One Piece Gunslinger

Luffy exclaimed joyfully, "Uncle!"

Zoro smiled and said, "It's you."

Usopp jumped up excitedly: "Master!"

Sanji, with gritted teeth, exclaimed, "It's you!"

Nami covered her mouth, looking surprised, and said nothing.

Chopper danced with joy: "Leon!"

Robin was also unusually excited: "Li Ang?"

The voices of these seven people came out simultaneously, each with their own expression and tone, bursting forth together at that moment.

This led to the following consequences:

"Wait, Luffy, you know him? You know him too?"

"Huh? You all know him?"

"I mean, why does it seem like everyone knows him? What's going on?"

"Oh, it turns out everyone knows the uncle. What a coincidence!"

……

Looking at the Straw Hat Pirates, whose internal affairs were already in complete disarray, Li Ang did not want to add to the chaos. He simply shrugged, expressing his helplessness.

Oh my, what a coincidence!

Li Ang was also filled with emotion. It had taken these people two years to finally come together. Time flies, years pass like a fleeting moment, and the hearse drifted by. Looking back, he realized that after two years of changes, well... there didn't seem to be much to be emotional about. Although everyone had changed a lot in the past two years, Li Ang now felt more familiar with them.

There won't be any feeling like "I almost don't recognize you anymore," since this is the Straw Hat crew that Li Ang actually knows.

"Alright, let's talk about it on the way, otherwise we'll miss the big current." If Li Ang didn't say anything, he'd probably have to wait for the next current.

Chapter 354 Seven Unbelievable Things

"Yes, yes, let's go out to sea first."

After Li Ang's reminder, Nami immediately realized what was happening and began calling everyone to board the ship. Naturally, Li Ang also boarded the legendary ship, the Going Merry.

The Merry is a truly legendary ship, unlike any of the small, dilapidated boats Leon owned back then. The Merry has even developed a ship spirit and gained its own consciousness; it can move on its own even without human control.

After boarding the ship, everyone said goodbye to Yhorm and made a promise to prove the existence of Shandya.

Then, under the command of the navigator Nami, the group controlled the ship and headed towards the place where the huge ocean current would soon surge into the sky.

"Hehe, want to test my strength?" Zoro chimed in.

"Hmm?" Li Ang looked at Zoro, then at Usopp who was eager to try, and Sanji who looked furious, and said, "Wait, we can deal with this later. There are some big guys coming."

As soon as Li Ang finished speaking, Nami said, "Everyone, hold on tight!"

Nami possessed an extraordinary talent for navigation, and Leon had impressive Observation Haki. As soon as they spoke, everyone felt the Going Merry beneath them tremble, and then a huge whirlpool formed in the sea. The crew quickly steered the ship to avoid falling in, instead circling around it in the direction the whirlpool was pulling them.

However, the whirlpool did not last long and quickly calmed down. Then a large water bubble appeared from the original location of the whirlpool, looking like a small hill. At this time, the Merry was right next to the water bubble.

"coming!"

Even if Nami hadn't shouted it, everyone would have known something was coming.

With a deafening roar, a massive ocean current surged into the sky, unleashing the pent-up energy.

Thankfully, the Going Merry was only near the edge of this force, otherwise it would have been instantly torn to shreds. The sheer strength of this current is unimaginable; it could push half an island like Shandea from the sea into the sky. It's just baffling how this current was generated; it's utterly illogical. But in this wondrous world, there are many things that defy science.

"Um, are we really going to ride this current?" Usopp was practically a coward by now, clinging to Chopper, his legs trembling so badly he looked like he couldn't even stand up straight.

On the contrary, he was fearless and excited like a dog, barking and shouting.

Then it's Nami's turn to perform. Even though Li Ang is exceptionally skilled, he's still an amateur in this role. Like everyone else, he has to listen to Nami.

"Quick! Lower all the sails and hold them tight!" Nami gave the order, and everyone sprang into action. Leon was in charge of one section, while Luffy and Zoro held onto the other.

At this moment, under the influence of the huge ocean current, the weather also underwent a drastic change. A strong wind swept in from all directions, pointing towards the center of the ocean current, and then flowing towards the sky along with the ocean current.

Ocean waves are formed due to the influence of air currents in the atmosphere. However, if the ocean current is strong enough, it can also affect the surrounding air and form air currents. Nami had everyone hold up the sails to meet this huge air current and then ride the massive ocean current.

Under this immense force, the sails billowed, and the resulting powerful propulsion propelled the Merry into the ocean current.

By the time everyone came to their senses, the bow of the ship was already pointing towards the sky, carried by the ocean current and the airflow generated by it, sailing in vertical space.

"Awesome! Go! Going Merry!" The carefree Luffy shouted excitedly, "Let's soar into the sky!"

