Chapter 34 - 34: Upper Yard, The Beginning of The End!

Luffy, Zoro, and Nojiko began walking towards their ship to join the rest of their crew leaving a beach scattered with unconscious soldiers behind them. When they arrived on the ship everyone gathered around to plan their next move.

"Luffy, is it really such a good idea to anger this Enel guy?" Nami asked in a slightly scared voice.

"Something got you worried, Nami?" Luffy asked as he leaned against the banister of the ship and looked at his navigator with a curious expression on his face.

"It's just that I saw what this Enel guy could do, and his power seems to be the real deal," she said in a scared voice. "He made a giant beam of light come down from the sky and kill a man who was there looking for gold," she said causing Usopp and Chopper to become scared.

"It kind of sounds like what you did Luffy when you made that marine base island disappear back in the East," Sanji said causing Zoro to nod his head recalling what Luffy had done.

"It does sound similar but at the same time, it sounds like a weaker version," Luffy replied with a nod causing Chopper to look at him with stars in the eyes.

"Luffy you're so cool!" Chopper said as he stared at Luffy with stars in his eyes causing Luffy to chuckle and pat the little reindeer's head.

"Don't worry Nami," Luffy said as he turned and looked at her. "I won't let anything happen to any of you," he said with a smile causing all of them to smile as well. "Besides, this sounds like it could be a good training exercise for all of you he added causing them to go pale and the smiles to disappear from their faces. Luffy was about to continue speaking, but before he could the voice of Conis got everyone's attention.

"I feel the need to tell all of you something," Conis said getting everyone's attention. When everyone looked out from the ship, they saw her standing beside the ship looking up at them with an unreadable expression on her face. "There is a cloud current that I can lead you to which will take you directly to the White sea and from there to cloud end where you can safely return home," she said surprising everyone while at the same time causing Luffy and Robin to narrow their eyes in suspicion. "Once you get onto the current, no one will be able to chase you," she added.

"That sounds amazing!" Nami said excitedly. Luffy plastered a fake smile on his face before he too spoke to Conis.

"That does sound great, thank you Conis," Luffy said with a fake smile as he looked down at her causing some of his crew members to look at him strangely. "Tell you what, we need to supplies to repair our ship and we need some food for the journey do you think you can help us with getting these things?" he asked with the fake smile still plastered on his face.

"Of, course," she replied without hesitation.

"Great!" Luffy replied happily causing his crew to become slightly scared due to face that they have never seen their captain like this before. "Why don't you go getting everything prepared and some of the guys will come to help you bring everything back to the ship," he suggested.

"Okay," she replied before began making her way back to town. As she was walking way Robin spoke up to Luffy.

"Captain..." she said.

"I know," Luffy replied as he turned to look at his crew dropping the fake smile in the process. "She is setting us up for a trap," he said surprising the remain members of the crew.

"What!?" the remaining straw hats yelled out in shock.

"Don't be ridiculous Luffy," Nami said not wanting to believe that the sweet, innocent girl that had been helping them up until this point was setting them up for a trap. "Conis did nothing but help us until now. Why would she set us up for a trap?" she asked as she stared at her captain.

"Yeah! captain," Nojiko said agreeing with her sister. "Don't you think you are being a bit too paranoid," she added causing Luffy to raise his eyebrow at her.

"I have to say, Luffy," Usopp said getting his captain's attention. "She's been nothing but nice to us all this time. I find it hard to believe that she would try to set us up," he said causing Luffy to sigh while in the corner of his eye he could see Sanji getting ready to burst.

"Yeah! Conis is too beautiful to be bad!" the cook yelled while pointing at Luffy. "However, bad could be good," he added with a perverted giggle causing Nami and Zoro to smack him over his head.

"Perverted cook," Zoro mumbled causing Luffy to shake his head.

"You guys are too naive," Robin suddenly said causing everyone to look over to her. "When comparing her speech patterns and behaviors before when she first met us to her interaction with the captain just now, one could clearly see a major difference in her behavior," she explains while Luffy nodded in agreement. "Her words lacked the usual emotion and you can tell she was extremely nervous to speak to us," she continued to explain. "She was clearly lying about leading us to the current," she finished.

"But why would she do that?" Nojiko asked as she looks at Luffy and Robin.

"I don't think she is doing it because she wants to, but is doing it cause she was told to," Luffy said while Robin nodded her head in agreement.

"What do you mean?" Usopp asked.

"Well, let me ask you this," Luffy said before he turned and looked back at the shores of Angel Beach. "If your God gave you an order, would you refuse to follow it?" he asked causing a few of them to understand what he meant. "Anyway, it doesn't matter," he said with a sigh before turning back around. "We'll play along for now," he said causing them to nod.

"So, who is going to meet up with her?" Zoro asked.

