruit that can directly counter it is the Press-Press Fruit."
As El had said before—
The Float-Float Fruit was one of the strongest Paramecia-type Devil Fruits.
What the Tremor-Tremor Fruit could do—creating earthquakes and tsunamis—the Float-Float Fruit could also accomplish, though in a less instantly shocking manner.
Where it fell short in raw destructive spectacle, it more than compensated with strategic dominance and survivability.
The Press-Press Fruit was also a top-tier Paramecia.
By controlling gravity itself—reversing it, increasing pressure, or applying crushing force—it was the only ability capable of restraining the Float-Float Fruit's effects.
In that sense, the two fruits were comparable to the Magma-Magma Fruit and Ice-Ice Fruit among Logias.
One removed gravity.
The other imposed it.
They naturally restrained one another.
However—
Calling the Press-Press Fruit the "nemesis" of the Float-Float Fruit was nonsense.
At most, it forced the Float-Float user to expend more stamina.
The Float-Float Fruit could free even entire islands from gravity—
what was a mere increase in gravitational pressure in comparison?
When two mutually restraining abilities clashed, the outcome ultimately depended on physical strength.
And in that regard—
The Float-Float Fruit, capable of manipulating dozens of islands simultaneously, held overwhelming potential.
Sometimes, a seemingly simple ability—when pushed to the extreme—was far more terrifying than any complex power.
"Nii-san…"
Carina frowned with concern.
"You have to be careful."
"Kuina and I will stay here and observe. If you can't handle it—don't force yourself."
El nodded, smiling lightly.
"If it becomes dangerous, I'll signal you."
With that—
El's figure turned into a black afterimage, vanishing from their sight.
Using Razor—the movement technique he developed by fusing Moonwalk (Geppo) and Shave (Soru) over the past three years—
El shot toward Shiki's base at an astonishing speed.
Moments later—
Under the observation of Carina and Kuina—
A massive cyan crescent-shaped slash, over one hundred meters high, tore through the sky.
It flew straight toward the heart of the floating archipelago—
And locked onto the largest structure at its center.
The battle—
had begun.
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