Luffy, how can you become the Pirate King if you don't work hard!

Nami gripped the ship's railing, let out a long sigh of relief, her forehead covered in cold sweat.

"Do we need to fly a distance?" Vivi asked.

With her abilities, she can float for a long time by using the explosive power of the wind.

Nami thought it was a good idea.

At least we won't encounter any messy weather in the sky. I glanced at the log pointer, and it was on the same course as the flight.

It's good for Vivi to hone her skills under these circumstances.

Chapter 240 Encounter, The Living Legendary Pirate

Everyone is working harder and harder to exercise.

Luffy has already been called a candidate for the fifth Emperor of the Sea, so his crew members can't fall too far behind.

In particular, Zoro and Sanji, the two combatants, have been training intensely lately.

And it quickly proved effective; after Zoro, Sanji finally became the second crew member on the ship to master Armament Haki.

But the speed is still too slow...

This is what everyone is thinking.

The problem is, Luffy is so engrossed in training that he only sleeps for an hour a day and is constantly working out, something they simply can't catch up to.

It will take a lot of time!

on the deck.

The wind blew by.

Nami talked about the strands of hair around her temples, then looked up at the sky higher above.

This area is almost at the cloud level. Apart from the occasional strangely shaped birds flying overhead, there is only an endless sea of ​​white clouds like cotton wool.

Unless you return to the Sky Island, all you'll see here are clouds. However, within this seemingly peaceful sea of ​​clouds, a new change is taking place.

A huge, irregular shadow slowly emerged from behind the clouds in the distance, and grew larger and larger.

It wasn't a single shadow, but several huge shadows joined together.

"What is that?"

Usopp was the first to spot it. He raised his slingshot, looked through the scope, and his voice trembled with disbelief.

"There are islands, islands floating in the air?!"

As the distance closed, everyone could see clearly.

Those were several enormous, lush islands, with distinct mountains and vegetation. Defying all logic, they floated silently thousands of meters above the ground, like a mythical hanging garden.

Is it a sky island?

Luffy and his crew have been to Skypiea, but Skypiea's ecosystem is based on special island clouds and seas of clouds, which is completely different from this kind of scene where the earth's rocks and forests are directly uprooted and suspended in the air.

"It shouldn't be; it looks more like the power of some kind of Devil Fruit."

Sanji lit a cigarette, his brow furrowed. "But besides Vivi's Wind-Wind Fruit, which can lift things up briefly, what other fruit can do that? To make an island float permanently."

"There is one person who can do it."

Robin gazed at the floating islands and spoke in a deep voice, her eyes filled with solemnity.

In the past, she had collected a great deal of information in the dark world, including the history of various legendary pirates. She had heard a legend about a pirate who could manipulate islands like toys and make them float in the sky forever.

"Shiki the Golden Lion, his Float-Float Fruit ability can do that."

"A golden lion?!"

Zoro placed his hand on the hilt of Wado Ichimonji, his eyes sharpening.

He had heard of this name before; it represented the pinnacle of power from the previous era.

Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and the others also changed their expressions drastically, clearly having heard of this name.

This is actually a weak point for Luffy, because Robin-sensei didn't teach this part!

"Is that guy strong?" Luffy asked.

He had mostly encountered top-tier pirates like Shanks, who belonged to the middle generation, and he didn't know much about legends like Roger, Whitebeard, and Shiki, who dominated earlier eras.

So Robin turned to Luffy and explained, "Shiki the Golden Lion is the captain of the Flying Pirates. He is on par with Whitebeard Edward Newgate and the Pirate King Gol D. Roger. Together they dominated the previous Great Pirate Era."

Not only that.

Robin paused, then dropped an even more shocking piece of information: "This man is also the only prisoner in the history of Impel Down, the deep-sea prison, to successfully escape. He once single-handedly stormed Marineford, the headquarters of the Marines, after Roger's arrest, and fought fiercely with Vice Admiral Garp and Admiral Sengoku, destroying half of the Marine Headquarters before finally being subdued."

"Oh?"

Luffy's eyes lit up instantly.

"He fought with my grandfather? And he even dismantled half of the Marine Headquarters? Sounds like a pretty tough guy."

Just as Robin was explaining.

On the other side, among the floating islands.

On the largest of the islands, a figure stands on a steep hillside, gazing with displeasure at the lingering storm clouds in the distance.

He had a head of long, thick hair like a golden lion's mane that reached the ground, a ship's wheel comically stuck in his hair, wore a traditional Japanese kimono, and had a large cigar in his mouth.

