Why would they say that?
Because on this Sky Island, there’s a peculiar atmosphere known as “Earth Worship”!
Throughout the streets of Sky Island, there are strange statues. They aren’t deities, but represent a spiritual belief, worshiping the earth itself. When the Golden City of Skypiea, Shandora, was propelled into the sky, the Sky Islanders engaged in wars with the Shandians, desperate to claim this miraculous gift of land. These wars continued for many years.
It’s not just the residents of Angel Island; even those who come from the Blue Sea, like the Enel followers, share this belief. Enel’s followers even contemplate “returning” to the endless earth.
All of these behaviors are connected to the concept of “earth,” showing how much the Sky Islanders yearn for land.
In this situation, it’s not hard to imagine the circumstances of the Moon People who migrated to this planet. While people can survive on the Sky Islands, thousands of meters below lies solid ground, something they couldn’t possibly abandon!
Ian suspects that the final stop of Balloon Terminal might be where the Moon People who migrated here were abandoned. The structures in Balloon Terminal are mostly intact, showing no signs of war or disaster. Many houses are empty, indicating that the Moon People likely migrated in an orderly manner.
After arriving in the Blue Sea, the Moon People attempted to survive and create a glorious civilization on these islands, similar to the Skypieans’ Golden City. In the process, they inevitably encountered the Blue Sea people and, due to their similar appearances aside from the wings, even intermarried with them.
But… here comes the important part: These Moon People probably didn’t survive on the surface for very long before a significant incident occurred.
This incident is likely closely related to the void century.Currently, Ian doesn’t know what exactly happened at that time, but based on the information he obtained from Robin’s deciphered historical texts, there might have been a massive war involving the Moon People.
During this war, the Moon People suffered heavy losses, and their civilization nearly perished. In desperation for survival, a part of them had no choice but to leave the earth of the Blue Sea once again and return to the Sky Islands.
However, this time, they might not have returned to the original Balloon Terminal. Instead, they found a new Sky Island. After enduring the traumas of war, they began to yearn for their homeland, so they named this new Sky Island with the same name as their homeland, Birka!
After settling on this Sky Island, they also did some other things. For instance, they revisited Balloon Terminal later and left behind a Poneglyph and arranged robotic soldiers as guards…
Contemplating this, Ian suddenly turned to Enel and inquired, “Enel, the inscription on your Ark, it wasn’t your own design, was it?”
Enel hesitated for a moment before replying, “Of course not. I merely found the blueprint and constructed it accordingly.”
“Even the name, it must have come from the blueprint, not your own choice, right?” Ian asked again.
This time, even Enel was taken aback. “How did you know?” he questioned.
Ian nodded, confirming his suspicions.
Ian speculated that the Moon People, forced to return to the Sky Islands for survival, were not content with simply remaining there. They yearned to go back to their homeland, but how to achieve that became a conundrum. Consequently, they conceived the idea of creating a flying vessel to return to the Moon.
At that time, the Moon People still retained some of their lunar technological knowledge, and fueled by the fervent desire to return, they swiftly crafted the blueprint for their grand plan. The flying vessel they intended to construct was named the “Ark.”
The choice of the word “Ark” was no coincidence; it carried the implicit meaning of salvation. The Moon People, desperate and daunted by the vast war raging in the Blue Sea below, feared their own civilization’s extinction. Thus, they aptly chose “Ark” for their vessel, signifying their hope to be saved and return to their homeland.
However, upon completing the blueprint for the Ark, the Moon People encountered a formidable obstacle—they found themselves unable to construct the vessel. Beyond the issue of materials, their most crucial missing piece was… energy!
Back on the Moon, the Moon People had migrated to the Blue Sea due to the depletion of resources. Now, forced to relocate to the Sky Islands, they were unable to access the required energy from the Blue Sea below.
Their dream of returning to the Moon seemed increasingly distant, like a fading star in the night sky. But the tenacious spirit of the Moon People refused to be extinguished, and they persevered in search of an alternative solution to their dilemma…
Ian surmised that this energy was likely electricity. He recalled how he had utilized lightning to reactivate the technological remnants left behind in Balloon Terminal.
