We kept defending the ship as the cloud water pushed further and further into the tunnel. Even though the attacks kept intensifying in quality and quantity, we pulled through, suffering no injuries or damage to the black pearl.

"I can already see the exit. Hang in there," I exclaimed as soon as I saw the exit to the tunnel, but whatever or whoever was attacking us wasn't willing to let us go.

The roof and walls of the tunnel suddenly began to merge, turning into one gigantic could lance, heading straight for the ship, wats more the lance also became black and crackling in electric arcs.

"Stay back. I got this," I exclaimed once again, activating Geppo and charging towards the incoming attack. "Dread Tide," I murmured, moving Triton behind my shoulder, swinging it downwards with all my strength.

(Author note: New sword, new attack. Ancient Greeks knew Triton as the dreadful god of the sea, hence the attack's name.)

Triton's blade began releasing a silver hue which contrasted with its golden color, creating a beautiful scene. Still, the result was anything but that as the aura turned into a colossal sword slash, which then transformed into a silver wave.

The silver wave clashed with the incoming cloud lance, engulfing it with no resistance and resuming its charge without losing any momentum, gouging out a massive piece of the cloud roof.

"Hopefully, that's the end of it," I remarked with a frown as I landed back on the ship. "I didn't know you were that good of a swordsman, captain-YA," Law commented from the side with an impressed look.

"Did you think I was carrying such a great sword by chance?" I asked in an amused tone, raising my eyebrow. "I didn't see you use it before, so I assumed..., you know," he replied, trailing at the end of his sentence.

"Rehahaha, well no. I'm not that vain," I said while laughing, not taking any offense. "I'm not only a swordsman, but I can also shoot and brawl with the best of them too," I added, shamelessly smiling while Elly cheered for me, and the others rolled their eyes.

"Look, we're already out," I remarked with a smile as blinding light engulfed our vision, and my smile waned as soon as I was able to see clearly again.

"What the hell is this?" I asked with a frown while looking at a deserted dock with no sign of human activity. "Look, there are signs of a battle over there," Elly said while pointing at several demolished buildings to the east of the docks.

"Let's go check it out," I said with a frown, making my way there, causing Laffite, Kozue, and Elly to follow behind me, as the rest remained on the ship for now.

"Whatever destroyed these buildings, it did it with brute strength," I observed while looking at the remains of what could have been a restaurant.

"Indeed, there are no burn marks and no traces of gunpowder anywhere," Kozue said while crouching and running her finger at the ground and sniffing the air.

"There are some blood stains over here," Laffite shouted from a distance away, causing us all to make our way towards him. "These bloodstains don't look old," Kozue said while pointing at the bloodstains that haven't dried up yet.

"There are more broken buildings up ahead," I said while pointing in the buildings' direction, and we all moved there to investigate.

"The same thing destroyed these buildings," I remarked with a thoughtful look. "There are bloodstains too, but these look old," I added as I noticed some dried-up bloodstains.

"It looks like there's someone or something on the loose here since there seemed to have been multiple battles at multiple different times," I reasoned as I continued to eye my surroundings.

"We should go back to the ship to inform everyone of what we found and then have everyone check the surroundings," I instructed after looking around for a couple more minutes and finding nothing.

-0-

"In conclusion, there are people on this island, and there is someone or something attacking them from time to time," I remarked after explaining what we found when we went out to investigate.

"So we need to know what's happening here before we can do anything," I instructed. "Then we need to find out who attacked us when we first came here and make the bastard pay for it," I concluded.

"So find out who is attacking the people on this island, and why they're attacking first?" Kozue asked, and I nodded at her.

"I'm not interested then. I'll stay on the ship," Wilson said with a yawn as he took out a bottle of alcohol and went somewhere to indulge in it.

"I'll stay too," Bob said while twirling his mustache, but he stayed to listen.

"You stay too, Doc," I instructed as I turned to look at the sickly doctor. "It'll be good to have a doctor stay on the ship, just in case," I added, causing him to nod.

"It's settled then," I remarked. "The rest of you split into groups and go out to investigate, but be careful and keep your eyes at all times, and don't hesitate to call for help if necessary," I added in a firm tone.

