Chapter 474: The Question of Order
Ian wasn't just speaking off the cuff; the murals he had found at the Barron Gray Terminal had already illustrated this point.
The Moon People's hometown city was called Birka, and the Sky Island where Enel was born was also called Birka. Such a naming convention was no coincidence; it should have been a way for the Moon People to commemorate their original homeland after arriving on this planet.
Upon hearing Ian's words, Enel was quite surprised and asked, "How do you know this?"
"Simple! Because I also have a Sky Island!" Ian spread his hands and said. "In that Sky Island, there are murals recording events from a thousand years ago, and I've also been investigating the truth of the Poneglyphs. Combining the two, I can deduce a lot of things!"
Robin nodded thoughtfully. Indeed, the Moon People seemed to have a significant connection to the Poneglyphs.
"You also have a Sky Island?" Enel was shocked to hear this. "Are you also a god?"
The Sky Island people were accustomed to calling their rulers gods. So, when he heard that Ian also possessed a Sky Island, Enel somehow felt a bit better, thinking that losing to another 'god' wasn't too shameful...
However, Ian directly said, "Sorry, I'm not a god. I'm just a human."
Not even giving him a chance to save face, Enel was choked by Ian's words. But since he couldn't teach Ian a lesson, he finally just snorted and turned his face away.
Just then, Reiju suddenly asked curiously, "Since the Shandians and the Sky Island people are of the same race and both have wings, why doesn't that old man have them?"
Reiju said this, then pointed at Enel and added, "And him too, he doesn't have wings!"
Ian glanced at the ring of Thunder God Drums on Enel's back and said, "I'm actually quite curious too, Enel. Those four priests under you, you brought them from your hometown, the Sky Island Birka, right?"
"Of course!" Enel said, arms crossed, without turning his head.
"Then logically, you and the four priests are of the same race, so you should all have those larger wings, right?" Ian reached out and touched Enel's Thunder God Drums. "But what's this thing on your back? Where are your wings? Didn't you tear them off and roast them to eat? Roasted chicken wings?"
Pfft! Hearing Ian's words, Reiju and Robin couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Insolent!" Enel shouted at Ian, his face reddening. "Nonsense! I haven't had wings since I was born!"
"Never had wings since birth?" Ian rubbed his chin in confusion. "Did you install that ring of Thunder God Drums on your back yourself?"
Enel didn't speak, seemingly furious, but this undoubtedly confirmed Ian's words.
So Ian couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. "Then I can only say your taste is really poor. You might as well have made a big hammer and named it Mjolnir..."
Enel didn't understand Ian's reference, so he simply pretended not to hear it. He could only grit his teeth in hatred at Ian's comment about his poor taste.
"No wings, then can you really be considered a Sky Island person?" Zoro, who had been leaning against a rock with his arms crossed, listening to Ian and the others talk, couldn't help but interject.
Not just Enel, but even Ian and the others were stunned. Yeah, thinking about it that way, was Enel really a Sky Island person?
Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind. "Let me answer that question!"
Everyone turned to look and saw Gan Fall walking in. As he walked, he replied, "I can testify that I myself am indeed a Sky Island person. As far back as I can remember, I have always lived on a Sky Island!"
Enel looked at Gan Fall but said nothing. He knew that he and Gan Fall were the same, both without wings. What Gan Fall said was actually the same as his own situation. As far back as Enel could remember, he had also always lived on a Sky Island.
"What's the explanation for this?" Ian asked curiously.
"I'm an old man, so I'm a bit older. There are some things I'm still quite clear about!" Gan Fall said. "In fact, according to records, there have indeed been people like me and Enel without wings on the Sky Islands. But the number is small. Maybe a few appear every few decades, but now it's becoming increasingly rare."
Hmm? What's going on? Ian was also puzzled. According to the murals he saw at the Barron Gray Terminal, all Moon People should have had wings.
But Reiju reacted quickly and suddenly asked Gan Fall, "Are you suspecting that you and Enel have Blue Sea human bloodlines?"
Hearing her say this, Ian immediately understood.
"Yes!" Gan Fall nodded. "That's the only explanation. In recent times on Angel Island, there have indeed been occasional Sky Island people like me without wings, but their parents didn't marry Blue Sea people. So I've been thinking, this might be a bloodline inherited from our ancestors..."
Ian knew what he was trying to say. This should be caused by genetics. If two Sky Island people married, their offspring would definitely have wings. But if a Sky Island person married a Blue Sea person, they could have offspring with wings, and also offspring without wings.
In simple terms, the so-called wings should be a dominant factor...
Ian wasn't a biology student, but he understood the general concept. So he couldn't help asking Gan Fall, "So, in the last few decades, no Sky Island people on Angel Island have married Blue Sea people, right?"
"Yes!" Gan Fall nodded. "Although there are paths to reach this Sky Island, in recent years, most of the Blue Sea people who came here were pirates, and rather vicious ones at that..."
Ian nodded. That was indeed the case. Over the past twenty-plus years, coinciding with the Great Pirate Era, those who came to this Sky Island were pirates who had set out on the Grand Line seeking the One Piece. For the Sky Island people, these pirates were hardly ideal marriage partners. With no one marrying Blue Sea people, mixed-race individuals like Enel and Gan Fall without wings naturally became rarer. Even if one was occasionally born, it was probably from a bloodline inherited from ancestors, indicating that in a previous generation or even two generations back, someone had married a Blue Sea person, passing on the Blue Sea bloodline.
Zoro's head was spinning from listening. He couldn't help asking, "What's the use of all this you're talking about!?"
"Very useful!" Reiju explained to him. "If we can trace it through bloodlines, we might even be able to infer the relationship between the Sky Island people and the Blue Sea people from many years ago!"
Reiju's father, Judge, had definitely researched the so-called Lineage Factor when he worked with Vegapunk. So the Germa Group should have a good understanding of bloodlines, even conducting specialized research. Otherwise, Reiju and her brothers wouldn't have become a group of "modified humans."
Ian nodded. His thoughts were the same as Reiju's. He had actually been wondering what kind of scene it would be if this bloodline had been passed down for over a thousand years.
This suggested that when the Moon People migrated to this planet, they not only went down to the Blue Sea to survive (like the Shandians) but also attempted to integrate with the Blue Sea people.
Sky Islands were actually not very suitable for survival. At least, they lacked real soil and couldn't grow crops. The Moon People who migrated from the Moon, their homeland was definitely on the ground. Logically speaking, these Moon People, accustomed to living on land, would initially find it difficult to adapt to living on a Sky Island.
Ian thought back to the situation at the Barron Gray Terminal. There were so many balloons under the island clouds back then, indicating that many Moon People chose to go to the ground. It was even possible that all these Moon People had migrated to the ground back then!
So Ian's initial assumption was somewhat wrong. Enel's hometown, the Sky Island Birka, might not have been the second stop for the Moon People to spread out.
On the contrary, this Sky Island Birka might have been the first stop for the Moon People to migrate back from the ground!