Konata and the others had no idea about Sorao's rampage.
They had completely left the sea of clouds by then.
After leaving that place, the sea of clouds seemed to be safe again.
Calm and peaceful.
The Freedom sailed swiftly through this vast sea of clouds, like a tiny boat on the ocean, small and lonely.
On the deck at the bow of the ship.
Everyone gathered around the coffee table, their eyes all fixed on Konata.
Gulp—!
Konata swallowed, lowered his sake gourd, and looked up at everyone.
Then, he pulled out a yellowed, old piece of parchment from his pocket and tossed it onto the coffee table.
"Haha!! If you want to see it, then take a look!"
Konata leaned back in his lounge chair, sat cross-legged, and pointed at the map.
"There! That's where we'll go!"
"Golden City?"
Everyone's eyes fell on where Konata was pointing.
In the upper right corner of the map, a circular island with a missing piece was drawn. Above the island, a golden house was depicted, with "Golden City" written on it.
"Does the Golden City really exist?"
A Tao, with a cigarette between his fingers, placed it in his mouth, then bent down to pick up the treasure map. He raised it, looking at it through the sunlight.
"Don't tell me it's fake!"
"Who cares if it's fake or not!"
A Luo snatched the treasure map from A Tao's hand, his face full of excitement as he stared at the marked route on the map.
"With this map, we'll soon be able to reach the Sky Island."
As he spoke, he turned his head to look at the front of the ship, his eyes filled with anticipation. "I wonder if all those Sky Islanders are really angels."
"I'm already impatient!"
Everyone looked at A Luo, then turned their gaze forward, their eyes showing anticipation.
They were interested in treasures and the Golden City, but not that much.
What was the point of having more gold?
They weren't short of money.
What they cared about was the route on this treasure map, the fact that it could quickly lead them to the real Sky Island.
Although they didn't care, there was one person on the ship who did.
Robin had been looking down, lost in thought, since seeing the map.
Guina, with her usual attentiveness, noticed Robin's unusual behavior and quickly asked in a soft voice, "What's wrong, Sister Robin?"
"It's nothing!"
Robin snapped back to attention, looked up at Guina with a slight smile, and then reached out to A Luo. "A Luo, could I see the map again?"
"Ah... Oh!"
A Luo turned back, glanced at Robin, and quickly handed the map to her. "Here you go!"
"Thank you!"
Robin took the map, unfolded it with both hands, and studied it carefully.
"Is something wrong?"
Guina stood beside Robin, leaning her head forward to look at the map.
"It's nothing really."
Robin put down the map, looked up at everyone, and then said, "I once read a book that described a Golden City."
"Hmm!"
Robin's words immediately drew everyone's attention. They turned to look at her, their eyes filled with curiosity.
"Heh heh!! Don't look at me like that."
Robin chuckled and paused before continuing, "The book I read described the protagonist as a big braggart! So I don't know if this thing is real or not. I just remembered it when I saw the Golden City on the map today."
"Also, according to the book, that Golden City was on an island in the sea, not in the sky. So, even if it's real, I don't think it's the same island or the same city."
"Oh!"
Everyone sighed in disappointment, then quickly recovered and turned back, leaning on the railing, their gazes fixed excitedly on the horizon, as if there was something special ahead that they couldn't get enough of.
"A braggart?"
Konata looked at the map, a strange light flashing in his eyes.
He was the only one who knew the map was real. The Golden City Robin read about in her book was also real. They were in the same place, the place marked on the map.
He didn't know where this pirate crew had found the treasure map.
It hadn't appeared in the original story. He figured it must have been buried in that previous Sorao's nest.
After all, even without them, that pirate crew wouldn't have escaped.
...
Two days later.
The Freedom arrived at a break in the sea of clouds.
Over the past two days, they had passed through three Sky Islands and encountered various cultures and shellfishes on those islands, different from the "Blue Sea" (as the Sky Islanders called the ocean below).
Of course, they had also tasted many unique foods.