"Sanji and Usopp will come with me," Luffy replied as he looked over to his sharpshooter and cook. The two of them nodded their heads before stepping forward. "The rest of you wait here and if this god of theirs decides to attack defend yourself at all cost. I do not care whose blood you have to spill and how much of it you have to spill, just make sure you don't die. Nami you're in charge until I get back" he said seriously getting a firm nod from his crew. Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp then hopped off the Going Merry and began making their way towards Conis's house.

When they arrived at Conis's house, they saw Pagaya and Conis preparing mini lunch boxes for everyone along with some other supplies that they thought the crew might need.

"Here, let me help you with that," Sanji said as he moved over to help Pagaya with the lunch boxes. Usopp went over to inspect the other supplies that were prepared while Luffy simply sat down on the couch and poured himself a drink. Conis and Sanji kept chatting while Usopp and Pagaya were discussing the supplies that were prepared. Luffy, on the other hand, had his observation haki stretched to the max to cover the great distance that was between the beach and house. Everything was going on fine for about 30 minutes when Luffy suddenly sprang to his feet alarming the rest of the occupants in the room. He did not say anything instead, he walked swiftly out to the balcony and looked out in the direction of his ship.

"Luffy, what's wrong?" Usopp asked as he walked and stood next to Luffy.

"It has begun," Luffy replied as he continued to stare at the ship. Sanji and Usopp both looked in the direction of the Going Merry and saw that the ship was rocking back and forth as if it was in turbulent waters.

"What's going on with the ship?" Sanji asked as he pulled out a mini telescope to get a better look.

"There is something under it," Luffy answered due to his observation haki already tell him what was under the ship. "it seems to be a giant lobster," he added nonchalantly. While the three Straw hats were discussing what was going on Conis and her father had a slightly worried look on their faces.

"It is the super express lobster," Pagaya said lowly to the crew getting their attention. "It is a messenger of Enel," he added with a grim look on his face. Before he could say anything further on the matter Luffy's voice interrupted him.

"The ship is sailing away," he said casually causing everyone to turn their attention back to the ship. When they looked over, they saw that the ship was sailing backward while the sails had not even been released yet. The only conclusion that everyone could come to was that the lobster was pulling the ship. "That thing must have been sitting there waiting for us to weigh anchor," Luffy said.

"What are we going to do now?" Usopp asked in a slightly panicked voice.

"Where is the lobster taking them?" Luffy asked as he looked over at Pagaya.

"It must be taking your friends as a sacrificial offering," Pagaya replied in a slightly worried voice causing Luffy to narrow his eyes. "If that is the case then it will be taking them to the sacrificial altar located at the North East of Upper Yard," he said with a grim look on his face. The old man then began explaining to the three of them that their ship and friends were now hostages and the ones who must face heavens judgment were the three of them to get them back. He then began explaining the layout of the Upper Yard and what they need to do to get there. Even though Luffy was listening, he had no intention of following along with the rules of this game, after all, he doesn't play by anyone's rules but his own.

"Where can we find a boat to get to this Milky Road?" Luffy suddenly asked with a smirk startling the father and daughter duo while Sanji just chuckled.

"Conis could lead you to the Angel beach docks where you can acquire a suitable vessel to make the journey," Pagaya replied causing Luffy and his two crew members to stand up and look at Conis. "Well Conis, we'll be in your care," Luffy said with the fake smile back on his face.

"Wow, people are really trying to avoid us," Usopp commented.

"What do you expect," Sanji replied. "Word probably spread by now that we are wanted criminals," he said.

"So, nothing new really," Luffy said causing his two crew members to chuckle.

"You guys do know that you could die, right?" Conis asked as she looked over her shoulder at them.

"Everybody has to go sometime," Luffy said with a chuckle surprising her. The group walked for about another five minutes before they arrived at the docks of Angel beach and by now Luffy understood they were being followed by the leader of the White Berets. Conis led the three of them to the end of the dock where they saw a small boat in the ship of a crow docked.

"This is your ship, the Crow," she said with a smile causing Luffy to raise his eyebrow slightly at her. "Your exit is gate number 2, it will lead to the milky road," she said as she began to tremble slightly.

"So..." Luffy said a bit loudly. "Is this where the second part of your little trap is sprouted?" Luffy asked causing the girl's eyes to widen in shock along with the others who were looking on.

"You...you knew?" she asked in a slightly scared voice.

"Of course, you are not that convincing as a bad guy," Luffy said while Sanji and Usopp nodded their head. She then dropped to her knees and began to sob before she spoke again.

"It was me who called the super express Lobster on your friends," she admitted between sobs. "Once we know someone is a criminal, we must lead them to Upper Yard or else the penalty is death," she added.

"What do you think you are doing girl!" a random person yelled from some distance away.

