Chapter 423: Skypiea’s Trial of the Holy Knights

[Pass the First Trial of the Gods and you’ll qualify for the Divine Guard!]

[Clear the Second Trial of the Gods and you can participate in the official Holy Knights selection!]

[Complete the Third Trial and you’ll become a formal member of the Holy Knights!]

[Conquer the Fourth Trial and not only will you become captain of the Holy Knights—you’ll also receive a ton of gold!]

You’re free to quit at any time, but if you do, all previous rewards will be canceled.

The trials will begin in three days.

Nami’s eyes locked onto the words ‘a ton of gold’ and never looked back. She was practically drooling at the thought.

She might not have much formal education, but when it came to gold and Berries, Nami could calculate the exchange rate in a heartbeat. “Five hundred and twenty million Berries?”

“Hey Nami, what are you staring at?” Usopp snapped her out of her fantasy.

Nami, fuming, punched Luffy hard, but then went right back to hugging the registration form and grinning like a fool.

The others could only stare at her, a chorus of question marks popping up in their minds.

After hearing Usopp’s words, Nami turned and her eyes practically turned to gold. Teeth bared and nails ready, she pointed straight at the registration desk. “Move it! Every single one of you, go sign up now.”

Right now, Nami was desperately hoping everyone would make it through the Fourth Trial without a hitch. That would mean a whopping 5.7 billion Berries—an amount that set her heart racing.

To put things in perspective, the most money she’d ever seen in her life was the 500 million Berries from Alabasta, and they’d burned through tens of millions of that just on food, weapons, and equipment.

She’d been hoping for another side job to save up some extra cash, but she never dreamed this kind of opportunity would just fall into her lap.

So under Nami’s threats and temptations, the whole group ended up registering for the trials, and everyone’s eyes went wide at the rewards listed on the back.

“Five hundred million?”

“Do the people running this place really have that much money?” Even Robin was taken aback. Places like Alabasta were considered massive kingdoms.

Even their national treasury might only keep a few billion Berries in reserves and had to use that money to keep their army paid and the country running.

Maybe this is the perk of not being squeezed dry by the World Government.

“So that’s how it is, Nami.” Usopp looked over the prize amount, thinking aloud. “If we win, all that money should be ours to hold onto, right?”

Thinking back, the pile of cash Ye Fan gave them at Loguetown had almost run out. Never underestimate how fast this crew can burn through money.

“Oh, it’s you guys!” Conis rolled up with her little cart and stopped right in front of the group.

“But don’t underestimate how tough it is. Since the Holy Knights’ trials began, only three people have ever made it to the Fourth Trial.”

She’d overheard Usopp and Nami’s conversation and stopped out of curiosity—turns out, it was the same group she’d just seen down by the Sea of Clouds.

Most people on the island aim to clear the Second Trial, maybe push themselves to reach the Third.

Very few have the nerve to actually attempt the Fourth, which is why Conis was so surprised; news doesn’t travel slowly here, and challengers include plenty of top pirates from the New World.

Even then, just three have succeeded. She really didn’t hold out much hope for Luffy’s crew.

“Beautiful lady, this flower would look perfect on you.” Sanji, out of nowhere, produced a rose and rushed over to Conis, offering it up with both hands like a lovesick puppy.

“Thanks for the flower. By the way, what’s your name?”

“Ah, my lovely angel, it’s my honor! My name is Sanji.”

Duang!

Nami’s fist clenched harder and harder. She pounded Sanji’s head straight into the ground.

“Quit flirting already, Sanji!”

“Could you maybe explain the Fourth Trial to us? I really want to know why it’s so tough to clear.”

Honestly, Nami’s thoughts weren’t hard to guess. It was all about that sky-high cash prize.

“Of course, just give me a moment.” Conis glanced at her little cart and then apologized to the group.

“It seems there’s actually an explanation. The Fourth Trial is overseen by the ‘God’ here.” Robin pointed to a line at the bottom of the Fourth Trial: ‘Trial of the Gods—Challenge the Thunder God!’

That was the whole explanation—short and not especially helpful. The crew could only guess at who this Thunder God might be, for someone to be confident enough to issue this kind of challenge.

They also didn’t know that Skypiea led straight into the New World.

“Huh? Where did Luffy go?”

“It’s not just Luffy! Zoro, Sanji, and Ye Fan are missing too!” Chopper was so worried he started stomping his hooves.

Aside from Johnny and the other two, only Nami, Robin, Chopper, and Usopp were left. The rest had vanished without a trace.

“Luffy’s over there, Zoro’s in that direction, Sanji’s not hard to guess—just look that way, and Ye Fan’s there too.”

Following Robin’s finger, they spotted Luffy stuffing his face at a banquet table, Zoro chugging back wine, Sanji surrounded by girls, and Ye Fan sitting off to the side, laughing to himself.

“Seriously, these guys are going to drain us dry again.” Nami knew all too well how expensive things were here—way pricier than in the Blue Sea.

Not to mention, the currency here was different, stamped with a dragon’s head. And the exchange rate to Berries was 1:10.

Just earlier, they’d made a bit of a blunder—turns out the first thing Luffy ate wasn’t twenty thousand Berries, it was twenty thousand Dragon Coins, which equals two hundred thousand Berries.

Looking at Luffy’s table now, with plates stacked as high as a grown man, she could only imagine how much more they’d end up spending.

In no time, three huge lumps on their heads and a battered young man were hauled back by Nami—and in the process, 5 million Berries vanished from their wallets.

“Do you lot have any idea how much you just ate?”

“Five million Berries! That’s more than a whole cart could carry!”

“We’re sorry!” x3!

Ye Fan knew how steep the prices were here, so he’d only spent a little pocket change on some video games—not like the other three. Sanji was just collateral damage, really.

Let’s have a moment of silence for Sanji.

“Everyone, please follow me.”

A gentle voice sounded behind Nami.

It was Conis, finished with her chores.

Led by Conis, they headed for Zone 7. The island was laid out in circles: the outermost ring was Zones 37 to 108, filled with inns, restaurants, entertainment, and shops.

At the center were Zones 1 to 36, where permanent residents and those with residence permits lived—the safest areas of all.

“What is that?”

“A dragon?”

“Whoa, it’s so fast!”

Once they stepped out of Zone 37, they saw wooden carts pulled by packs of raptors lined up along the street.

Each raptor was three meters long and one and a half meters tall. There were even Triceratops standing nearby, dwarfing the raptors in size.