"I'll be making my way to the center of the island on my own, so you guys take over investigating the areas near the docks," I concluded, turning around and making my way towards my distention.

-0-

I made my way towards the island's center while stopping to investigate the occasional battleground whenever I spotted signs of destruction.

Still, I didn't find anything interesting, and all trails have gone cold, with the usual destroyed buildings and bloodstains.

My best find was a building with an enormous sigh that had a shell painted on it. I immediately stopped and went to investigate it, and I wasn't disappointed in the least by what I found.

I found Dials, water dials, Vision Dial, Tone Dial, Flavor Dials, Fire Dials..., etc. Sure, there weren't any super rare or extinct dials like the Reject or Eisen dials, but what the store lacked in quality, it made up for in quantity.

I Promptly picked my transponder snail and contacted Laffite immediately after finding the dials, informing him of the store's location and instructing him to take everything back to the black pearl.

Having guaranteed my crew and me a lifetime supply of Dials, I left the store with a smile on my face as I resumed my flight towards the center.

The next thirty minutes of my flight was mostly uneventful, with only one minor incident of cloud wolves ambushing me by jumping from the rooftops of tall buildings when I decided to fly low.

Although I wanted to get mad and beat up the wolves a little, I couldn't bring myself to while looking at their appearance when they stood on two paws and howled at me, trying to look fearsome.

They only looked adorable in my eyes, so I just shook my head and left them behind without harming them.

Still, cloud wolves weren't the only type of wild creatures that made their way to the cloud city as I spotted a giant dog like the one Ohm had in Skypeia, and I swore to come back for it later.

I also saw a bunch of Sky Lampreys, disgusting worm-like creatures with circular mouths that were too big to have any reactions for them, except for Kill it with fire.

So I did just that when one of them attacked me. Sparing the beautiful wolves while killing the disgusting worms is discrimination, you say? Well, yes, but something deserves discrimination, these Sky Lampreys, and Apples! But I digress.

I had to stop again as I finally spotted the signs of human activity, which were the sounds of fighting and screaming.

Still, it seems that I arrived just as the fight was over, with only one man standing over the unconscious bodies of his foes.

He was abundant in both height and width. His face somewhat resembled a smiling totem mask with his grin. Apart from his broad grin, he also has what appears to be a stitched-up scar vertically descending over and falling short just above his left eye. He had a prominent, jet-black, scruffy beard that extends upwards to the sides of his jaw and then converges with his equally dark side-burns.

"More pirate reinforcement, eh?" the man said, his grin still on his face as he dusted his white garment with severed sleeves, which covered all of his body while exposing tattoos patterned like flames on both of his biceps.

...

"More pirate reinforcement, eh?" the man said, his grin still on his face as he dusted his white garment with severed sleeves, which covered all of his body while exposing tattoos patterned like flames on both of his biceps.

I was about to correct the man's misunderstanding, but I had to stop myself, dodging to the side as he charged at me with incredible speed that a man of his build had no right to move in, muscular or not.

"So be it," I remarked as I dodged a punch from the man. "I'm feeling a little bored anyway," I added with a grin, taking a step forward and burying my fist into his abdomen.

The man didn't show any response to my attack, but his grin became more pronounced as he tried to engulf me in a crushing hug.

"Geez, buy a man a drink first, will you?" I said in an unamused tone as I dodged backward again. "You're different from these grunts, aren't you?" the man asked in a deep, gruff voice, still grinning broadly.

"More or less, I'm not even with them," I replied with a shrug. "But you won't take my word for it, would you?" I asked, and the man answered by charging towards me again.

I dodged again and stuck him in the jaw, but he still didn't seem affected, and what's more, hitting him felt like hitting a mattress instead of flesh.

'A devil fruit of some sort,' I thought as I continuously dodged his attacks.

The man was definitely fast, too fast for his size, but I was still quicker, and so I took advantage of that, only dodging while attacking from time to time to analyze his power.

'This guy is getting bigger and faster as the fight continues?' I wondered as I dodged another attack that was a lot faster than his first.

'Punches don't seem to work, and he's getting stronger as the fight continues,' I reasoned as I struck him with another punch, noticing that he became just a little bigger after that.

"So you absorb something from my punches, making you stronger, rendering them useless, eh?" I asked in an amused tone, and even though the man raised an eyebrow, he still didn't reply, still grinning.

