One Piece: Lightning's Heir

"Aaaah!!!"

The intense pain made it impossible for Urouge to keep smiling. He clutched his broken arm, howling in agony on the ground.

Without that unknown fruit, he couldn't transform his pain into power. He couldn't withstand the intense damage.

"Bang!"

Arthur's next punch followed, landing on Urouge's head. Urouge's earth-shattering screams were sure to have been heard by others. This place was no longer safe.

He dragged the two men, one dead, one half-dead. He quickly moved to the edge of the circular cloud path where the Express Shrimp had brought him up. He threw them down.

He spared Urouge's life for now, wanting to see if Urouge could still become a Supernova after this. Could he change the future?

He dealt with them. Arthur picked up the parked Waver. He pressed the switch connected to the Breath Dial. He sped off towards the southeast, as he had calculated.

"Thump-thump-thump-thump!!"

Driving a Waver wasn't easy. It required understanding wind patterns and water currents. But these weren't major problems. Arthur got the hang of it after a few wobbles.

After all, a skilled driver only needed one word to describe them - steady!

The sea breeze blew. Arthur was gradually moving away from Angel Island. He grinned. He stomped on the Breath Dial, accelerating. He rode the waves towards Birka.

...

Not long after Arthur left, a group of armored, winged people arrived at the scene of Arthur and Urouge's fight.

"Captain McKinley, there are signs of a fight. There's blood on the island cloud that hasn't been cleaned up!" A guard said to a Skypiean who had his hand on his forehead, his middle finger pointing upwards.

"Were there any witnesses?" McKinley frowned. "Who was the first to hear the screams?"

Killing was not allowed on Sky Island. The punishment for murder was to be placed on a drift cloud and sent down the Milky Road to the White Sea, where they might be swallowed by a Sea King or eaten by the clouds.

"There were no witnesses. The first to hear the screams was Barl. He was returning from fishing!" The soldier had more to say.

"Captain McKinley, we found a pair of wings over here!" Another guard searching the area found the bird wings Arthur had discarded behind the pavilion. He was shocked.

"What?" McKinley's normally calm face changed color. Wings were the most important thing to Angel Islanders. They took pride in their wings. They wouldn't allow others to touch them. It was the greatest insult.

Now, a pair of wings were here, but the person was gone. A murder had definitely occurred. Who had the audacity to break the rules so brazenly?

"Hurry and report this to God!" This squad of God's Militia immediately cleaned up the scene. They rushed towards God's Island.

...

Arthur was unaware of what was happening behind him. Even if he knew, he wouldn't care. He was far from Angel Island now. Very few people on Angel Island knew where Birka was.

Would they chase him? Even if they did, Arthur wasn't afraid. By then, he was confident he would have obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

He pushed the Waver to its limit. It cut through the water, creating a spray of white.

The sky gradually darkened. The stars were brilliant.

Sky Island was at an altitude of 33,000 feet. So, nighttime was longer than daytime. The stars were more brilliant than on the Blue Sea. The Milky Way seemed within reach. Even the moon was enormous.

He traveled onward.

As time passed, the Waver's power was dwindling. Arthur knew the wind stored in the Breath Dial was running out. He needed to refill it.

He stopped the Waver and lay on the wooden deck to rest. His stomach growled. He had no food reserves. He could only go into the White-White Sea and catch fish to eat raw.

Fortunately, the fish in the White-White Sea were plentiful. And they had no fishy smell. They were fine to eat raw.

After a night's sleep, Arthur woke up and trained on the Waver for two hours. When the sun rose, he continued his journey.

Two whole days passed.

Just as Arthur was about to give up on this direction, an island finally appeared ahead.

From afar, he could see the white shoreline. Green trees stood tall. The whole island was in the White-White Sea.

Smoke was rising from the island. The residents of the island cloud were starting their day. He could smell the aroma of food from thousands of feet away.

Arthur's tense expression finally relaxed. He was certain. This was the island he had dreamed of - Birka!

After some consideration, Arthur decided not to rush onto the island. He spent several hours piloting the Waver around Bika Island, roughly estimating the island's total area.

It wasn't a large island. It was only a bit bigger than Jaya on the Blue Sea. One side was a forest. The other side was where the villagers lived. The population was probably a few thousand.

He parked the Waver in the forest and made sure it was hidden. Arthur landed on the island of his dreams, excited.

He looked at the forest and grinned. His dark eyes were filled with ambition for the future and a thirst for power.

"In this world where Islands and Kingdoms are frequently destroyed, I will not be weak. I will leave a glorious mark, to announce to the world that I was here!!"

...

He walked out of the forest. Arthur entered the populated area.

Neat rows of island cloud buildings. People on the street greeted each other. It seemed peaceful.

They saw Arthur, a stranger. They weren't surprised. They only glanced at his back, at his lack of wings. Then they showed a look of disgust.

"It seems like Enel was bullied and hated on Birka because he didn't have wings, right? They thought he was an outcast, so when he gained power, he destroyed this place that had hurt him!" Arthur ignored everyone's gazes. He strolled leisurely.

At least the Angel Islanders knew that there was a Blue Sea beneath their feet. Blue Sea people didn't have wings. But Birka was different. It was almost completely isolated. They probably had never even heard of the Blue Sea.

Like frogs in a well, they thought their well was the whole world.

"Hehe!"

Arthur smiled indifferently. He walked through the streets. He was looking for Enel.

Other people's gazes didn't affect his mood. Finding the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was the top priority.

"Why is there another wingless freak on Birka?"

"Who knows? He's probably related to that little freak, right?"

People were whispering. Some even shouted at Arthur, making sure he could hear them.

"Such foul mouths. No wonder Enel didn't care about them." Cold light flashed in his eyes. He almost couldn't help but start a massacre.