As the dual ruler of Angel Island and Upper Yard, Mieko didn't demand that everyone prepare some grand, tear-soaked send-off ceremony for ten thousand people, nor did he have anyone ready a ship. He simply slung on a tiger-striped backpack—stuffed with a few changes of clothes, some gold, a huge amount of jerky, and practical items like Wind Dials and Flame Shells. On top of that, he carried a gliding board equipped with an electric propulsion system. Then, at astonishing speed, he shot up into the air from Upper Yard and sped away.
"Dong—dong…"
A few minutes later, a grand, lingering bell toll echoed across the island—crisp and clear, as if silently seeing Mieko off.
The island's residents all cast puzzled looks toward the temple. They knew that bell too well: it rang only once a month, and it had already rung a little over an hour ago. Now it was ringing again, as if heralding something out of the ordinary.
…
The vast White Sea looked endless, yet it did have an end.
A little over two hours later, Mieko—electric arcs coiling around his body—stood atop a gigantic gate-like passage. He looked back at the white, boundless sea behind him, emotions surging in his chest.
Two years ago, when he first arrived at Sky Island Birka, he'd still been agile and capable, but up there he probably couldn't even beat an ordinary patrol soldier with professional training. But after obtaining the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, his strength had skyrocketed, rising step by step without pause.
As for how strong he was now down in the Blue Sea below, he didn't know. But one thing was certain: as long as he had enough time to prepare, even without the Ark "Maxim," he could still create thunderclouds over an enormous area and completely destroy Birka and Upper Yard. The only difference was how long he'd need to prepare.
"If I went back to Earth from my previous life right now… and had enough time to prepare… I should be able to just blast that 'Ya. Mie. Die' island nation under, huh?"
The thought suddenly surfaced in Mieko's mind, and he couldn't help letting out a dry laugh.
Even though Logia-type users claimed they didn't fear ordinary physical attacks, whether they could withstand radiation from a nuclear explosion was still an unknown. After all, even if the body turned into lightning, it still hadn't escaped mortal flesh—still bound to birth, aging, sickness, and death.
At the end of the Cloud Road, there was still the vast White Sea… The sight was like the earth had been split by a colossal fissure, or like an impassable chasm stretched across his path. One look down, and your legs would tremble on their own, your heartbeat instantly accelerating.
Below was a full ten thousand meters of open sky!
Not everyone was a monster like Kaido of the Beasts—someone who could deliberately jump off a Sky Island from ten thousand meters up and come out unscathed. For ordinary powerhouses, falling from just a few hundred meters might already mean being smashed into pulp, let alone ten thousand.
"Whoosh!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Mieko—hovering in midair—suddenly accelerated. Headfirst, he dove straight down from that ten-thousand-meter height.
"Ffff—!"
Gale-force winds howled, shrieking like blades as they scraped across Mieko's handsome face, instantly kicking up faint electric arcs along his skin. His long black hair whipped wildly in the storm, messy and unrestrained.
Pure-white clouds drifted lazily past him like that—sometimes he even punched straight through them—plunging downward at a speed so terrifying it made your scalp prickle. His white casual outfit and the backpack on his shoulders snapped loudly in the wind, making you worry whether they'd be torn apart by the screaming airflow.
But very quickly, reality proved that worry was completely unnecessary.
"Ffff—!"
Arc after arc flickered and danced across Mieko's casual clothes as the roaring wind grew stronger than imagination. The fabric that should've been shredded long ago instead broke apart into countless unstable electric arcs—then instantly re-gathered, perfectly intact, as if it had never been scoured by the storm at all.
As for the tiger-striped backpack on Mieko's back, it was painstakingly processed from the hide of a saber-toothed tiger—tough as hell. Even a few burly men yanking at it with all their strength probably wouldn't be able to damage it, much less a mere gust of wind.
As cloud after cloud swept across his body and past his eyes, the distance between Mieko and the surface grew shorter and shorter. He focused his vision and could already vaguely make out the blue ocean below.
Mieko wasn't surprised that he hadn't spotted any large Marine fortress down there. After all, the reason the Straw Hat crew fell into a Marine base was because the Going Merry had one of Sky Island's specialty Octopus Balloons pulling it—like a massive hot-air balloon drifting on the wind—so they blundered into the base by sheer bad luck. If you weren't cursed with rotten luck, who the hell would fall into a Marine base?
When there were less than a hundred meters left to the deep-blue sea surface, Mieko was still dropping at high speed—when suddenly his entire body turned into a dazzling bolt of lightning and vanished in midair.
"Whoosh—"
Lightning flashed, and Mieko reappeared several meters above the sea. Below him, the surface churned with rolling waves, spray blooming in countless tiny bursts.
"As far as the eye can see, it's nothing but ocean for dozens of li… looks like I've still got a stretch to cover."
Mieko grabbed his backpack, unhooked the gliding board that had been strapped to his back, and at the same time used Mantra to sense the surroundings.
Mantra—true to its name—was like this: the electric waves Mieko released spread out like a spiderweb, densely covering an area dozens of li in every direction. Any slightest movement—no matter how small—couldn't escape his perception.
Mieko felt that this ability of his wasn't simply Observation Haki, so he named it Mantra rather than borrowing labels like Observation Haki or Mantra's other common name.
The gliding board in his hands was custom-made, fitted with an electric propulsion system and a small Wind Dial. The board was 1.2 meters long, 0.4 meters wide, and nearly 0.1 meters thick—stable whether he sat or stood on it. Carrying it around had some weight to it, but it would make traveling over the sea far less strenuous.
With Mieko's current strength, long-distance flight wasn't difficult—but it would burn a lot of stamina. If he ran into a powerful enemy along the way, that would be far too risky. By comparison, using this board was clearly more efficient and safer.
And the board wasn't slow, either. Once activated in combination with Mieko's abilities, its speed far exceeded ordinary ships—definitely faster than Fire Fist Ace's little flame-powered boat.
"Splash—"
Mieko placed the board onto the uneven sea and lowered himself, planting his feet firmly on it. At the same time, he took out a Log Pose from his tiger-striped backpack—one he didn't even know when he'd left behind in Upper Yard—and strapped it onto his wrist.
This Log Pose was something Mieko had found two years ago among the belongings of Gan Fall, the former "God" of the Kingdom of God. He didn't know what era it was from, but it looked like it should still work. Its magnetism was long since fully charged, and the Log Pose pointed steadily toward the next place he would head to.
"Splash, splash…" As arcs jumped beneath Mieko's feet, the entire board suddenly roared to life, surging forward at speed. It carved through the raging waves, kicking up layer after layer of spray as it carried Mieko toward the distant horizon.
"The next destination… seems to be something called Long Ring Long Land, huh…" Mieko thought to himself.
(End of Chapter)
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