However, they didn't eat them in restaurants on the islands or in the homes of residents, but rather found them in the woods by the beaches.
The residents here seemed to be afraid of them.
As soon as they saw their ship, their first reaction was to hide.
When they landed on the island, the streets were mostly deserted.
They could understand the rejection shown by the original inhabitants of these Sky Islands.
After all, this was the front line for reaching the Sky Islands. Pirates who arrived via the Sky Road, whether good or bad, would more or less come here.
If the pirates were good, it would be fine. They would only look for food and not harm the residents.
But if they were evil pirates, he didn't need to think to know what the residents here had endured.
For pirates who did all sorts of evil, discovering the Sky Islands was no less than discovering a new continent. It was natural for them to go on a rampage and plunder.
Unfortunately, in this world, pirate crews whose purpose was adventure were very rare. Therefore, most of the pirates who came here were truly evil pirates.
They had taken such a great risk to come here. How could they face their fallen comrades or their unrestrained lives without taking something back?
This led to the original inhabitants being very wary of new ships. Even if they didn't know if the ship was a pirate ship, they would hide immediately instead of confirming if there was any harm.
This was because there were too many sad precedents.
The moment they saw the empty streets, Konata's group understood the thoughts of the residents. Therefore, they didn't linger on any of the Sky Islands. After a quick look around, they left directly.
"Konata, it looks like there's no road ahead. What do we do?"
At the bow of the ship, Guina stood to Konata's right, tilted her head to look at him, then turned her head and leaned over the railing, gazing at the sea of clouds that was constantly falling downwards ahead.
Konata looked down at the cloud waterfall ahead, then retracted his gaze and looked around.
There really was no road!
No wonder so few pirate crews could reach Angel Island. This route had an incredibly huge break.
Most pirate crews would not be able to pass here, nor could they descend.
Because this cloud waterfall was vertical.
However, according to the route on the map, it should have been passable over a hundred years ago. It seemed that something must have happened in the past hundred years to cause this break.
He knew there were other routes to Angel Island, and those routes should have safe passages to descend directly.
But that wasn't a reason to stop them.
He didn't have the patience to search for a safe passage.
Besides, their ship was not comparable to ordinary pirate ships.
Therefore...
Konata turned around and shouted towards the helm at the back, "A Tao, just sail straight down. I'll handle the rest."
"Understood!"
A Tao, in the helm, reached out and gave Konata an "ok" gesture through the glass. Then he placed his hands on the steering wheel, looked forward, and a hint of excitement flashed in his calm pupils.
He liked thrills.
Without further thought, he pressed a button in the center of the steering wheel. The Freedom, which had been slowly moving towards the massive waterfall ahead, suddenly accelerated like a rabbit that had been injected with stimulants, its eyes red, and shot forward with a rumble.
Upon reaching the edge of the waterfall, with a swoosh, it shot out from the huge break in the sea of clouds.
A sense of weightlessness instantly struck.
Everyone on the ship quickly grabbed onto nearby objects, their bodies floating in the air as they fell rapidly with the ship.
On the windmill at the bow, Konata's feet seemed to be embedded in the windmill. No matter how fast the ship accelerated, he remained still.
3000 meters, 2000 meters, 1000 meters, 500 meters, 10 meters, 1 meter.
Suddenly, the Freedom, which had been falling rapidly, stopped as if it had been struck by a petrifying spell, from motion to stillness, instantly stopping one meter above the sea of clouds below.
Bang—!
The impact from the rapid descent surged from the bottom of the ship into the sea of clouds below.
With a loud bang, the sea of clouds instantly caved in, forming a pit the size of the ship.
Then, the shockwave spread, stirring the clouds and creating waves that surged outwards.
After a moment, when the clouds below the ship had recovered, Konata retracted his domain and released his control over the Freedom and his companions.
"Ah..."
"Awesome~"
As soon as he retracted his domain, A Luo's excited voice came from the top of the mast.
Then followed A Tao, A Hua, and everyone else on the ship.