#95 - Chapter 95: Gate of Heaven
Watching the fiery clouds around her slowly dissipate, Tian Yue Shi reached out and grasped a wisp of cloud.
"This world really is a place where anything can happen..."
She never imagined she would arrive in this mysterious place in such a way.
Even though she was above the clouds, the feeling under her feet was unusually solid, no different from stepping on ordinary land.
Suddenly, a corner of the cloud layer began to ripple, as if gently lifted by an invisible force.
The layers of white mist were scattering, revealing the secrets hidden behind them bit by bit.
Piercing through the clouds, the scene before her transformed in an instant.
Light shone through the gaps, casting dappled golden spots, scattered on a small island floating in the air.
This island was vastly different from the islands thousands of meters below, with clusters of white clouds gently swirling around it like smoke, adding a touch of mystery.
"So, this is Sky Island..." Tian Yue Shi turned around, surveying the area.
"I didn't expect there to be creatures in the clouds; it seems better to think of the clouds here as the sea."
Various creatures, fish, and octopuses, wandered in the cloud sea, scattered here and there, dazzling the eyes.
The two groped their way forward.
"..."
"Are you people from the Blue Sea?" A strange voice came from the cloud sea.
"What does 'Blue Sea person' mean?" Tian Yue Shi asked疑惑.
"You don't need to worry about what that title means. All you need to know is that to come here, you must first pay a fee. Only after paying the fee can you proceed," a strange woman walked up to Jin An and the others.
"Ahead is Heaven's Gate. To enter from here, everyone must pay."
The woman had a pair of wings on her back, like a true angel.
"It's real! There's a waterfall ahead, and it says 'Heaven's Gate' on it," Tian Yue Shi said, pointing forward.
She was so shocked by the scene before her that she didn't even hear what the angel woman was saying.
"Are you even listening to me?" The angel took pictures of the two with a camera.
"Listening, listening..." Jin An nodded. "But we don't have the local currency. Can we exchange something else for the toll?"
"Other things are useless to us. You can choose not to pay the toll and go straight up, but you will be responsible for whatever happens later."
"By the way, I am Amazon, the gatekeeper of Heaven's Gate," the woman said indifferently.
"What do you mean by 'responsible yourself'?" Tian Yue Shi asked疑惑.
"What she means is that if we go up without paying the toll, we'll be considered stowaways," Jin An said, looking at the towering gate in front of him.
"This rule is ridiculous. The toll only accepts the local currency," Tian Yue Shi complained.
This completely shattered her image of Sky Island.
"Wherever there are people, there are different rules. Isn't that normal?" Amazon said indifferently.
"What do we do now?" Tian Yue Shi asked, looking at Jin An beside her.
"No money... then we can only be stowaways," Jin An shrugged and walked straight ahead.
Hearing his words, Tian Yue Shi silently followed, curious about what would happen next.
After Jin An and the others left, the woman silently took out a Den Den Mushi:
"This is Amazon, the gatekeeper of Heaven's Gate, reporting to the omnipotent God and all responsible parties."
"Two stowaways have passed through Heaven's Gate and are heading to the God's Land, 'Upper Yard'. Please execute 'Heaven's Punishment'."
"..."
Jin An and the others went against the current, up the waterfall made of clouds. The winding waterfall connected the two areas.
As time passed.
A dazzling white hole gradually appeared before them.
In the next moment, they passed through the hole and arrived in a completely new area.
White Sea, God's Land, 'Upper Yard'.
Slowly landing on the Sky Island, the two steadied themselves and turned their gaze to the distance.
Not far from here were beaches, with buildings scattered among the clouds.
"It's a completely different scenery from below," Tian Yue Shi exclaimed.
Jin An also curiously looked around. The scenery here completely exceeded the scenes in the anime.
But this place was not so safe for them. He hadn't forgotten that they were stowaways.
The people living here might not welcome them.
If he wasn't mistaken, the god of Sky Island now was Gan Fall.
That guy should be relatively easy to talk to.
"Do you want to stay here and rest for a while?" Jin An asked, looking at Tian Yue Shi beside him.
"Wherever you go, I'll go with you," Tian Yue Shi said without hesitation.
"Then let's wander around first. It's rare to come to Sky Island," Jin An walked towards the town.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit. He wasn't in a hurry to find it. Enel was still just a kid.
The fruit was in the shrine on the island. He could go get it anytime.
"..."
Jin An and the others quietly entered the town, which was filled with houses of various shapes.
The two of them stood out in the town, as the people here all had wings on their backs.
"It's been a long time since people from the Blue Sea have come here."
"There are only two this time. I wonder what they're here for?"
"I hope they're not here to cause trouble. Many pirates used to come, but thankfully we have the protection of 'God'."
"There are only two of them. I don't think they'll dare to do anything strange."
The Sky Islanders whispered, but they didn't pay much attention to Jin An and the others.
"Hello, folks. Do you buy fish caught in the Blue Sea here?" Jin An walked up to a shop and asked.
They were forced to stow away, but if they could exchange some money here and pay back the toll they owed, they would feel better.
"Oh? Fish from the Blue Sea are quite popular here. If you have some, I can buy it all," the shop owner said with an excited look, rubbing his hands and smiling at the person in front of him.
Tian Yue Shi quietly tugged at Jin An's clothes. "We don't seem to have caught any fish, right?"
Jin An patted her small hand to reassure her. "Since I said it, I definitely have it. Just relax."
"..."
After exchanging the money, Jin An took Tian Yue Shi to stroll around the island.
"The two people in front, stop! You have violated our local laws. Please come with us."
A team of soldiers surrounded Jin An and the others, their attitude still polite.
But if the other party didn't cooperate, they wouldn't mind using force.
"You are stowaways, right?" the team leader asked.
"We didn't have money before, but now we can pay you those fees..." Jin An said.
"..."
"Sorry to bother you, we'll leave first."
The squad leader saluted the two, not expecting it to go so smoothly.
They had received the money, so they had no reason to stay here any longer, and they turned around and left with their men.
Moreover, the other party had given them some extra. It had been a long time since they had met such friendly people from the Blue Sea.
Stretching, Jin An put the remaining money into his bag. Being debt-free felt great. As a good youth of the new era, he would naturally do everything he could.
...
