One Piece: Fist of the World.

Chapter 171 The Struggle for Hegemony Has Begun

"This is the real Sky Island!"

The Polaris passed through the winding 'River of Clouds' and went up all the way. After passing through a cave, Rhodes and his companions felt that their vision suddenly became wider, and a dreamlike island appeared before their eyes.

"It's so soft, the ground here is made of clouds!"

Peikin stepped on the ground, feeling the softness under her feet.

"So this is what they call the feeling of 'falling into the clouds'."

"It's fun!"

Bonnie was skipping on the beach, Sissi was running around her happily, and Big Bear was following behind her, looking at Bonnie with a doting expression.

"I felt his presence."

Compared to Bonnie and the others who were having fun, Neru was more concerned about the big-eared user of the Thunder Fruit.

After entering the real Sky Island, Neru's observation Haki also sensed his breath in a distant direction.

"Let's find a place to rest first. It's a rare opportunity to go to Sky Island, so I want to enjoy some of Sky Island's special delicacies!"

“Yes, delicious food!”

Minina raised her hand in agreement.

At this moment, a burst of ethereal music came into everyone's ears along with the sea breeze.

"Yo-ho-ho, that's the sound of the harp!"

Brooke turned to look in the direction of the sound.

Among his former companions, there was also someone who was good at playing the harp.

“It’s an angel!”

When Brooke saw the person standing high up and playing, love instantly appeared in his eyes.

She was a girl with a slender figure and a pair of pure white wings. Under the sunlight, her whole body seemed to be radiating light.

"It's so dazzling, it makes my heart beat non-stop! - Even though I don't have a heart anymore, yo ho ho ho~~"

As if she heard Brook's voice, the girl turned her head and looked over here. After seeing Rhodes and his group, a gentle smile appeared on her face.

"Hasso!"

"Hasso?"

"This is our way of greeting. You are from Qinghai, right?"

The girl approached the group and noticed that none of Rhode and his companions had the wings that were unique to the Sky Islanders.

"That's right!"

Rhode nodded and looked at the girl in front of him. In the original timeline, the Straw Hat Pirates, who would arrive at Sky Island several years later, seemed to have encountered each other at the beginning.

But this is not surprising, because the place where she usually practices the piano is closest to the entrance to the Kingdom of God.

"I am a resident here, my name is Conis!"

Cornish introduced herself.

"If you have just arrived at Sky Island, you may not understand many things. If you need anything, I can help you."

"Great!"

Brooke stood in front of Conis, bowed like a gentleman, and his etiquette was impeccable.

"Can you let me see your——"

Boom!
Nia punched Brooke in the head, knocking him to the ground.

"Sorry, don't worry about him."

Nia kicked Brooke away, and Sissi rushed over and bit Brooke's leg bone.

"Wait, wait, don't tear my bones apart!"

Ignoring Brooke who was having a fight with Sissi, Nia looked at Conis.

"You know what, Enelu?"

"god!?"

Conis was stunned when he suddenly heard the name of God Enel from Nia.

"god?"

Nia looked at Conis in confusion.

She originally thought that the so-called "God" was just the big-eared guy's self-congratulation, but she didn't expect that ordinary residents here would also recognize this title.

"The rulers of our Sky Island are called Gods, and Lord Enelu is the current God of Sky Island!"

Conis calmed down and explained to Rhodes and the others.

"Are you Enelu-sama's..."

Nia sensitively noticed that when Enelu was mentioned, the angel girl she had just met was shaking unconsciously.

"us?"

Nia laughed.

"We are the ones who want to kill [God]!"

Conis screamed, put his hand over his mouth, his eyes filled with desperate fear.

In the entire Island of Gods, as long as someone says something unfavorable about the [God] Lord Eneel, the next moment God's punishment will fall from the sky and turn the person who made the insulting remarks into ashes in an instant.

No one survived!

The other party just made remarks about killing gods, which is an absolute offense to God.

And if you stand with the other party, there is no possibility of escape.

"Ok?"

After waiting for a few seconds, the lightning representing despair and destruction did not fall from the sky, and a hint of doubt flashed in Conis's eyes.

God, didn't you hear?

"Rod, you won't take any action in this battle, right?"

Nia looked at Rhodes.

Nelu and Luo made the request on behalf of all their crew members.

They don't want to be the one being protected all the time.

