Chapter 121: Gathering Wishes (part 2)
“So, so you guys were thinking the same thing?”
Hearing everyone’s words, Fulaihai’er finally understood that these pirates thought the same as him, wanting Aoxi to board his ship to see if that so-called “Sky Island” really existed.
To see if this group of guys who once believed in dreams were really as ridiculous as others said.
To see if the things they had deeply buried in their hearts all these years were really meaningless.
Entrusting his ship, his last ‘partner’ to that little girl exuding an incredible aura, that was the final bet placed by this group of nearly rotten pirates.
“Hahahaha! You guys!”
The tavern boss finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud upon hearing this, then waved his big hand:
“Since everyone is thinking the same, let’s get to work quickly!”
“Dismantle all the usable parts directly from the ship and lay them out, then go call Tang Li over to reassemble a brand new ship!”
“You all heard it today, that brat is leaving the day after tomorrow, we only have one day!”
“Everyone, get to work!”
“Oh!”*n
The pirates all raised their right hands, full of energy.
“You! You guys…”
“Sigh~!”
The old pirate saw everyone rubbing their fists and getting ready, wanting to say something more, but ultimately didn’t speak.
He pulled the towing ropes, dragging one battered pirate ship after another to the shore, then sat on his worn-out deck chair watching this group of pirates jump onto their ships to dismantle the usable components.
“I didn’t expect it to be so decayed… only a few good wooden boards left in the cabin.”
“Haha~ My sail is custom-made, still usable!”
“My stern is still good too.”
“My rudder too…”
The pirates chattered back and forth, quickly dismantling the best-preserved parts left on their ships and placing them neatly on the shore.
Looking at those components of various sizes, colors, and shapes, Fulaihai’er couldn’t help but recall the scene before setting sail, when he and his partners were designing their pirate ship.
Back then, everyone had their own ideas: some wanted a big ram, some wanted a spacious deck, some wanted to paint the mast red, but others wanted blue…
In the end, that colorful, disproportionate, and unbalanced small boat naturally sank after just a few weeks at sea, leaving them adrift on the sea for several days.
Touching the corner of his mouth that was hooked up, Fulaihai’er reminded them:
“Everyone, lightly bake these wooden boards and such over a fire first to remove the moisture. When dawn breaks, go find Tang Li.”
Fulaihai’er clearly had experience in this area, starting to methodically arrange for everyone to make preparations in advance, and estimating in his mind:
『With a ready skeleton, with Tang Li’s craftsmanship plus these people assisting, one day should be enough to reassemble a complete ship.』
Just as he was thinking about how to persuade Tang Li, he suddenly heard a muffled thud.
“Heave-ho!”
Thud!
The tavern boss limped along, placing two huge wing-shaped protective plates on the ground, then panted:
“Huff~~ Huff~~”
“Sure enough, not as good as before.”
“This is?”
“This thing was originally a reinforced protective plate on my ship, now it can perfectly serve as wings for this ship.”
“Wings? Why does a ship need wings?”
Fulaihai’er and the surrounding pirates were all puzzled.
“Because this ship is going to fly into the sky, how can it not have wings?”
The boss plopped down on the ground, somehow pulling out a wine bottle, popping the cap and saying while drinking:
“You guys must have heard of that method, right?”
Fulaihai’er nodded.
This was something unspoken among their group—the legendary method to reach Sky Island from the sea surface was only one: relying on the Skyward Sea Current.
Using the powerful upward thrust generated by the Skyward Sea Current to send the ship to the sky.
This method, which sounded utterly reckless and nearly suicidal, was popular decades ago, but no one had ever dared to try it.
Until twenty years ago, an extraordinary great pirate came to the island.
That fearless great pirate, upon hearing this method, unhesitatingly set off immediately with his companions.
They navigated their ship to the sea surface according to the elder’s description on the island, waiting for the Skyward Sea Current to carry him and his partners to Sky Island.
It’s said this event caused a sensation at the time, with many elders who had stayed on the island for years sailing out on their own ships, wanting to witness if the miracle would happen to that young man.
But in the end, people only found a few fragments of the pirate ship and several corpses of that pirate crew’s members on the coast.
After that, no one mentioned that method again.
“Actually, the method of riding the Skyward Sea Current is feasible. But it requires the right timing, and some modifications to the ship.”
“Senior, you…”
Hearing this method brought up so openly again, Fulaihai’er couldn’t help but glance at the middle-aged man beside him.
Combined with the old pirate’s earlier words, he had an astonishing guess.
“That’s right, the pirate back then was me.”
The tavern boss looked at the half-empty wine bottle in his hand, his tone filled with reminiscence.
“That year, my companions and I were novices, charging through the Grand Line, sweeping away all obstacles and opponents along the way with ease…”
“We really thought we were invincible then, that the Grand Line was nothing special, as if as long as we kept going, everyone’s dreams would be within reach.”
“So when we heard about ‘Sky Island’ and that outlandish method, we hesitated almost not at all, thinking everything would go smoothly as before…”
The boss didn’t continue, but Fulaihai’er had already guessed the outcome.
“Since even you, senior, failed, is that method fake? Or does Sky Island really not exist at all?”
“No, Sky Island exists. And that method is indeed feasible!”
“Even if only for an instant, back then we truly touched the ocean in the sky!”
The tavern boss reached his right hand toward the sky, as if recalling that sensation.
“The… ocean in the sky?!”
“That’s right, that sensation can’t be wrong!”
“There is a sea in the sky! And that legendary ‘Sky Island’ must be floating somewhere on that sea!”
The tavern boss’s tone was firmer than ever.
After miraculously surviving his fall from the sky that year, he didn’t choose self-abandonment, but frantically collected all data on ‘Sky Island’ and ‘the sea in the sky’.
He scoured streets and alleys for local legends and unofficial histories. Up to the royal library for ancient texts and professional historical materials…
Finally, one day, in a book on meteorology, he found a special cloud layer called “Accumulating Emperor Cloud”.
That cumulus cloud, recorded as thick as the earth, finally convinced him that islands could exist in the sky.
But it was too late; by then he had lost everything: partners, ship, money, strength, and most importantly, courage.
“My adventure is over, but my dream isn’t.”
“Now, I’m betting everything I have left on that girl!”
