The Sandora River.
The Golden Dragon ship drifted downstream.
Ian and the others had returned and were now preparing to leave the country.
At this moment, it was much easier than when they were going upstream. After all, this river was not in the drought era of the future, where the water levels would drop significantly.
The water flow was still very strong, with the rushing waters pushing the large ship quickly towards the mouth of the sea.
"Clack clack clack! Did you guys run into that guy too?"
Brogy couldn't help but laugh when Ian mentioned encountering Crocodile. "His courage is a bit lacking. After I and Dorry made our move, he just chose to run away."
"We've been away from the sea for too long,"
Ian lightly commented about Crocodile. "It seems he's already forgotten what the rules of the sea are."
After all, what would happen if Crocodile got his hands on Pluton?
Could he even keep it?
"However," Ian turned his gaze to the large gorilla standing by. "Good job, Babanuki. No matter what, that guy was a Warlord of the Sea."
"It's all thanks to the power you gave me, Lord Ian!"
Babanuki was very clear about this, quickly pledging his loyalty. "Otherwise, how could I possibly have the strength to face such a level of opponent?"
"So, how does it feel?"
Ian asked. "After having merged for so long, do you feel anything unpleasant?"
Babanuki replied, "At first, it was fine, but as time passed, I began to feel more and more interference from the gorilla's will."
Ian nodded lightly.
This wasn't surprising. After all, it was a complete fusion of two individuals. Although Babanuki's will was the dominant one, it was impossible for him not to be influenced at all.
It seemed that they couldn't fuse for too long at once; otherwise, their willpower might be corrupted.
In the end, they might even end up like the failed awakened beasts in Impel Down, where their humanity was consumed by their animal instincts.
That would be meaningless.
"So Ian, where are we going next?"
Yamato eagerly asked, "Enies Lobby?"
"Don't rush," Ian smiled and shook his head, "Before heading to Enies Lobby, there are two other places to visit."
"Two places?" Yamato blinked. "Where?"
"The first place," Ian raised his right index finger, "How about taking a trip around the sky?"
"The sky?"
A visit to Skypiea was still necessary.
Ian wasn't interested in the Golden City or anything like that. He already had enough money, and there was no need to look at the Poneglyphs that recorded the locations of Poseidon.
But there was one place Ian thought was definitely worth visiting.
Birka.
Enel's hometown, Skypiea Birka, which Enel had destroyed six years before Luffy landed on Skypiea.
As for why this place, it was because Ian knew that after Enel flew to the moon in the original story, he found an underground ruin, and coincidentally, that city was also called Birka.
Interesting, right?
The Golden Dragon sailed down the Sandora River, quickly approaching the mouth of the river.
But...
"Ian, there's a navy warship ahead blocking the way," the lookout, Viola, called out.
Ahead, at the river's mouth, navy warships were lined up, seemingly waiting for their arrival.
"Should we sink them? Big brother Ian."
Jack asked for advice.
"Don't worry about them," Ian waved his hand, "just crash through."
Without hesitation, the Golden Dragon sailed forward at full speed, heading straight for the Marine warships.
In fact, these warships were no match for the Golden Dragon. Though they were impressive at about several dozen meters in length, the Golden Dragon was a massive sea fortress, hundreds of meters long!
As the Golden Dragon charged forward, the nearby Marine Captain, who had rushed over upon hearing Ian's arrival, panicked and shouted, "Scatter! Quickly, scatter!"
They were not on the same scale. Forget colliding; even a mere brush would obliterate all the warships!
At that moment, the Marine warships scattered, creating a clear path for the Golden Dragon to rush through.
As the massive ship passed by the smaller warships, the navy officers were on edge, their nerves tightly wound.
The immense size of the ship was a psychological pressure, especially with those densely packed cannon ports along its side.
"Captain! Should we fire?"
A Marine officer couldn't help but ask.
"No! No way! We can't fire!"
The Captain jumped as if shocked, nearly grinding his teeth, "Let them pass!"
"Without orders from above, we are not allowed to engage the forces of the Yonko!"
He knew very well that if a fight broke out, they would be utterly wiped out.
Let them pass?
The navy soldiers were confused.
What were they even here for?
Were they here to send them off?
And so, the Golden Dragon slowly sailed away as the navy watched helplessly.
Later.
In the royal tomb beneath the palace in Alabasta, behind the royal palace.
Cobra arrived with the navy.
"They took the treasures left by our ancestors," Cobra pointed to the area where a stone used to be placed, but now it was empty.
"Not only the vast amount of ancient heritage stored here, but also a huge gemstone excavated from the depths of the desert. Our ancestors called it the Desert Star. It's said that this single gem is worth enough to buy an entire sea area. I don't know how they even found out about it."
The navy nodded. "We're sorry, Your Highness Cobra. It's our incompetence that we couldn't stop them."
Cobra shook his head. "The enemy is the Beasts Pirates. This situation isn't too bad. At least they didn't start a massacre."
The navy sighed as well.
In front of the terrifying Ian, there was nothing they could do.
After sending off the navy, Cobra let out a sigh of relief.
This should be enough to cover up, right?
But little did he know, after he and the navy left the underground palace, someone else had arrived.
Crocodile stood in the empty underground palace, carefully examining the area where the Poneglyph was once kept.
The Poneglyph was indeed gone without a trace, but there was a slight depression on the ground, showing that something heavy had once been placed there.
"The Desert Star?"
Crocodile sneered, then vanished into sand.
He didn't believe a word Cobra had said.
The thing he wanted must have already been taken by Ian!
So this country no longer held any value to him.
It was time to return!
No, it should be back!
The Golden Dragon Ship.
After leaving Alabasta, the large ship headed straight towards Skypiea.
Since there was no permanent log pose, and they had left Alabasta too quickly, the log pose's magnetism hadn't fully charged, so they had to completely rely on Viola for navigation.
Luckily, Skypiea's features were too obvious. The White Sea, floating 7,000 meters above the ocean, and the White White Sea, 10,000 meters above, made it hard for Viola to miss.
"So, there really is a sea of clouds in the sky?"
Hancock's second sister, Sandersonia, still found it hard to believe.
"There are two!"
Viola raised two fingers to remind her best friend, "They're both quite vast, and there are many islands on top!"
"Oh! Islands in the sky?"
Black Maria smiled and said, "That sounds really nice."
"Do people live in the sky?"
Hancock's third sister, Marigold, asked.
"Quite a few."
Viola replied, "Many islands are inhabited, and they even have wing-like decorations on their backs."
The girls' eyes lit up with excitement.
A world above the sky...
Not just them, even Ian was somewhat excited.
A kingdom above the clouds, a place that could only be found in fairy tales.
Luckily, this anticipation wouldn't last long.
**********
Support me on my patreon and read upto 30 early chapters.
patreon.com/PirateKing24