"Let's try this then," I remarked, jumping backward as I retrieved my gun, shooting three bullets in rapid succession.

"So, blunt force and piercing don't work?" I commented again as the bullets hit the man and merely fell to the ground with no momentum, not even bouncing off his body.

"You at least realized it a lot sooner than the others," the man commented with a grin, but it's no use," he added as he charged at me again.

"What a troublesome ability," I remarked as I drew Triton and charged at him, ducking beneath his arms as he tried to hit my midsection with a Lariat.

I then quickly swung my sword at his chest and frowned as the blade left a very shallow wound, despite connecting. "So it isn't a specific type of damage you absorb, huh?" I remarked with a grin, very much like his own, as I made some distance between us.

"That's right, I absorb energy from all attacks," he said with a shrug, not bothering to deny it as he single-mindedly kept charging at me.

'What troublesome ability,' I thought as I delivered another punch to his abdomen, watching in amazement as the shallow wound on his chest began healing.

'In conclusion, this guy can absorb kinetic energy and metabolize it to enhance his own physical strength, speed, and stamina.'

'The way I see it, I can only take him down if I incapacitate him with a chokehold or overload him with more energy than he can handle,'

'Energy overload it is,' I concluded as I sheathed Triton because he would have to spend some energy to heal from the shallow wounds I leave on him with Triton.

The fight resumed in a stalemate of me, dodging and counterattacking as the man kept getting stronger, bigger, and faster for what felt like ten minutes.

"Are you at your limit already?" I asked while looking at the man gasping for breath. His size shot all the way up to over eight meters from his original four.

"This was a great fight," the man said, still smiling despite the sweat rolling down his forehead. "But it's time to end it," he added, charging towards me with a grin.

"Inga Zarashi (Karmic Exposure)," he exclaimed, shooting his fist forward at a speed that was infinitely close to my own, making dodging him that much harder.

"Impact Fist," I met his fist with my own, and even though the clash caused some pain in my wrest, I still pushed him back, but he didn't have enough sending a second punch.

I met the second punch the same way with the same result, but he still grinned as his muscles tightened, enlarging one last time as he sent the third.

"Flaming impact fist," Sensing this is his last and possibly greatest attack, I responded in kind, meeting his gigantic fist with my flaming fist, creating an explosion that destroyed everything in our surroundings.

The shock wave quickly cleared, revealing the man laying on his back, still grinning, as I stood over him with a grin of my own.

"Inga Kaiho (Karmic release)," the man exclaimed as his body began to shrink, releasing all the bent energy he absorbed during our fight with a maniacal grin, creating a blinding explosion.

I reacted quickly, crossing my arms in front of my face and lowering my posture as I covered my body in Haki, and managed to defend myself, but I still felt some of my bones break from the impact.

"What a troublesome ability," I said with a smile, wiping a sliver of blood leaking from my lips. "That was really dirty, you bastard," I added, taking a vial of poison, gulping it, and healing my broken bones.

"You're the only dirty thing here, you monster," the man said, still grinning despite being barely able to talk from exhaustion. "Now hurry up and kill me. I have no regrets," he concluded, closing his eyes with a peaceful expression, but a smile still stretched his lips from ear to ear.

"Why don't you answer some questions for me, first?" I said as I sat cross-legged next to the man, taking out my whisky bottle and offering him a drink.

"How kind of you," the man replied as he took the bottle with some difficulty, promptly taking a sip. "Ask away," he added.

"Someone attacked my crew and me as soon as our ship crossed the empty reception booth," I said, lighting up a cigarette. "The attack was strange cloud lances that came out of the tunnel's walls," I explained.

"Who or what did this?" I asked, letting out a cloud of smoke from my mouth. "That would be Lokni, the captain of the pirate group occupying this island," he replied with a confused expression.

"So you're really not with them?" he asked as realization suddenly dawned on his face. "I tried to tell you, but you didn't listen," I replied with a shrug.

"At any rate, this Lokni character is able to control the cloud walls of the tunnel. How?" I asked, but I already had a guess as to who he was able to do it.

