Chapter 124: Wings Of Dreams (part 2)
“Sorry, I don’t believe in pies falling from the sky, so I can’t believe you.”
Obei said coldly, arms crossed.
“But we’re serious!”
Before the tavern boss could speak, Fulaihai’er, who had sailed the ship in, couldn’t hold back and jumped off the ship directly.
These people had bet almost everything on this voyage; it was impossible to give up just because of the other’s casual distrust.
“Then why do you know the method now, have the ship prepared, but still not go yourselves in the end?”
This was a perfectly reasonable question—why weren’t they going themselves but inciting a group of people they weren’t familiar with?
“Because…”
Without waiting for Fulaihai’er to speak again, the tavern boss, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up to explain:
“Because we can no longer board this ship.”
“Some of us are already tied down by wives and children, others have lost the courage we had for adventure back then; in any case, we can’t move forward anymore.”
“Besides…”
At this point, he gave a self-mocking smile.
“Those who once mocked Sky Island have no qualification to set foot on that land of dreams.”
“Boring reasons.”
Obei still couldn’t understand the things this group talked about like “qualification” and “dream”; but just as she wanted to say more, Aoxi interrupted her.
“Obei, call Jin and the others; we’re preparing to set off.”
“On this ship.”
“Huh? You’re really going to use this ship of unknown origin? Our ship is clearly bigger and more suitable, right?”
Looking at Aoxi, who had at some point climbed aboard and was stroking the masts with her hand, Obei couldn’t quite understand why she was so insistent too.
“This isn’t some ship of unknown origin; it’s the crystallization of many people’s final dream.”
“Why are you spouting this nonsense too? Got infected by them?”
“No, the little guys on the ship told me.”
“Little guys?”
Obei turned her gaze to the gaudy ship, but saw no one besides Aoxi.
“That’s right, those little guys wearing hoods. They told me everything about this ship.”
Aoxi pointed behind her, but there was clearly no one there.
“Fine, since you’re so insistent, I’ll go call Jin and the others.”
With that, Obei glanced at the tavern boss and Fulaihai’er and the others behind him, then headed toward the town.
Jin and the others weren’t here right now; they had made one last trip to town to buy some supplies, since they were leaving today no matter what.
“Remember to come back before ten o’clock, or you’ll miss this opportunity and have to wait for the next one.”
The tavern boss reminded, but Obei didn’t respond and walked straight away.
……
“So, can you tell us the specific method now? Mister Christ Laika?”
Once Obei was far away, Aoxi jumped down from the ship and walked over to the tavern boss to ask.
“Hm? I don’t remember telling anyone my full name; how did you know?”
The tavern boss looked surprised.
Ever since that accident twenty years ago, he had kept a low profile; including the old pirates, only a handful on the island knew his name.
How did this outsider brat, who had only arrived on the island a few days ago, know?
“Of course, your ship told me.”
Aoxi thumbed behind her at the pirate ship that matched her hair color well.
“And not just you; I know the names of all these people behind you too. Right, Fulaihai’er?”
Aoxi leaned sideways, greeting Fulaihai’er behind the tavern boss over his shoulder.
“Uh… haha~”
Faced with Aoxi’s little face carrying a faint smile, Fulaihai’er awkwardly scratched the back of their head.
“My ship, huh…”
Hearing Aoxi’s words and connecting them to her earlier mention of hooded little people, the tavern boss roughly guessed what was going on.
“Ha~ geez, we left you alone there for so long, and yet you still…”
“I’m really a, an unqualified captain.”
Blinking his slightly reddened eyes, the tavern boss—namely Laika—quickly composed himself and began to explain his plan.
“Ahem…”
“Listen up, brat. The only possible way I know to reach Sky Island is by borrowing the Skyward Sea Current—a strange current that suddenly shoots from the sea surface toward high altitude.”
“I won’t go into the principle behind how this current forms; in short, it’s an extremely dangerous natural disaster that sailors generally try their utmost to avoid.”
“But regrettably, to send a whole ship along with its crew up to the sky in one go, this is the only, this suicidal method.”
At this point, Laika’s voice paused slightly, as if recalling some old memory.
“Yeah, I know about that.”
Aoxi nodded; she remembered that current being recorded in that navigational log, and he had heard Wright talk about it last night too.
As for the danger… just bungee jumping from 10,000 meters in high altitude—how dangerous could it be?
“Ahem! Let’s continue.”
Recovering from past sorrow, the tavern boss continued with his plan.
“From what I gather, Sky Island’s location is probably moving along with a type of cloud layer called Accumulating Emperor Cloud.”
“It’s an extremely ancient and thick cloud layer; legend has it that it’s sturdy enough to bear objects.”
Listening to the description, Aoxi inexplicably thought of Kaido’s flame cloud again—that was also a magical cloud that could easily bear his massive dragon body.
“So, my plan is to use the Skyward Sea Current to send you up to the Accumulating Emperor Cloud; from there, you can search for the legendary Sky Island yourselves.”
The steps were straightforward and easy to understand.
But problems still remained…
“But I don’t see any Skyward Sea Current or so-called Accumulating Emperor Cloud right now?”
Aoxi shaded her eyes with her hand and looked toward the sea surface, but saw clear skies over the sea with no sign of any anomaly.
“Don’t worry, they’ll come, they definitely will! And the time is this morning!”
The Skyward Sea Current occurred about five times a month, while Accumulating Emperor Cloud appeared without pattern—only the sky suddenly darkening the day before its appearance was a sign.
And only when Accumulating Emperor Cloud happened to be directly above a Skyward Sea Current did this plan become feasible.
Such a coincidence was normally one you couldn’t seek out, but the tavern boss now firmly stated that the next convergence of the two would be this morning!
This was the conclusion reached by this man named Christ Laika after day after day of observation and recording over more than a decade.
Accumulating Emperor Cloud and Skyward Sea Current would both appear, before noon today!
……
“Though I know it’s shameful to entrust you with something that could cost your life…”
The tavern boss said as he deeply bowed to Aoxi; the people behind him also lowered their heads in unison.
“But, please! Red-haired brat! Take me, take our dream up to that high sky!!!”
“…”
Aoxi quietly watched the humble crowd, then suddenly smiled brightly.
“Look at you, expressing your feelings so properly~”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take your dream to the destination! That’s the promise from me, Osiris, to you all!”
After all, what was wrong with humans entrusting their dream to a god?
With that, this miraculous girl faced the sun, thumbs-upped to the crowd behind her.
The sea breeze from ahead made her crimson long hair and that long windbreaker flap noisily.
On this day, the Sky God promised the humans on Earth that she would carry their wishes on her wings back to the High Heavens.
PS: Unlike the Underworld God in pure Egyptian mythology, Osiris in Yu-Gi-Oh! also has the attribute of “Sky.” For example, its exclusive Trap Card【 Revived Sky Dragon（The Revived Sky God）】 refers to it as “Sky God.”