"Are you trying to get us all killed!?" another said. Luffy just looked at her with an emotionless look on his face not saying anything. Suddenly a bright light in the sky got everyone's attention. The surrounding patrons started backing away in fear of what was about to happen. Luffy narrowed his eyes and stepped next to Conis before he pulled her to him and held her close just a beam of white light began to come down from the heavens getting ready to swallow both Luffy and Conis. Luffy simply wrapped one of his arms around Conis and held her close before he raised the other in the air. His palm which was in the air turned black for a split second with a strange aura around it before the beam of light impacted his palm. The onlookers had their eyes widen the size of a dinner plate at the sight before them. Never had they ever imagined that they would be alive to witness such a sight. As the beam of light came in contact Luffy's palm, it parted at the point of contact going around Luffy and never touching Conis. It lasted for five minutes before the beam of light disappeared from the sky leaving Luffy and Conis standing on an island in between a giant hole in the ground.

"H-he just withstood Almighty Enel's judgment!" one of the onlookers said in shock.

"W-what is he!?" Another asked in shock.

"Just how powerful is he?" the captain of the white berets asked himself. Conis who had her eyes closed the entire time finally opened her eyes to see that she was standing on an island in the middle of a giant hole causing her eyes to widen in shock. Before she could say anything else, she felt herself being picked up by the waist causing her to let out an 'eep' before she was thrown into the air causing her to scream as loud as she could. Once again, before she could process what was going on, she felt someone grab her mid-air, when she looked to see who it was, she saw that it was the sky knight.

"Keep her safe, old man," she heard Luffy said.

"This one is on the house, young man," the sky knight replied. Luffy nodded his head before leaping out from the small island and landing next to Sanji and Usopp. "I knew you were powerful, but I didn't know you were powerful enough to stop one of Enel's attack," Gan fall said with astonishment ever so present in his voice as he stared at Luffy. Luffy just gave a small smile and looked up to him.

"You Skypieans need to stop looking down on us Blue Sea dwellers," he said loudly for Gan Fall and the onlookers to hear. "As powerful as I am, there are still people out there who are more powerful than me," he said causing Gan Fall to nod his head in understanding while the onlookers looked on in shock.

'There are people more powerful than him!?' they all thought to themselves.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, Sky Knight," Luffy said before he walked over to the small ship that Conis had previously prepared for them. "I got a god to go kill," Luffy said before he hopped into the small boat with Sanji and Usopp behind him. Three of them hopped into the boat and began sailing towards gate number 2. The trio sailed up the milky white stream of clouds for about 5 minutes before a giant forest came into view.

"Woah!" Usopp said as he stared at the upcoming forest. "Is that giant forest the Upper Yard?" he asked as he stared on in astonishment. "Just look at the size of those trees!" he added as he stared at the gigantic trees. Luffy had to admit, even he had never seen trees this big before. As they got closer and closer to the forest, they began to see the entrance. It was decorated with torches and spears with animal skulls stuck into them.

"This must be the entrance," Luffy noted as the small ship sailed through the milky road that led to the forest. As they got further through the entrance, they saw what appears to be multiple shipwrecks, but the only difference was that these sh.i.p.s were all sliced in half.

"What could have sliced these sh.i.p.s like that?" Sanji asked as he stared at the numerous destroyed sh.i.p.s. As he said that a giant sickle came swinging in, poised to slice the tiny ship in half.

"Watch out!" Usopp yelled as he stared at the approaching sickle. Luffy just unsheathed his sword and swung it in front of him horizontally effectively slicing the giant sickle in half causing the bottom half to fall into the cloud sea while the top half to miss the ship completely.

"We're safe," Usopp said as he released a sigh of relief.

"We're not out of the woods just yet," Luffy replied as he pointed in front of them at the multiple giant sickles swinging across the stream. "They must have set up multiple traps to kill off the weaklings," Luffy suggested as both he and Sanji walked to the front of the ship.

"I'm kind of insulted that they think so little of us," Sanji said as he held up his right leg while adding armament Haki to it from the shin down.

"You and me both," Luffy replied as he held his sword up to his eye line.

**An annoying set of Traps later**

The trio avoided all the traps and deadly sky fishes that tried to stop them advancing and now they were sailing towards a giant statue with 4 entrances.

"Which entrance should we take?" Usopp asked as he steered the boat. "Ordeal of balls, Ordeal of the swamp, Ordeal of string, and Ordeal of iron. Which should we choose?" he asked.

"Is it just me or do none of these things actually sound like much of an ordeal," Sanji said as he stared at the upcoming entrances.

"Let's go with balls," Luffy said as he sat down at the back of the boat. "It sounds the least threatening," he added. Usopp nodded his head before he began to turn the boat in the direction of the entrance that had 'balls' written above it. The small boat then said down the pitch-black tunnel.

"I can't see a thing," Sanji said as he squinted his eyes to try and get a better view.

