The god Gan Fall referred to was naturally Rosse.
In fact, Gan Fall recognized Sanji at a glance, recognizing him as Rosse's biological son.
But he was a native of Conis's hometown, so naturally, from the bottom of his heart, he stood on Conis's side.
That girl was also a child he had watched grow up.
Since this was a task Conis had secretly entrusted to him, and considering that Sanji clearly did not look like he intended to expose her in public, he was naturally happy to play along and continue the act.
"Who is your god?"
Sanji suppressed the overwhelming speechlessness in his heart and asked through gritted teeth.
This was not a question he wanted to ask at all.
It was that troublesome little sister of his asking the question through his mouth again.
Hearing this, Gan Fall slightly furrowed his brows, clearly somewhat puzzled.
Sanji obviously knew. Why ask such an unnecessary question?
But in the next second, an idea suddenly came to him. His expression instantly turned stern, and he straightened his back and solemnly said, "Our god is called... the Lord of Hell!"
'The Lord of Hell?'
Sanji rolled his eyes hard in his heart.
Nowadays, even Hell was under the control of the World Government.
In other words, wasn't his old man basically equivalent to being the Lord of Hell?
When all was said and done, wasn't it still the same person?
That little sister of his really didn't dare let even the slightest bit of absurdity touch this story she had made up.
Even so, this title was already intimidating enough.
"Pfft! A god of a Sky Island hanging ten thousand meters in the sky actually calls himself the Lord of Hell?"
Yasopp endured the pain in his abdomen, but upon hearing this, he couldn't hold back and let out a laugh.
In his view, this was simply a bumpkin from some remote little place who had never seen much of the world and therefore dared to take such an absurdly grand title.
Shk!
However, in the very next instant, the mocking smile on his face froze.
At some point, Gan Fall's lance had struck him again.
If Usopp hadn't been right beside him, staring at him with amusement, forcing him to endure it for the sake of that little bit of pride, he probably would already have been unable to bear the pain.
"One who insults the god should naturally be punished."
Gan Fall withdrew his lance. His tone was calm, yet carried a cold sense of intimidation.
"Sky Knight, please show mercy!"
Seeing this, Sanji hurriedly obediently raised both hands again, lowering his posture as much as possible, "We are willing to respect the god and leave ourselves to your judgment. The World Government will naturally step forward and pay to have us released on bail."
In truth, he had no idea how to get through the Sky Island checkpoint.
But since Conis had specifically sent Gan Fall, her intention could not have been clearer.
She had no intention of letting them pass right now.
Even if Sanji gave everything he had at this moment and risked his life, there was absolutely no way he could get through this checkpoint.
As one of the elders who had followed Rosse ever since Sky Island was conquered, and after working diligently for all these years and willingly following Conia and Rosse, Gan Fall would not mistreat his own people.
Sanji knew very well that his old man had already raised this old man's strength to the S+ level.
And that wasn't even all.
With Conis secretly manipulating things from behind the scenes, even an opponent of the same level would have absolutely no chance of crossing Gan Fall's natural barrier.
After all, this was Conis's home ground.
Even without Vivi's Yahweh Devil Fruit and its divine kingdom power capable of covering an area, the fruit in Conis's hands that could alter fate was still capable of displaying power far beyond the ordinary within the territory she knew best.
She knew every blade of grass and every tree, every person and every matter in the surrounding area like the back of her hand. Therefore, every time she tugged at the threads of fate, the price she had to pay was much smaller.
The moment this old-and-young combination appeared, it had already revealed a cruel fact.
The Sky Island checkpoint could no longer be forcefully crossed through sheer strength.
Thus...
Under the threat of Gan Fall's frightening lance, Luffy, Sanji, along with the injured members of the Red Hair Pirates, were all disarmed.
Like prisoners awaiting judgment, they were escorted step by step toward the prison deep within Angel Island.
There was nothing they could do. They couldn't beat them, so they could only surrender first out of respect.
———
Far from the noise of the Going Merry, Crocodile and Shanks stood side by side, hovering above a sea of clouds not far from Upper Yard.
The view here was open. That primitive island decorated with luxurious palaces quietly floated before them.
Close at hand, yet seemingly separated by an impassable gulf.
The surrounding air was strangely quiet. Apart from the occasional cloud wind passing by, there was only the sound of their respective breathing.
