Three days later, after leaving the Alabasta Kingdom behind, Gojo was traveling aboard his ship. He stood quietly on the deck, a newspaper spread open in his hands, the pages fluttering faintly with the sea breeze. Printed clearly on the front page was an image of a defeated Crocodile, shackled and being arrested by the Marines. Beneath the image, the headline named the one responsible for his downfall—Luffy, Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Gojo's eyes lingered on the photo for a moment longer than necessary.
Although Crocodile had been heavily injured by Gojo himself, the result still surprised him. Crocodile had already awakened Observation Haki, yet he still lost. That alone is strange, Gojo thought. But as his mind worked through the possibilities, the outcome began to make more sense. Crocodile had only recently awakened his Observation Haki and clearly hadn't mastered it yet. It was entirely possible that he couldn't use it properly in the heat of battle against Luffy. After all, if Crocodile had been able to use his Observation Haki adeptly during that fight, defeating Luffy should have been easy.
Or perhaps the battle had dragged on—maybe Crocodile defeated Luffy once, only for Luffy to recover again and return to the fight, pushing past his limits and winning in the end. That scenario seemed even more likely when Gojo considered one crucial factor: Crocodile had been severely injured in their previous battle. Most probably, he hadn't fully recovered by the time he faced Luffy.
All of this, however, was nothing more than Gojo's own speculation. None of the details were mentioned in the newspaper. It only recorded the result, not the process that led to it. Still, as Gojo folded the paper slightly, a faint sense of amusement crossed his mind. It seemed that Luffy's luck as the protagonist was still working, even after Gojo's interference in the plot. In the end, Crocodile couldn't escape his fate—captured, defeated, and destined for imprisonment in Impel Down.
Till now, Gojo hadn't received his updated bounty poster, even though he was certain it should have arrived by now. Something had clearly delayed its publication. Gojo's suspicion wasn't wrong—after he defeated Crocodile, a bounty had indeed been set on his head. However, before the Marines could fully publish and circulate it, the news of Crocodile being defeated once again by the Straw Hat Pirates reached Marine Headquarters.
Because of that, the Marines decided to publish and update the bounty posters simultaneously—both for Luffy and for Gojo Satoru. The updates had already been finalized two days ago, but Gojo still hadn't seen his own. Every newspaper that reached his ship so far lacked his updated bounty poster, leaving him with nothing more than patience and mild curiosity. So it's out there somewhere, he thought calmly, just not in my hands yet.
After folding the newspaper, Gojo stood up and walked toward the front of the ship. The wind brushed past him as his eyes settled on the distant outline of land. An island shore was coming into view, growing clearer with every passing moment, and it was only a matter of time before he docked. From the basic world map he had found in Crocodile's treasure stash, Gojo already knew where he was headed—the island of Jaya.
Soon enough, his ship docked along the shore of Jaya. The wood creaked softly as it settled, and Gojo stepped down onto the land without hesitation. He began roaming through the town, moving at an unhurried pace, taking in the atmosphere around him. But sightseeing didn't mean carelessness. Even as he walked through Jaya, he never truly left his ship unattended.
With his Observation Haki spread out subtly, Gojo kept a constant eye on his ship from afar, ensuring no one dared to touch it. After all, Jaya was an island crawling with pirates, pirate hunters, and all sorts of criminals from countless places. Leaving anything unguarded here was an invitation to those criminals, like saying, 'Come and take my treasures away.'
Gojo searched for a pub where he could gather information for his next journey—his next destination being Water 7. Mainly, this stop was necessary because his Log Pose would take time to reset. Gojo didn't have an Eternal Pose to Water 7; otherwise, he wouldn't have stopped here at all. His ship was already fully stocked for travel. Food, supplies—everything was taken care of. As for meat, he preferred catching large fish from the sea and eating them fresh rather than relying on stored provisions.
After entering the pub, Gojo glanced around briefly before finding an empty seat at the counter. He took the seat and rested one arm against the wood. A middle-aged bartender wiped a glass clean and looked at him before speaking.
