“Let God's Country have a new owner.”
Hearing Snake Princess’s words, the four Sky Island warriors looked at each other, cold sweat pouring down.
It wasn’t that Sky Island had never had Blue Sea people visit; the Roger Pirates had landed a long time ago, but their landing process was the same as how Luffy and others later entered Sky Island.
First, they rode the Knock-Up Stream to the 7,000-meter White Sea, then passed through a designated passage to enter the 10,000-meter Bai Bai Sea, and then began their adventure from Angel Island.
But Gern and the others arrived directly in one step, rushing into the Bai Bai Sea and directly reaching the vicinity of God's Country.
What was even more terrifying was that the strength they displayed far exceeded their imagination.
Thinking of this, the leading warrior gritted his teeth and finally compromised: “Okay… I will take you to see Gan Fall myself.
But you must guarantee that the others…”
“Don’t worry!” Hearing someone agree to lead the way, Gern waved his hand directly to interrupt: “I’m not interested in killing you; one person to lead the way is enough. The others are just dead weight.”
“I hope you keep your promise.” After speaking, the leading Sky Island warrior nodded to his companions.
Immediately after, he jumped directly onto the warship and began to give directions.
...
In fact, the so-called “God's Country” mainly consists of Angel Island and God Island, “Apayaado.”
Among them, Apayaado, as the “Holy Land,” is the sacred place where the priests reside, and also the core area where the rulers of Sky Island (such as Gan Fall and successive gods) exercise their power.
However, this land was originally part of Jaya Island, which was swept up to Sky Island by the Knock-Up Stream 400 years ago.
But in Sky Island, an environment dominated by sea of clouds, islands like Apayaado with dense forests and fertile land are extremely rare.
Therefore, when it was swept up to the Bai Bai Sea, it naturally became a “sacred place” in the eyes of the Sky Island people, and even “God-given territory.”
Unfortunately, this land was not ownerless, because along with it, the Shandian people, who originally lived on Jaya Island, were also brought into the sky.
But in the face of resources, the Sky Island people unhesitatingly launched a war,
expelling the Shandian people from their homeland and declaring Apayaado as “God's Domain.”
So, in essence, there isn’t much difference between Eneru being a god and Gan Fall being a god.
The only difference is:
Gan Fall & Priests: Adopt a relatively gentle rule over the Sky Island people, allowing them to live on Angel Island.
But they ruthlessly persecuted the Shandian tribe, forbade them from entering the “Holy Land,” and even launched long-term wars to suppress them.
Eneru: Disdains everyone equally, whether Sky Island people or the Shandian tribe; in his eyes, they are all ants.
In short, whether it was Gan Fall or Eneru, their rule was built upon violence and oppression.
It's just that one wore a “gentle” mask, while the other didn't even bother to pretend.
.......
Before long, led by the Sky Island warrior,
a magnificent white temple, located above Apayaado, gradually appeared, standing above the clouds.
Around the temple, there were also countless small Sky Islands made of clouds, with many Sky Island residents busily moving about.
And at the top of the temple, a flag with a strange totem was fluttering in the wind.
“Gan Fall is in there,” the Sky Island warrior said plainly, pointing to the temple.
“However, you’d best not act rashly. The temple guards are not comparable to us.”
“Is that so?” Gern’s smile deepened after hearing the Sky Island warrior’s words.
He glanced at Tesoro, who immediately understood, grabbed the Sky Island warrior by the collar, and unceremoniously threw him off the warship.
The warrior screamed, his body arcing through the air before finally crashing heavily into the nearby jungle, raising a cloud of dust.
“Don’t waste time; go straight through.” Gern, with his hands in his pockets, fixed his gaze on the magnificent temple in the distance.
“Gern, are we just going to barge in like this? Isn’t that a bit too arrogant?”
“Arrogant?” Gern chuckled softly as he looked at Libo, “This is called efficiency.”
Meanwhile, inside the temple.
Gan Fall sat on his large divine throne as usual, his quill pen gently gliding across the documents.
As the sixth god of Sky Island, he had long been accustomed to the day-to-day work of state affairs.
To call him a “god” was more like calling him a king, managing the order of this sky kingdom.
After a while, Gan Fall finally put down his pen, rubbed his somewhat sore neck, and his gaze inadvertently fell on the empty cup at the corner of the table.
Normally, by this time, the priests would have already come to report their work, and the temple would be lively.
But today, the surroundings were eerily quiet.
After all, priests might be late, but those responsible for the maidservants would not be at all.
Thinking of this, Gan Fall frowned and looked up at the clock on the wall.
The hands clearly pointed to the time when the priests, who would 100% appear on a normal day, should have appeared.
“Today’s temple is a bit too quiet…” Gan Fall murmured softly, his finger gently tapping the table.
Suddenly, his movements paused, and his ears twitched slightly.
A faint disturbance seemed to come from afar, but it quickly returned to silence.
Seeing this, Gan Fall’s frown deepened, and he slowly rose from his chair, taking down the knight’s spear that had accompanied him for many years from behind the divine throne.
The spearhead gleamed with a cold light under the lamp, Gan Fall tightened his grip on the spear, his gaze sharply fixed on the temple gate.
“It seems that uninvited guests have broken in…”
Outside the temple, Gern and his group had already stepped onto the cloud ladder leading to the main hall.
