Chapter 46: Journey to Birka

Sky Island is a type of island made of island clouds.

These clouds resemble the kind seen in Doraemon, solidified by a gadget to become walkable. It's a sky kingdom floating above the clouds.

This dreamlike quality makes Sky Island seem somewhat romantic in Dan's eyes.

The people living on the Sky Island usually wear white, angel-wing-like decorations. They use tools made of special clouds and shells, which originate from the White-White Sea.

The White-White Sea is located at an altitude of over 10,000 meters, an ocean in the sky. Although the density of the sea of clouds is low, life still exists within it. The creatures of the Sky Island naturally differ in body structure from those of the Blue Sea.

To cross the Red Line, Dan directly used the Heavenly Cloud to carry the ship into the sky. Kaido could lift Onigashima with flame clouds, so lifting a single ship was no challenge for Dan.

A few days ago, he exchanged the captured pirates for bounties at a Marine base in the New World. The bounty, combined with the wealth already on the ship, amounted to 230 million berries. This vast sum made Mari feel incredibly happy.

Although she wasn't entirely clear on the exchange rate between berries and the gold and silver of Wano Country, a number as large as 200 million surely represented a significant fortune, right?

Zimbabwean Dollar: Yeah, sure, sure!

Currently, aside from Dan, there were no other men on the ship.

Originally, they had planned to let the abducted women disembark at the Marine base, but most of them chose not to leave.

For women like them, whose villages had been wiped out by pirates and whose families had been killed, there was no place to return to even if they left.

Some had been captured from merchant ships or other vessels. Their families might still be alive, but they felt too ashamed to return home.

Even if they did go back, they would likely face endless gossip and be met with either pity or disdain. These words and looks would constantly remind them of the hell they had endured.

Yuriko pitied them and begged Dan to take them along. After all, the daimyo estate was vast, and many tasks required servants—cleaning, maintaining the gardens... All of these needed hands.

Bringing these women back, giving them a peaceful place to live, a completely unfamiliar environment where they could forget their tragic pasts, was enough to earn their gratitude.

As for the women who were originally part of the Nightlight Pirates or had been captured by pirates, Dan marked them with the Serpent Mark. They would be sent to the Military Commission.

The ship sailed through the clouds. Normally, the density of the White-White Sea wouldn't be enough to support a ship from the Blue Sea, but Dan's Heavenly Cloud had no such issue.

The Sky Island they arrived at wasn't Birka, but one that hadn't appeared in the original story.

There were many such Sky Islands, and the distribution of island clouds was very scattered. Many Sky Islands were tiny and could be blown away by the wind, drifting like ships.

Although Birka was in the first half of the Grand Line, it was more to the south.

Despite having a rough map, Birka wasn't easy to find. After all, Birka wasn't very famous. If it weren't for Enel, who emerged later, few would have known of its existence.

After several days, the group finally arrived at Birka.

Birka wasn't a very large Sky Island, but it wasn't small either. Seeing a strange ship approaching on the clouds, the inhabitants of Birka grew wary, and many adult men gathered at the shore.

In this era, the Sky Islands weren't free from pirates. In fact, many pirates originated from the Sky Islands.

Although Dan's group didn't fly a pirate flag, they were still met with caution. Many pirates would prepare ordinary sails to avoid being attacked before landing, only to strike suddenly.

Pirates were inherently cruel and despicable; it wasn't a noble profession.

However, Dan wasn't a pirate. He was only after the possible presence of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit on Birka. There was no need to conflict with the Sky Islanders. He planned to disguise himself as a merchant to trade with them, gaining the opportunity to dock at Birka for an extended period.

Although trading was just a pretext, Dan did have a genuine need for some of Sky Island's unique products.

The inflation of the Sky Island's currency was even worse than that of the berries in the Blue Sea. At the previous island, Dan had exchanged tens of millions of berries for some of the Sky Island's currency, known as Extol.

Forty years later, even the rapidly devalued berries would far exceed the value of the extol, let alone the current berries.

As the ship approached, the Sky Islanders grew more nervous. However, they soon noticed that the ship seemed to have only women moving about on deck.

"No men?" the captain of Birka's guard wondered. "Or are they all hiding below deck?"

Although individual strength in this world could sometimes far surpass that of an army, such powerful individuals weren't common. Seeing a group of women on deck naturally lowered their guard somewhat.

Soon, the ship docked.

Dan was the first to step off.

The guard captain immediately grew serious upon seeing Dan.

On the Sky Island, Observation Haki was known as Mantra. While not every warrior possessed this power, even ordinary fighters like this guard captain had a keen sense of awareness.

He keenly sensed the terrifying aura emanating from the man before him.

This wasn't the presence of an ordinary person. It made him almost unable to move, his hands trembling as he held his spear. However, remembering his duty as a guard, he mustered the courage to ask, "Who... who are you people?"

"No need to be nervous. We're a merchant group from the Blue Sea," Dan explained. However, this answer didn't fully ease the other's caution.

Fortunately, Dan's demeanor of following the rules reassured the guard captain.

In truth, the guard captain didn't fully believe Dan's words, but there was little he could do. Sky Islands like Birka didn't have strong defensive capabilities, making them no match for pirates.

Regardless of Dan's true identity, as long as he didn't intend to plunder the island, that was enough.