However, Luffy's happy reunion was short-lived, as problems still arose. Just as Usopp had feared, the bottom of the ship gradually detached from the water.

This is extremely bad. Without the help of the ocean current, it cannot fly upwards by air currents alone. And once the ocean current disappears, the Merry and its crew will fall from the sky.

Upon discovering the problem, Li Ang couldn't help but feel anxious. Although the group wouldn't die from the fall, their trip to the Sky Island would be ruined. So Li Ang quickly took action, informing the others and asking them why the tattoos had caused this.

After a while, Li Ang set his sights on the Merry, on its hastily modified wings.

"Damn it, who made these wings? Step forward, and I promise I won't kill him," Li Ang shouted irritably.

“That’s me…” Usopp raised his hand shakily from the corner.

Li Ang had at least completed nine years of compulsory education, although he hadn't been exposed to anything related to aerodynamics since then. But he at least understood a principle from a junior high school physics textbook: the faster the air flows, the lower the air pressure.

This is also the principle behind why modern airplanes can fly. Iron wings don't flap; they fly by creating a pressure difference between the top and bottom using the shape of the wings, and then using atmospheric pressure to lift the airplane.

The wings that Usopp has created are simply amazing; they're exactly like airplane wings, using the same principles. The top of the wings is curved, and the bottom is flat—perfectly proportioned, without a single flaw.

So here's the problem: Usopp built the Going Merry's wings so it could fly, but now it doesn't need to fly at all. If it did, wouldn't it just be a mimicking the ocean currents? Instead, it's meant to make the Going Merry "sink."

So Usopp's wings were reversed; they shouldn't be curved at the top, but at the bottom. This way, the air pressure is lower at the bottom and higher at the top, pushing the Going Merry down and keeping it close to the water's surface, allowing it to better utilize the power of the ocean currents.

However, since things had already come to this point, Li Ang could only postpone killing Usopp and quickly take action to remedy this loophole.

"Luffy, come help!" Li Ang shouted. "Go and remove all the nails from the edge of the wing next to you, just leave the one in the middle untouched."

Then Li Ang went to the other side and started removing the nails. Luffy, though carefree, knew that if they couldn't get to Skypiea, they would definitely suffer a bad fate, so he quickly removed the nails as well.

After dismantling it, Li Ang shouted again, "Flip the wings over, and have some more people hold them down so they don't flip back over."

Li Ang's solution was simple and brutal: since the wings were on backwards, why not just wash them again and turn them over? Luckily, none of them were ordinary people, otherwise doing so would have only resulted in the wings being pulled away by the airflow.

With everyone's combined efforts, the Merry was finally brought back on track.

It was really tough. Li Ang was holding onto one wing by himself, while Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji were holding onto the other wing together. Behind them, the others were pulling on Li Ang and the others, and Robin also used her powers to pull everyone together.

And so, clinging to the wings the whole way, everyone was exhausted when they finally arrived at the floating island.

As everyone rested on the deck, they began to talk about Li Ang.

Thus, in this process, the seven unsolved mysteries that had surrounded the Straw Hat Pirates were finally revealed.

These seven unsolved mysteries are:

First: A mysterious chef whom Luffy often thinks about, whose cooking is incredibly delicious, comparable to Sanji's. However, the style and flavor of this mysterious chef's dishes are completely different from Sanji's. It was also this chef who gave Luffy the Seastone, promising to return it to him once they reached the New World.

Second: The mysterious technique Zoro mentioned. The Galaxian Explosion, a move said to have been created by a mysterious swordsman he only met once. Seemingly ordinary, it embodies the lifelong pursuit of all swordsmen. Or perhaps it's not a sword technique at all, but a philosophy. He is still studying this technique, which is not a sword technique, to this day.

Third: Usopp's mysterious teacher. It's said that Usopp learned all his sniping skills from this teacher. In Usopp's own words, he had never seen such a terrifying sniper, perhaps ranking among the best snipers in the world. However, this marksman only stayed for a few days before leaving with Nami.

Fourthly, we come to Nami. This marksman is also a master of hand-to-hand combat, having saved her hometown from a group of fish-men. From the villagers of Cocoyasi Village, Luffy and his crew also learn that this man is not only incredibly strong, but he also encourages the villagers to fight back, promoting the power of the mind.

Fifthly, when Sanji was at the Baratie restaurant, he encountered an extremely unpleasant chef. While his culinary skills were undeniably impressive, his personality was far from agreeable. He even shamelessly ate and dashed. Sanji had never encountered such a brazen person, and the thought of it made him grit his teeth.

Sixth: Back then, the king of Drum Kingdom was a cruel and incompetent bastard who arbitrarily changed the country's laws according to his own whims. Later, a person came and helped Drum Kingdom get rid of this king. The current king, Dalton, took office at that time. Based on the information Chopper overheard from Dr. Henrietta Lancelot's conversation with Dalton, it can be inferred that this person was a member of the Revolutionary Army.