It was none other than the legendary great pirate—Shiki the Golden Lion!

"Tsk, I almost got caught in the storm again."

The Golden Lion clicked his tongue, his expression displeased. He turned around and grumbled to the several shivering men in white coats behind him, "We've hired so many climate experts, and not one of them could accurately predict this storm. I've spent so much money supporting you all, are you just here to do nothing?!"

While his Float-Float Fruit ability is powerful, allowing him and any non-living objects he touches to float free from gravity, it is most vulnerable to extremely unstable weather, especially violent storms, which can easily cause the islands he controls to lose their balance or even collide and disintegrate.

"Lord Shiki, weather forecasting is itself a matter of probability."

One expert mustered his courage to defend himself.

"Probability? I don't care about probability!"

The golden lion waved his hand impatiently, "What I want is accuracy! One hundred percent accuracy!"

"If you can't predict it next time, you can become the test subjects."

The experts looked ashen-faced.

Just as he was still worrying about the weather, one of his subordinates suddenly tumbled out of the woods, his face showing shock and panic.

"Lord Shiki, something terrible has happened! A ship has been spotted flying in the sky!"

"What's the big deal? It's my ship..."

Golden Lion instinctively wanted to say that it was his ship, but before he could finish speaking, he suddenly realized that his own fleet was anchored on the shore of the island or hidden in the mountains. Where would a ship come from flying around in the sky?

"Not our ship?"

The golden lion frowned, somewhat surprised. "In which direction?"

After receiving instructions from his subordinates, the Golden Lion, with a cigar in his mouth, floated lightly into the air without making any movement. He drew a smooth arc and quickly flew to the edge of the island, squinting as he looked into the distance.

Amidst the swirling clouds and mist, a uniquely shaped, sunflower-like two-masted sailboat could indeed be vaguely seen, climbing obliquely towards the higher sky at an astonishing speed.

Golden Lion was absolutely certain that the ship did not belong to his forces.

"This is getting interesting."

A look of interest flashed in the Golden Lion's eyes. "The ability to make ships fly? Or has the Navy developed some new technology?"

As one of the legendary figures who once ruled the seas alongside Whitebeard, Roger, and others, a ship flying in the sky wouldn't be enough to shock him.

He knew quite a few methods that could make objects fly.

For example, certain Paramecia-type Devil Fruits.

It can do things like gravity and attraction.

Or perhaps the inconspicuous apprentice in the Rocks Pirates who once served in the crew, who later ate a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, also possessed the ability to fly.

Flying is a basic skill for the strong, and it is easy to stay airborne for a short period of time.

However, in his view, only by developing the Floating Fruit to its fullest extent could he make the islands float permanently and on a large scale in the sky, and control them as if they were his own arms.

Ultimately, the power of a Devil Fruit depends on the user!

Whoosh!

After thinking it over for a moment, the Golden Lion decided to go and find out what was going on.

The ability to control a ship to fly into the sky is undoubtedly a perfect fit for the Flying Pirates' philosophy.

If the other party is capable enough to be recruited, they can not only replenish his dwindling cadre after his prison break, but also alleviate much of the trouble he has in controlling the island and avoiding natural disasters.

On the other side, aboard the Sunny Journey.

Golden Lion noticed the ship's presence, and Nami and the others stared at the several enormous islands floating in the air, their faces filled with undisguised shock.

"Is this the power of the Float-Float Fruit?"

Nami looked at the islands and murmured to herself.

Vivi, also focusing on sensing the air currents around her, said, "I might be able to lift an island with the wind for a while, but to maintain it almost permanently, and to control several at the same time, is something I'm far from being able to do right now. The requirements for physical strength and ability are too high."

"The only escapee from Impel Down, a legendary pirate who fought against Marine hero Garp and Fleet Admiral Sengoku, why would such a monster appear here?" Franky's modified body felt a little numb.

"Looks like we've accidentally stumbled into some incredible territory." Zoro's lips curled into a battle-ready smile, his three swords already in place.

Robin said with a serious expression, "A legendary pirate like him should be active in the New World, building his own powerful force. I didn't expect to encounter him in the first half of the Grand Line. There's no need for us to clash with him."

"It's hard to say."

Luffy looked ahead and said, "Someone's coming, and they're very fast."

His Observation Haki was the first to detect a powerful and swift aura approaching.

Almost the instant Luffy finished speaking, Zoro, Sanji, and the others also saw that undisguised figure.