Chapter 420: Voyage to Skypiea: The Upstream Adventure

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it to Skypiea in one piece.” After all, they managed it in the original story, and with Ye Fan’s silent support this time, there’s no way anything can go wrong.

“Ahahaha! See, Ye Fan agrees with me—right?”

Luffy burst out laughing, thrilled that Ye Fan thought the same way he did.

“While the rest of you are flailing around pointlessly, the ship’s about to get swallowed by that massive whirlpool up ahead.” Zoro calmly pointed forward. The Going Merry was headed straight for the swirling abyss.

The next moment, the ship plunged through the whirlpool and landed in a tranquil undersea world.

“Where’s the giant whirlpool? Did it just disappear?” Usopp looked around anxiously once the ship landed.

They now floated in total calm, the sea eerily peaceful.

But Nami, face pale with shock as she felt the vibrations beneath her feet, suddenly shouted, “No, that’s not it—a sea eruption is about to start!”

No sooner had Nami spoken than the Merry started rising. The sea around them began to sink away as the ship climbed.

The ship shot upward, tilting the entire cabin. “Everyone, hang on tight!”

Ye Fan hurried from the cabin with dozens of ropes, handing one to each person and tying one end to the mast and the other around everyone’s waists.

The spot where the surface bulged suddenly exploded, and an immense jet of water rocketed the Going Merry toward the sky.

The violent shaking caught Cricket’s attention as he smoked by the shore. “Go, go, go!”

“Let’s see for myself—does Skypiea really exist?”

He’d heard rumors of this so-called sky island from all sorts of sources, but never actually seen it for himself. All he could do was hope Luffy’s crew brought back the truth.

Moments later, the ship shot hundreds of meters into the sky, driven by the rushing current.

The vessel continued ascending, riding the Upstream Current to dizzying heights.

“What’s the science behind this? Why is the ship moving straight up?”

“This is awesome!” Luffy cheered.

“How does this even work?”

Nami took a closer look at the ship’s condition and said, “It’s the wind!”

“Great! That means we’re guaranteed to make it to the sky!”

“Let’s go—Golden Merry!” Luffy clung to his prized seat, raising a fist to the heavens.

Under Ye Fan’s direction, several wooden arms extended from the ship’s hull, gripping the Upstream Current to stop the ship from being tossed down.

Right then, an endless rain of wooden debris suddenly fell from the sky.

“Those must be the casualties of the sea current below.”

“We’re doomed. This time we’re seriously doomed.”

“Falling from this high straight into the sea? We’re totally dead meat.”

But Nami felt the wind blasting up from below, so she quickly ordered Johnny and Yosaku to unfurl the sails.

She had no idea that Ye Fan was using his power all along to stabilize the ship.

The moment the sails were up, the Merry shot forward, racing toward the clouds. At the same time, Nami realized she really could control the ship on the open sea.

If she thought of the rising current as a boost, Nami could handle steering the ship with no problem.

“Nami, are we almost at Skypiea?” Luffy, feeling the ship flying ahead, excitedly called out to Nami at the back.

He was already itching with anticipation, wondering what kind of adventure was waiting above.

Nami grabbed a railing and pointed upward. “If it really exists, it’s got to be just beyond those clouds.”

Everyone looked where she pointed. “Up there, huh?”

“What do you think is waiting for us up there?”

“Head for the Cumulo Gate!”

The ship was so fast it shot through the Cumulo Gate in a blink, revealing a sea of pure white clouds, yet the Merry didn’t slow down at all.

As the ship climbed higher, the air thinned and everyone found it harder to breathe.

With a crashing roar, the ship broke away from the massive Upstream Current and landed with a thud on a vast sea of white.

“Everyone, look!”

Luffy recovered in barely ten seconds, jumping up to take in their surroundings. They were completely wrapped in clouds.

“It’s all white… Are we really standing on a cloud?”

“Why aren’t we falling through?”

“Why not?”

“Clouds can totally be solid, you know.”

“Since when?!”

As everyone bickered, Ye Fan walked up and collected all their ropes, stowing them back in the cabin.

When he came out again, he said, “We’re only halfway up—this is just the middle of the Cumulo Clouds.”

“We’ll have to go even higher to reach the real Skypiea.”

Nami glanced down at her Log Pose. “Yeah, the pointer still says up.”

“So how do we get up there?”

“Hey, look over there.” Everyone followed Ye Fan’s finger and spotted an enormous gate in that direction.

It was so gigantic the bottom was out of sight, and the top pierced the sky—no one could measure how big it really was.

“Yoshi! That’s our destination, right? Let’s head out!”

With Gin at the helm, the ship sailed for the gate. To everyone’s amazement, the Merry glided over the clouds just like it did on the Blue Sea.

“Whoa, there’s someone up there! Sh-she’s got wings!” Chopper peered through the telescope at the platform by the gate where an old lady with a pair of white wings on her back came out and snapped photos of them.

“It’s an angel! Is that what all angels look like? Kinda reminds me of pickled plums!” Trust Luffy to think of food first.

“Ah… Whoa.”

“I’m Amazon, gatekeeper of Heaven’s Gate. You here to sightsee, or looking for a fight?”

“Should I say sightseeing… or something else?”

While Luffy hesitated, Ye Fan stepped forward and tossed a small bag of quilts to her. “We’re just tourists—thanks for all your work!”

No one could tell what the old lady did next, but from below the cloud sea, two gigantic claws shot up and grabbed onto the Merry’s sides.

“What just grabbed us?!”

“Not good—the Merry’s caught!”

As Zoro raised his sword to cut them loose, Amazon spoke again: “That’s the White Sea’s specialty—the Express Lobster.”

Sounded like a mode of transportation. Zoro sheathed his sword. The next instant, a massive scarlet lobster burst out of the water, hoisting the Merry aboard and hurtling up the winding southern sea at breakneck speed.

“That’s one giant shrimp.”

“Man, this thing is fast!”

“Is it just going to fight against the current the whole way?”

“Hang tight, everyone! We’re picking up speed!”

“There’s a road up ahead!”

As they rounded the next bend, a long and winding road unfurled before them—if they followed it, they’d make it to Skypiea.

“There’s a sign up ahead—what does it say?” Usopp’s sharp eyes caught a glimpse of the road sign.

Too bad he couldn’t read the writing. Truth was, on the whole ship, only Robin, Sanji, and Chopper had ever gone to school long enough to recognize more than a few words.

“It’s ‘Land of the Gods.'”

Robin, the scholar, immediately recognized the meaning of the script.

As the Express Lobster rumbled on, a dazzling light appeared over the sign.

“That’s no exit—that’s the entrance!”

In a flash, the Express Lobster flung the massive Merry through the air.