The fleet sailed south of the island and entered the target area after a few hours of navigation.
"Wow!! Look, Luffy, what is that?" Usopp exclaimed aloud, holding a telescope.
In the distance, there was an incredibly large cumulonimbus cloud that covered almost half of the sky.
At the center of the cloud layer, there was a pitch-black cloud that curved upwards, forming a deep and terrifying hole.
"It's probably the place," said Johnny, excited.
"Yeah, it must be. Will the Knock-Up Stream be below that cloud?" Yosaku looked away and took a deep breath.
When confronted with something so huge, humans couldn't help but feel a sense of insignificance.
Screams came from the pirate ship Masira.
"Luffy, the appearance of the cumulonimbus cloud was earlier than expected! We'll speed up the exploration of the specific location of the sea current. Your three ships must head in this direction first!"
Luffy gestured "OK" and immediately ordered everyone to turn the rudder toward the center of the cumulonimbus cloud.
On the other side, Nami, aboard the Sunny, immediately ordered two of the three female agents to command the ship's bow.
Why two women? Because Miss Goldenweek was a little girl, and in a group of adult women, girls always received some preferred treatment.
Bellamy took a deep breath and shouted to his subordinates, "Follow us!"
"OK!"
Many crew members chose to follow. Even Satch, who had previously advised Bellamy against it, followed their example.
"I must be crazy, Bellamy. We're all crazy!" He lit a cigarette nervously and anxiously inhaled.
"If you don't want to go, you still have a choice. You can return on the Saruyama Alliance ship," Bellamy said, looking at the vast cumulonimbus cloud with a smile. "No matter what you say, I won't change my mind, Satch!"
"You idiot! I'm the runner-up. If I give up, everyone else will too!" Satch threw the cigarette he had barely smoked onto the deck and stomped it out fiercely. "Now we can only believe the words of that Shichibukai! Ahhh, it'd be better to sleep with women in a hotel!"
"Haha, remember the initial feeling when we chose this path!"
Bellamy clenched his fist, suppressing the restlessness in his heart. "From North Blue until now, the comfortable life in Mock Town made us forget the sea! I've already made up my mind, Satch."
"If Sky Island really exists, I'll choose to embark on a real adventure once again!"
"Bellamy..."
Satch paused for a moment, then mocked, "Assuming we survive, you idiot!"
Three pirate ships formed a unique line and entered the scene.
The sky immediately darkened, and if someone looked up, they could see the deep hole above their heads, as if it could suck out their souls.
Below the hole in the deep layer of clouds, the seawater spun faster and faster, gradually forming a huge whirlpool.
All three ships were caught by the current, heading slowly toward the center of the vortex.
"Is this the place?" Nami shouted loudly.
An answer came from the flag of the Monkey Pirates.
"Yes, Miss Nami. I believe that in another fifteen minutes, the Knock-Up Stream will erupt, and you will enter the swirl!"
The interior?
Nami looked at the whirlpool and felt a shiver.
The Sunny circled around the whirlpool, approaching the center with each revolution.
And in the center of the whirlwind was a pitch-black darkness.
"Will we be swallowed if we fall? There could be a terrifying monster waiting for us with its mouth wide open," Robin said calmly.
Vivi and Nami were scared.
"Ah, please stop that, Miss Robin!"
"Shut up, Robin!"
Miss Valentine was controlling the rudder, but now she was caught in the chain and could no longer steer.
She could only watch helplessly as the ship slid toward the center of the whirlwind, sweat dripping from her forehead, and forced a dry laugh, saying, "Hahaha... Fortunately, I have the Weight-Weight Fruit ability. If the worst happens, I can fly."
Beside her, someone crossed their arms and said, "Are you an idiot? If something happens to them, do you think Captain Luffy will save us?"
Valentine: "..."
Don't say anything, damn it! Why do you like to scare people?!
Suddenly, the ship broke free from the whirlpool and, due to the inclination, fell directly toward the dark center.
In an instant, except for Robin, all the women screamed, letting out a collective "Kyaaa!"
Immediately afterward, the Merry did the same and fell.
Compared to the women, the men were naturally calmer—except Usopp and Chopper, the shy members.
They also screamed, even louder than Nami and the others.
"Hahahaha!"
Luffy couldn't contain his laughter and turned to look at Bellamy's ship.
His ship was much larger than the Sunny and was also falling with them.
Boom!!
The three ships fell into the darkness one after another, amidst screams, until they finally hit the bottom.
Only then did everyone realize that, while they were falling, the whirlpool gradually diminished.
At that moment, the surface of the sea was extremely calm, as if it were the eve of a storm.
"Luffy!" Nami shouted, "We probably have about five minutes, so be prepared!"
"Understood... huh?"
Luffy responded and suddenly frowned.
He jumped from the bow of the ship and looked to the southwest.
In his Observation Haki perception, a powerful aura was approaching.
"What's wrong, Luffy?" Zoro noticed his expression and asked in a deep voice.
"It's a Navy Admiral, Zoro."
Luffy squinted slightly and walked to the edge of the ship to look.
On the calm and quiet surface of the sea, a tall man in a suit was bicycling toward them.
"A Navy Admiral!?"
Everyone was shocked.
Sanji said calmly, "Why are you panicking? We are the pirate crew of a Shichibukai."
Right then, Aokiji rode his bike with one hand and raised his right arm to wave to everyone. "According to the route, you'd really be in a place like this. Monkey D. Luffy! Are you going to Sky Island?"
"You're planning to go there, Aokiji? What's the problem?"
Luffy could probably guess what this guy was doing here.
"I can't allow it. I also have a mission."
Aokiji scratched his head and immediately stopped pedaling.
The next moment, the sea quickly froze under the bicycle wheels, instantly freezing the maritime area within several kilometers.
All three pirate ships were fixed on the surface of the sea.
"What, what, what?" Nami said, surprised. "Luffy, what's going on?"
"Nothing, nothing's happening."
While saying that, Luffy lightly jumped from the Merry and walked toward Aokiji, slowly saying, "You go first, I'll come later."
Satch said in shock, "What's going on? A Navy Admiral really appeared? You saw it too, Bellamy!"
Bellamy had the same expression of astonishment.
From the scene, it seemed like the Shichibukai and the Admiral were about to fight. Why? They should be on the same side, right?
(End of Chapter)
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Give me some power stones there you go~😉
On Saturday I was coming back from an event with my younger brother, and suddenly he told me there was something in my hair and I asked him to take it out. I felt a small sting of pain, so I thought it was a hair strand.Imagine my surprise when he showed me a WHITE HAIR, bro, I'm 20 years old, I've been so stressed lately that I even got a white hair on my head.