Chapter 56: Incoming Storm

Above the Grand Line, the blue sky was dotted with a few white clouds.

"Elvis hurry! Add some meat flavor to my bread!"

Inside the dining area of the airship, everyone was enjoying lunch. Lafitte held out his bread to Elvis.

Over the past few days, Lafitte had basically latched onto Elvis. Every mealtime, he would bring different foods and ask him to change the flavors.

"Sure!"

Elvis genuinely liked the atmosphere of the Helgrave Pirates. He'd already blended in with the crew, and happily agreed to Lafitte's request.

A puff of gas appeared out of thin air in Elvis's palm and slowly drifted onto Lafitte's bread. Immediately, the bread began to give off a mouthwatering aroma.

"Mmm! So good, this one tastes like roast meat!"

Lafitte's eyes lit up after taking a bite. He quickly pulled out another piece and asked, "Any other flavors? Something special?"

"Something special, huh… hmm… try this. I promise you'll be satisfied!"

Elvis thought for a moment, then smirked and used his ability again.

This time, however, the bread didn't emit any aroma.

Lafitte, already very familiar with Elvis's routine, quickly grabbed the bread and stuffed it into his mouth after seeing his hand move.

"Mm, ptoo! Ptoo!"

The moment the bread entered his mouth, Lafitte's expression changed dramatically. It was as if he'd just swallowed poison, he spat it all out.

"What happened, Lafitte? You know we shouldn't waste food!"

Tesla immediately understood that Elvis had pulled a prank and began teasing him.

"Captain! Elvis bullied me! He made the bread taste like a Devil Fruit! You have to do something about him!"

Having finally spat out the last of the bread, Lafitte complained to Ashen, trying to suppress the lingering nausea.

"Hahahaha!"

Everyone aboard the airship burst out laughing, all throwing sympathetic looks at Lafitte.

"By the way, what exactly is your ability? It's really unusual."

Tesla, who had been curious for days, finally voiced the question while everyone was gathered. Lafitte had mostly been pestering Elvis for fun, but Tesla was genuinely interested.

Seeing that everyone was curious, Elvis decided to satisfy them.

"I'm a Paramecia-type user of the Taste-Taste Fruit. As long as I've smelled or tasted something, I can reproduce its flavor."

"Oh, that explains it."

Tesla nodded with a knowing expression, he'd suspected something back at Nick's restaurant.

"So, different smells have different effects, right?"

That was Ashen. Though he phrased it as a question, he already had a guess.

Sure enough, Elvis continued, "That's right. Different flavors do have different effects.

For example, the mandrake flower scent I used in the palace, mandrake has anesthetic properties, so its aroma causes unconsciousness.

Also, the smell of alcohol makes people drunk, and mint helps you feel refreshed."

At that, Lafitte suddenly lit up. "Then what about Devil Fruit? What effect does its flavor have?"

"Based on how far I've developed my powers, it only has one effect right now," Elvis said, meeting Lafitte's expectant gaze. "It makes people feel sick."

"You bastard, Elvis! You tricked me again!"

"Hahahaha...!"

…

A few hours later, the airship flew into a thick cloud bank. The cockpit windows were now completely fogged up.

Thunk!

A dull sound shook the ship. It felt like they'd hit something.

"What happened?"

Feeling the sudden jolt, everyone rushed from the lounge to the cockpit to see what was going on.

"Captain, these clouds feel different."

Dan, spotting Ashen and the others arriving, quickly reported.

"Judging by the time, this makes sense. We should be in the White Sea now."

Looking at the endless white clouds outside, Ashen figured out their location.

According to his deduction, they were currently in the sea of clouds beneath Skypiea. They'd still need to ascend another 3,000 meters or so to reach the sky island itself.

Knowing that, Ashen immediately ordered Dan to start ascending.

"Yes, Captain!"

Dan didn't hesitate and began operating the airship.

From the ship's exhaust port, a pipe began inflating the vessel. Within minutes, the airship also called Pufferfish had expanded noticeably and began to rise slowly.

Click!

Beneath a massive gate in the center of the White Sea, an elderly woman in her fifties, short and slightly hunched, pressed the shutter of her camera.

"Sigh~ How odd… there hasn't been a cumulus eruption lately. So how did a huge creature like this get blown up here?

Ah well, not my problem. Let the priests worry about it!"

She murmured while watching the Pufferfish slowly ascend.

…

Twenty minutes later, the Pufferfish gently landed on a patch of cloud sea outside Angel Island.

They left behind the injured Nick, and a few fishmen to stand guard while Ashen led the others toward the island.

Though sky-sea buoyancy wasn't strong, with Ashen and Tesla's help, the group moved quickly toward their destination.

As a fishman, Dan easily carried both Elvis and the lazy Lafitte on his back.

"Captain, is this the Sky Island?"

Feeling the solid ground beneath his feet again, Lafitte scanned the surroundings.

"That's right. This is the Sky Island. Let's head in and take a look."

…

Meanwhile, at Mary Geoise.

"Still no trace of the Golden Lion?"

The blond Elder member flipped through a tall stack of reports, his face unreadable. Finding nothing valuable, he finally set them aside.

"Apologies. We've done everything we can.

We've investigated every possible lead, but Golden Lion's old subordinates are clearly suspicious and have gone into hiding. The Navy has had no success either."

It was the same CP0 agent from before. At this point, he'd lost all hope of finding Golden Lion.

Through the course of this investigation, it had become very clear, Golden Lion wouldn't be surfacing anytime soon.

"Alright, you may go," said the bald Elder.

"Yes, sir."

Relieved, the CP0 agent quickly left.

"What do you all think about the emergency alert from the sky?"

…

After a brief silence, one Elder finally spoke.

"Since it's too late to stop it… then we'll have to brace for the storm that's coming."

"Agreed."

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