Chapter 458: First Encounter with Enel
The reason he said this was because Wyper had witnessed what happened at the edge of the forbidden land.
Enel's four high priests had been taken out in an instant, three of them, meaning Enel's support had been cut by more than half.
Ever since 400 years ago, when the golden city of Shandora was swept into the sky by the Knock-Up Stream and landed on this Sky Island, the people of Skypiea, driven by their longing for the land, took advantage of the Shandians' weakest moment and seized their homeland.
For all these years, the Shandians had been fighting against the Skypieans, trying to reclaim their home.
The great warrior Calgara of old had left a dying wish, hoping that one day the light of Shandora could be relit, so as to guide his close friend Montblanc Noland to find the golden city of Shandora again.
It was a touching story, passed down through generations, influencing the Shandians here. For such a long time, they had never given up on this wish.
And Wyper was a descendant of the great warrior Calgara. He had grown up listening to the elders tell stories of his ancestor's deeds, so among all the Shandians, he was probably the most determined to reclaim their homeland. This determination sometimes led to radicalism. The guerrilla group he led was now not only attacking Skypieans but also the Blue Sea people who came from below.
Enel had arrived at this Sky Island six years ago, and as soon as he came, he overthrew the previous ruler of Skypiea, Gan Fall, who also bore the title of God. Gan Fall had originally been a far-sighted ruler, working hard to reconcile with the Shandians and share all the island's resources. Under Gan Fall's efforts, relations between the two sides had been easing, but Enel's arrival destroyed that trend.
Wyper and his people felt this the most deeply. Enel's strength was beyond imagination. Even his four high priests had become the biggest obstacle for the Shandians. In the six years since Enel arrived, the Shandians had suffered more losses than ever before.
Wyper was naturally unwilling to accept this situation. He had been tirelessly searching for a way to counter Enel.
And now, just when he was getting somewhere, a very powerful Blue Sea person had suddenly appeared on the Sky Island. Three of the four high priests were gone, leaving only the Sky Guard Commander Shura. So Wyper immediately realized that the Shandians' opportunity had come.
Sitting in the elder's tent, he described the events in detail and shared his thoughts. This time, he wanted to mobilize all the guerrillas and see if they could use the power of that Blue Sea person to overthrow Enel in one fell swoop.
The elder hadn't seen Ian himself, so he was uncertain about Wyper's claims, but he also knew that this was Wyper's heartfelt wish, so he said nothing and tacitly agreed.
Afterward, led by Wyper, the Shandian warriors of Cloud End Village picked up their weapons and set out.
At the same time they departed, Luffy and his crew also started heading toward the forbidden land. Although Nami had brought back news of an unknown and powerful enemy, that couldn't stop the reckless Luffy's adventurous heart. After hearing the name of God Enel from Conis, and to prevent the residents of Angel Island from being targeted by Enel's wrath, Luffy and the others used the excuse of looking for Ian to set off.
In an instant, this forbidden land of God on the Sky Island was flooded with a large number of outsiders...
Ian didn't know about the events that followed. He took the pirate deeper into the forbidden land and then had him try to draw out what he knew about the area.
Without paper or pen, the pirate found a branch on the ground and started drawing.
Ian's guess was correct; this pirate was a shrewd man. He had accidentally ended up on the Sky Island four years ago and was captured. According to him, the captured people were forced to build a huge ship for Enel under guard. Over those four years, the pirate had been secretly gathering information about the island, finally planning an escape route and running away.
In fact, many slaves tried to escape every year, but almost no one could get out of this forbidden land. Enel's four high priests, bored in their spare time, would deliberately let those who wanted to flee go, then hunt them down on the island, calling it a game. To them, it was just entertainment, but to the escapees, it was a nightmare.
This pirate was relatively lucky. Thanks to his good planning, although he was chased by the priests along the way, he managed to reach the edge of the forbidden land.
However, if Ian hadn't shown up, even if he hadn't died at the hands of the four priests, Enel would have intervened and blasted him to dust with a Heaven's Judgment.
After experiencing such a rollercoaster of emotions, he knew that Ian had saved his life, so he obeyed Ian completely. Even when Ian brought him back into the forbidden land, he had no complaints. He knew that God Enel wouldn't let him leave the forbidden land, and staying by Ian's side was much safer.
"Sir! It's drawn!" the pirate said respectfully to Ian. "This is roughly what I know about the forbidden land."
Ian crouched down and listened to his explanation, then realized that the forbidden land island was actually divided into many layers.
In the middle of the island, some distance away, there was a huge vine that spiraled upward, leading straight to the God's Palace at the top. In the middle of the vine, there were many cloud layers. If you weren't familiar with the path, it was easy to get lost in those clouds.
But since Ian planned to go to the top of the vine, as long as he found the vine's location and kept climbing upward, it would be much easier.
Just as Ian was listening to the pirate's explanation, his mind suddenly stirred. He turned around sharply and looked up at an angle.
There, on a large tree, a figure appeared out of nowhere.
It was a man with a turban wrapped around his head. He was lying sideways on a branch, bare-chested, with a ring of thunder drums on his back and a golden staff in his hand.
"Enel!?" Ian blurted out when he saw him.
This man was naturally the ruler of the Sky Island, Enel. When he heard Ian call his name, he wore a calm expression and said arrogantly, "It's God·Enel! Blue Sea man, you should show reverence to God!"
Hearing this, Ian couldn't help but laugh. He pointed at his feet and said, "You know what? Down in the Blue Sea, there's also a group of people who call themselves gods! Not just gods, they even claim to be creators. But in my eyes, they're just a bunch of fools!"
Enel's eyes turned cold. "What do you mean by that? Are you insulting the divine?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Ian spread his hands and shrugged. "You're just a Logia Devil Fruit user, aren't you? At the end of the day, you're just a powerful person. I've seen plenty of Logia Devil Fruit users, and none of them dare to call themselves gods like you do!"
"Shut up, Blue Sea man!" Enel was a bit enraged. Although he knew himself that he was a Devil Fruit user, years of acting as a god had made him unable to accept Ian exposing the truth.
At this moment, Enel felt like a severe chuunibyou patient, believing he was always right and the whole world was wrong, unable to tolerate anyone defying him.
"Those who disrespect God must be punished!" Enel sat up from the branch, and in the next second, part of his right arm disappeared, turning into a ball of lightning that appeared above Ian's position.
"God's Judgment!" Enel swung his remaining right arm downward fiercely, and the lightning ball in the sky turned into a massive bolt, striking straight down at Ian!