The Jackal Guardian's Ascent

Chapter 9

"Sink!" Luffy said while sticking his tongue out.

"*whack* Rotten kid!!" Sanji said as he slapped Luffy on the back of his head.

"Ow!! You made me bite my tongue, Sanji!" Luffy yelled at the cook.

"Good." Sanji shot back.

"What's that over there?" Usopp asked as he stood on a cloudbank. "It looks like a factory."

"Huh? Where? Where?" Chopper asked, wanting to see what Usopp was asking about.

"You must mean the cloud quarry." Pagaya answered.

"Cloud quarry?" Anu asked. "Is that like a stone quarry?"

"It's a place where they cut clouds for construction." Pagaya explained.

"You can cut clouds?" Chopper asked.

"Everything's topsy-turvy here." Usopp remarked.

"Perhaps you people came to the White-White Sea via the Milky Road?" Pagaya asked of the crew.

"Milky Road?!" Zoro asked. "You mean that road that looks like a big noodle that the lobster dragged us over?"

"It's a man-made canal." Pagaya informed them. "There are two types of natural clouds. The one your ship traversed is a sea cloud, and the fluffy clouds that you can walk on are island clouds.

"Can you swim and ride a waver on normal clouds?" Luffy asked, while walking on his hands on the cloudbank beside the group.

"No." Pagaya answered. "These clouds have entirely different condensation nuclei from normal clouds. You see, there is a mineral known as Sea Prism Stone in the Blue Sea."

"Sea Prism Stone?! It's in your clouds?" Robin asked.

"There's an ingredient in it called pyrobloin. Particles of keratin are hurled into the sky by volcanoes, and they absorb moisture. Depending on the density, they either become sea clouds or island clouds."

"Oh yeah, that stuff!" Luffy replied, not having a clue what was just explained.

"Ah yes, THAT stuff! I used to play with it as a child. Keratin particles..." Usopp bragged.

"Stop lying!!" Sanji yelled at Usopp.

"As I mentioned earlier, the Milky Road and the chairs you saw on the beach are made of-"

"What about those slides over there?" Luffy interrupted.

"Yes, those are Milky Roads as well." Pagaya answered. "Island clouds are cut at the cloud quarry, then compressed to achieve the desired intensity. They're man-made clouds."

The group continued walking up the long steps and followed Pagaya until they finally reached his house.

"This is my house. Please come in." Pagaya said as he welcomed the crew into his home.

"This is great! What an awesome view!" Chopper said with excitement.

"I can see Nami on the waver!" Luffy remarked.

"Usopp, you idiot!!" Luffy said into a shell he picked up.

"Huh?! What did I do?" Usopp asked, confused as to why Luffy had just insulted him.

"Hee hee...now press the apex of the shell." Conis informed the duo.

"What's an apex?" Luffy asked.

"The top of the shell, but pressing it won't do anything." Usopp answered.

"Hey, you can press it! It's soft right here!" Luffy replied.

"Usopp, you idiot!! Huh?! What did I do?! Hee hee...now press..." the shell played back to them.