One Piece: Saving Hancock with the Batto Batto no Mi

Amidst a cluster of conical tents, the Shandia Chief, wearing a wolf hood and with his white hair unbound, slowly emerged from his tent, leaning on his staff. His gaze was fixed straight ahead, locked onto the Giant Jack that towered from the Shandia tribal land and stretched directly into the upper cloud sea. At its peak was Upper Yard, Skypiea Island.

Today, their Shandia guerrilla leader, Wyper, along with half his forces, had ventured to that island, determined to reclaim their homeland and light the Shandora Lamps. The chief knew well that this battle would be brutal. The Shandia Clan had fought relentlessly with the Sky Island priests for over 400 years, yet had always failed to regain their homeland. Every battle invariably resulted in heavy losses.

This time, too, he expected the same outcome.

In truth, the chief no longer harbored extravagant hopes of reclaiming their homeland. All he truly desired was to find the Shandora Lamps, the ancient and sacred Golden Bell. Etched upon that ancient bell was a secret that the Shandia Clan had to protect for generations. Through the vicissitudes of life and the long years, only a few words remained of the secret that was once passed down orally from generation to generation. He no longer knew exactly what secret his ancestors had to protect unto death!

All he knew was that this secret, one day, would bring great changes to the world.

Therefore, even though the chief realized how unwise it was to continue warring against the Sky Island priests, he never stopped the fervor of the guerrilla warriors who so desperately yearned to reclaim their homeland.

A familiar red-haired figure rushed down from the Giant Jack in the distance. However, behind him, not a single guerrilla warrior followed!

A terrible thought flashed through the old chief's mind. He leaned on his staff, approaching Wyper with quick steps.

When the two were only two steps apart, the man with shoulder-length red hair was slightly out of breath and shouted at the old man, "Chief!"

"Wyper, what about the other guerrilla fighters?" he asked, his voice filled with anxiety.

"They've all been captured."

Hearing this, the old chief's eyes suddenly darkened. He stumbled and fell to the ground, so shocked that Wyper quickly reached out and held him up. The chief's voice was filled with sorrow, tears streaming everywhere, and his body trembled uncontrollably. "It's over! It's over! This time, we Shandia have lost half our warriors."

"Chief, don't worry yet. Everyone is alive. As long as we promise his conditions, he will let them go."

Before Wyper could finish his words, the old chief, with an angry expression on his face, interrupted, "His condition is that our Shandia Clan will never set foot on Upper Yard again!? Wyper, tell that old bastard Gan Fall directly that we won't agree even unto death!"

Wyper, who knew the chief would misunderstand, could only sigh resignedly. He said in a somewhat helpless tone, "No. Gan Fall was also captured, and the other party has surrendered!"

"Huh!? What do you mean?"

Hearing these words, many question marks suddenly appeared on the chief's forehead, and he realized that things were not as simple as he had imagined! Wyper patiently explained to the old man about his encounter with Sephiroth and his entourage in Upper Yard.

"This... The other party is willing to let us move to Upper Yard, and agreed to help us light the Shandora Lamps. And the condition is the surrender of our Shandia Clan?" The old chief's tone was filled with disbelief. The other party's offer was simply too generous to believe!

"Does the other party have any specific requirements?"

"He hasn't said yet. He wants me to bring you there to negotiate."

If the other party's conditions were not too demanding, the chief had already decided in his heart to let the Shandia Clan surrender to the other party.

"OKAY, I'LL GO NOW. Forget it, carry me on your back, it'll be faster!"

Hearing this, Wyper nodded and crouched down, carrying the old chief on his back. The Wind Dial on his shoes activated, and the two slid and quickly rushed towards the Giant Jack.

In Upper Yard, Skypiea Island, Deep Forest.

With a shoe in his hand and two spiral-shaped Impact Dials on either side, Gan Fall explained to Gild Tesoro carefully, "This is called a Wind Dial, which can automatically store wind. When we press the bump in the center of the Dial, the wind can be released and used as propulsion, and its power can be adjusted by twisting the bump."

