"Hello, please pay 100 million Extol."

"What? 100 Billion!?" Smoker stared at the little old lady in the guard booth, a thick cloud of smoke puffing from his nose in shock.

"Is your country made of gold or silver or something?"

"Oh my, so there are this many of you." The old lady adjusted her spiral-shaped glasses and extended her hand again.

"Each of you must pay a 100 million Extol entry fee, or you'll be considered illegal immigrants and be deported by ICE ( Immigration and Customs Enforcement)..."

"Hold on, don't you think there's something wrong with this!?" Smoker's upper body turned into smoke as he floated next to the old lady, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"100 million! Even robbery isn't this fast!"

"Judging by your looks... you're from the Blue Sea below." The gatekeeper chuckled.

"Such rare guests... But there's no need to panic. 100 million Extol converts to about 100,000 of your 'Berries.'"

Smoker turned his head and counted the people on the ship...

1.2 million Berries!

That actually seems pretty cheap.

"Hey, don't let the exchange rate fool you... I've never heard of any country charging 100,000 Berries per person for entry!"

Michael's voice rang in Smoker's ears, snapping the momentarily confused man back to reality.

"Tch, you're right!"

Smoker returned to the Seraphim Ship, and the Marines ignored the old lady entirely, barging straight into the so-called "Land of Gods."

After forcing their way through, the Marines found themselves conflicted.

"We're the Marines, isn't this kinda look bad for us? And the gatekeeper was just a little old lady..."

Shu awkwardly adjusted his face covering, glancing at Michael.

But Michael just rolled his eyes.

"Hah? Illegally setting up checkpoints and charging unlawful entry fees—strictly speaking, I could arrest her on the spot!"

"Only let her off because she's old."

Watching his subordinates' dumbfounded expressions, Michael sighed.

Sometimes... intelligence really is a damn handicap.

After sailing along the White-White Sea's currents for a while, the Seraphim Ship arrived at a sizable island...

"Welcome to Angel Island?"

Reading the sign planted at the island's edge, the Marines instinctively turned to Michael.

Some of the bolder ones even started teasing him—

Of course, it was Smoker, the tactless idiot.

"Ahahaha, Angel Island! Boss, does that mean the people here are angels too? Your kin, huh!"

"...So, what I'm saying is, is there a chance you're not a Devil Fruit User but an actual... Ah, never mind."

Michael looked at Smoker and finally shook his head, turning to Hina.

"Go easy on him. Just leave him breathing."

"Yes! Hina will complete the mission!"

After confidently assuring Michael, Hina pounced on Smoker like a tiger descending a mountain...

Pure ferocity was the name of the game.

"Tch, all of you, pay attention!" Michael pointed at the battered Smoker with exasperation.

"Even if this one gets patched up, he'll still be drooling!"

After a chaotic scuffle, both Hina and Smoker sat on the deck, panting heavily...

"Boss, we feel... kinda off? We only fought for a bit, so why does it feel... so hard to breathe?"

"Hina is concerned to report that Hina's condition is the same as Smoker's... Could Hina have been infected by Smoker? Is Hina..... mutating?"

"...Hey! Am I some kind of germ!?"

Michael walked over and flicked each of them on the forehead.

"What are you two thinking about... We're over 10,000 meters above sea level here. At this altitude, temperatures drop, the air is thin, and people from the Blue Sea would feel discomfort... though the degree varies from person to person."

In other words...

Altitude sickness.

Hearing this, everyone clearly felt it—even Michael noticed his breathing had slightly lengthened.

Yet Hancock claimed she was completely unaffected...

Michael's lips twitched.

Truly worthy of being the natural-born Empress of Amazon Lily—her talent in all three types of Haki and her physical prowess were maxed out.

Definitely on par with Luffy.

Amidst all the noise and commotion, the Seraphim Ship docked at a place called Angel Beach.

Soon after, everyone disembarked.

Stella then took out a remote-like device and pressed a button...

"Beep beep!"

With a sharp sound, the Seraphim Ship entered a locked state.

Michael gave Stella's remote a pained look...

"Uh... I knew the Seraphim Ship had this locking function, but why this sound?"

Anyone would think it was a bicycle lock!

"How should I know... Maybe Vegapunk thought this sound would serve as an effective alert for us?"

Seeing the slight confusion in Stella's eyes, Michael decided not to dwell on it.

It could be worse.

At least it sounded better than a scooter's honk.

As they stepped onto the Island Cloud, everyone felt a slight sinking sensation.

The strange texture made the inexperienced Marines exchange glances.

"Are we moving or not?" Enel walked calmly to Michael's side.

"Didn't you want to shop?"

"Perfect timing. Among all the nearby Sky Islands, Angel Island has the most complete selection of specialty goods." Michael nodded.

So Enel wasn't just a god complex edgelord.

When he wasn't acting up, he could be somewhat useful.

Under Enel's guidance, the group headed toward the central area of Angel Island.

Their destination was the bustling street known as "Lovely Street."

Along the way, the crowd gradually thickened.

"Wow, Michael! They all have white wings like you!"

"But what's that antenna-like thing on their heads?"

Of course, only the kids and Smoker would exclaim like that.

The others could tell at a glance that the strange wings... were merely decorations.

Not actual organs grown by the native Sky Islanders.

As they neared Lovely Street, stalls and shops began appearing along the way.

All sorts of strange items were displayed on the stalls.

Most of these stalls sold useless knickknacks.

"This is a type of Dial."

Suddenly, Enel stopped at a small stall.

"It can store and release the unique clouds of the Sky Islands, so it's called a Cloud Dial..."

Michael nodded and, before Enel could finish, gestured to Stella.

"Buy them all."

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