"What if this is like one of those games," Luffy said getting Sanji and Usopp's attention. "You know like you pick the right door and you get a prize," he said casually.

"And what if you pick the wring door!?" Usopp yelled/ asked.

"Well it could be something like if you picked the wrong door you fall off the island," Luffy said casually causing his two shipmates to go pale. Soon a light at the end of the dark tunnel began to shine through the darkness. When the ship said out of the tunnel, they saw that at the end of the tunnel was indeed a drop off that showed no bottom.

'Damn,' Luffy thought as his eyes widen slightly. The small boat then proceeded to fall out of the sky causing Everyone to hold on for dear life. They fell for about ten seconds before the boat landed back onto what seems to be the milky road.

"That was intense," Luffy said calmly. He wasn't too worried about falling off the island because he could easily have summoned up a thunder cloud to catch their fall and bring them back up to the island.

"I thought I was going to die," Usopp said as he laid flat on the floor with tears streaming down his face. When everyone claimed themselves and looked at their surroundings, they saw that they were in a forest with floating balls of clouds everywhere. The milky road seems to go through the entire forest, twisting and turning in between the trees.

"Well then, let's get on with it," Luffy said causing Sanji to nod and began driving the small boat. As they were sailing forward Usopp saw on the balls of clouds were coming close to the ship. He then reached up to push the ball away. As soon as he touched the ball a snake popped out of it ready to bite Usopp's head off. Luffy immediately sprang to his feet and trapped the snake by the head as it was about an inch away from Usopp's nose.

"Ahhh!" Usopp said before he fainted back. Luffy then tossed the snake into the stream before he turned his attention to the right side of the forest where his observation haki alerted him of someone being there.

"You might as well come out!" Luffy yelled out. "I know you're there," he added.

"Ho, ho hoo!" someone laughed. "Listen, well children, these are mystery clouds. You never know what will come out of them," A man said as he came floating in on a giant sphere of clouds. "I am so glad you chose my ordeal, the ordeal of balls," he said happily as he stared at the trio. The man then started dancing around on the large ball in happiness while laughing to himself. He was a round-shaped man with fair skin and long, dark red hair. He was wearing a white, full-body jumpsuit, which has a vertical line of golden rings that run from front to back, an orange hat similar in style to a Capello Romano, orange gloves, shoes, and large, yellow sunglasses that completely obscure his eyes.

"Stop dancing and tell us who you are!" Sanji yelled out in frustration. "Nami and the others better be okay or else I'm going to rip you apart limb by limb!" Sanji added darkly causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow at him.

'It is official, I am a bad influence on people,' Luffy thought to himself as he sighed.

"Ohh, the sacrifices," the rather large man said with a jolly smile. "If they escape, they will die and if they are sacrificed, they will also die! Ho, ho, hoo!" he said happily causing Sanji to growl. "If you wish to get to them you first need to defeat me first, which is something I don't see happening! Ho, ho, hoo!" the man mocked before he leaped from the large ball in which he was standing and began floating in the direction the small boat which the three straw hats were on.

"He is heading this way!" Usopp yelled out. "Quick, Sanji, Luffy, do something!" he said in a panic. Sanji stepped forwards and raised his left leg preparing to kick the large man.

"Oh ho, a left kick," the man said as he got closer. Sanji did not pay him any mind, he simply aimed a kick at the man expecting to hit him right in the midsection. Much to his surprise, the man's body moved just enough mid-air to dodge Sanji's kick completely. Even though he dodged Sanji's kick, the man did not notice Luffy appearing right next to him. As his head turned slightly and he saw the straw hat-wearing pirate standing to his left, his eyes widen in shock before he was sent flying back in the direction from which he came in courtesy of a backhand from Luffy.

"He knows observation haki," Luffy said as he watched the man collided with one of the giant trees. "You should be able to handle him giving the training you had," Luffy added as he turned his attention and looked at his two crew members.

"What do you mean us two?" Usopp asked not really liking the sound of Luffy's previous statement.

"I'm going to leave him the two of you to handle while I go look for the others," Luffy said with a smirk sending shivers down Sanji and Usopp's back. "Think of it as a little training exercise," he added.

"Is now really a good time to have a training exercise?" Usopp asked causing Luffy to chuckle.

"Of course, no time like the present," Luffy said with a smile as he began calling his thunder cloud. "It should be a good experience for the two of you. You finally get to fight someone who is somewhat proficient with observation haki. This will help you improve your own haki along with your battle prowess," Luffy finished just as his thunder cloud pulled up right beside the boat. "Good luck," he said before stepping onto the thunder cloud.

"What if we die?!" Usopp asked in a panic.

"I don't know," Luffy said with a shrug. "Walk it off," he said a smirk causing Usopp to go pale.

"Relax, Usopp," Sanji said as he lit a cigarette. "It two of us and one of him. We'll be fine," Sanji said causing Luffy to nod his head.

