Chapter 299: The Imposter God

On the surface of the White Sea.

"Delicious! I've found that while the strange fish on Sky Island look like ugly gourds, their taste is genuinely great. Just a quick grill with lightning, a sprinkle of seasoning, and it's a rare, delicious feast."

On the deck of the Qilin, Rorschach sat on the ground, holding a crab claw that was still three or four meters long after being broken off. He took large bites of the snowy white crab meat, eating with a full mouth and exclaiming how satisfying it was.

"Mm-hmm, it's really tasty, it has a... well, a taste of the sky. It's as delicious as the Juicy Meat from Water 7, leaving an endless aftertaste."

Hibari rubbed her belly, which was round from the crab meat, and smiled innocently, very content.

Parmel threw the crab shell, which was larger than a house, into the cloud sea outside the ship, complaining, "Delicious it is, but there's too little meat. It was a fish several times larger than the Qilin, but it was all hollow inside."

"Of course it's hollow. Don't forget this is the cloud sea at seven thousand meters high. If it were a solid Sea King, how could it possibly swim in these light, airy clouds? It would definitely fall down, right?"

Bepo rolled his eyes.

He thought Parmel wasn't very bright.

Giants indeed, with such large bodies, but brains only the size of walnuts.

Rorschach finished the crab claw in his hand, waved his hand, discarded the shell, and looked with shining eyes at the vast cloud sea below.

"I wonder if there are any other delicious fish inside? Not satisfied yet, I need to figure out a way to get a few more to try."

Cricket's mouth was slightly agape. Looking at Rorschach's unchanged stomach, he questioned his life choices.

Although most of that giant crab earlier was hollow, it was still hundreds of meters big, and there was a good amount of meat inside.

And most of it had gone into Rorschach's and Parmel's bellies.

Rorschach had even eaten more than the giant.

But he was acting as if nothing had happened; with so much food in his stomach, his body hadn't changed at all.

Rorschach rubbed his chin and turned to scan the people on the deck. "Does anyone have a good idea how to lure a few more big ones over?"

The warriors looked at each other, speechless.

Bepo glanced at Parmel, who was still dazed, and his eyes lit up.

Wasn't this a heaven-sent opportunity to make a good impression on Rear Admiral Rorschach?

If he could earn the Rear Admiral's favor, his military rank would surely rocket upwards.

Heh heh, that big oaf Parmel wouldn't even be able to eat his dust anymore.

I, Bepo, am the fourth-in-command on the Qilin.

So, Bepo quickly jumped out, raising his hand and saying, "Rear Admiral, I have an idea."

"What idea?"

"Make noise. That giant crab earlier was attracted by the noise of the side wings being retracted. So, if you want to attract more strange fish, make noise!"

Bepo looked smug, turning around with a self-satisfied air.

"Good idea!"

Rorschach's eyes lit up. He pointed at the bewildered Bepo, "Parmel, bring out the super fishing rod that I had Iceberg custom-make specifically for fishing for Sea Kings. I want to go fishing for Sky Island Sea Kings with Bepo."

"Huh? Me too?" Bepo was stunned.

"Of course, without your participation, we absolutely won't be able to catch the big ones. Here, grab the rope."

Rorschach shoved an end of a rope into the bewildered Bepo's hand.

And then...

He grabbed the steel fishing rod, which was thicker than a thigh, and swung it with force, creating a howling gust of wind on the deck.

Bepo, holding the end of the rope, was immediately flung over a hundred meters away, his fur standing on end, letting out wails like a ghost, and falling into the cloud sea outside the ship.

"Rorschach, you bastard..." Law's face was lined with black.

"Excellent, keep screaming like that, Bepo! We'll soon attract some big ones, and then we'll barbecue again."

Rorschach grinned.

"Aaaahhh! Help! I'm going to fall into the Grand Line, help! Lieutenant Colonel!"

"Help! Miss Hibari!"

Bepo's screams echoed from the cloud sea, drifting far away.

"That's it! Keep it up, Bepo! You can do it! Go, go!" Penguin and Shachi rushed to the ship's rail, looking excited.

"Go, go, my ass! Try it yourself if you dare!"

Bepo continued to curse.

Soon, the commotion here attracted several huge beasts.

The cloud sea outside the Qilin churned, and the entire visible surface of the sea began to boil.