Crocodile held a cigar in his mouth, narrowed his eyes, and carefully examined the island from beginning to end.
Shanks, meanwhile, folded his arms with his one arm. His expression was solemn, and his gaze repeatedly swept over the seemingly calm airspace at the edge of the island.
After a long while...
"See anything?"
Crocodile spoke first, his tone calm yet probing.
"The location where the lightning barrier erupted just now."
Shanks raised his hand and pointed toward a seemingly ordinary patch of airspace on the eastern side of the island, "Roughly in that area. But the problem is, from the angle we're standing at now, compared with the direction the Going Merry collided with it just now, we're nearly ninety degrees off."
He paused, a trace of cold light passing through his eyes, "If that sea of lightning is really a trap fixed in one location, then this direction should be safe."
"But you don't believe that," Crocodile gave a mocking laugh and exhaled smoke, "Neither do I. And with something like this, you can tell without even testing it."
"That's right."
Shanks slowly nodded, "That lightning barrier appeared too quickly just now. It didn't look like some dead thing that had been set up in advance. Instead, it looked like someone was watching us and specifically sending it over."
"Alive."
Crocodile hit the nail on the head, "Or, more accurately, controlled."
The two exchanged a glance, understanding each other without words.
As men who had dominated the seas for many years, they both understood.
The island before them was definitely not simple.
If they wanted to figure out what it was hiding, they first had to understand whether that lightning barrier was dead or alive.
Was it a fixed defense, or could it adjust in real time according to the intruder's position?
And what would they encounter if they advanced from two directions?
It wasn't that they had disagreed with Yasopp's approach before. They simply didn't want Luffy to take the risk.
Either of them could protect himself, but adding Luffy, who had only barely reached C-level strength, made things harder to say.
"Test it?", Shanks suggested.
"Just what I had in mind," Crocodile raised his hook hand, "I'll go first. You observe."
Shanks nodded and stepped back half a pace, but his gaze remained firmly fixed on the seemingly calm airspace at the edge of the island, not missing the slightest movement.
Crocodile took a deep breath, and both his arms suddenly transformed into countless grains of sand.
The sand gathered and rotated in midair, forming in the blink of an eye a sand spear dozens of meters long.
"Go."
He gave a low shout and swung his artificial hand forward.
Whoosh!
The sand spear carried a sharp whistle as it tore through the air, shooting straight toward the eastern edge of the island.
Its speed was extremely fast, and its angle was tricky, specifically targeting the blind spot that the lightning barrier had not covered just now.
However, at the instant the sand spear was about to touch the island's boundary...
Rumble!
The sky changed color once again.
The originally clear blue sky was swallowed in an instant by a layer of heavy dark clouds.
Countless purple bolts of lightning exploded out of nowhere, precisely gathering directly in front of the sand spear and forming an impenetrable barrier of lightning.
Crackle!
The sand spear plunged headfirst into the sea of lightning and was instantly overwhelmed and shattered by the violent electricity, becoming charred grains of sand that drifted down.
"Tch!"
Crocodile's brows tightened.
"Just as expected," Shanks said in a deep voice, "It moves, and its reaction speed is extremely fast, with almost no delay."
He raised his head and looked into the depths of the dark clouds, "Either someone is secretly monitoring and controlling it in real time. Or..."
He paused, "This island itself is alive."
"Which do you lean toward? I think it's alive itself."
As Crocodile spoke, he gathered sand again.
This time, he did not form a single attack, but divided the countless grains of sand into three.
Three sand spears formed simultaneously, arranged in a triangular pattern, each aimed at the eastern, southeastern, and northeastern directions of the island.
"Go together!"
The three sand spears shot out simultaneously, almost at the same instant, rushing toward the boundary of Upper Yard from different angles.
Yet that lightning barrier did the same thing at the exact same moment.
Rumble! Rumble!
Three seas of lightning appeared almost simultaneously in the three directions, precisely intercepting all three sand spears.
"It responded to three directions at the same time," Crocodile's expression turned ugly, "That reaction speed, striking after the attack yet arriving first, doesn't look like human control."
"Not necessarily," Shanks narrowed his eyes, "It could also be that the person is stronger than we can imagine."
"Tch! Someone like that would stand here and play house with us?"
