The Python and the Explore Team

In the dense forest of Upper Yard, Luffy yells at the top of his lungs, "WEST IS THIS WAY!!!" with his mouth wide open, pointing forward. Behind him, Zoro is walking away in the opposite direction. Robin points out calmly, "...Would you please tell them that we're going south, which is this way?" Chopper angrily yells at Zoro, "YOU DUMB ASS!!!" Zoro turns back, annoyed and sweating, and argues, "Oi, Luffy! Do you ever listen to other people? She said it's the 'skull's right eye,' so it's to the right. That's this way!" Robin sighs, resting her chin on her hand, "*Sigh* You are such an idiot with no sense of direction." A wooden signpost nearby clearly points in the direction Zoro is heading, labeled "EAST". Unbothered, Luffy happily marches forward, holding a large stick over his shoulder, singing, "LA LA LA~~ HNMHNM~~~ HNM~~~♪" He smiles and says, "Oooh, so we are going south? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Zoro yells from off-panel, "BI SHI!!"

Chopper looks at Luffy's stick with sparkling eyes and a wide, excited mouth, exclaiming, "Luffy, that's a nice stick!!!" Luffy laughs, "Nhahahaha! I think so, too, but I can't give it to you. Go find one yourself." Chopper replies, "Oh... okay~~~" and starts looking around the ground, muttering "Stick, stick." Zoro, sweating slightly, asks, "What about a stick?" As the group walks through the dense, root-filled forest, Zoro remarks, "Nothing came at us when we went into the forest yesterday. Didn't meet a priest, either.." Luffy says, "It's a bit depressing actually." Chopper laughs, "Yup! Hahahaha." Zoro looks back at Chopper and says, "Eh~~~~, Chopper, you're brave today." Chopper explains, "I was worried that the forest would be a very dangerous place, but now I think it is really nothing to worry about. I feel a lot safer with these guys." Robin walks behind them, smiling gently as she thinks, "...What a strange group!" Zoro adds, "Do they really want something to happen that badly?"

A massive, terrifying giant snake suddenly looms behind the group in the forest. The snake has dark stripes, long fangs, and a huge open mouth, hissing loudly with sound effects "TSS RARA RARA...". The sheer scale of the snake completely dwarfs Luffy, Zoro, Robin, and Chopper, who are standing on the giant roots below, unaware of the danger right behind them. The snake's long, forked tongue flicks out as it approaches them, accompanied by ominous rustling sounds "BA GI BA GI BA JI..." and "PA GI PAH GI". The snake's thick, scaled body coils through the trees, sliding forward with a "SU SU..." sound.

Back on the Going Merry, sailing along the Milky Road. Usopp stands confidently on the deck, declaring, "The wind is perfect!! The direction is perfect!! Ar~~~this is great. Our cruise is going nicely. Although it is a bit slow... Oi, navigator! Speed us up." Nami, sitting nearby, replies calmly, "There's nothing we can do, 'Captain' Usopp. The current of the milky road is too rough, so we can only rely on the dial boat to push us along." Sanji stands near the railing and shouts, "Alright!! Go Karasu-maru!!" as the small dial boat pushes the Merry from behind. Nami adds, "By the way, Sanji, you need to be my bodyguard. This forest is too creepy." Sanji instantly swoons, doing a little dance, "Shut up. I am a bodyguard exclusively to Nami-san." Nami then turns her attention to Gan Fall, who is resting on the deck. "Hey, it's time for the strange knight to get some medicine. Where did Chopper say he put it in?" Gan Fall corrects her, "My name would be Gan Fall. It's Gan Fall." Nami remembers, "Oh, the medicine is in the cupboard beside the refrigerator."

