Chapter 424: Riding the Skypiea Transit

“This is Skypiea’s public transportation. We all call it the bus, though honestly, I have no idea why it got that name.”

“But right now, we need it to get us to our destination.”

Conis walked over to the velociraptors, picked out two, and dropped a ten Dragon Coin note into the boxes hanging from their necks, right in front of their eyes.

“Roar!” x2!

“Alright, everyone get on!”

Six people fit on one ride—just enough seats. “Zone Seven! Bustling streets! Prosperity District!”

After Conis finished, she gave the velociraptor a pat on the back.

With a jolt, the velociraptor took off, sprinting ahead, while the second one raced right after.

“Ahahahaha!”

“This is so cool!”

Luffy couldn’t hide his excitement at seeing something new and wild. If Zoro and the others hadn’t stopped him, he would’ve climbed right on top of the velociraptor.

In the end, Nami had to step in—smacking Luffy on the head twice and leaving two big bumps. Only then did he finally calm down.

“Thanks for the ride!”

When they reached their stop, Conis gave the velociraptor a gentle pat on the head. She watched it take off again, then led everyone into the neighborhood.

All around the district were lush, green plants, giving Skypiea’s people some extra oxygen. Each building stood just under twenty meters tall, about six stories high. This wasn’t just for style—any taller, and the floating clouds beneath couldn’t support the weight.

After a whirl of sights, they finally reached Conis’s home. It was on the second floor—open the window, and you could see a stunning view right outside.

“Please, everyone, have a seat. My parents are at work, so it’s just me at home today.” Conis guided everyone into the living room before getting up to pour some tea.

“Careful, it’s hot!”

“Could you tell us why the fourth trial is so tough?” Robin accepted the tea but didn’t drink it straight away. Instead, she turned to Conis with a question.

Honestly, with Robin’s caution, there’s no way she’d just down a stranger’s tea without a second thought.

Seeing their curious stares, Conis didn’t hesitate and started to explain what made the fourth trial so unforgiving.

As it turned out, the guardian of the fourth trial was none other than Skypiea’s own protector—Opera, who had eaten the so-called strongest Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

Add in the fact that this was way up in the sky, and the ambient lightning element here was even stronger. Fights here were at least dozens of times more powerful than in the Blue Sea.

Plus, when facing Opera, you had to guarantee you could stay airborne for a long time.

This was Skypiea, after all. Take a wrong hit and get knocked off, you’d plummet straight down to the Blue Sea—nothing left but a memory.

It’s not just about how strong your body is or how well you’ve mastered Moonwalk. We’re talking ten thousand meters up! Air’s thin.

The fourth trial happened two thousand meters higher still—that’s twelve thousand meters up. Just the thin oxygen was enough to chase away most challengers…

“No wonder the reward’s so high! I didn’t realize it was that tough.”

“Could I ask—didn’t three people clear the fourth trial before? Mind telling us their names?”

“Yeah, exactly! It’d help if we could learn something from them.” Usopp was a pro at finding a person’s weakness. If someone pulled it off before, that means the trial isn’t totally impossible.

“These three are big names down in the Blue Sea. Ever heard of the Four Emperors?”

“What? The Four Emperors?”

“No way! The Four Emperors came here?”

“Aren’t the Four Emperors all in the New World?”

Even Zoro, who’d been meditating with his eyes closed in the back, snapped his eyes open.

They’d known they’d eventually face the Four Emperors because of Luffy, but hearing it out of nowhere still sent a chill down their spines. The more they learned, the more real and terrifying the Four Emperors became. There was no way their current strength could measure up.

“Yep, the first three who passed through were all from the Four Emperors’ pirate crews.”

“First was King from the Beasts Pirates, a member of the Lunarian Tribe—born with two pairs of wings, not at all afraid of heights.”

Thanks to Karl’s efforts, the Rox Pirates now welcomed every possible race— even the rarest Lunarians, whose tribe had nearly been wiped out.

They just kept multiplying. Every Lunarian male was paired with several wives. In just a few decades, their numbers shot up from a dozen to five hundred.

With the Lunarian bloodline being so powerful, all their children naturally inherited their tribe’s abilities—without exception.

You could find all sorts of unique races living on the islands under the Rox Pirates’ rule.

After Conis finished explaining the Lunarians’ traits, Usopp nodded in admiration. “No wonder! They’re immune to damage and can fly. Getting through the trial’s totally normal for them.”

“Too bad, though, their case doesn’t really help us much.”

“That’s right!”

“The Lunarian Tribe? Never seen one myself.”

“Second was Marco from the Whitebeard Pirates. He ate the Bird-Bird Fruit: Mythical Zoan model, the Phoenix—letting him fly naturally and instantly recover from any wound, no matter how bad.”

The group quickly shook their heads—no way they could compare with abilities like those.

“What exactly does Mythical Zoan mean?” Chopper was a little confused. He only knew about the Zoan, Paramecia, and Logia types—and didn’t realize Mythical Zoan was another type entirely.

He himself had eaten a Paramecia—the Human-Human Fruit. It gave him intelligence and creativity so he could invent the Rumble Ball, but other than strength, it didn’t really give him any bonuses.

“A Mythical Zoan comes from legendary creatures, making it the highest tier of Zoan-type Devil Fruits. They’re really rare, and each one offers different abilities. If you train the power well enough, you could even make a name in the New World.”

She was right. Some Logia are outclassed by Mythical Zoans—Mythical Zoans don’t just boost your body, they often come with special abilities too.

In terms of rarity and growth, they far surpass most Logia types. And when a Zoan Mythical Fruit awakens, its power spikes exponentially.

Logia-type Devil Fruits, meanwhile, are never talked about in terms of awakening. Maybe they’re naturally awakened at the start, or maybe it’s so difficult that none have pulled it off yet.

“I see!”

“So, who was the third one?”

While Chopper was asking, Gin and the others behind him couldn’t hide their fascination with the Mythical Zoan name.

They could feel they’d hit their limit. Training alone wouldn’t get them any further.

If they wanted to stick with this crew for the long run, Devil Fruits were their only choice.

Gin muttered to himself, “Mythical Zoan, huh…”