"The bastard has a troublesome devil fruit," the man said while shaking his head. "He ate the logia cloud-cloud fruit, making a cloud-human," he concluded with a sigh.

"I thought as much," I remarked with a sigh of my own. 'A cloud logia in the sky, this is going to be troublesome,' I thought to myself.

"Now, why don't you tell me what you're doing here, Mad Monk, Urouge?" I asked with a grin, causing his eyes to go wide in shock.

...

"How the hell do you know my name?" the man, Urouge, asked as his smile faltered for a second. "That's my thing. I always know more than I should," I replied with a grin.

"My Name is Johnny Silver Hand, a musician and a pirate from West Blue," I added, extending my hand in his direction. "We're currently in the cloud sea above Nort Blue, so how did you end up here?" Urouge asked as he raised his hand with some difficulty, promptly shaking my own.

"I got lost on my way to the grand line," I replied again, shrugging my shoulders. "Now, you were about to tell me what's happening on the island," I added.

"Fine," Urouge said, grunting in pain as he sat up straight, facing me. "This sky island, Skyguard, people from other sky islands built it near the knock-up stream, to protect them for blue sea pirates with bad intentions," he explained, taking a sip of whisky.

"But as you can see, something went terribly wrong," the mad monk added while pointing his finger at the deserted buildings all around us.

"It happened exactly the same day the sky islanders finished building Skyguard," he explained while shaking his head. "Although it was built as a bastion to protect the sky people, it was still unmanned at the time," he added.

"Lokni, the pirate captain and his crew happened to be blown away here by sheer luck at that time," he explained in an amused tone. "The sky islanders quickly surrounded the pirates, but Lokni and his crew managed to trick them into gaining entry to Skyguard," he added, shaking his head.

"They seemed like decent people at first," he remarked, causing me to raise an eyebrow at his statement. "Decent enough for pirates anyway, and the people here were naïve enough to believe them," he concluded with a shrug.

"Some of the divine soldiers, including myself, objected to trusting these people, but the man who was to be Skyguard's god was someone who believed in the kindness of people," he remarked, turning around spitting at the ground.

"The pirates showed their true colors when we brought the cloud-cloud fruit here," he said with an expression of I told you so on his face.

"The cloud-cloud fruit is a devil fruit that only reincarnates on fruit that can only grow on North Blue's sky islands," he explained while pointing at a white tree.

"The fruits themselves taste horrible and are barely edible, but they carry a religious significance, so the devil fruit became somewhat of a national treasure," he added with an unconvinced expression.

"And you disagree?" I asked with a smile. "It all sounds like nonsense to my ears," he replied with a grin, shaking his head.

"But you still joined the divine guards?" I asked in a curious tone. "It was the only place I can get real training, and I liked their outfits," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Can't argue with that," I remarked with a laugh. "So, what happened next?" I asked, getting back on topic.

"Lokni and his crew got wind of the fruit, and they acted quickly, robbing the fruit and killing many sky islanders in the process, including the would-be protector," he said while shaking his head.

"They chased out and killed almost everyone here and took over the city for themselves," he explained.

"What would they gain by taking over an empty sky island?" I asked in a confused tone, tilting my head to the side.

"The people who built this city equipped it with many weapons and powerful Dials," he replied. "But it was all intended for defense and not attack, and removing the weapons would render them useless," he added as he took another sip of alcohol.

"So they've been trying to control the island through the cloud devil fruit that their captain has stolen as the land itself is cloud," he explained, pointing at the white ground below us.

"Lokni seems to think he can control the sky island and make a mobile fortress so he can use it to become the pirate king," he concluded, his grin turning disdainful.

"I see," I replied while nodding my head in understanding. "So, what are you doing here on your own, then?" I asked after a second of silence, contemplating what the mad monk told me.

"I used to be one of the divine soldiers responsible for guarding the fruit, and by extension the protector who would eat it and become this sky island's god," he said in a bitter tone, but he didn't stop smiling.

"As the only survivor, it's my duty to at least take down the bastard who killed my charge, or at the very least die trying," he reasoned, his grin turning savage. "I went back to my home island, trying to gather reinforcement, but no one wanted to fight in a losing battle," he added, seemingly unresentful.

"So I resigned, made my way back here, and spent the last year hitting Lokni and his pirates whenever I could," he concluded.