Gan Fall sits up on the deck of the Going Merry, looking serious. He says, "Please allow me to tell you... a little bit of the history... of this country... The 'God' of this island... I was... until six years ago..." Usopp's jaw drops in shock, his eyes wide. Sanji, smoking a cigarette, looks at Gan Fall skeptically and asks, "Did you fall on your head, old man?" Gan Fall continues his story, "...The first appearance of this Upper Yard in Skypiea was... like you said before, roughly 400 years ago." Pierre, the large bird, reacts with extreme shock, his eyes bugging out and beak wide open in a comical expression of disbelief.

Gan Fall continues his tale. "It is said that before the appearance of this island, Skypiea was a very peaceful sky island. They treasured the items from the Blues Sea that occasionally arrived in the sky via the Knock-Up Stream....A miracle." A flashback panel shows joyful Skypieans with small wings finding various items, including a skull flag, a barrel, and a piece of wood, on the cloud surface. Gan Fall's face is shown in a close-up as he explains, "All the Vearth in sky islands appeared in that manner. However, for a piece of land as big as Upper Yard to appear in the sky was truly... a holy land from heaven. The people of the sky automatically assumed that this land was a divine gift. We were very happy." The crew listens attentively on the deck.

Gan Fall's narration continues over a wide shot of the Going Merry sailing through the clouds. "...But this island already had residents... Those residents were called the Shandians....So thus started the war for the land." Usopp asks, "They're the raiders...?" Gan Fall confirms, "That is correct." Sanji, leaning against the railing, asks, "So then those guys are part of the ancient civilization of Jaya?" Gan Fall replies, "Yes. They came to the sky along with the island." Nami looks concerned and asks, "And they were forced out of this place!?" Gan Fall nods, "That is so. The people of the sky robbed them of their home out of selfish intentions... For 400 years, the Shandians have been at war with the citizens of the sky. The Shandians are only trying to retrieve their homeland."

Sanji angrily points at Gan Fall, yelling, "So then it's all your fault!!" Pierre the bird squawks loudly in distress. Nami looks downcast and says, "That's... sad..." Gan Fall closes his eyes and admits, "~~~That is correct. It is as you have said..." Nami then asks, "Excuse me... Oh. The medicine... What about Enel? Who's 'God Enel'?" Gan Fall looks thoughtful as he prepares to answer her question.

Gan Fall explains the rise of Enel. "Six years ago, when I was still the God... He appeared out of nowhere, leading a powerful army. He gave the God's Militia and the Shandians a devastating defeat. Since then, he has been in control of Upper Yard..." A flashback panel shows Enel's priests standing triumphantly over defeated soldiers. Gan Fall continues, "I heard that the God's Militia is held captive somewhere, doing intense labor, but I do not know the details....But for the Shandians, it matters not who the God is. They simply continue ferociously trying to reclaim their home." Sanji asks, "If all they want is to retake their homeland, why did they attack us......back when we first arrived in the sky?" Gan Fall answers, "That is because the aforementioned God's Militia in captivity... sometimes attempt to escape on ships. They're the Shandians' enemies, so the raiders attack them without mercy... They probably mistook you as some of the escapees." Nami is shocked, "What? They tried to kill us just because of that?"

Gan Fall explains his current role. "One of the reasons why I became the Knight of the Sky... was to help those escapees reach other sky islands safely. They are considered criminals, so they cannot stay in their homes, within Enel's sphere of influence. If what you said is true, then God-Enel is nothing but a tyrant." Sanji, sitting cross-legged, says, "Tyrannizing...? No. It is worse than that." Usopp frantically waves his arms, yelling at Sanji, "Hey, hey, hey, stop the blasphemy, you brat!! The almighty 'God' sees all!! Since when did you start to talk like Skypiea citizens? Could he have heard that just now?" Gan Fall continues, "Nonetheless, Enel uses various excuses to turn travelers like yourselves into criminals and push the citizens of the Skypiea to take part in capturing the travelers. Through this process, the citizens have developed 'an awareness of sin'." Nami listens intently.

