[POV: ADMIRAL AOKIJI] The Call to Headquarters
Aokiji stood on his bicycle, lazily floating on the calm sea. His gaze was still fixed on the spot where the Straw Hat crew had vanished into the clouds.
"Ara ara… this is troublesome," he murmured, pulling a Den Den Mushi from his pocket.
PURUPURUPURU… PURUPURUPURU…
"Marine Headquarters, speaking."
"This is Aokiji. I need to file a report."
The tone on the other end instantly changed."Admiral! What happened?"
"The Straw Hat crew. Monkey D. Luffy and his companions. They had… an accident."
"An accident?"
"A massive water jet. Most likely a Knock Up Stream. Their ship was launched vertically to a… considerable altitude."
Silence.
"They're… dead?"
"Probably," Aokiji replied in his usual detached tone. "A normal ship can't survive that kind of force. They likely crashed when they came back down."
"Have you found any wreckage?"
"Not yet. I'll continue searching."
"Very well. Keep searching and report anything you find. Headquarters wants confirmation of their deaths."
"Understood."
He hung up.
Then he turned around.
Where Blackbeard's frozen ship had been floating just minutes ago…
There was nothing.
Just water. Calm. Empty.
"Hm?" Aokiji frowned.
He pedaled to the exact spot. The ice he had created was still there—fragments floating on the surface. But the ship? The crew?
Gone.
"Ara ara… Marshall D. Teach escaped. That's problematic."
He scanned the area. No signs of battle. No debris. As if the entire ship had simply… evaporated.
"The Yami Yami no Mi…" Aokiji murmured. "Interesting."
He made a mental note to report this to Headquarters.
But for now, he had to search for traces of Straw Hat.
He stared at the empty ocean.
And he began his search, slowly pedaling in widening circles around the Knock Up Stream's impact point.
[POV: MARC] The White Sea – 7,000 Meters
The Going Merry floated on a strange sea.
Not water.Clouds.
White. Soft. Solid.
"THIS IS AMAZING!" Luffy shouted, hopping onto the railing."WE'RE WALKING ON CLOUDS!"
He jumped overboard.
PLOOF.
He sank into the clouds like water, then resurfaced laughing."THIS IS AWESOME!"
Chopper immediately followed."WAIT FOR ME!"
Usopp, more cautious, dipped a foot in."This is weird… it's soft, but it supports weight…"
Nami checked her map and Log Pose."We're at about 7,000 meters altitude. Not Sky Island proper yet."
"So there's still 3,000 meters to go?" Sanji asked.
"Exactly."
SCP-1867, still perched atop SCP-999, observed the surroundings with fascination."Extraordinary! Absolutely extraordinary! Supporting clouds—a phenomenon I had only encountered once during my expedition in the Andes!"
"You've never been to the Andes," Mr. Fish muttered with an amused smile.
"Of course I have! In 1852! I even met a giant condor who—"
While the slug rambled on with his fabricated tales, I scanned the horizon.
Something was wrong.
The silence.
Too much silence.
No birds. No wind. Just… emptiness.
[ATMOSPHERIC ANALYSIS IN PROGRESS…][PRESSURE: ABNORMALLY STABLE][TEMPERATURE: 22°C (SHOULD BE NEAR 0°C AT THIS ALTITUDE)][CONCLUSION: ENVIRONMENTAL ANOMALY DETECTED]
"System, what's going on here?"
[UNABLE TO DETERMINE WITHOUT ADDITIONAL DATA][RECOMMENDATION: CAUTION]
I rested my hand on the box containing SCP-609 in my pocket.
Ready.
The Masked Attack
Suddenly, a whistling sound cut through the air.
FWOOOOOSH!
A rocket burst out of the clouds and shot straight toward the Merry.
"INCOMING!" Nami shouted.
Luffy reacted instantly.
"GOMU GOMU NO… FUUSEN!"
He inflated his stomach like a massive balloon.
BOOM!
The rocket slammed into his elastic belly and rebounded, exploding far away in the clouds.
"WHO DID THAT?!" Luffy roared.
A silhouette appeared in the distance.
A man. Standing on a cloud. Wearing a blank white mask. Dressed in a dark robe that floated unnaturally despite the lack of wind.
He held a bazooka.
FWOOOOSH!
Another rocket.
"GOMU GOMU NO FUUSEN!"
BOOM!
Deflected again.