"Yeah, and both of you know haki. You'll be fine," Luffy said trying to encourage Usopp. "Just imagine how Kaya will react when he hears how the bear warrior of the sea Usopp defeats one of god's priests on an island in the sky," Luffy said using Usopp's weakness to push him further.

'That's just dirty,' Sanji thought to himself as he stared at his captain and shook his head.

"Yosh! have to fear Luffy! Captain Usopp will defeat all of his foes!" Usopp yelled out as he pointed up to his heavens and struck a pose causing Luffy to chuckle.

"That's the spirit," Luffy said before he walked to the back of his thunder cloud and sat down on the throne made of clouds. "Good luck you two," he said causing them to nod at him before his clouds sped off into the skies above Upper Yard.

"Where do you think you are going!?" came the voice of the priest who Luffy previously sent flying. The large priest leaped off from the ground hoping to stop Luffy, but before he could reach the cloud something hit him in the gut and exploded upon impact.

"Exploding Star!" was the last thing Luffy heard before the cloud ascended to the skies above the Upper Yard.

When the thunder cloud was about a few hundred feet above the giant forest Luffy gave it an order to hover at that level for a bit. He then sat back in his throne and closed his eyes, allowing his observation to activate at maximum capability. He sensed everything that was going on the island. He knew where everyone was, how many people there were on the island, and what they were doing. Zoro, Robin, and Nami were currently walking through the forest no doubt to try and find the rest of the crew, while Nojiko and Chopper were back on the ship doing some repairs. Luffy could sense that someone was approaching the two of them, but he was not worried because Nojiko would be enough to handle whoever it was by herself; Chopper being there only added to their advantage. Everything was under control, even Sanji and Usopp were having the upper hand in their fight. Luffy was incredibly pleased with the progress of his crew. He could just sit back and pour himself a drink while his crew takes care of these priests. He decided to focus on Zoro, Nami, and Robin because it seems as though they discovered something remarkably interesting. Thanks to his observation haki Luffy heard everything they were talking about. Luffy found it interesting that this upper yard was once part of Jaya and it got knocked up into the sky the knock-up-stream.

'Must have been one hell of a knock up-stream,' Luffy thought to himself as he herds their conversation. He then poured himself a drink and looked off towards the center of the island and smirked. 'I know you're watching...Enel,' he thought with a chuckle. Luffy then sensed a large group of people heading towards the Upper yard at high speed causing him to narrow his eyes.

"Looks like a lot of people want to have an audience with this god," Luffy said to himself before taking a sip of his whiskey. "Too bad he won't be alive much longer," he added. He then sensed that Sanji and Usopp had defeated that priest and was starting to make their way towards the shrine where Nojiko and Chopper were. Speaking of, it seems as though Nojiko and Chopper managed to kill the priest who they were facing causing Luffy to smile. He then willed the Cloud to go to their direction. Everyone was already heading in this direction so it would be the best place for him to be at. When the cloud was directly over the shrine Luffy stepped off it and began falling towards the ship. He was worried about the act that he was a few hundred feet in the air, he had a calm look on his face while holding onto a glass of whiskey. Like a cat, he then landed softly onto one of the banisters of the upper deck surprising Chopper and Nojiko. When he landed there, and he looked at the ship his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"What the hell happened to my ship!" he yelled out as he saw there were multiple holes in the hull and the ship was missing its mainmast.

"Luffy!" Nojiko and Chopper cried out in happiness. He had tears in his eyes as he ran towards his captain before leaping up into Luffy's arms.

"Luffy! I'm sorry!" Chopper cried into Luffy's c.h.e.s.t. "That priest's spear lit the mast on fire and I tried to put it out, but it wouldn't go out. So, I had to break it off and throw it into the water!" said a crying Chopper. Luffy just sighed and smiled before patting the little reindeer on the head before he spoke.

"All that matters is that you're okay," Luffy said with a warm smile causing the little reindeer to wipe away some of his tears. Luffy then placed Chopper down before he made his way towards Nojiko. "What about you, are you okay?" he asked as he stood in front of her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said sounding a bit tired. "That guy a was a bit more troublesome than I had first imagined with his strange javelin and strings," she said while pointing over to the dead body of a man lying on the main deck with a hole in his c.h.e.s.t. Luffy walked over to him and looked at his dead body before chuckling.

"My my, you sure know how to steal a man's heart," Luffy said a chuckle as he pointed out that the priest was missing his heart. He then walked over the man's weapon and picked it up to examine it. After looking at it for a few seconds he crushed the javelin causing a small red seashell to fall out.

"Is that one of those dials that Conis told us about?" Nojiko asked as she walked up and stood next to him. Luffy bend down and picked up the shell before he replied.

"It would appear so," he said to her as he examined the shell. "Interesting, very interesting," he added before he turned his attention back to the ship.