"I get the picture now," I said, nodding again with a smile. "Well, you're in luck because I owe this Lokni guy for attacking my crew and me," I added as I stood up.

"And I always pay what my debts," I stated while cracking my knuckles. "So why don't you team up with me so we can take the bastard down together?" I asked as I extended my hand towards him again.

"The man ate a logia fruit, you know," Urouge said while looking at my extended hand with some amusement. "He's basically untouchable," he added, still grinning.

"I have a way around that," I replied, coating my arm in Haki. "This is what I used to defend your last attack," I explained while clenching and unclenching my hand.

"In addition to increasing one's defense and hitting power, it makes the user able to hit a logia devil fruit user's real body," I concluded as I straightened my hand and offered it to him again.

"Fine, but don't blame if you end up dying," he remarked as he took my hand and stood up with some difficulty. "There will be people dying. You can be sure of that," I replied with a smirk as I helped him to his feet.

"But it won't be me or my own," I concluded while shrugging my shoulders as I took out my transponder snail, instructing everyone to meet back at the ship.

"Let's get you patched up before we get that, though," I remarked as I picked up Urouge and carried him like the oversized potato sack he was, making my way back towards the black pearl.

-0-

I came back to the black pearl and had to stop, frowning at the sight of a dozen or so unconscious men neatly stacked on the docks with Wilson sitting not far from them, drinking leisurely.

"Call Doc Q," I instructed Bob, who was lazily leaning on the railing with his back facing me. "Tell him to patch my new friend here," I added as I dropped Urouge after I saw Bob nod and head into the ship.

"So what happened here, big guy?" I asked as I turned to look at Wilson. "They attacked the ship," he replied with a shrug.

"So I killed them," he added, a grin on his face. "I see. Any survivors?" I asked while nodding my head.

"None. These guys were more fragile than I expected," Wilson replied while scratching his head. "No matter, I already know what's happening, and we can catch more if need be," I remarked with a smile.

"So, does that mean I can finally get some action?" Wilson asked with an eager grin on his face. "Not yet. We need to wait for everyone to come back so we can make a plan first," I replied, causing him to sigh in annoyance.

...

"Did Laffite get the Dials I told him about?" I asked Wilson as Doc Q came down from the ship and began working on Urouge's wounds. "Oh, you mean those sea shell thingies?" Wilson asked as he turned to look at me.

"He's getting the last of them with Byron as we speak," he added, pointing towards three barrels neatly placed on top of each other. "Good, we can put those to good use in the future," I remarked as I made my way towards one of the barrels, opening it and smiling in satisfaction at its contents.

"Who is this guy, by the way?" Wilson asked as he turned to look at Urouge, who Doc Q was treating. "Another weirdo?" he asked again after looking at the mad monk's grin.

"He has a bone to pick with the guy who attacked us too," I replied with a smirk. "So he'll be fighting with us, for the meantime," I added with a shrug.

"So, what happened to him?" Wilson asked again, eyeing the exhausted and tattered monk curiously. "That monster you're talking to happened to me," Urouge replied himself, snorting through his grin, causing Wilson to chuckle.

"You're making a habit out of beating up people and befriending them," Wilson said in an amused tone, shaking his head. "Hey, it worked on you, didn't it?" I asked with a shit-eating grin.

"Are you implying that you managed to beat me up?" Wilson asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not implying anything, gorilla brain," I replied with a smile.

"I beat you up, and that's a fact that doesn't need implying," I added with a shrug, quickly stepping to the side to dodge one of Wilson's fists.

"You wanna go at it, you bastard?" Wilson asked with a scowl, retracting his sleeves. "If you want to get beaten up again, then by all means," I replied with a smirk, moving forward fist first in Wilson's direction.

"Are they going to be okay?" Urouge asked with a raised eyebrow as he watched Wilson and me punch the shit out of each other. "Wilson is Johnny's first mate, and they're always at each other's throats," Bob said from the side while watching the fight as well.

"But they have each other's backs when it matters," he added in a casual tone, looking away from the fight as he retrieved a mirror and began grooming his mustache.

Urouge merely shrugged his shoulders and lost interest in the fight at Bob's comment and closed his eyes to get some rest as Doc Q kept working on him.