The masked man didn't move. He stayed at range. Firing. Reloading. Firing again.
FWOOOOSH! FWOOOOSH! FWOOOOSH!
"HE'S TOO FAR!" Zoro shouted, drawing his swords."I CAN'T REACH HIM!"
"Me neither," Sanji growled.
Luffy tried stretching toward him, but the distance was too great. The man retreated with every attempt.
FWOOOOSH!
Another rocket.
I was done.
"Enough."
I pulled out a Foundation-issued FAMAS.
Everyone turned toward me.
"Marc, what are you—?" Nami began.
I raised the rifle, aimed calmly, and pulled the trigger.
RATATATATATATA!
The burst tore through the air at supersonic speed.
The masked man wasn't expecting that.
The bullets hit him—shoulder, leg, arm.
He staggered back, letting out a muffled, almost inhuman cry.
Then he dropped something.
A book.
It fell slowly through the clouds, spinning in the air.
The masked man vanished into the mist, retreating rapidly.
BEEP.[ANOMALOUS OBJECT DETECTED][DISTANCE: 50 METERS][CLASSIFICATION: PROBABLE SCP]
I turned to Luffy."Luffy! Catch that book!"
"THE BOOK?!"
"NOW!"
"OKAY!"
He stretched his arm like a giant rubber band."GOMU GOMU NO… CATCH!"
His arm shot through the clouds, grabbed the book midair, and snapped back.
SNAP!
Luffy handed it to me."HERE!"
"Stop," I said immediately, raising my hand."Don't open it. Don't read it. Set it down on the deck. Slowly."
Luffy blinked."Why?"
"Because it's probably an SCP. And unknown SCPs are dangerous."
"Oh." He carefully placed it down like a bomb."Like this?"
"Perfect."
I approached cautiously.
It was an old book. Worn leather binding. No title. Only engraved symbols—interlocking geometric shapes that made my head ache if I stared too long.
"Everyone, step back," I ordered.
The crew obeyed.
"System, what is it?"
[ANALYSIS IN PROGRESS…][MATERIAL: UNKNOWN LEATHER (NON-TERRESTRIAL ANIMAL ORIGIN)][AGE: ESTIMATED 400–500 YEARS][CONTENT: UNREADABLE WITHOUT OPENING][WARNING: POTENTIAL COGNITOHAZARD][INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR PRECISE IDENTIFICATION]
"Not enough data…" I circled the book without touching it."Alright. I'll open it. But don't look inside. Turn away."
"Marc, that's dangerous," Nami said anxiously.
"I'm immortal. If it's dangerous, I'll survive."
"And if it mind-controls you?"
"Then kill me before I do something stupid."
"MARC!"
"I'm kidding," I said with a faint smile."System, monitor my mental state. If you detect anything abnormal, alert the crew immediately."
[MONITORING ACTIVATED]
I put on Foundation gloves.
Then I knelt and carefully picked up the book.
The leather was cold. Unnaturally cold.
"Don't look," I repeated.
Everyone turned away—except Zoro, who simply closed his eyes and crossed his arms.
I opened the book slowly.
The Sacred Text
The pages crackled—old, yet remarkably well preserved.
The writing was… strange.
Readable. But archaic. A blend of ancient languages I shouldn't have been able to understand—yet my mind deciphered them automatically.
I read silently.
"Blessed are those who offer their blood upon the altar of truth.""Blessed are those who abandon their flesh for the glory of the Most High.""Blessed are those who ascend the eternal steps toward divine light."
[TEXTUAL ANALYSIS…][CONTENT: RELIGIOUS RITUAL][THEMES: SACRIFICE, PURIFICATION, ASCENSION][DANGER LEVEL: MODERATE]
I turned the pages.
Each passage grew darker. More violent.
"The blood of the impure shall nourish the foundations.""The bones of the unworthy shall form the steps.""The souls of the sacrificed shall sing within the eternal walls."
My hand began to tremble slightly.
[ALERT: ELEVATED HEART RATE][EMOTIONAL RESPONSE DETECTED][NO ANOMALOUS COMPULSION]
I kept reading.
Until the final page.
There was a drawing.
A tower.
Massive. Spiral-shaped. Rising into the sky like an arrow piercing the clouds.
And beneath it, in larger letters:
"THOSE WHO ENTER THE SACRED TOWER SHALL NEVER DESCEND AGAIN, FOR THEY HAVE BECOME ONE WITH GOD."