As the cloud sea roiled, it revealed a gigantic shrimp the size of a small mountain, a large octopus, and a flat, long cutlassfish.

"Awesome! Three at once! This time we can eat our fill!"

Hibari jumped up happily.

"Pull me up! I'm going to die, I'm going to be eaten, wuwuwu."

Bepo's panicked shouts continued. Rorschach chuckled, and under Cricket's astonished gaze, he flicked his wrist and pulled Bepo, who was dangling in the cloud sea, back up.

That steel fishing rod, dozens of meters long, was of unknown weight.

But in Rorschach's hands, it seemed no heavier than holding a toothpick.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Three colossal Sky Island monsters lunged simultaneously from the left, center, and right directions.

Their mountain-like bodies obscured the sky, casting large shadows.

Under everyone's stunned gazes, Rorschach squeezed his five fingers, gripping the steel fishing rod, and swung it in a full circle, smashing it down heavily.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three phantom-like black trajectories appeared almost simultaneously above the heads of the three giant beasts.

Then, the three enormous Sky Island Sea Kings crashed down, their heads smashed in mid-air by the heavy fishing rod.

In an instant, the cloud sea for several thousand meters around vibrated incessantly.

"The Sky Island adventure barbecue feast continues!" Rorschach's eyes sparkled.

Bepo, soaking wet, slumped listlessly onto the deck like a frosted eggplant, looking utterly devoid of hope.

"Hey, emergency rations, get up and eat the feast. You had a hand in these delicious foods."

Parmel's booming words instantly made the slumped Bepo jump up three feet, his fur bristling.

"You bastard giant, who are you calling emergency rations? I'll duel you!"

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding. Although Rear Admiral Rorschach has a big appetite, he wouldn't go as far as to eat a talking white bear, would he? Right?"

Parmel chuckled.

Rorschach, while using lightning to grill the giant beasts the warriors had pulled up, glanced at the bristling Bepo, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"I heard bear paws are quite a delicacy..."

"Eek! I'm not food! Don't eat me!"

Bepo trembled with fear.

"Hahahaha, just teasing you. How could I possibly eat a comrade?"

"Hahahaha, look how scared you are."

For a moment, laughter filled the Qilin, and the air was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Rorschach and his group leisurely sailed towards the huge island ahead, enjoying the delicacies of Sky Island.

As they drew closer, a huge golden gate, shaped like a starfish, gradually rose from the white cloud sea. Four large characters, indecipherable to them, were written on it.

Rorschach guessed it was the "Heaven's Gate."

This should be the official entrance to Sky Island.

He heard that entering Sky Island required paying a fee per person.

Rorschach's ship had over two hundred people, so it looked like he'd be bleeding some money today.

When the Qilin, carrying everyone, sailed into the arched passage beneath Heaven's Gate, Rorschach immediately saw a small, wrinkled old woman standing on the steps at the side of the passage, her hands tucked into her sleeves, her eyes curved into crescents as she smiled towards them.

"Greetings, travelers from the Blue Sea, welcome to the Land of God. Entry requires a ticket, one hundred million per person."

"What? One hundred million? That's too expensive!"

Hibari's eyes widened.

"Two hundred people would be twenty billion. We don't have that much money, should we go back?" Bepo drooped his head in disappointment.

"The currency exchange rate between Sky Island and the Blue Sea is ten thousand to one, which means ten thousand Berries per person."

Seeing the complaints from everyone on the ship, the old woman calmly added.

"If it's ten thousand Berries per person, then for so many of us, it's only a little over two million Berries. Phew~ that's not too expensive then." Hibari patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, the sharp-eyed Bepo let out a startled cry, "Watch out!"

From the cloud sea just outside the steps beside the old woman, a gaping maw full of fangs suddenly emerged, lunging to bite the startled old woman.

Crunch!

A silvery-white bolt of lightning flew from Rorschach's fingertip with lightning speed, crossing dozens of meters in an instant, and striking the strange fish.

Immediately, dazzling electricity crackled over the strange fish, charring it and causing it to fall from the air back into the cloud sea.

The old woman froze completely, speechless for a long moment.

"Oh no, has the old woman been scared witless?"

No sooner had Hibari said this than she saw the old woman, with her wrinkled skin and white hair, reveal a look of fanaticism and plop down on her knees towards the Qilin.

