The ship sailed through the gates and paused beside the guardhouse.
An old woman walked out from the guardhouse.
Her hair was styled into two small buns resembling snail antennae on both sides of her head, and she had a pair of small, pure white wings on her back, her face gentle and kindly.
"Ah! It's an angel granny!!"
Ginny, Kuma, and Ivankov exclaimed one after another, eyes full of surprise and curiosity.
York chuckled; seeing Sky Islanders for the first time would indeed elicit such a reaction.
"Are you here for sightseeing? Or for war?"
The old woman looked at York and the others on the warship and asked curiously.
York walked to the edge of the gunwale, an innocuous smile on his face.
"We are here for sightseeing!"
Hearing this, the old woman immediately extended her hand.
"10 million Extol per person entrance fee!"
(Note: This isn't the era of Enel's rule; the charging standard is different.)
"How much?! 10 million?!"
In an instant, everyone who was excited to see the angel granny just now jumped up.
"10 million entrance fee? Why don't you just rob us!!"
Everyone looked indignant. Are you angels the pirates, or are we?!
Just as everyone was furious and ready to let York lead them to fight their way in, Stussy suddenly laughed out loud.
"It's 10 million Extol! Not 10 million Berries!"
"Huh?"
Everyone was stunned, shifting their gaze to her.
Stussy explained: "Extol is the currency of Sky Island. The exchange rate with Berries is ten thousand to one. 10,000 Extol equals 1 Berry!"
"This means the old woman said 10 million Extol per person is actually 1,000 Berries per person!"
The old woman standing on the platform inside the arch nodded with a smile.
"That's right!"
Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Kaido: "What the hell, only 1,000 Berries. Made me misunderstand."
Gloriosa: "10 million sounds too scary. Couldn't you just say 1,000 Berries?"
Shakky smiled and said: "Interesting prank..."
York didn't quibble over a small amount like ten thousand Berries and paid the guard granny directly.
Getting the money, the guard granny didn't dawdle at all, taking out a whistle and blowing it on the spot.
*Whoosh!*
Beneath the ship, the cloud layer acting as seawater was suddenly broken through. Two huge shrimp claws drilled out, clamping onto the sides of the warship hull.
"Wow wow! What is this?!"
Ginny shouted, slightly panic-stricken.
"It's the Super Express Shrimp, a specialty creature of the White Sea."
The guard granny explained kindly: "See that cloud path winding up to the sky ahead?"
"Normal ships can't sail up there. Only the Super Express Shrimp can carry the ship to the White-White Sea."
As her voice fell, the Super Express Shrimp immediately began speeding along the channel.
"Waaaahhh..."
Amidst the screams of the kids on the ship, the Super Express Shrimp carried the warship rapidly through thousands of meters of channel, successfully ascending from the White Sea at 7,000 meters to the true location of Sky Island—the White-White Sea at 10,000 meters altitude!!
The warship flew out from the channel exit, drawing a large parabola, and landed heavily on the special Sea Clouds of the White-White Sea.
When the vibrations subsided, everyone looked up and was immediately shocked by the beautiful scenery before them.
"This is Sky Island?!"
"So beautiful!!"
"An island completely made of white clouds! Just like a castle in the sky from fairy tales!"
"Are we going to live here from now on?"
Everyone's gaze soon shifted to York. York nodded with a smile.
"This will be our base before returning to the New World!!"
With that, York walked to the bow of the warship and shouted loudly toward Sky Island.
"Sky Island! Your Emperor who rules you has arrived!!"
"Your Emperor who rules you has arrived!!"
"Your Emperor has arrived!!"
...
York's voice echoed far away. The residents living normally on Sky Island were stunned collectively.
"Whose voice is that?"
"What is an Emperor?"
"Rule us?! Who is so bold? This is God's Land protected by God!!"
...
The warship slowly approached the coast of Sky Island. York really couldn't be bothered to waste time with the people of Sky Island, directly having Kaido transform into a giant Azure Dragon, taking him to an island next to the island of white clouds.
"What is that? Land? There are land islands in the sky too?!"
Kaido was slightly surprised, but York didn't explain to him, pointing to a giant beanstalk in the distance.
"See that beanstalk? That's where the ruler of Sky Island and the army are stationed. We take that out, and this Sky Island is ours!"
Kaido looked where he pointed.
On that land island, a thick beanstalk wound its way up to the sky.
Several layers of white clouds coiled around the beanstalk in tiers.
One layer was the direction York pointed; the buildings were most dense there, and in Observation Haki perception, the number of living people there was also considerable.
The giant Azure Dragon didn't hesitate, his slender body winding toward that place.
Sky Island residents, watching Kaido sweep through the air, immediately changed their formerly haughty expressions to ones of fear and piety.
"God descends!"
"The true Lord of the Sky has appeared!"
...
Uninterested in paying attention to these ordinary people, after arriving at the place where the Sky Island ruler lived, York leaped down from Kaido. The latter also retracted his transformation, returning to normal form to land.
The God of Sky Island, to be precise, was the ruler of Sky Island; only the title of King was changed to God.
And his Divine Squad had long gathered in a clearing here, waiting for some time.
Watching York and Kaido descend from the sky, they weren't as pathetic as the ordinary residents of Sky Island.
The Sky Island God even stepped forward actively, asking York and Kaido: "You are Blue Sea people, right? What are you doing with such fanfare?"
York looked up, finding the current Sky Island God wasn't Gan Fall whom he knew, so he couldn't be bothered with nonsense.
"I am here to rule you!"
One sentence finished, majestic Haki roared out from him.
A blood-colored domain shrouded the area. In the eyes of the Divine Squad soldiers, the entire world turned blood-red in an instant.
Lasting not even a second, the Divine Squad soldiers fell to the ground one after another.
Even the Sky Island God only possessed the ability to kneel on one knee and maintain consciousness under York's deliberate care.
"What is this power..."
"Conqueror's Haki! The symbol of a King!"
York explained patiently, then added: "Realized the power gap between us?"
"If you don't want the entire Sky Island slaughtered by me and my partners leaving not even a dog or chicken alive, you'd better submit obediently!"
The Sky Island God hesitated. Concerned about the safety of the Sky Island people, he plucked up the courage to ask: "How do you plan to rule us?"
"That's not for you to worry about!"
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