As the old man pressed the Wind Dial, a strong stream of air immediately spurted out from the Dial's mouth. Gild Tesoro extended his hand to feel the gust of wind, and he said with emotion, "This method of using Dials to store energy is truly amazing! If you cultivate Dials on a large scale, you will definitely have huge business opportunities in the Blue Sea! Right, are there any larger Wind Dials? For example, the kind that can be used to power ships?"

Hearing that, Gan Fall immediately explained, "The Wind Dials produced by our Skypiea are generally relatively small, but in Skypiea to the southeast, they have mastered the technology of cultivating large Dials, which can be used as the power source for Wavers."

Sephiroth raised his eyebrows and said in a curious tone, "Do you have a way to get to Birka Sky Island?"

"Of course. Just follow this Sky Island to the cloud path in the southeast and cross the national border to reach Birka."

"Oh! I see."

Regarding Gan Fall's very straightforward and cooperative attitude, Sephiroth showed his satisfaction. He came to Sky Island this time for three main goals!

The first was to acquire all the gold from Shandora. The second was to expand the Umbrella Corporation's business in Sky Island and build large-scale Dial farms. The third was to go and see if the man from Birka, Enel, had eaten the Goro Goro no Mi! If he had already eaten it, Sephiroth would find a way to kill him and let the Devil Fruit be reborn. If Enel hadn't eaten it yet, he was prepared to search for it in Birka.

Even if he couldn't find the Goro Goro no Mi, bringing Birka under his control was an excellent choice. The large Dials they cultivated could be used as power for ships, and perhaps even to build Vearth-ships! This way, when his company built its own Vearth-ships, Sephiroth would no longer need to regularly take action to send ships to Sky Island! After all, whether it was the route to the Grand Line's peak or the surging Knock-Up Stream, both methods of landing on Sky Island were extremely dangerous. It could be said that not one in ten ships successfully landed on Sky Island!

After a while, Wyper brought the Shandia Chief with him and rushed to where Sephiroth and his entourage were. The chief first glanced at the bound guerrilla members, and then his gaze settled on Sephiroth and the others' backs. After discovering that the other party did not wear white wings on their backs, he said with a hint of doubt, "Are you from the Blue Sea?"

"Yes, we are from the Blue Sea," Sephiroth admitted very simply and had no intention of concealing it.

"The offer you made, we Shandia Clan, fully accept, but... What exactly needs to be done after we concede to you?"

Sephiroth flicked his finger slightly, then turned to look at the green-haired youth beside him. "Tesoro, come and tell them both about our Umbrella Corporation's development plans in Sky Island."

"Okay, Boss!" Gild Tesoro nodded and stopped discussing Dials with Gan Fall. He cleared his throat before he said, "This Sky Island, Skypiea, will be placed under the dominion of our Umbrella Corporation. We will establish a number of artificial Dial farms here, and of course, we will pay you accordingly, such as Beli, supplies, or even Vearth, as you mentioned."

Gan Fall and the Shandia Chief both listened to Gild Tesoro's long list of words. The gist probably meant: build factories and engage in trade! Of course, when it came to managing the country, it would be a tripartite management dominated by the Umbrella Corporation, supplemented by the Shandia and Sky Island natives. All in all, it sounded quite good!

This couldn't help but make Gan Fall and the Shandia Chief both suspicious. The situation before them was one of a three-way win-win where everyone could benefit. Then why did Sephiroth and the others need to use violent means to force them to cooperate?

Confronted with their doubts, Sephiroth immediately chuckled and said, "You two fight back and forth every day, and security is chaotic. How can our company still have a stable business environment? It's better that I intervene and help you with war mediation. We merchants! What we like most is world peace. Peace allows for development, right? I hope you two can sit down and talk about any conflicts in the future! Otherwise, I'll just convince people with reason. The basic principle of physics."

Gan Fall: "..."

Shandia Chief: "..."

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