"Sky Island? Let's go! Summer, I think that sounds amazing. There must be all kinds of interesting creatures living up there!" Bok said excitedly, dancing around as Summer described the plan. Islands in the sky—just the thought of it was thrilling, and he was sure there would be plenty of things there waiting for him to study.
"The captain decides!" Aigin said expressionlessly. In his mind, Summer was everything, and he would obey every command unconditionally, even if it meant committing suicide.
"Hehe, I listen to the Boss!" Tuantuan raised its chubby paw and agreed with a wide smile. Wherever the Boss went, Tuantuan would go.
"Alright, in that case, we'll wait here for a few days. According to the rumors, the upward ocean current appears five times a month. Counting the days, it should happen within the next couple of days."
"However, before we set off, we need to do one more thing: catch a bird."
"Catch a bird?"
"Catch a bird!"
"Right, a special kind of bird with a strange call. Much like a compass, its head points strictly south from the beginning to the end. Most people call it a Southbird."
"This is our only way to determine direction on our way to the Sky Island."
Summer explained the preparations. Once they went to Sky Island this time, they wouldn't need to do it again; as long as the Smiling's navigation system finished recording this time, it would automatically track and navigate the route.
"Hey, Boss, look ahead! There seems to be a castle!"
Tuantuan pointed its little black paw ahead. Summer looked closely and understood instantly. This must be the residence of Montblanc Cricket, the diamond-shaped old man with a chestnut on his head.
Yet viewed from afar, the backdrop of this castle certainly looked convincing.
"It's fake!"
"Fake?"
"Yeah, it's just a painted backdrop."
"Oh (ー_ー)!!," Tuantuan immediately felt a deep sense of contempt. It had thought it was a grand castle, and its hard-earned excitement was instantly doused.
"Liars! Humans are all big liars!"
Summer and the others docked the Smiling by the shore and prepared to enter the forest to catch a Southbird. Since it was a simple task, Summer only brought Tuantuan and Bok along.
"Splash!" Dense bubbles suddenly appeared on the sea surface, and an old man with a bizarre hairstyle emerged from the water, sweeping his gaze across Summer and the others before asking in confusion, "Who are you people?"
"Hello, old man! My name is Monkey D. Summer, a pirate. These are my friends." Summer explained.
"A pirate?!"
Hearing Summer's explanation, Cricket flashed a trace of annoyance, though he quickly suppressed it.
"What are pirates doing in a place like this? There's no treasure here."
"We're here to catch a Southbird to prepare for heading to Sky Island. Other than that, we mean no harm."
"A Southbird!" Cricket was very surprised to hear Summer's words. The person before him actually knew about Sky Island and even understood the function of the Southbird; it seemed he was no ordinary man.
Even he, as the descendant of the "great liar" Montblanc Noland, merely hoped Sky Island truly existed, without being certain.
"That's right!"
Summer answered with a resolute expression, then waved his hand and led Tuantuan toward the forest. Time was tight and the task was heavy; they had to catch one before the ocean current arrived.
This was merely a stopover on their adventure.
"Boss, did they say they're going to Sky Island?!" Two "gorillas" appeared behind Cricket, asking in astonished tones.
"Yeah! Hoo—" Cricket let out a long sigh, gazing in the direction where Summer's party had vanished until their figures disappeared entirely into the forest. The ashtray beside him was already piled high with cigarette butts.
"Sky Island! Do you really exist?" Cricket muttered to himself, an unspeakable desolation in his eyes. For hundreds of years, the Montblanc family had been branded a family of liars, a humiliation with no defense, and a deep sense of powerlessness filled his entire body.
"I hope you can bring back a surprise!"
...
**Southern Forest**
Summer and the others finally reached their destination, moving forward with light footsteps. Observation Haki covered a radius of a hundred meters around them; wherever his gaze reached, Summer was confident of striking with success.
"Yo-oooo-oh~ oo-oo-oo~!"
A bizarre call suddenly rang out from a large tree fifty or sixty meters ahead. Summer sensed it, and his body sprang forward instantly. Having learned his lesson from when Crocodile was rescued by vultures, Summer had added the Six Powers to his morning training routine and could now use them skillfully.
Relying on his own speed combined with the Six Powers technique Moonwalk, he could now fly and run through the sky for two hours, and at full burst, his speed even surpassed the speed of sound.