"In that case, I'll ask you to take care of Miss Cornice."

It can be clearly seen that there is no sign of training on this Miss Conis's body. Just now when she said "God-killer", this Miss Conis became completely stiff and fell into deep despair.

Combined with the previous experience at the Gate of Heaven, this so-called "God" might launch a lightning attack directly from a distant place.

If Miss Conis was hit by Enel's lightning because of her involvement, she would probably be killed in an instant.

"Have you decided who will join the battle?"

Rhodes looked at his companions.

Kuma is not a member of the pirate group, and he has to take care of Bonnie, so he will not join the battle.

"This is a great opportunity to test our training results. How can we miss it?"

Pei Jin and Xia Qi were the first to step forward, looking eager to try.

"Bear too!"

Bepo also stood up.

As one of the earliest veteran members, he doesn't want to be left behind by the up-and-coming ones.

Bonis did not speak, but stood silently beside Nayru, speaking with actions instead of words.

"I, too, should move around a bit."

Genos lit a cigarette and glanced at Sissi who was having fun with Bonnie.

After all, he was one of the people who boarded the ship when they were in the North Sea. Even guys like Bonis who joined later were working hard to practice and improve themselves. He couldn't just keep being lazy like this.

"Yohohoho~ Even though I am just a nobody, I will fight for everyone with all my strength."

Brooke made a sword flower, looking a little serious. "I'll wait until you guys finish cleaning up the battlefield before I go over."

A small smile appeared on Robin's face.

She was just a scholar, and compared to fighting, she was more attracted by the unique civilization of Sky Island.

"I just hope that you can pay a little attention to your surroundings when you fight."

The legendary Golden City might have been washed onto the Sky Island by the ocean currents. It was an ancient city four hundred years ago!
"Then I'll stay and keep Robin company."

Bakara blinked, then stood beside Robin and hugged her arm.

The user of the Thunder Fruit looks very dangerous, so it would be safer for her to stay with the captain.

"I'll prepare a banquet for everyone after the victory!"

Minina shouted.

“Sky Island’s specialties!”

"It was recorded in Rolando's logbook that there are various kinds of [shells] on Sky Island, as well as a special means of transportation [Wei Ba]. I'm very curious."

Gray rubbed his chin.

After entering the Sky Island, he felt that there was a big difference between the Sky Island and the Qinghai below. The navigation of ships and other aspects were different. In this case, the Sky Island should have unique means of transportation.

Perhaps it is the "Wei Ba" mentioned in Rolando's logbook.

"Eh? You don't know much about [Bei]? As for Wei Ba, I have one at home."

As Conis had not yet been punished by God, he gradually relaxed and replied immediately after hearing Gray's words.

"Really? Can you show me? A vehicle that can sail without sails. And it doesn't sound completely different from the power equipment I designed. It's really amazing!"

"Well, there shouldn't be any problem."

"I want to join the battle, too!"

After hesitating for a moment, Kosa suddenly stood up.

The enemy was indeed very strong. Even from a great distance, the terrifying thunder made my skin numb and my body tremble unconsciously. But if I didn't even have the courage to fight, how could I gain strength and protect my country?
"Then, this battle is left to you."

Rhodes looked at his companions in front of him, with a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

"No matter what, we must obtain the Thunder Fruit!"

Gray suddenly added.

He even already had a complete plan to incorporate the power of the Thunder Fruit into the new Polaris.

"Long-winded!"

Nia waved her hand and took the lead in jumping onto the Polar.

"Just wait for our good news!"

Thinking of the big ears that were emitting electricity just now, Nia's hands began to tremble slightly with excitement.

She can finally fight against the user with nature ability!

The Polaris was carrying the crew members of Rod's Pirates who wanted to experience a battle to verify themselves. Led by Nalu, they followed the winding "Sky Road" and headed towards the direction of Enelu.

Rhodes led the remaining crew members and Conis, who was still a little nervous, into the town.

"These are the bees?"

After arriving at Connis's house, Gray looked at the various shells Connis took out, and curiosity flashed in his eyes.

"Yes, this is a wind shell. It can store and release wind power."

Conis reached out and showed Gray how to use it.

"Great!"

Gray's eyes suddenly lit up with amazing light.

According to this sister Conis, in addition to wind shells, there are also "flame shells" that can emit fire, "heat shells" that can release heat, "impact shells" that release impact, etc. on Sky Island, which can cover almost every aspect of life.

