Pirates: Your emperor has returned!

Sky Island Specialty - Small Express Shrimp.

Crocodile looked at Rowan and noticed a strange light in the other's eyes, as if he was thinking about something.

After a moment, Rowan took a few deep breaths of fresh air and began to admire the beautiful scenery around him.

Crocodile chuckled darkly, "You have a plan?"

"Probably." Rowan nodded.

Crocodile took a puff of his cigar. "You, a third party, are getting involved in a war between two islands. Be careful you don't turn the entire sky into a mess!"

Rowan grinned and said, "Actually, the situation is very good now, even better than I expected."

"Ok?"

Crocodile did not understand Rowan's words.

Rowan picked up a seashell from the wooden boat, examined it carefully, and then explained:

"War is an extreme outburst of emotions."

"People in extreme emotional states are most easily manipulated."

[Chapter 56 Sky Island Market]

"War...is it an extreme form of emotional outburst?"

Crocodile pondered Rowan's words, remaining silent the entire way.

Guided by the old man's small express shrimp, the small boat climbed up the Cloud Flow Waterfall, and the surrounding light gradually dimmed.

Finally, after circling around several times, the small boat broke through the thick cloud cover.

Swish!

Suddenly, the surrounding view opened up, and the sky became brighter.

Crocodile squinted, adjusting his eyes to the bright light, before looking into the distance.

On a pristine white sand beach, there were a dozen or so small houses, surrounded by many small tents.

"Hooray, we've arrived."

The old man patted the claws of the small express shrimp, and the strange creature immediately swam towards the shore with the small boat.

"Hasso, welcome to Cloud Bay Village, guests."

The term "Hasso" is a unique way of greeting among Sky Islanders.

The old man smiled apologetically and said, "I'm so sorry, I should have treated you better, but the situation is really special right now, there are too many people in Yunwan Village."

Without needing further explanation, Rowan and Crocodile understood what the old man meant.

Due to the ongoing war between the two floating islands, the residents who originally lived near the border were forced to relocate and became refugees.

Yunwan Village is located at the junction of the border and the inner island of the empty island, making it the most suitable place for refugees to settle.

Those refugees either stayed temporarily or came to Yunwan Village to seek refuge with relatives.

In short, this seaside village with only a dozen or so small houses is now overcrowded.

Those tents of all sizes are proof that the refugees could no longer live in houses and had to temporarily set up small tents to shelter themselves.

"This place is actually not bad, at least you can go fishing in the sea. There are many villages like Yunwan Village, and some of them have already run out of food."

The old man sighed helplessly. He had been furious, but when he talked about this situation that he was powerless to change, he couldn't help but feel distressed.

"When will this damn war end?!"

……

The three of them reached the shore.

They arrived at this small village, which had managed to maintain a rare period of peace during the war.

"I'm going to find my daughter. You guys can go easy on me."

The old man, tidying up his small boat, pointed in a direction without looking up and said, "There's a market over there where people buy and sell things that might be useful. There are a lot of people coming and going. You can go there and find out some information."

At this point, the old man suddenly realized something and said with some surprise:

"By the way, how did you get to Sky Island?"

The old man recalled that he had never seen the boat of the two men from Qinghai before.

Rowan replied, "We've gotten separated from our companions and are on our way to find them."

"Then you should definitely go to the market."

The old man explained, "You might be able to buy a Wi-Fi device there, which would make it much easier to find someone. But you'll need to find someone who knows how to operate it, because people from Qinghai don't know how to use it."

The so-called "Whip" is a type of transportation unique to Sky Island, powered by a special type of shellfish called the Wind Shell.

Its shape is similar to a small motorboat, but it is far more complicated to operate than a motorboat. The driver must simultaneously grasp the wind direction and the flow of the seawater.

Rowan bid farewell to the old man and set off for the market, with Crocodile by his side.

Suddenly, Crocodile's eyes flickered, and he saw the tall, thin figure from before again.

He held a long stick and stood in the distance, in a backlit position, so his face was still not visible.

That person was "observing" Rowan and Crocodile.

"Hey……"

Crocodile gestured for Rowan to pay attention to that area, but the latter walked straight towards the nearby market, seemingly oblivious to the figure.

"Tsk!"

Crocodile clicked his tongue, and had no choice but to follow.

……

Strictly speaking, the "market" in Yunwan Village can't really be considered a market.

It was simply a place where refugees and locals sold what they might need, thus helping each other out.

Most of these fish are caught from the White Sea, which is now the staple food for the people of Yunwan Village.

Another set of stalls sells all sorts of special shellfish.

Those are necessities for the residents of the Sky Island to maintain their daily lives.

Crocodile showed considerable interest in this little gadget.

Shellfish, a specialty of Skypiea, are also circulated in small quantities along the Grand Line, but they are extremely expensive.

Surprisingly, this kind of thing is quite cheap when we get to the Sky Island itself!

Among them are special shellfish that can be modified into lethal weapons, which perfectly match Crocodile's desire for military power.

This is true for Crocodile, and even more so for the country of Alabasta.

"This is a really nice place."

Crocodile sighed to Rowan beside him, "If this were used to arm the army, it would surely raise the entire army's combat effectiveness by a level, wouldn't it?"

"..."

No one answered.

Crocodile frowned slightly, feeling somewhat displeased.

He turned his head and saw that Luo Wen was squatting in front of a stall, looking at something carefully, and hadn't heard him at all, which made him even more annoyed.

"Hey, what are you looking at?"

Crocodile went over and found it was a bookstall.

The stall was very small, almost invisible, as if the stall owner had deliberately made it so inconspicuous.

The stall was run by a thin, ethereal young man from the sky island, who was listlessly arranging the piles of books in front of him.

Rowan and Crocodile were both from Qinghai, and their distinctive appearances immediately caught the attention of the thin young man.

"You two!"

The thin young man's eyes lit up. "Do you have any food? I can trade you books for it."

Crocodile casually tossed out a bag of dry rations, but didn't borrow the book the skinny young man offered.

He said in a deep voice, "I don't need it."

Upon hearing this, the thin young man reluctantly handed the dry rations back.

Crocodile looked slightly surprised and said, "It's free, you don't want it?"

The thin young man smiled and said, "Sir from Qinghai, I am not a beggar."

Nearby, a stall owner chimed in, "This guy is strange. He used to live on a small island, and you rarely see him. Just take a book, otherwise he won't accept your food!"

"Ha ha……"

Crocodile chuckled a few times, tossed the rations to the young man, picked up a book casually, and said disdainfully, "This kind of thing can't fill a person's stomach during wartime."

Rowan casually took the book from Crocodile's hand.

Crocodile: "..."

I didn't take it for you.

"..."

Forget it, I don't want it anyway.

But Rowan opened the book and read it carefully for a long time.

Rowan only closed the book when Crocodile grew impatient. "This is a meteorology book, and a very technical one at that. Is it all yours?"

The thin young man nodded with a wry smile. "Well, I think I know a little bit..."

"There are notes on it, did you make those annotations?" Rowan asked.

"Yes, I usually mark some when I look at them."

The thin young man nodded and quickly said, "If you're not satisfied, I'll get you another one... wait, I don't think I have any books I haven't taken notes in..."

Rowan smiled at the thin young man and asked, "Are you a meteorologist?"