It wasn't long after that Laffite and byron showed up with the rest of the Dials, stuffed inside barrels that the latter carried in his Crow form while Laffite rode on his back, causing Wilson and me to stop fighting.

"Oh, captain, you're already back," Laffite remarked as he jumped off Byron's back as the latter dropped the barrels, transforming back to his human form and following behind my navigator.

"Who is this person?" Laffite asked in a curious tone as he noticed Urouge. "Another weirdo that Johnny beat up," Wilson murmured from the side, causing Laffite and Byron to chuckle while the mad monk merely sighed, not bothering to say anything.

"His name is Urouge. He'll be fighting with us, but I'll properly introduce him when everyone gets back," I said with a smile, and Laffite nodded.

"By the way, captain, what are those seashells? Dials, I think you called them," Laffite asked again while pointing at the barrels. "They are seashells with special properties," I said as I opened one of the barrels, retrieving a dial with the words tone written on it.

"This one, for example, is a tone dial that records sounds. Look," I said as I pressed the top of the shell, bringing it close to my mouth. "Wilson is an idiot," I said, causing Wilson's eyes to twitch as I let go of the button.

"Wilson is an idiot," my voice came out of the shell as I pressed the button again, causing everyone to look at it with wide eyes. "This one is a simple day-to-day use Dial," I explained as I put it back into the barrel, rummaging through and searching for another type of dial.

"Aha," I exclaimed as I found what I was looking for in the barrel. "This one is a flame dial," I said as I took out the dial with a smile on my face.

"As the name implies, it absorbs flame," I said as I pressed the button and activated my flame thrower, releasing fire into the shell, and it absorbed the flame-like it was nothing.

"It can also release it," I added as I pointed the shell towards the sky and pressed the button again, causing the seashell to release a ball of flame that exploded in the air.

"There are many types of Dials with different uses, but you get the idea," I concluded as I threw the flame dial back into the barrel.

"But these things seem awfully convenient. How come we didn't hear about them before?" Byron asked in a curious tone as he began rummaging through the dials.

"They only seem to exist in sky islands for some reason," I replied with a smile. "What little of them that end on the blue sea below are mostly harmless and barely useful like the tone dials," I added with a shrug.

"So people never took notice of them," I concluded while shaking my head. "I want to ask how you know this, but I know better by now," Laffite jokingly said from the side while shaking his head with a smile, causing me to chuckle.

Everyone else returned from the area they were investigating soon after, and I let everyone rest for an hour before calling a meeting, so we can discuss how we'll go about kicking Lokni's ass or murdering it in this case.

Why am I so set on murdering him, you might ask? Because he has a powerful devil fruit and ambition, which makes him a threat, so I might as well take care of the guy early on, but I digress.

We all gathered on the black pearl's deck as soon as everyone had enough rest.

"Alright, everybody, listen up," I said while loudly clapping my hand once to get everyone's attention. "I found out who attacked us, and now it's only a matter of finding the guy and putting him down," I exclaimed, causing everyone to nod.

"His name is Lokni, a pirate from North Blue, who ate the Logia cloud-cloud fruit," I explained, causing Law to frown.

"I have heard of a pirate called Lokni in North blue, but he's been missing for a while now," Law said with a thoughtful expression. "And I don't recall anything about him having a devil fruit," he added in a confused tone.

"He is indeed a pirate from North Blue, and he ate his devil fruit here in the sky," I replied while nodding my head. "My new friend, Urouge, will explain how that happened," I said, calling out to the mad monk to repeat what he told me to my crew.

-0-

"Believing in human kindness? What a joke," Wilson said after hearing Urouge's story, spitting on the ground in contempt. "We're hardly the worst pirate crew out there, and such a devil fruit would have tempted even us," he reasoned with a disdainful snort.

"No offense," Wilson added as he turned to look at Urouge. "None taken. I'm of the same mind as well," Urouge replied with his usual grin, seemingly not offended at all.

"Still, it will be difficult to deal with a guy who controls clouds in the sky," Law said commented with a frown. "Do we have a plan, captain-YA? he asked as he turned to look at me.

"Do you know what kind of numbers and weapons they have, Urouge?" I asked as I turned to look at the mad monk.