Seven: Robin loves reading, especially that book whose cover is worn thin and illegible, yet she still knows its contents by heart. It's said that the author of this book was also the person who once saved her. Speaking of this person, Robin always smiles.

The answer is now revealed. There's only one unbelievable reason for these seven campuses: the culprit is this guy who popped up here to hitch a ride.

This led to Luffy, in order to maintain the Seven Mysteries of the school and prevent an eighth or ninth from appearing, specifically asking Franky and Brook if they had ever seen this guy, Leon, and if he knew this mysterious man.

Chapter 355 The Ship Repairman Turns the Tide

Li Ang is unaware of the extent of trouble he has caused Franky and Brook later on. When the two joined the Straw Hat Pirates, they were thoroughly interrogated by the crew.

However, they were now at an altitude of 10,000 meters. Even Mount Everest is only 8848 meters high, so the air on this floating island was naturally thinner and the air pressure was lower. The group rested on the deck for a long time before recovering.

Aside from Luffy, who no one knows what kind of body he has, he quickly became energetic again, continuing to jump around on the Going Merry, excitedly looking at everything on the Sky Island.

He almost jumped off the ship, but thankfully Li Ang reacted quickly and pulled him back. Keep in mind that the sea around Sky Island is still sea, and the seabed is hollow; he might have fallen right in and never been pulled back.

"But speaking of which, what a coincidence," Luffy said with a smile, leaning on the fence. "I never imagined that the path I've walked is not only the path Roger walked, but also the path Uncle walked."

It's not a coincidence at all, and the logic is reversed; it should be that Li Ang is following the path that some of the Straw Hats have already taken.

By this time, everyone except Luffy had caught their breath. As the saying goes, every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt its debtor. As soon as Sanji got up from the ground, he looked like he was there to cause trouble for Li Ang.

"Hey, you over there! Want to have another cooking contest?" Although Sanji said it as a question, he didn't mean to ask anything; he was determined to redeem himself.

However, Li Ang didn't want to give him that chance, or rather, Li Ang wasn't confident he could fool Sanji anymore. Even if Sanji used his full strength, Li Ang didn't think he could beat him. It was better to maintain his 100% win rate.

However, Li Ang couldn't refuse so easily. Judging from Sanji's expression, it seemed that refusing would lead to a real-life duel. Luffy's eyes would light up at the mere mention of gladiatorial combat, contempt, or competition. Not to mention, this was also a culinary duel; Luffy had tasted both of their cookings. If these two were to fight, Luffy would be the first to jump in as referee.

Sure enough, Luffy's mouth dropped open when he heard that, drool dripping from his mouth, and he exclaimed excitedly, "Oh my god, a food showdown! A food showdown!"

However, Li Ang was not entirely without options, and he then turned his attention to his "teammate" Zoro.

Sure enough, right after Sanji made his declaration, Zoro became unhappy and immediately said, "You stinky cook, get out of here. I want to have a swordsmanship match with him. Don't bother us."

"Damn it! Mosshead, do you want to fight?" Sanji rolled up his sleeves and stuck his head out.

"Alright, let's fight! Only the winner gets to challenge." Zoro wasn't going to back down either, so he rolled up his sleeves, stuck his head out, and headbutted Sanji.

Well, Li Ang didn't do anything, yet these two started fighting amongst themselves. Li Ang was at the center of the storm, but he was actually incredibly stable. He effortlessly stirred up a battle between two tigers.

In truth, Leon wasn't confident he could win a swordsmanship duel proposed by Zoro. Now that Zoro knew everything Leon knew, his chances of winning were slim. Unless Leon used Armament Haki, but that would be a stomp on a weak opponent, not a true swordsmanship duel.

Sigh, seeing Zoro and Sanji bickering again, Luffy suddenly felt utterly bored. If no one intervened, this could go on for a whole day; at this rate, we wouldn't be able to see any duels at all.

"Huh? How did this happen?"

Why did it turn out like this...? Did we encounter a culinary duel? Then came a spectacular sword duel. The two duels overlapped, creating an even greater spectacle. It should have been a dreamlike time... but why did it turn out this way?

Sigh, it's safe to say that these two have only been together for a short time, so don't expect them to get along peacefully.

However, Li Ang still wanted to complain a bit. If you two want to fight, just fight! Why are you both rolling up your sleeves? One of you is using a knife, and the other is using your legs. Are you going to have a boxing match to decide the winner? And why are you putting your heads together? Are you both born in the Year of the Ox? Since you've already rolled up your sleeves, then let's have a boxing match! Instead, you just kept arguing. All you did was talk.

Forget about these two talents. After waiting for a minute, they were still facing off. Li Ang gave Usopp, who was still squatting on the other side, a look, shook his head, and took out Red Nine from his pocket.