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Chapter 129 Speculation about Sky Island
On the morning of the fifth day, the sea of clouds was no longer an endless expanse of pure white.
On the horizon ahead, a deep, dark green slowly emerges from the clouds. It is not the floating cloud commonly seen on Sky Island, but a real land with soil, vegetation, and mountain outlines, steadily suspended above the white sea, half-hidden by the flowing clouds, exuding a primitive and silent aura from the outside.
"That's... Bika Sky Island?"
Matsumoto Rangiku put down the sake bottle, rested her fingertips on the gunwale, and squinted at the distance.
Unlike the exquisite yet ancient Shandora, this island, viewed from a distance, resembles a wilderness forgotten by the sky, with its bare ochre-colored rocks and soil, and its dense, almost wild forests, with large swaths of deep green and dark green layered upon each other, stretching all the way to the cliffs at the edge of the island.
Bai Yu stood at the bow of the ship, his blue-green robe fluttering in the morning breeze. His Observation Haki had already quietly spread out, crossing the surging clouds and enveloping the entire island.
There was no sense of crowds, no hostility from priests or warriors, only the rustling of the wind through the trees, the low calls of birds and beasts, and an ancient, empty, almost abandoned tranquility.
"It should be Bika, who can sense humans on the neighboring island."
Uchiha Hakuba guessed that they had probably arrived at Enel's hometown, which was also their destination, Birka Sky Island.
Uchiha Hakuba's puppets slowly reduced the force of the Wind Shell and the Wind-Blowing Shell, and the Dawnbreaker stopped speeding and instead, like a light feather, slowly approached the island along the cloud flow.
The closer they got, the clearer they could see that this sky island was not entirely made of clouds. Similar to Shandora, the surface was real soil and rocks, with lush vegetation and birds and beasts roaming freely. It was remarkably similar to the Blue Sea, the island of the Grand Line.
Kanna lay on the side of the boat, her little face full of curiosity: "Brother Baiyu, Angel Island also has land and trees, but this place is just like Shandora, it seems to be the same as the island below."
Robin had already put away his books and walked to the bow of the ship. His gaze fell on the exposed rock formations and vegetation of the island, and his eyes gradually became focused.
She took out a map of the sky islands that Ganfor had given her and pondered it.
"Not only Birka and Shandora, but also most of the other legendary sky islands mentioned in the book Gan Fall gave us have one thing in common: they are not just clouds, but have real land and soil. Their flora and fauna are also highly similar to those in the Grand Line. However, they cannot often travel between the White Sea and the White-White Sea. We should consider ourselves lucky this time."
Matsumoto Rangiku, who was leaning against the side with her arms crossed, raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "Similar? Indeed, these strange birds and plants look unique to Skypiea, but now that you mention it, it's true... many of the flowers, plants, and trees on Skypiea can be found in the Grand Line as similar species."
Bai Yu raised his hand and summoned several soft chairs formed from cloud shells, gesturing for Robin to sit down and explain in detail. He himself stood by the ship's railing, gazing at the nearby Bika Island, listening quietly.
Robin's deductions often touch upon the hidden truths of the world, which is precisely what makes this historian so valuable.
After Robin sat down, he spread the Cloud Skin Ancient Book and his own notes on the Cloud Table, and lightly pointed to a few key records with his fingertips: "First of all, the Sky Islands were not naturally suspended at an altitude of 10,000 meters. Whether it is Gan Fall's dictation, the Sky Island Ancient Book, or the murals in the Shandora Ruins, they all point to one fact: these lands were originally all in the Blue Sea, which is on the Grand Line."
A single sentence caused Rangiku and Kanna to pause slightly in surprise.
"How did the land on Earth... end up in the sky?"
Rangiku was a little curious.
"Most of it should be attributed to upwelling currents."
Robin's voice was calm but carried an undeniable certainty: "In certain sea areas of the Grand Line, unimaginable, vertically upward giant ocean currents will erupt on the seabed. The power is enough to lift an entire island, along with its soil, rocks, vegetation, and even the creatures that lived on it at the time, into the sky at an altitude of ten thousand meters and fall into the clouds of the White Sea or White Sea."
She traced a simple diagram of ocean currents in her notebook with her fingertips and continued, "Islands that are swept into the sky do not fall. The clouds in the White Sea and the White White Sea are essentially composed of special cloud particles with extremely strong buoyancy, enough to support these lands and keep them suspended in the sky forever, becoming sky islands."
Unohana Retsu nodded, a hint of understanding flashing in her eyes.
She had witnessed the extraordinary changes of the world in the world of death, but the power to lift the land into the sky was still a unique and magnificent force in the world of One Piece.
"This explains why sky islands have soil and rocks, rather than just clouds."
Robin looked up at the dense forest on Bika Island: "This also explains why the plants and animals of the Sky Islands are so similar to those on the surface of the Grand Line. Their ancestors originally came from the Blue Sea, or rather, the Grand Line. It was only after thousands or even tens of thousands of years of evolution in the environment of the sky that winged fish, fish that can adapt to the sea of clouds, and vegetation that is more resistant to wind and moisture appeared."
Robin paused, his gaze shifting to the distant, faintly visible vortex of clouds and turbulent currents. His tone deepened: "Shandora was swept into the sky four hundred years ago, separated from its homeland. Pika, and even other unknown sky islands, are all fragments of land transported from the surface to the sky by rising ocean currents."
The so-called Sky Islands are never kingdoms that arise naturally in the sky, but rather extensions of the Grand Line's surface cast into the heavens by the sea.
"This was true of Shandora four hundred years ago, and it was also true of Pikachu and other Sky Islands even earlier."
Robin closed her notebook, looked at Bai Yu, and said with a gleam in her eyes, "This is my conclusion: the foundation of all Sky Islands lies in the Blue Sea, on the ground of the Grand Line."
Most of them are isolated islands in the sky, torn apart and lifted by upwelling ocean currents, eventually suspended in the sea of clouds. That's why they have the same soil and similar life forms as those on Earth, but in the sky, they have followed different paths of civilization.
As the words fell, the Dawnbreaker slowly sailed into the calm cloud formations surrounding Bica Island.
The island was within reach, and the trees along the shore were clearly visible. Several short-winged wild animals poked their heads out from the trees and looked at the unfamiliar ship.
The wind blew through the forest, bringing the scent of earth and grass, mixed with the crispness of the sea of clouds.
Bai Yu gazed at the island that seemed to originate from the earth's surface yet float in the sky, a barely perceptible ripple appearing in his usually calm eyes.
Rising ocean currents, sky and land, fragmented civilizations—beneath this seemingly simple deduction lies the hidden geographical changes of the entire world, the secret of history being lifted into the sky along with the earth.
And Birka, the sky island that has not yet been destroyed by Enel, is now right before our eyes.
"Now that the conclusion is clear..."
Bai Yu turned around, his gaze sweeping over his companions, his voice steady and firm: "Then let's go to the island."
"Let's see how much forgotten history this ancient land, which has been sent into the sky, still holds, and what we are looking for."