I snapped the book shut.
My heart was pounding. My hands were shaking.
But my mind was clear.
[FULL MENTAL SCAN…][NO COGNITIVE ALTERATION DETECTED][YOU ARE NOT UNDER INFLUENCE]
"Marc?" Nami called softly. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." I took a deep breath. "You can turn around."
They all looked at me anxiously.
"What is that book?" Chopper asked timidly.
"An artifact. A remnant of a religious cult."
"A cult?" Sanji repeated.
"Yeah. People who worshipped… something. Something that lived in a tower."
I summoned the Foundation door and threw the book inside without ceremony.
CLANG.
"That book stays contained. No one reads it. No one touches it. Understood?"
Everyone nodded.
"Marc," Nami said slowly. "What's that tower?"
"I don't know. But it's the real SCP. Not the book. The tower itself."
"And where is it?"
"Somewhere on Sky Island."
Silence.
"Do we have to find it?" Luffy asked.
"No. We have to AVOID it."
"Why?"
"Because if that book is right, whoever enters never comes back out."
Heaven's Gate
We sailed for another hour.
The silence remained. Heavy.
Then, ahead of us, a structure appeared.
A massive gate.
White. Ornate. Cloud-carved pillars.
And at the top, engraved in golden letters:
HEAVEN'S GATE
"The Gate of Heaven…" Nami murmured.
Strangely, there was no one there.
No guards. No checkpoint. Just… the gate. Open.
"That's weird," Usopp said nervously."In stories, there's always someone guarding important gates…"
"Maybe they left?" Chopper suggested.
"Or died," Zoro added.
We passed through.
On the other side stretched a denser sea of clouds. Brighter. Almost glowing.
Suddenly—
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
A metallic sound.
Something moved beneath the Merry.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" Nami shouted.
A massive creature emerged from the clouds.
A crab.
Gigantic—easily ten meters wide.
But it wasn't a normal crab.
Its body was covered in scars. Deep. Old. Some burned. Others cut.
Its many black eyes stared at us with unsettling intelligence.
"A GIANT CRAB!" Luffy yelled excitedly.
The crab grabbed the Merry with its massive claws.
Everyone readied their weapons.
But—
It didn't attack.
Instead, it began to climb.
Slowly. Steadily.
Carrying the ship on its back like a familiar burden.
"Is… is it helping us?" Chopper asked, confused.
"Looks like it," Nami replied.
"COOL! A CRAB ELEVATOR!" Luffy laughed.
The crew relaxed.
They admired the scenery. The flowing clouds. The golden light.
SCP-999 chirped happily. SCP-1867 told a story about a giant crab he supposedly met in Brazil.
But me?
I watched the crab.
Its scars.Its mechanical movements.Its empty eyes.
[BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS…][CONCLUSION: NON-NATURAL BEHAVIOR][CRAB APPEARS TO FOLLOW PROGRAMMING][HYPOTHESIS: EXTERNAL CONTROL OR CONDITIONING]
I looked around.
The silence.The empty gate.The scarred crab.The cult book.The fleeing masked man.
It was all connected.
"Something's wrong," I murmured.
Nami glanced at me. "Did you say something?"
"No. Nothing."
But internally, I noted everything.
The abnormal emptiness of Heaven's Gate.The crab's programmed behavior.The scars that looked like punishment.The masked man attacking as if to warn us.
Something had driven everyone away.
Or taken them all.
I touched the box of SCP-609 in my pocket.
Ready to kill.
The Going Merry rose.
Toward the sky.Toward the unknown.Toward whatever awaited us in the clouds.
[END OF CHAPTER ][ANOMALIES CAPTURED: 19][CONTAINED ARTIFACT: TOWER CULT BOOK][PRIMARY SCP: UNIDENTIFIED (SACRED TOWER)][LOCATION: SKY ISLAND – WHITE SEA (7000m)][DETECTED DANGER: HIGH][ATMOSPHERE: OPPRESSIVE, EMPTY, ANOMALOUS][CRAB EXPRESS: SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR (CONDITIONING)][CREW STATUS: ALERT (MARC ONLY)][AOKIJI: SEARCHING FOR DEBRIS (BELIEVES THEM DEAD)][BLACKBEARD: MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED][NEXT STEP: ARRIVAL AT ANGEL ISLAND][WARNING: SOMETHING AWAITS IN THE CLOUDS]