But that must have happened eight or nine hundred years ago, and during that time, they probably hadn’t discovered the existence of the ThunderStone, a mineral required that can power the Ark. So even if they managed to construct the vessel, they wouldn’t be able to set it in motion.
Thus, the Moon People had no choice but to temporarily shelve their plans for the Ark’s construction. They carefully stored away the blueprint and shifted their focus to finding a solution for their energy dilemma.
Their search led them down an extraordinary path, and they stumbled upon an intriguing idea—the Devil Fruits!
Devil Fruits were unique to the Grand Line and undoubtedly absent from the Sky Islands. While it was theoretically possible that the Knock-Up Stream might carry some Devil Fruits into the sky, the probability was quite slim.
Another possibility was that Blue Sea inhabitants who had ventured to the Sky Islands might have brought Devil Fruits with them. However, that scenario was equally unlikely. The era wasn’t like the present Age of Pirates, where adventurers abounded. During that time, conflicts were rampant throughout the Blue Sea, and such rare discoveries were implausible.
Hence, they had no other choice but to send their people into the dangerous territories of the Blue Sea to seek out a specific Devil Fruit—the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!
They hoped to harness the power of this Devil Fruit to activate their grand Ark.
Yet, when they finally found the fruit, their enemies likely caught wind of their discovery. Pursuing the Moon People’s trail, they arrived on the Moon People’s island and launched a devastating war against them.
The sought-after Rumble-Rumble Fruit became their last glimmer of hope, concealed alongside the blueprint. Unfortunately, most of the Moon People on Birka Island perished, and those who survived, perhaps due to their tender age, failed to inherit the knowledge of their civilization. As a result, Birka’s celestial culture encountered a break, leaving future generations in the dark about their own forgotten history.
The location where the design drawings were hidden remained undiscovered by their enemies, preserving its existence until Enel happened to stumble upon it by chance. Not only did he obtain the design drawings, but he also consumed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Additionally, from the stored information, he learned of the term: “Infinite Earth,” which was the phrase the Moon people used to describe their homeland.
Curiously, Ian couldn’t understand why the Skypieans and the residents of Angel Island never considered seeking the “Infinite Earth” on the Moon. It was only Enel who thought of this possibility.
If Ian’s memory served him right, Enel used the term “return” when describing his journey to the Infinite Earth. This suggested that he must have known where his true homeland was, possibly discovering this information within the materials stored alongside the design drawings, which likely mentioned the purpose of building the Ark.
Having consumed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Enel gained extraordinary powers, and his confidence soared. However, at this point, he was misled by fragments of information from the materials, which led him to believe that Skypiea was not their true home. He was convinced that this place was not where he belonged, especially because, being a half-breed, he lacked wings, which made him believe that he was fundamentally different from the Sky Islanders. As a result, he destroyed his homeland, and sought an opportunity to return to the Infinite Earth.
Subsequently, to search for materials to build the Ark, Enel and a group of like-minded companions arrived at Angel Island, where they overthrew Gan Fall and assumed positions of power. They began gathering the scattered gold that fell from the Golden City, Shandora, when it was lifted to the sky by Jaya Island. Following the design drawings he had found, they started constructing the Ark Maxim.
Because Ian had destroyed the Ark Maxim, he had seen its internal structure and recognized that the technology within the ship was vastly different from the current Sky Island’s Bell civilization. It resembled the technology Ian had found in the Ballon terminal station, forming the basis for his speculation.
To verify his theory, all Ian needed to do was inquire about Enel’s past.
Upon hearing Ian carefully narrate his conjectures, Enel looked at him with widening eyes. The truth was indeed as Ian had described it. Enel did find the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in a secret chamber, alongside the design drawings of the Ark Maxim. After obtaining it, he became the only Devil Fruit user on Birka, his former Sky Island, and his confidence grew.