Although she did not collect some of the shellfish, Gray was already excited just by hearing the introduction of their related functions.

If he could collect a large number of those shellfish, they could not only be used on the Polaris, making its power system more comprehensive and able to cope with a variety of situations, but they could even be used in weapon design. His own [Hades] series could probably be upgraded.

Thinking of this, Gray became even more excited, and ran over with a bunch of shells to study them carefully.

"Is this also a food that is unique to Sky Island?"

Minina curiously poked at the vegetable-like things planted in front of Conis's house.

Unlike the common vegetables they see, the vegetables here look like balloons. Minina only judged based on her rich experience that these are probably edible.

"Yes, it tastes very good."

Conis showed no impatience as she introduced various ingredients to Minina.

"It's decided! I'm going to make you a meal that perfectly combines the characteristics of Sky Island and Qinghai ingredients below!"

Minnina raised her arms.

"Okay!"

Bonnie jumped up and raised her fist.

"Let's go catch some fish first!"

The two big eaters, one big and one small, looked at each other and rushed to the shore.

The taste of the sola fish I tried before was very delicious!
“Overall, this is a relatively affluent town.”

Robin walked around the town and returned to Conis's home, where he sat down opposite Rod.

"Also, I noticed before that when we first arrived at Sky Island from the Qinghai below, it was difficult to breathe for a while. Of course, you may not have noticed it, Rhodes."

Robin thought of his captain's abnormal physical fitness. This level of environmental change probably wouldn't cause him to react at all.

"However, based on my observations in the town just now, the people here have been in the high altitude for a long time, and the oxygen content is relatively low, so their overall physical fitness is higher than that of the people in Qinghai below."

Robin poured a cup of tea and pushed it to Rod, then poured himself another cup.

"I remember you said, Captain, that our goal is to achieve new world hegemony."

Robin took a sip of hot tea, his eyes fixed on Rhodes.

"This place is very suitable as our base."

"This place is far away in the sky. The Navy or the World Government won't pay any attention to it. Even if we do something secretly here, it won't be easily discovered. Moreover, the special functions of the [Bey] here are also worth studying. With Gray's scientific research ability, there should be some breakthroughs. Not only that, the residents here are also born with stronger physical qualities. It can be said to be an excellent talent base."

Robin expressed his thoughts one by one.

"Aren't we preparing to kill their God now? In that case, let Captain Rhodes become the new God here."

Rhodes looked at Robin in surprise. He didn't expect her to say such a thing.

"You are a monster. We are guests in someone's home, but you are saying you want to occupy their country."

Robin rolled his eyes when he heard what Rhodes said with a hint of smile.

"However, I don't think this [God] is a good person! He uses thunder and lightning at will and governs the country with terrorism. When the residents mention him, they feel fear from the bottom of their hearts.

As a righteous ally, in the name of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, I will punish this evildoer!"

"Okay, okay, our captain has always been a partner of justice."

Robin clapped his hands perfunctorily.

"So, the battle over there is just the beginning."

Rhodes' expression straightened slightly.

"After Neru and his men have dealt with the original [God], if we can better control this country and make it ours, it will be a more important battle!"

Rhodes raised his eyes and looked into the distance.

Rhodes wanted the power of both the natives of Sky Island and the Shandians who had been fighting against them for so many years!
The Navy, or the World Government, still held an absolute dominant position in the first half of the Grand Line. Before entering the New World, Rhode was not too eager to occupy territory. However, as Robin said, Sky Island was an excellent place, not only to avoid the Navy's prying eyes, but also to have a high-quality source of talent.

It would also be a good thing for the Rod Pirates if they could completely control it.

Because of Tesoro's secret surrender, the Rod Pirates are not short of funds. However, if they want to seize hegemony, money alone is not enough, and relying solely on Rod's power is not enough. Even the power of the entire Rod Pirates is not enough.

Not to mention the hegemony of the entire world, even those big pirates who have the title of "Emperor" in the New World, each of them has a huge force. Not only do they have a large number of pirate groups under their command, but they also have many islands that depend on them for survival. Only when they achieve this level can they be considered to have joined the contenders for hegemony.

Although Rhodes has not entered the New World yet and has not met the four emperors of the New World, the fight for hegemony has already begun!

(End of this chapter)