One Piece: Chopping Ace Back to Foosha Village at the Start

Mock Town was located at one end of Jaya Island. On the other side lived Mont Blanc Cricket, a descendant of the legendary "Liar" Mont Blanc Noland. For centuries, the Cricket family had been searching for the mythical City of Gold in an attempt to clear their ancestor's name.

To that end, Cricket had dedicated his life to researching the ocean currents around Jaya. His most important discovery was the knock-up stream a powerful undersea geyser. In the original tale, Luffy had used that very current to reach Sky Island. That was also the only method Wayne knew of, so he planned to do the same.

It didn't take long for Wayne to find Cricket. With that giant chestnut-shaped head, he was hard to miss.

When Cricket heard that Wayne was trying to reach Sky Island, he was thrilled. He believed the City of Gold was up there in the clouds, and if Wayne succeeded, it would prove Noland had told the truth.

Cricket eagerly shared all the intel he had. "The knock-up stream is a rare natural phenomenon near Jaya. It erupts five times a month. You're in luck. The next major eruption is tomorrow. If you're going, you better get ready now!"

Wayne nodded. Without wasting time, he led his crew aboard the Apocalypse and steered toward the designated location.

They were going to ride the knock-up stream straight into the sky.

...

"Hey, Kuro, how long do we have to wait?" asked Golia, pacing impatiently.

"No idea. But the boss said we'll be in the sky by today," Kuro replied, arms crossed, eyes on the sea.

The waiting dragged on, especially for Golia, who wore her boredom like a scowl. She couldn't wait to see Sky Island for herself.

Robin, on the other hand, was delighted. She busied herself collecting random debris falling from above, analyzing them through a magnifying glass. "This piece of wood is at least three hundred years old. And this box... it could be five hundred." She looked every bit the scholar she was.

Wayne, meanwhile, sat at the bow of the ship, eyes closed in meditation. He was listening to the rhythm and breath of all things training his swordsmanship through spiritual focus.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. He felt the entire ship begin to vibrate ever so slightly.

He stood up and shouted to the crew, "Brace yourselves! We're going to the sky!"

—

In the world of pirates, the oceans below including the Four Seas and the Grand Line were known collectively as the Blue Sea. Above 7,000 meters was the White Sea, and even higher, beyond 10,000 meters, lay the White-White Sea where the legendary Sky Island floated.

Ten thousand meters. To put it into perspective, that was about the cruising altitude of a mid-sized jet in Wayne's past life. An area most people would recognize as the stratosphere.

With a thunderous roar, the knock-up stream erupted. The Apocalypse surged upward, accelerating at an astonishing speed.

"Aaaahhhhhhh!"

"Holy crap! AAAAAHHHH!"

"Oh my god we're gonna die—!"

All Wayne could hear were two things: the screams of his crew and the howling wind.

As humans ascend rapidly, the drastic change in air pressure causes an instinctive reaction people open their mouths and scream, a subconscious defense mechanism to equalize pressure.

The second sound was even more intense the thunderclap of air tearing apart as the ship neared supersonic speed. That alone spoke volumes about the power of the current.

"What a miserable feeling," Wayne muttered, trying to keep calm.

His tone was steady, but there was a subtle waver brought on by the sudden weightlessness.

Wayne would die before admitting it out loud, but he might have a tiny bit of acrophobia.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Apocalypse pierced through the White Sea and continued to ascend.

"We made it. Sky Island..."

Wayne felt the thinness of the air immediately. Even his stamina was being taxed by the altitude. Only those native to Sky Island could adapt so naturally to this environment.

Sure enough, his crew showed signs of altitude sickness sluggish movements and pale faces.

"Pull yourselves together!" Wayne barked. "This isn't the Grand Line anymore. You've got one hour to adapt to the height!"

The Apocalypse floated along the surface of the White-White Sea.

"Hey! What's that?" Golia pointed, startled.

Wayne followed her gaze. After a moment, he smiled. "Ah, express lobsters. Now those are useful."

Express lobsters were giant shrimp-like creatures that lived in the White-White Sea. Incredibly fast, they were often used to pull ships across the clouds.

"Although, just one won't be enough to move the Apocalypse."

Soon enough, Wayne had wrangled a few more express lobsters. With their help, the ship zipped across the fluffy sea toward an enormous gate.

A small elderly woman with a crooked back greeted them, hand outstretched. "Entry fee. Ten billion extols per person."

"What?! Ten billion?!" Kuro and Golia cried out in unison.

"You've got to be kidding, Grandma!" Golia fumed. "That's daylight robbery!"

Thwack!

Wayne smacked Golia lightly on the head.

He turned to the crew. "The local currency here is extols. One extol equals ten thousand beli. So ten billion extols... is just a hundred thousand beli per person."

Then he glanced over his crew more than twenty of them.

"Two million plus... that's not too bad."

He handed over a pouch of pre-exchanged currency to the old woman. She counted it, nodded, and allowed them entry.

Welcome to Angel Island.

—

"Boss, what exactly are we here for?" Kuro asked as they stepped onto the soft, cloud-covered land. The rest of the crew gathered around, nodding curiously.

Wayne held up three fingers.

"There are three treasures on Sky Island right now."

"First," he said, "is a Logia-type Devil Fruit one of the strongest known. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Its destructive power is unmatched among elemental fruits."

The crew gasped. A Logia fruit like that could turn any ordinary man into a monster. And if Wayne already terrifying got his hands on it?

They could be looking at a future Emperor of the Sea.

"Second," Wayne continued, "is the legendary City of Gold Pandora. A place overflowing with gold. Estimated total value? Several hundred billion beli."

The crew nearly fainted.

Wayne might be rich, but keeping a massive pirate crew running wasn't cheap. Unlike other Warlords, he didn't plunder indiscriminately, so this treasure trove meant everything.

Finally, Wayne turned to Robin and said, "The third treasure... is a massive stone slab inscribed with the Poneglyph."

Robin's heart skipped a beat.

A Poneglyph.

The very thing she had been searching for her entire life.