'I'm starting to regret not paying closer attention to what was going on here on the ship,' Luffy thought with a sigh.

"Sani and Usopp should be here by nightfall assuming they don't run into any more priests," Luffy suddenly said to Nojiko and Chopper. "And Robin, Zoro, and Nami should be back at about the same time," he added.

"How do you know that?" Nojiko asked as she stared at Luffy with an eyebrow raised in the air.

"I was up there watching all of you," he said while pointing to the thunder cloud that was a few hundred feet above the ship. "Kind of regretting not paying closer attention to you two," he added while looking at the mainmast. "While we wait Chopper and I will start repairing the holes in the hull," he said as he looked over to the little reindeer. "Go grab some of the supplies from down below deck," he ordered causing the little reindeer to transform into his heavy point and go fetch the materials they would need. While Nojiko and Luffy were waiting for Chopper to return they heard a series of explosions coming from a different part of the forest causing both to narrow their eyes.

"Sounds like a party," Nojiko said as she walked over the dead priest and pick him up.

"I had sensed a small army heading towards the island," Luffy said as he looked off in the direction of the explosions. "It was been led by that gorilla that attacked us earlier," he added.

"Seems we are not the only ones who have a problem with this Enel," Nojiko said before she tossed the priest body off the ship and into the sea of clouds for the sea sharks to have.

"Yeah, well they're problem is not ours," Luffy said before he took off his captain's coat and hung it on the side of the ship. He then walked over and picked up a toolbox that was on the main deck before hopping off the ship to access the damage to the hull. "Damn," Luffy said as he stared at the medium-sized hole in the hull. "I don't know how much more of this you can take, Merry," Luffy said with a sigh as he placed his hand on the hull.

"Here are some supplies I found, Luffy," Said Chopper as he hopped off the ship carrying some wood. Luffy looked over at him and smiled slightly before he began repairing the holes in the hull with Chopper's assistance. The two of them worked on it for about an hour when the sun just started to set. Luffy wiped the sweat off his forehead before he looked off to the left of the shrine where he sensed three individuals coming. Out from the forest walked Zoro, Robin, and Nami. The three of them looked slightly relieved to see their captain, but that relief turned to shock once they noticed the condition of the ship.

"What happened to the ship!?" the three of them yelled out.

"Is everyone alright?" Robin asked.

"Everyone is fine," Luffy replied as he placed the hammer back into the toolbox and closed it. "You guys stay over there," he added confusing everyone. "It's getting late, we'll set up camp over there," he said causing them to nod. Just as he finished speaking the sound of something hitting the water got everyone's attention. When they all looked over, they saw Sanji and Usopp sailing in on the Crow. After a short reunion with everyone, they all gathered some supplies and made their way into the forest not that far from the shrine and set up their camp for the night. Sanji began preparing the food while Usopp and Zoro got a large bond fire going. As they were setting up everything Luffy's observation haki alerted him of someone approaching their current location at an incredibly high speed. As the person got closer Luffy realized that it was the sky knight. The old man arrived on his weird bird with a worried look on his face. His worried look later turned into a look of surprise when he saw all the straw hats sitting around without a care in the world.

"You are all alive?" the old man in surprise.

"Sounds like you were expecting us to die," Luffy said as he said down on a giant tree trunk.

"I knew you were powerful, but I didn't expect the rest of your crew to be just as powerful as well," he said clearly stating that he had expected some of them to die.

"What are you doing here, old man," Luffy asked knocking the man out of his shock. "We didn't blow that whistle," he added.

"Yes well, I heard that the Shandorians launched an attack against Enel, I thought you all would have been in trouble," he said causing some of the straw hats to smile at him.

"Well why don't you join us tonight," Nojiko said as she popped open a bottle of booze.

"I cannot," the old man said as he waved his hand in front of him.

"Come on, old man," Luffy said as he poured two glass of whiskey and handed one to the old man. "Enel is going to die tomorrow, let's have a drink to celebrate that," he added.

"shouldn't we drink after he is dead?" Gan Fall asked.

"We can do that too," Luffy replied causing the old man to chuckle before taking the glass of whiskey and sitting down beside Luffy.

"You lot sure are confident," he said as he sipped his drink.

"This so-called god isn't all that powerful," Luffy said before taking a sip of his drink. "He is nothing more than an ant pretending to be a dragon," he said seriously as Sanji began serving the food. Gan Fall looked at Luffy for a few seconds before he smiled.

'The Blue Sea world sure is an interesting place,' he thought to himself before taking another sip of the whiskey.