Under everyone's astonished gazes, the old woman's voice distorted as she cried out, "Respected God, great God of Thunder, ruler of the Land of God, master of the Holy Land, I have finally met you!"

"God?"

Hibari and the others looked at each other in confusion, bewildered by the old woman's fervent shouts.

Hibari looked at Rorschach with a strange expression, "Brother Rorschach, the god she's talking about, it couldn't be you, could it? God of Thunder, what a majestic title, it suits you, hee hee."

"God of Thunder?"

Rorschach's lips twitched slightly.

This old woman, she didn't mistake him for that Enel guy, did she?

Just as he was thinking about how to explain to the old woman, Rorschach saw this seemingly frail old woman scramble up from the ground and vigorously blow a whistle hanging around her neck.

Then, the cloud sea in front of the passage churned.

Soon, an extra-large lobster with the number 001 on its forehead, like a whirlwind, ran from the winding cloud staircase and braked to a stop in front of the Qilin.

Its two large, streetlamp-like eyes stared intently at the people on the Qilin.

"Slurp, another delicious Sky Island Sea King," Hibari licked her lips.

Rorschach reached out and gently tapped her on the head, scolding with a smile, "That's Sky Island's Express Shrimp. It's used to carry ships. Don't think about eating everything, you idiot."

"You're the food glutton, not me..." Hibari pouted and mumbled.

The old woman pointed at the super-large lobster that had run over and said, "Does the esteemed God wish to return to the Holy Land? Please take Super Express Shrimp Number One. This Express Shrimp is the fastest and steadiest; it will surely satisfy the esteemed God."

Everyone turned to look at Rorschach.

"Uh..." Rorschach scratched his head, really wanting to explain, but ultimately just nodded his head, "Yes, I want to return to the Holy Land. Thank you, old woman. Oh, and Hibari, give the old woman the ticket money..."

"No need! How dare I, your servant, accept money from the esteemed God? To have seen the great God in this life is already a blessing I accumulated in my previous life."

The old woman's face was filled with such excitement that Rorschach worried if they stayed there any longer, she might have a heart attack.

So, he instinctively waved at the large, docile Express Shrimp in front of him.

"Hey! Buddy, time to work."

Whether it understood Rorschach's words or simply his gesture, this fire-red giant lobster, more than ten times larger than the Qilin, immediately extended its two massive claws. To everyone's astonishment, it gently lifted the Qilin's hull and steadily placed the enormous ship onto its back.

"It's really stable; this giant shrimp is amazing! I've decided, I won't eat it."

Hibari's face showed surprise.

"You weren't supposed to eat it in the first place, alright? You idiot," Rorschach sighed helplessly.

"Depart! Express Shrimp Go!" Bepo shrieked from the Qilin's dragon head.

Whoosh!

The Express Shrimp charged forward, accelerating like a javelin. Its enormous body displayed astonishing agility and speed.

Its huge strides could cover dozens of meters at once, and its more than ten legs moved alternately, moving rapidly up the winding cloud staircase, appearing like phantoms as they moved.

The sudden gust of wind blew Bepo, who was standing on the dragon head, away, making him shriek in terror. Quick-witted Parmel reached out, grabbed his ear, and pulled him back.

Several tens of minutes later, beneath Heaven's Gate, an Express Shrimp arrived, carrying over a dozen white-clad priests on its back.

The leading priest leaped down before the Express Shrimp had even stopped, landing in front of the old woman.

"What did you say? You saw Lord Enel with people from the Blue Sea? I say, old woman, you're not going senile and seeing things, are you? Lord Enel is clearly fine and well in the Holy Land."

"It's true, it really was Lord Enel. If Lord Shura doesn't believe me, you can look at the footage recorded by the Tone Dial."

The old woman unhooked the Visual Dial from her chest and handed it over.

Shura, one of the Four Priests under Enel's command, took the Visual Dial. Upon seeing the footage, he was so enraged that he slapped the old woman in front of him to the ground.

"I told you, old woman, you're going senile! This is clearly not Lord Enel!"

He stared intensely at Rorschach in the footage, gritting his teeth and saying, "This audacious Blue Sea man dares to impersonate Lord Enel; he truly deserves to die! Everyone listen, follow me! Catch those Blue Sea people! I will bring all those bastards before Lord Enel so he can personally execute them!"

(End of Chapter)

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