Soon, everyone reached the temple's inner sanctum.
The interior of this ancient structure was spacious and solemn. Exquisite murals were carved on the surrounding walls, depicting the sky island people's devout faith in the gods. Enshrined directly in the center of the temple was a colossal statue of a Buddha, its countenance kindly, its eyes slightly closed, as if gazing down upon the worshippers who came to pay homage.
However, what drew the most attention wasn't the Buddha statue itself, but the strange fruit lying quietly upon its outstretched right palm.
This fruit was a dazzling golden yellow all over, its surface covered in intricate, mysterious patterns. These lines undulated faintly as if alive, and what was even more eye-catching were the clearly visible lightning-bolt patterns, seeming as if they might erupt with real electrical sparks at any moment. A faint, almost imperceptible static electricity hovered around the fruit, and a subtle crackling sound could vaguely be heard in the air.
This was precisely the legendary strongest Logia-type Devil Fruit—the Goro Goro no Mi.
"Wororororo... Found it at last," Kaido's low laugh reverberated within the temple. He strode purposefully toward the Buddha statue, his thick arm effortlessly grasping the precious fruit in his palm. Sunlight streamed through the skylight atop the temple, falling upon the fruit and refracting a dazzling golden light.
This action immediately drew everyone else's attention.
Sebastian's eyes widened as he shouted incredulously, "Th-this... this is a Devil Fruit?" His voice trembled slightly with surprise.
Bullet crossed his arms, looking thoughtfully at the fruit in Kaido's hand. "Another Devil Fruit, huh. Just don't know exactly what ability it has yet."
"Muahahaha!" Queen suddenly burst into loud laughter. He pushed his sunglasses up his nose, saying excitedly, "There's no way I'd mistake that appearance! That's the Logia-type Goro Goro no Mi!" His voice was a bit shrill from excitement, his obese body shaking with laughter.
"What?! It's actually the Logia-type Goro Goro no Mi?" Gavin immediately turned to look at the fruit in Kaido's hand upon hearing this, his face etched with shock.
Urouge, standing to the side, looked utterly bewildered. He tugged at Sebastian's sleeve, asking quietly, "What are you all talking about? What Devil Fruit? Logia-type? Goro Goro no Mi?" As a native sky islander, he knew little of these sea-faring legends, but seeing everyone's excited reactions, he realized this must be something extraordinary.
Sebastian gave Urouge a surprised look, then showed an expression of understanding. "Right, you've lived on a sky island your whole life. Understandably, you wouldn't know about these." He cleared his throat and began patiently explaining. "Devil Fruits are..."
Over the next while, Sebastian explained in detail to Urouge the origin of Devil Fruits, their types, and the abilities gained from eating them. He particularly emphasized the three major classifications: Logia, Zoan, and Paramecia, as well as the characteristics and representative fruits of each.
"I see!" Urouge exclaimed in sudden understanding, excitement gleaming in his eyes. "You gain powerful abilities by eating these fruits? That's truly amazing!" He involuntarily took a step forward, wanting a closer look at the fruit, but quickly stepped back again.
Zo, standing in a corner, had been listening intently to this conversation. When he learned of the Goro Goro no Mi's powerful abilities, an uncontrollable look of greed surfaced in his eyes. But when he stole a glance at Kaido's demon-god-like, towering figure, he immediately shuddered, quickly dismissing any improper thoughts from his mind.
"Boss Kaido," Queen rubbed his hands together excitedly, asking, "Is this the target of our journey here?"
Kaido raised the fruit before his eyes, carefully examining the lightning-bolt patterns as he answered in a deep voice. "That's right. We came to Birkans specifically for this Devil Fruit." His voice was low and powerful, echoing in the temple.
As the plundering of Birkans' royal palace neared its end, Kaido stood on the plaza before the palace, surveying this sky island city about to be picked clean. The evening sun's afterglow fell on his tall frame, gilding his silhouette with a golden outline.
"Then, next," Kaido's low voice echoed across the plaza, "after packing up the treasure from this island, we can leave the White-White Sea and return to the Grand Line." The corner of his mouth lifted in a satisfied smile; he was clearly very pleased with the gains from this operation.
Upon hearing Kaido's command, the members of the Beasts Pirates immediately sprang into action.
They split into several squads, conducting a thorough, carpet-style search in every corner of Birkans' palace. The originally magnificent decorations and precious artworks were roughly dismantled and stuffed into enormous sacks along with gold, silver, and jewels.
Throughout the process, the pirates' excited shouts and the sounds of items clattering rose and fell.
After several hours of busy work, they had finally stripped the palace bare. Eight giant sacks were neatly lined up in the center of the plaza, gleaming temptingly under the setting sun. The pirates looked at these spoils, faces filled with greedy, satisfied smiles.
"Move out!" With Kaido's command, everyone lifted the heavy sacks and began moving toward the direction of the docks. This heavily laden procession moved through the streets of Birkans' town, drawing many horrified stares from sky island residents. But no one dared step forward to block them. Everyone hid inside their houses, afraid of provoking this group of vicious Blue Sea people.
Just as the group was about to leave the town's edge, a young, desperate voice suddenly called out from a street corner. "Wait! Please, take me with you!"
Kaido and the officers halted, looking toward the source of the voice.
A boy of about seven or eight ran out from the shadows. His thin, small frame was draped in an obviously oversized, tattered garment. Most notably, this boy differed from other sky islanders—he lacked the distinctive white wings on his back. Instead, he possessed exceptionally long earlobes that nearly hung down to his shoulders.
"Wororororo..." Kaido let out a low chuckle, his sharp gaze appraising the boy before him. "Kid, what did you say?" He immediately recognized this child as a young Enel. Seeing his ragged, impoverished appearance and timid demeanor, Kaido understood—no wonder this child would later commit the insane act of destroying his hometown.
The boy—that is, Enel—stumbled as he ran up to Kaido, then knelt on the ground without hesitation.
"Please, take me away from here!" His voice was full of despair and pleading. His forehead pressed against the ground, his thin frame trembling slightly from emotion.
"Muahahaha," Queen stepped forward, looking down at this scrawny boy, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Kid, do you know who we are? We're not interested in playing house with you." His words elicited a round of raucous laughter from the surrounding pirates.
But Enel wasn't deterred by this mockery. He raised his head, his grimy little face filled with determination. "I don't care who you are! Angels or demons, it doesn't matter. Please take me away from here. Even dying on the road is fine." Having said that, he once more buried his head deeply against the ground, as if this was the most devout, pleading posture he could muster.
Kaido silently observed this stubborn boy, a flicker of interest in his eyes. "Wororororo... Interesting," he finally said, his voice carrying a note of amusement. "Kid, if you're not afraid of dying, then follow along!" Having said that, he offered no further words, turning around and striding purposefully forward.
King, Bullet, and the others exchanged meaningful glances, then quickly caught up with Kaido.
Enel was stunned for a second, then scrambled to his feet in ecstatic joy, stumbling after them. His eyes shone with a hopeful light, as if he had grasped a lifeline, even if that lifeline came from a group of vicious Blue Sea people.
The procession continued toward the docks, the setting sun casting their shadows long. Enel's slight figure stumbled along at the very rear of the group, but the expression on his face was more determined than ever before. On this sky island where everyone rejected him, he had finally found a chance to leave, even if what awaited him ahead was even greater, unknown danger.