"Found you!"
"Xun Form—Wind Rope!"
Mid-air, Summer spoke in a low voice. Two ropes made of wind suddenly materialized around him, instantly drifting toward the Southbird on the branch ahead. Before it could successfully make trouble, it was captured.
"Oo-oo-oo~!"
The moment it was caught in Summer's hand, the Southbird opened its beak and cried out indignantly.
"Bang!"
Summer gave it a direct flick on the head. Forget that bad habit—he shouldn't forget that he possessed the Beast Taming talent, thinking Summer wouldn't understand it just because it was cursing in bird language.
"If you talk nonsense again, I'll straight-up stew you!"
Feeling Summer's fierce aura, the Southbird instantly deflated, its eyeballs rolling around as it wondered what to do.
On the other side, things weren't as easy as Summer had it. Several Southbirds stood on the trees, acting haughty as they directed various insects in the forest to attack. Tuantuan and Bok were soon covered in large bumps from the bites. Fortunately, Bok carried medicine and disinfected them in time, saving them from further suffering.
"Roar! I'm angry!"
Seeing more and more insects swarming in to attack, Tuantuan furrowed its brow, gathered its breath in its dantian, and let out a mighty panda roar. A powerful aura swept through the surrounding air, rustling the trees. The terrifying sonic attack caused the insects in the air to lose consciousness, and they rained down densely like raindrops. Not far away, a Southbird rolled its eyes and dropped straight down.
"Puny thing, trying to play games with Lord Tuantuan? You're way off!"
Seeing the strange bird that matched Summer's description, Tuantuan scurried over, grabbed it in one paw, and held it tight for fear that it would escape.
"Oh, not bad! You guys caught one too!"
Summer looked from afar at the strange bird in Tuantuan's paw, the corners of his mouth curving upward with a smile.
"Hehehe, Boss, aren't I awesome? (ˉ???ˉ??)?"
"Yeah, yeah, our Tuantuan is the strongest!" Summer reached out and stroked Tuantuan's head. The little guy closed its eyes happily, its chubby little face stacked with smiles.
"Let's go, time to wait for the upward ocean current."
...
**Marineford, Marine Headquarters**
Fleet Admiral Sengoku held an internal meeting regarding how to handle Summer's defeat of the Seven Warlords member Crocodile.
"Everyone is here! Let's begin discussing this new pirate, Monkey D. Summer."
"Monkey? Same surname as Vice Admiral Garp?"
"Yeah, wonder what kind of relationship they have?"
"Sigh, such a powerful young man, why didn't he become a Marine? ˉ\\_(ツ)_/ˉ"
...
"Quiet!" Seeing the whispering crowd below, Sengoku furrowed his brow and shouted angrily.
"Indeed, just as you think, Monkey D. Summer is related to that bastard Garp—very closely related, in fact. He's Garp's grandson. But a pirate is a pirate, and pirates are evil trash. No matter who he's connected to, we Marines will never let a single pirate go! Now, let's discuss opinions on how to handle this pirate and his bounty amount!..."
"Yada yada..."
The meeting lasted for a full three hours, and ultimately Summer's bounty was set at 100 million Beli.
A bounty of this magnitude already made him a terrifyingly intimidating major pirate in the first half of the Grand Line!
Aigin's bounty reached 40 million Beli, while Tuantuan's reached a terrifying 300 Beli—tripled! After all, it was a bear, and it still carried some intimidation factor.
Bok and Carina had not yet been added to the Marine bounty list this time.
Tuantuan: "(▄█?█, I clearly worked so hard in battle too! (′°????????ω°????????｀))"
"Alright, alright, there will be plenty of chances in the future! Look, Bok and Carina don't even have bounties," Summer comforted, though inwardly he wasn't optimistic. Just think of Chopper: even with heaven-defying battle achievements, his bounty was lower than a pet's because of his status.
Bok: "Hehe, Summer, next time I'll definitely work hard! I'll definitely get a bounty."
Carina (deep inside): "There's really no need. I still want to live a good life (ー_ー)!!"
In short, because Summer defeated the Seven Warlords member Crocodile, he became famous in a single battle. Bounty posters fluttered like snowflakes across the world. The Revolutionary Army headquarters, Foosha Village, the New World, and other places all received them. The Smiling Pirates had entered the eyes of the strong for the very first time.
Of course, this was only the beginning.