Chapter 70: The Knock Up Stream
Knov listened to Kyle's dismissive comment and didn't argue.
Compared to the bizarre, often grotesque evils of the Hunter world, a little royal fratricide on Raijin Island was indeed... pedestrian.
He pushed up his glasses and focused on the immediate problem.
"We have no Log Pose," Knov said calmly. "For now, we can only pick a direction and sail. If we're lucky, we might encounter another pirate ship. Then... we can 'borrow' their Log Pose."
Kyle nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
The biggest question was: which of the seven Grand Line routes were they on?
If they were lucky enough to be on the same route Luffy took... that would be perfect.
They might encounter the legendary Knock Up Stream!
That was the shortcut to Skypiea. And Skypiea meant Shandora, the City of Gold!
If they found the gold left there, Kyle would be instantly financially free. Netero's "loan" would be pocket change.
The thought made Kyle's heart race. He could almost see the golden city glittering in his mind.
"Mr. Knov, that's the plan!" Kyle said urgently. "Pick a direction and go full speed! Keep the radar on 24/7. The moment we spot another ship, we'll know where we are!"
"Understood," Knov nodded and headed for the bridge to adjust their course.
Watching him go, Kyle turned to Morel, who was puffing on his pipe. "Where are Knuckle and Shoot?"
"Those two?" Morel blew a smoke ring and pointed below deck. "In the gym. Training like their lives depend on it."
Hearing the word "training," the restless energy from the Devil Fruit surged in Kyle again. He needed to vent this new power. He needed a good fight to adapt and master it.
"I'm going to go loosen up!" Before Morel could reply, Kyle blurred into a streak of lightning and vanished from the deck.
Morel shook his head, chuckling. "Chairman, the energy of youth is something to envy, isn't it?"
"Hoh hoh hoh," Netero stroked his beard, his eyes sharp with wisdom. "The boy just gained a massive power boost. His body and Nen are growing rapidly. Like a blade fresh from the forge, he needs a thorough 'grinding' and 'tempering' to sharpen the edge and bring it under control."
"A full-power, evenly matched fight is the best way to do that."
Morel looked down at the deck of the Hunter. He doubted the ship could handle that kind of fight.
"I should get to training, too," Netero said, his playful expression vanishing, replaced by a rare seriousness. "I don't want to be surpassed by the newcomer so quickly."
With that, he sat down right on the deck, cross-legged. His eyes closed, and his breathing became deep and slow.
His vast, ocean-like Aura instantly retracted, vanishing completely. He seemed to merge with the ship, the wind, the world itself. To the naked eye, he was there; to En, he was invisible.
"Deep meditation?" Morel was slightly shocked. If the Chairman was taking this seriously... did that mean Kyle, with his new lightning powers, was actually becoming a threat to him?
Kyle stormed into the gym on the second deck like a hurricane.
The gym was spacious, filled with custom, heavy-duty equipment.
Knuckle and Shoot were sparring in the center. Both had their arms coated in hardened Armament Haki. Their fists collided with heavy thuds, their movements fast and precise. They were clearly honing their Haki application in combat.
Kyle didn't interrupt them. He walked over to the free weights, selected a barbell that would make a normal strongman weep, and began basic endurance training.
As he pumped out rep after rep, tearing and repairing muscle fibers, he noticed something incredible.
His recovery speed was insane!
Whenever he approached failure, whenever his muscles burned with lactic acid, the lightning energy in his body acted like a precise physiotherapist. Micro-currents stimulated his tissue, accelerating metabolism and energy regeneration. Even his Aura recovery rate had spiked.
This meant his stamina and sustained combat ability had just leveled up massively.
While Kyle sweated in the gym, adapting to his new power, the Phantom Pirates—Chrollo's crew—had been sailing for ten days.
They had weathered violent storms and crossed monstrous waves. The thrill of battling nature excited Uvogin to no end.
But what made them "famous" was their treatment of other ships—pirate or merchant.
They showed no mercy. It was a scorched-earth policy: Kill everyone, steal everything, burn the ship.
Their notoriety was spreading quietly but quickly across the seas, carried by blood and fire.
Back to Kyle.
The Hunter sailed aimlessly for two full days. Nothing but endless blue. No islands, not even a decent rock.
A sense of being lost began to settle over the crew like a fog.
Just then, an alarm shrieked from the bridge!
On the radar screen, a massive red signal flashed. About two nautical miles away, a giant anomaly had appeared—a colossal vortex!
Kyle rushed to the screen. Seeing the simulation of the swirling black hole in the ocean, a bold idea struck him.
"Mr. Knov!" his voice was tight with excitement. "Take us closer!"
Knov frowned, his voice grave. "The radar indicates an extreme danger zone! Data suggests a massive whirlpool or an unstable current trap. If we get sucked in, the pressure could tear the ship apart!"
"We don't need to get too close," Kyle said, his eyes glued to the screen, his tone firm. "I don't think that's a normal whirlpool. It looks like... a precursor to a natural phenomenon!"
He was almost certain. This was the key to Skypiea—the Knock Up Stream!
It was dangerous, but it was the only way up. And up meant Shandora. Up meant gold.
The thought of wiping out his debt to Netero instantly made his blood pump faster.
"Mr. Knov, that's the plan! Pick a heading and engage!" Kyle ordered.
Knov hesitated, but seeing the absolute certainty in Kyle's eyes, he relented. He trusted Kyle's judgment, and he trusted his own ability to save them if things went south.
The Hunter cautiously approached, stopping about three hundred meters from the edge. The sheer scale of nature's power was breathtaking.
A whirlpool kilometers wide spun slowly on the surface. The center was a black abyss, leading straight to hell. The water roared and churned, compressing with a low, vibrating hum, like a primordial beast preparing to scream at the sky.
"That's it!" Kyle pointed excitedly. "Knov, get closer! When you see the water in the center bulge upward... full throttle! Drive the Hunter straight into the rising stream!"
"Kyle, are you insane? Drive into it?" Knov stared at him in disbelief. That was suicide! The force of that eruption would shred steel!
"It's a miracle of this world—the Knock Up Stream!" Kyle shouted over the roar. "It will shoot us straight up—ten thousand meters into the sky—to the White Sea! To Skypiea!"
"Skypiea? Sky Island?" Morel, Shoot, and the others ran onto the deck, looking confused. An island in the sky? That was beyond their comprehension.
"Islands exist in the cloud layers, ten thousand meters up," Kyle explained rapidly. "The air is thin, the environment unique. And this... this is the express elevator!"
"Are you sure?" Knov asked, his voice steadying.
"One hundred percent!" Kyle answered, his gaze unwavering.
Knov took a deep breath and looked at his companions. "What do you think?"
Morel stared at the apocalyptic whirlpool, then at Kyle's confident face. He took a deep drag of his pipe.
Then, his face split into his trademark, fearless grin.
"If the Captain is that sure... then how can we, the crew, back down?"