“Morin, I think we need to recruit a navigator first!”
On the Kunpeng, Boa Hancock, who had just escaped from a descending ocean current, offered Morin a suggestion.
After three days of sailing, Morin had also gained a full understanding of the weather on the Grand Line.
The geomagnetism, celestial phenomena, ocean currents, and air currents of the Grand Line were all a complete mess.
Even confirming one’s own position was difficult, let alone searching for islands.
The navigation skills and experience used in the Four Seas could not be relied on here.
Only Log Poses and Eternal Poses were trustworthy.
Morin not only lacked an Eternal Pose, he did not even know navigation.
The only reason they had survived until now was entirely because of the monstrous physique of the squadron leader-level Chimera Ant, the Kunpeng.
At the very beginning, Morin had ordered the Kunpeng to fly through the sky.
The Kunpeng had flown for less than an hour before the originally clear sky became covered in dark clouds.
After that, icebergs began falling from the sky.
That was right.
Not rain or snow, but enormous icebergs.
The Kunpeng was massive, and in that instant, its sturdy carapace was smashed open with cracks.
Afterward, the Kunpeng rapidly dove into the sea, finally avoiding further attacks from the icebergs.
They had only just escaped the iceberg crisis when they were swept into an ocean current.
Relying on its monster-like physique, the Kunpeng forcibly broke free.
But when they returned to the sea surface, they encountered a thick fog.
Although their bodies had not been harmed these past few days, the three Boa sisters felt as if their spirits could barely take it anymore.
They did not know where they were now, whether they were on one of the seven routes of the Grand Line or somewhere in the Calm Belt.
Morin looked around in every direction.
Apart from the vast, boundless sea, he could not see anything.
Morin once again ordered the Kunpeng to fly into the sky.
He wanted to find the nearest island and rest for a while.
As the Kunpeng flew upward, the sea surface gradually became smaller beneath them.
But Morin did not discover any trace of islands nearby.
“Am I really this unlucky?
There isn’t a single island around?”
Looking at the calm sea surface, Morin prepared to have the Kunpeng choose a random direction and continue forward.
But suddenly, Morin’s Observation Haki sensed something, and he abruptly looked to the left.
“Did something happen, Lord Morin?”
Seeing Morin’s strange movement, Sandersonia asked curiously.
Morin did not answer her.
He only ordered the Kunpeng to fly in the direction he had sensed.
The Kunpeng passed through the thick white clouds, and a magical sight appeared before Morin and the others.
Within layers of drifting mist and clouds, more than a dozen islands floated in an orderly arrangement.
Behind these islands, a rainbow stretched across them like a bridge.
A rainbow was clearly something illusory and intangible, yet this rainbow made the seemingly scattered islands visually form a single whole.
Morin looked toward the other islands.
The climates of these islands were also unique.
Some had forests, some had deserts, and some had lakes.
On the highest island, there was also an imposing and magnificent palace.
That palace looked extremely grand.
This place was far better than the Bone Island Morin had lived on before.
“Are my eyes hallucinating?
Why do I see so many islands floating in the sky?”
Boa Hancock rubbed her eyes, looking as if she could not believe it.
“Sister Hancock, I can see these islands too.
They’re so beautiful!”
Boa Sandersonia immediately followed up.
“I can see them too.
This isn’t an illusion!”
Boa Marigold also spoke.
“I didn’t expect to arrive at Merveille by accident.
Looks like we won’t need to sail for a while.”
“Merveille?
Is that the name of these islands?”
Boa Hancock tilted her head and looked at Morin.
She did not know how Morin knew about this place.
Her two younger sisters did not speak either.
They blinked their big eyes and waited for Morin to explain.
“That’s right.
These islands are collectively known as Merveille.
They’re the masterpiece of the legendary great pirate, Golden Lion Shiki!”
Morin said to them.
Merveille was the name of the sky archipelago created by Golden Lion Shiki.
After escaping from prison, Shiki came to an island called Merveille and discovered that there were many ferocious animals on it.
So, he used his ability to move the entire island into the sky and turned it into his own backyard.
It was also known as the floating island, Strong World.
“Golden Lion…
I think I’ve heard of that person before!”
Sandersonia murmured that unfamiliar name.
Although she did not know Golden Lion’s deeds, the name itself was not strange to her.
“Golden Lion is a great pirate from the same era as Whitebeard and the Pirate King, Gol D.
Roger.”
Boa Hancock had heard the legends of Golden Lion, so she explained them to her two younger sisters.
“That’s right.
That legendary great pirate is on the island before us!”
Morin smiled as he looked at the island ahead.
When Morin had previously been deciding on his next island to settle on, he had also considered Merveille.
But under Golden Lion’s Float-Float Fruit ability, Merveille flew year-round at an altitude of ten thousand meters, and its location constantly changed.
Although Morin could create Chimera Ants capable of flight, this sea was simply too vast.
Without accurate intelligence, searching for Merveille would truly be like looking for a needle in the ocean.
That was why he had given up on it.
In truth, Merveille was more suitable than the Boin Archipelago and Amazon Lily for Morin to create large-scale Chimera Ants.
First, Merveille floated high in the sky.
Aside from Golden Lion, no one else could land here at all.
Second, the animals on this island were extremely fierce.
If Morin remembered correctly, many of the animals could even use elemental attacks.
What left the deepest impression on Morin was the duck that helped Nami escape when she was captured and brought here.
That flying duck could release high-voltage electricity.
Furthermore, there were an enormous number of animals on the island.
Under the year-round influence of the IQ plant, not only had these animals grown larger, but they had also become bloodthirsty and extremely aggressive.
What Morin needed to create Chimera Ants was precisely the flesh and blood of powerful animals rich in energy.
If Morin could transform all the animals of Merveille into Chimera Ants, he could instantly become one of the top forces on this sea.
Most importantly, Merveille’s master, Golden Lion, was not only a possessor of all three types of Haki, but also a great swordsman who used two swords.
Morin believed that through fighting Golden Lion, he could become the strongest great swordsman on this sea.
He might even be able to learn Conqueror’s Coating from Golden Lion.