Gan Fall elaborates on Enel's control. "When one feels that one has sinned by one's action, one becomes the most vulnerable. Enel knows this. He creates these 'lost lambs' and controls them....He is a powerful man, indeed......as if he really is an almighty God." Nami looks frightened, covering her mouth with her hand. "...When we first went to Angel Beach, I actually thought this was a paradise... This is absurd... The ancient golden city has really gone to an incredible place..." Sanji looks at Nami and says, "...Now that you mention it... the things that you were screaming about last night... That 'gold' thing. What is that?" Nami sweats nervously and stammers, "... Uh..."

Back in the forest, Luffy screams at the top of his lungs, "RUN AWAY~~~~!!! IT'S A SNAKE~~~!!!" as he sprints away. Chopper is also screaming in pure terror, tears streaming down his face, "AAH~~!!!" Robin looks up calmly and observes, "The size- Is this an effect of the sky islands' environment?" Zoro draws his swords, looking determined, and says, "Hey big guy... I'll cut you in half...!!" The giant snake's massive, striped body slithers menacingly toward them, filling the panel.

The giant snake opens its massive jaws and roars, "JYDRA AAAAA AA!!" Luffy is shown running frantically along a giant root, yelling, "WUAA!!! AH!!!" The snake lunges forward with incredible speed, its head crashing down with a loud "BA GON!!" impact, narrowly missing Luffy as he scrambles away.

Zoro leaps out of the way of the snake's strike with a "TAH!!" and thinks, "How can a body so big... move so fast!!??" Robin also dodges gracefully, leaping to another root with a "TAH..!!" The snake hisses loudly, "JYONNNNN!! JYO..!!" Chopper screams in panic, "P...POISON...!!?" Zoro, sweating, realizes the danger and says, "If it's like that... running away... is probably better..." Robin agrees, "Precisely." Luffy, still running with a wide, terrified grin, yells, "SO SCARY~~~!!"

The snake roars again, "JYD RAAA AAA..." Luffy runs ahead, laughing maniacally, "YOO~~~HOO~~~ POISONOUS SNAKE, OVER HERE~~~!!! YOUR FOOD IS RUNNING AWAY~~~!!! AH HA HA HAH AH A!!!" Zoro yells at him, "DON'T TOUCH THE POISON. YOU'LL DIE INSTANTLY!!! FOLLOW ME!!!" The snake lunges again with a "BA KUH!!" impact. Zoro shouts a warning, "ROBIN, WATCH OUT!!" as the snake's massive head crashes near her.

As the snake strikes at Robin, she calmly uses her Devil Fruit power, saying "CINCO FLEUR". Five arms sprout from the snake's body and push her away from the attack. She lands safely on a branch, saying, "PHEW! TOO BAD." The snake crashes violently into the ground, creating a huge cloud of dust and debris. Chopper screams in terror, "AW OO OO OO!!!" The snake recovers and roars furiously, "JYOR AAAAA!!!" Zoro looks back, sweating, and says, "BAH, NOT GOOD."

Robin stands alone in the quiet forest, looking around. "What should I do...? I'm back to where we were but... nobody is here. Did I get lost...? I probably should just go ahead and wait for them at the destination..." Meanwhile, Chopper is running frantically through the forest, crying uncontrollably. "OH NO!!! I~~~ GOT~~~ LOST~~~~!!! HE... HE... HELP~~~!!! WHERE IS EVERYONE~~~!!?" He trips and scrambles over the giant roots, completely panicked.

Zoro stands alone in the forest, his swords sheathed. "Hum... Where did they go? I stopped watching them for a little bit and... Ah well... They'll be fine by themselves. I've memorized most of the map already, too. It was to... the right." He confidently heads off in the wrong direction. Elsewhere, Luffy is also alone, holding his stick. "Darn it, darn it... Where are those guys...? They got lost, did they? Kids! I think I'll just meet them at the ruin. She said, 'A straight line to the south', so it's gotta be where it's warm... THE SURVIVAL BEGINS~~~~~~~" The chapter ends with the explore team completely separated.

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