The Sky Island guards along the way tried to block them, but under Gern’s Haoshoku intimidation, they all fell to the ground, without even a chance to resist.
“Gern, your Haki is so strong!” Libo looked at the fallen guards and poked them with her hand.
Then she lightly pulled a wing on her back, only to find it was just an ornament!
“This is the first half of the Grand Line,” Gern shrugged. “If I had to personally deal with mere small fry, I’d truly need to go back for a complete overhaul!”
“That’s true.” Libo nodded, putting the wing back on the person.
As they advanced, the temple gate grew closer.
Gern looked up; the gate was tightly shut, and the surroundings were silent.
“It seems our ‘God’ has already noticed us,” Snake Princess chuckled.
Gern did not answer, but simply stepped forward and pushed open the temple gate.
“Creak!” The heavy door hinges made a piercing sound, and the scene behind the door gradually revealed itself to everyone.
“Indeed, you are Blue Sea people!” Gan Fall stood in the center of the hall, his long spear pointed directly at the entrance, his eyes like torches: “Do you know that trespassing on God Island without permission in Sky Island is a capital offense?”
As soon as he spoke, Gan Fall did not hesitate. His long spear cut through the air, the spearhead gleaming with a cold light, aiming straight for Gern’s throat!
However,
Gern merely raised his gaze.
An invisible pressure erupted like a tsunami, and the air in the entire temple seemed to solidify for an instant!
“What?!” Gan Fall’s pupils constricted. Before he could react, an indescribable sense of oppression slammed hard onto his soul!
In an instant, his breathing stopped, his heart felt like it was being squeezed by a giant hand, and his limbs began to tremble uncontrollably.
“Bang!” Gan Fall fell in mid-air, his knees hitting the ground heavily, his long spear slipping from his grasp and rolling to the side.
“This… this is…” Gan Fall struggled to look up, trying to see the man in front of him, but his vision blurred.
No, it was his consciousness resisting!
His instinct was telling him not to look, otherwise… he would die!
“Are you always this enthusiastic upon entering?” Gern still stood in place, hands in his pockets, his expression calm.
“This power…” Gan Fall squeezed out these words through gritted teeth, cold sweat soaking his back.
One must know that Gan Fall was currently the strongest god in Sky Island’s history!
He was also the man known as the “Sky Knight”!
Especially the aura Gern emitted; he had felt a similar pressure when the Roger Pirates landed on Sky Island, trailing behind the fifth god.
But this man in front of him was clearly… even more terrifying!
Watching Gan Fall break out in cold sweat, Gern slowly approached, each step like treading on Gan Fall’s nerves, making him tense up all over.
“From now on…” Gern looked down at him, his tone calm but undeniable,
“I ask, you answer.”
Gan Fall gritted his teeth, trying to resist the oppressive feeling, but his body seemed to betray him, unable to move even a single finger.
Finally, he could only lower his head, his voice hoarse: “What do you want to talk about?”
“I’m looking for someone, a future ‘God’.”
Gan Fall frowned: “A future god? What exactly are you talking about? And…” At this point, Gan Fall was so uncomfortable he couldn't speak.
Seeing this, Gern seemed to realize something, so he slightly reined in his Haoshoku pressure. Gan Fall then breathed a sigh of relief, gasping for air.
“First, you only need to tell me the location of Birka,” Gern said directly.
“Birka?” Gan Fall was startled. “What are you going there for?”
“That’s none of your concern,” Gern said lightly. “You just need to tell me the direction, or…” He glanced at Gan Fall’s trembling hand.
“I can find it myself, but in that case…
Your God's Country might lose a few islands.
After all, I don’t like wasting time.”
Facing Gern’s pressure, Gan Fall’s face turned ashen. He knew that the man in front of him was by no means bluffing.
After a moment of silence, he finally compromised: “Birka is to the southeast of God's Country. It’s a small Sky Island, famous for producing priests, and rarely visited by outsiders.”
“Very good.” Gern nodded in satisfaction, then turned and walked towards the temple gate, with Snake Princess, Tesoro, and Libo following closely behind.
Just as he was about to step out of the doorway, Gern paused, turned his head, and said,
“Oh, and I suggest you don’t think about sending a bunch of annoying flies to follow me afterwards.”
Before his words finished, an invisible pressure suddenly descended once again!
“Otherwise…” He didn’t finish.
But the next moment,
“Boom!!” The residual power of Haoshoku erupted like a tsunami, the air instantly twisted and vibrated, and countless pale cracks appeared out of thin air,
spreading throughout the entire temple like a shattered mirror!
“Crack, crack, crack!!”
In an instant, all items within the temple—
candlesticks, murals, stone pillars, even the floating dust—were all crushed into dust by the force of the vibration!
When the dust settled, the temple was utterly silent.
The left door was slowly blown shut by a sudden strong gust of wind, emitting a heavy “creak,” as if announcing this silent warning.
And Gan Fall remained prostrate on the ground, unable to rise for a long time.
His body was divided by an invisible line, half bathed in the faint light seeping in from outside the door, the other half deeply entrenched in shadow.
Only at this moment did he truly understand:
In the face of absolute power, the so-called “God” was merely the self-importance of an ant.
And the true “God,” perhaps…
was never himself.