The crew then all sat around the fire and began recalling the events of the day. Sanji and Usopp started to recount their encounter with the priest who was apparently named Satori. Nojiko and Chopper then followed with their fight against the priest named Shura. To say Gan Fall was surprised would be an understatement. He could not believe that this group of kids not only killed one priest but two. It sounded ludicrous to him. Nami and Robin then began telling everyone about what they discovered about this island and its connection to Jaya. Everyone was surprised to find out that the city of gold did not sink into the ocean like they believed but instead it shot up into the sky. To say everyone was excited about finding all the gold would be another understatement. As the night went on the crew began drinking and celebrating at the thought of being filthy rich when they find the gold. Gan Fall then decided to tell everyone about him being the former God of Skypiea which in turn surprised everyone including Luffy. He then explains how this Upper yard came to be and the legend passed down from generation to generation. The entire crew was captivated by the story he was telling, it was only when Luffy heard him talk about the island singing did Luffy remember about the golden bell that Cricket told them about.

"That song you are talking about must be the bell that old man Cricket told us about," Luffy said causing some of his crew members to nod their head remembering what Cricket had said. "Well then, old man," Luffy said getting Gan Fall's attention. "Lucky for you I was already planning on ringing that bell," Luffy said causing old man's eyes to widen before he chuckled and shook his head.

"You know, you guys remind me of another group of pirates that came up from the blue sea world about 20 years ago," he said surprising Luffy's crew while causing Luffy to smile slightly.

"That pirate that you are talking about," Luffy said before taking a sip of his whiskey. "His name was Gold Roger, wasn't it?" he asked causing everyone to go silent and stare at Gan Fall waiting for him to confirm what Luffy just said.

"Yes, do you know of him?" Gan Fall asked causing Luffy to chuckle while the others look on in awe.

"The king of the pirates came to Skypiea..." Usopp said in an astonished voice.

"We made it here just like Gold Roger..." Nami added in an equally astonishing voice causing Luffy to chuckle at their reaction.

"I know some people who were on his crew," Luffy said to Gan Fall causing him to nod his head. The crew continued to tell stories and drink for the rest of the night until all of them fell asleep.

**Next Day**

The next morning the few woke up to the startling discovery of their ship being repaired completely by a mysterious person who Usopp claimed to have seen late last night. It was puzzling to everyone especially Usopp.

"Who could it be?" he asked as he walked around the deck of the ship. "And how did they know what the Merry looked like before we equipped the flying gear to her?" he continued to question.

"Does it really matter, the ship is fixed," Nami said as she folded her arms. Luffy stood on the upper deck starting at the figurehead of the Merry with narrowed eyes.

'It can't be...' he thought to himself as he stared at Merry. He stared on for a few more seconds before shaking his head clear.

"Luffy," Robin said getting his attention. "There are some ruins located just South of here, where the city of gold is believed to be. I would like to go examine them," she said causing Luffy to nod his head.

"Take Zoro and Nojiko with you, I sense those Shandorians are back on the island," Luffy said before he walked down from the main deck. "The rest of us are going to try and get the Merry off this shrine before I go take care of Enel. We will all meet back up at the ruins," he said causing her to nod. Robin, Zoro, and Nojiko then set out for the lost city of gold. Luffy, Gan Fall, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper then began trying to come up with a good way to get the ship off the alter. Usopp and Chopper tried to pull it off using the small boat that Conis loaned them, but sadly the small boat did not have enough power. After exhausting a bunch of different and creative ways to get the ship off the alter for about an hour, Luffy finally decided to do the one thing he was trying to avoid doing since he came to the island, use his devil fruit.

'Looks like I got no choice,' he thought to himself before he looked at the rest of the crew.

"All of you get on the ship," he ordered as he took off his captain's coat puzzling them.

"What are you going to do Luffy?" Chopper asked in curiosity.

"I'm going to pull it off," he said causing everyone to raise an eyebrow at him.

"But we already tried that, the Crow doesn't have enough power to pull it off of the alter," Nami said.

"Wasn't planning on using the Crow," Luffy said as he began unbuttoning the top couple of buttons of his shirt. He then turned his body into lightning and teleported onto the bank directly in front of the stairs of the altar causing Gan Fall's eyes to widen in shock. Luffy then stretched out his hands causing two bolts of lightning to fire out of the palm of his hands and wrap themselves around the figurehead of the Going Merry. Luffy then grabbed a hold on the bolts of lightning and planted his feet firmly on the ground before he began to pull.

"He's not really planning on pulling the entire ship all by himself, is he?" Sanji asked as he stared at his captain.

"I think he is," Nami said in disbelief.

"So cool!" Chopper said with stars in his eyes as he stared at Luffy. Luffy's feet were beginning to dig into the ground as he tried to pull the ship. His plan was not to pull the ship directly off the alter but only to turn the ship around so it was facing the stairs that way they could easily slide it off. All it needed to do was rotate the ship.

"AHHHH!" he yelled as he began to pull harder causing his muscles to bulge slightly along with some sweat to appear on his face. Much to the surprise of his crew and Gan Fall, the ship began to rotate.