Before Crocodile could finish his mocking remark, Shanks drew his sword.
"I'll do it."
A layer of deep Armament Haki wrapped around the blade.
Immediately afterward, an overwhelming pressure that seemed to rule over everything surged from his body and poured entirely into the blade.
Conqueror's Haki coating!
"Divine Departure!"
He slashed.
It was a slash powerful enough to tear apart the sky.
Black sword energy carried destructive force, crossing hundreds of meters before crashing down toward the western edge of the island.
Wherever it passed, the air was forcibly torn open into a vacuum-like crack, while the sea of clouds churned and rolled backward.
BOOM!
The sea of lightning descended once again.
But this time, at the instant the violent lightning collided with the slash, it was forcibly split open.
The black sword energy pressed forward with unstoppable force, carving a passage through the sea of lightning and heading straight for the edge of the island.
"It got through?", Crocodile's eyes lit up.
But the next second...
Hum!
The gap that had been cut open instantly closed.
More lightning surged in like a tide, completely swallowing the remaining force of the slash.
At the same time, the entire sea of lightning suddenly expanded, its range increasing several times over and even covering the safe area where the two had originally been standing.
"Retreat!"
Shanks's expression suddenly changed. He grabbed Crocodile by the shoulder and explosively retreated.
Crocodile likewise instantly turned into sand, scattering and reforming with the wind, narrowly avoiding several pillars of lightning that came crashing down.
Only after the two retreated several hundred meters did the sea of lightning slowly recede like a tide, returning to calm.
"We've tested it."
Shanks sheathed his sword, his expression solemn, "It doesn't just block you. It can chase you too. Once it determines that you're a threat, it will actively expand its range and cover you as well. These rigid characteristics make it look more like a man-made barrier than something someone is controlling."
"The main thing is that its strength is extremely high!"
Crocodile said in a deep voice, "It could respond to my three sand spears simultaneously. Your slash broke through a gap, but it immediately filled it, and then immediately counterattacked."
"Or perhaps..."
Shanks raised his head and looked at that silent golden island, speaking word by word:
"This island itself is a trap. A trap specially made for us."
Silence.
Both of them guessed that this was a trap.
But if it was a trap, that also meant that what was inside was important enough.
Shanks understood Rosse.
This was an open plot.
Only if the things on the island were important enough would they have no choice but to enter.
And Rosse had always been someone who was not stingy.
After a long while, Crocodile spoke, "Keep testing?"
"Yes."
Fighting spirit burned in Shanks's eyes, "I refuse to believe it can really be flawless."
Since Rosse wasn't even planning to show himself, what did he have to fear?
As for Juste's matter, thirty days from now, based on his understanding of Rosse, if he was going to die, it would be then.
At worst, let Crocodile stay here.
It would only be a necessary sacrifice.
"Then let's change the way we play."
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Crocodile's mouth.
This time, he did not form an attack. Instead, he spread both arms wide, and countless grains of sand poured out like a waterfall.
The sand continuously gathered and compressed in midair, forming in the blink of an eye an extremely thick sand wall a hundred meters high.
"You break through the defense, and I'll block the lightning," Crocodile said in a deep voice, "Do it at the same time. Let's see whether it can handle both sides."
"Got it!"
Shanks smiled knowingly and drew his sword again.
The next instant, the sand wall acted as a shield and thundered forward, charging straight toward the island's edge.
And at the instant the sand wall was about to touch that forbidden area, Shanks's slash simultaneously swept out from the side of the sand wall.
One attacking and one defending, advancing at the same time.
Rumble!
As expected, the sea of lightning descended.
But this time, it split into two streams.
One struck toward the sand wall, while the other intercepted the slash.
Crackle!
Bang!
Under the lightning strikes, most of the sand wall instantly collapsed, but its huge mass ultimately bought the slash that brief opening.
The black sword energy took the opportunity to advance, and actually touched the inside of the island.
At that moment, an invisible barrier appeared, accompanied by the sound of glass breaking.
Crack!
"We've got something!"
Crocodile's eyes lit up.
But the next moment...
Hum!
The entire Upper Yard Island began to tremble.
The dark clouds in the sky rapidly gathered at a visible speed.
Countless bolts of lightning poured down like raindrops, no longer merely intercepting them, but instead bombarding the area where the two were with overwhelming force.
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