"What would you like to order, young man?"
Gojo replied calmly, "Bring me the best dishes you have. And I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."
The bartender nodded at his words. He gestured to one of the waiters to bring the food and then turned his attention back to Gojo. "Alright then. What would you like to ask, young man?"
Gojo said, "Can you tell me how long it will take for a Log Pose to reset here on the island of Jaya?"
As soon as the bartender heard the question, he answered without hesitation. "It'll take you around two days for your Log Pose to reset."
Gojo nodded slightly, acknowledging the answer as he leaned back against the counter, waiting for his food to arrive.
Just then, the bartender spoke again, his tone turning casual. "Honestly speaking, you're quite lucky. Your Log Pose didn't malfunction like a few others."
Gojo's eyes sharpened at that. "Malfunction?" he asked. "What do you mean by that?"
The bartender continued, "Some Log Poses start acting strange and end up pointing toward the sky instead."
The moment Gojo heard that, his interest was piqued. He leaned forward slightly and asked, "What do you mean the Log Pose starts pointing toward the sky?"
As soon as the bartender heard that, he studied Gojo for a moment before asking, "You're coming from the Alabasta side, right?"
Gojo nodded.
The bartender continued, lowering his voice slightly as if the walls themselves might be listening. "Many times—though only for a few unfortunate groups—the Log Pose starts pointing toward the sky due to a malfunction in the area around the island of Jaya."
As soon as Gojo heard that, he replied, "What do you mean by malfunction? If so many Log Poses are malfunctioning around that area, then doesn't that mean there must be some kind of land or island in the sky or something like that, toward which the Log Pose is pointing?"
(A/N: As Gojo's ship never passed beneath the sky island, his Log Pose didn't pick up the signal.)
The bartender let out a short breath, half a sigh, half a scoff. "There is a rumour—just a rumour—that there's a Sky Island floating above us somewhere around here. But no one has ever been able to reach it. Many who tried ended up dying in the attempt." He shook his head slightly. "So right now, it's nothing more than a legend. Most people don't really believe in it."
The moment Gojo heard this, he immediately understood that none of it could be a coincidence. A Log Pose doesn't point randomly. If it was constantly pointing toward the sky—if so many Log Poses were malfunctioning in the same way—then there was only one logical explanation. There had to be land in the sky, a real piece of terrain that the Log Pose was reacting to, drawing the needle upward toward it.
With his interest now fully piqued, Gojo asked, "What else do you know about this Sky Island? Where is it exactly? Are there any other rumours about it?"
As soon as the bartender heard that, he nodded slowly. "Yes. It's said that the island is filled with riches. And on that Sky Island," he paused for effect, "there's a city made entirely of gold."
As soon as Gojo heard that, he was genuinely surprised—but at the same time, deeply skeptical. In his previous life, he had heard countless rumours about cities made entirely of gold, whether in the Amazon rainforest or other remote places. Every single one of them had turned out to be false, nothing more than exaggerated legends that collapsed under scrutiny. Because of that, Gojo couldn't help but doubt this story as well.
And even if there was even a speck of truth to it, there was another problem. By now, such an island would have already been taken over by the World Government. Gojo had seen firsthand just how powerful the World Government truly was—and just how greedy those bastard Celestial Dragons were. They wouldn't leave something like that untouched, he thought coldly.
If Gojo's enthusiasm had been around six or seven on a scale of ten before hearing about the Sky Island, it now dropped sharply to barely two or three. The initial spark of curiosity dimmed almost as soon as it had flared.
There was also another factor holding him back. Gojo didn't know the full details of the plot around this period of time. He only knew about Crocodile and Vivi because they appeared in later episodes of One Piece that he had watched in his previous life. He had specifically researched them because they seemed like important characters, and understanding their backstories had been necessary to grasp the broader plot. Beyond that, however, much of what lay ahead was unfamiliar territory.
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