"Yeah! You're doing it, Luffy!" Yelled Usopp as he felt the ship starting to turn. With a great show of brute strength, Luffy turned the entire ship 90 degrees so that it was down facing the flight of stairs.

"Okay, all of you go stand at the front of the ship," Luffy orders as he wiped the sweat from his brow. When everyone stood at the front of the ship the Going Merry began to tilt downwards a bit, but it still was not enough for it to slide down the stairs. So, while it was still tilting Luffy gave one final pull causing it to slide down the stairs of the altar and into the cloud sea. Luffy then let out a sigh of relief before letting go of the two bolts of lightning causing them to disperse. Luffy took two-steps forward before he was stopped when a bring light flashed across the sky. He immediately extended his observation haki to see if the three members of his crew were okay. He saw that Zoro and Nojiko were fighting the remaining two priests with Nojiko already killing her opponent in the same way she killed the last one, stealing his heart. Zoro was shaking a bit of a hard time with his opponent mainly because he was outnumbered by the number of Shandorians there as well. But it was Robin who made his eyes widen slightly. Apparently, God had paid her a visit while she was exploring the ruins. Without warning, Luffy turned his body into lightning and shot up in the sky to get to Robin. Nami and the crew on the ship stared at the spot from which Luffy disappeared from with a worried look on their face.

"Where is Luffy going?" Chopper asked as he hopped up on to the rails.

"Something must have happened," Sanji said as he lit a cigarette.

"That bright flash...it was Enel," Gan Fall said causing them to worry even further.

**With Robin**

Robin was currently sitting on the ground with her back against one of the ruins. Her eyes were barely open, and her entire body was covered in nurses and electrical burns. Enel had shown up a few minutes ago and spoke to her about the ruins in which they were in and told her about the gold that was once here before he moved it. When she had mentioned the golden bell it was quite clear that he didn't know where it was and when she lied about not knowing what was written on the ruins he attacked her before leaving claiming not liking lying women. she was currently staring up at the sky through her half-opened eyes when she saw a bright light forming in the sky before it began to descend looking as if it will strike her. Thinking that it is Enel coming to finish the job, she closed her eyes and accepted her fate. She waited a few seconds expecting death to arrive, but it never came. Instead of pain, she felt something soft touch her cheek causing her to slowly open her eyes. When he opened them, she saw a blurry figure dressed in black and wearing a straw hat kneeling beside her.

"Hey there, gorgeous," she heard the voice of her captain say causing her to open her eyes a bit more allowing her to see Luffy kneeling down beside her with a warm smile on his face and one hand rubbing her cheek.

"C-captain," Robin whispered out weakly.

"Shhhh," Luffy said as he placed his index finger over her lips. "Save your strength," he said softly before he examined the wounds all over her body. "Don't you worry, Robin," he said as he looked at her. "No one is ever going to hurt you again! I promise!" he said strongly with conviction causing tears to well up in her eyes. Luffy then carefully picked her up bridal style and held her close to him before turning into lightning and teleporting back to the ship.

"Thank You," Robin whispered just before Luffy teleported the two of them away. Luffy and Robin arrived with a lightning strike on the main deck startling everyone on board.

"CHOPPER!" Luffy bellowed for his doctor causing the little reindeer to run down to the main deck.

"Robin!" Chopper yelled when he saw Luffy carrying Robin in his arms. He quickly ran down the stairs with his little doctor's bag to treat Robin. The rest of the crew followed behind him rushing to the side of their fellow cremated. Luffy laid her down on the main deck for Chopper to treat before walked over to the side of the ship and picked up his captain's coat.

"What happens to her?" Chopper asked as he examined all her wounds. "She is covered in electrical burns," he noted.

"Apparently she had a run with god," Luffy said in a low tone as he swung his captain's coat around allowing it to only rest on his shoulder before he turned and looked at his crew with anger ever so present on his face. "This so-called 'GOD' has the audacity to harm a member of my crew," Luffy said in a chilling tone as sparks of lightning began phase int and out around his body and the once milky white sky to darken with thunder clouds. The thunder clouds completely blocked out the sun making night appear during the day. Lighting flashed across the sky periodically striking around the forest of Upper Yard and each bolt of lightning was followed by its own deafening thunder that shook the entire island and was even heard by those down in the Blue Sea world.

'I've never seen him this pissed,' was the thoughts of the straw hats who were staring at Luffy.

"Well then, let the slaughter begin," Luffy said in a cold emotionless tone as he clenched his fist causing sparks of black lightning to surround his body.

**CHAPTER END**

There ends another Chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. Judging by the way I chose to close off this chapter I can already sense that there will be numerous reviews asking me to make this a Luffy x Robin story instead of Luffy x Hanc.o.c.k. Sorry to disappoint you but it WILL always remain a Luffy x Hanc.o.c.k story so don't bother asking!