Chapter 71: Skypiea
The whirlpool was a gaping maw in the ocean, and the closer the Hunter got, the stronger the pull became.
The water wasn't flowing; it was ripping, tearing at the hull with a grinding screech that made their teeth ache.
If the Hunter hadn't been a specialized battleship with high-powered engines, it would have already lost control, dragged into the dark abyss and shredded.
"Kyle," Morel shouted, gripping the railing to steady himself against the violent pitching. His voice cut through the roar of the waves.
"Even if this stream sends us up, have you thought about how our ship is going to 'stand' on a column of water? Moving vertically at that speed... if our center of gravity shifts, we'll tip backward and flip! We'll all fall to our deaths!"
Kyle's mind raced, recalling Luffy's experience.
The Straw Hats had a light, wooden caravel that they modified for flight.
The Hunter was a steel beast. It was heavy. While the stream had enough force to lift an island, the ship's center of gravity was a massive problem.
The key was using wind pressure to maintain balance.
"Don't worry, Mr. Morel!" Kyle yelled back, fighting to be heard over the wind.
"The Knock Up Stream is caused by a massive release of geothermal energy—an underwater volcano. The rising water creates a powerful updraft! We need sails and stabilizers big enough to catch that wind, like a kite, to keep the ship upright and prevent it from tipping back!"
He looked at Morel with burning intensity. "That's why we need you! Use your smoke to create a massive sail and stabilizer wings!"
Morel grinned, a look of bold confidence spreading across his face. He patted his giant pipe.
"Haha! No problem! Leave it to me!" Creating solid objects might be hard, but shaping smoke into a tough, malleable structure? That was his specialty as a Manipulator/Transmuter.
Knuckle clung to a rope, watching the ship plunge into troughs and crest waves, his heart in his throat.
One wrong move, and they were dead.
Yet, no one on board showed fear. Everyone's eyes were locked on the shrinking whirlpool, waiting for the final build-up.
After an hour of suffocating tension, the whirlpool's rotation visibly slowed. The center stopped dipping and began to bulge upward, filling in. Finally, the whirlpool vanished completely.
The sea went dead calm—the silence before the storm.
"NOW! Mr. Knov!" Kyle roared, his eyes flashing.
Knov, ready and waiting, slammed the throttle forward. The Hunter shot forward like an arrow, tearing across the unnaturally calm water, straight for the center!
Just as the bow crossed the center point—
BOOM!!!
It was as if a sleeping sea god had woken. The ocean surface exploded upward. An indescribable force slammed into the hull, launching the entire battleship ten meters into the air!
But that was just the prelude.
A second later, the accumulated geothermal pressure detonated. A massive column of water, over a kilometer wide, erupted from the sea like a pillar holding up the heavens. With a deafening roar, it tore through the ocean surface and shot straight for the clouds!
Their ship was perched right on top of this geyser, rocketing toward the blue sky at unimaginable speed!
However, barely two hundred meters up, the crisis hit.
The immense acceleration and the force of the water caused the bow to pitch up uncontrollably. The ship was about to tip backward!
"Mr. Morel!" Kyle screamed.
"I got it!" Morel's voice was deep and steady. He stood on the bow, immovable.
He took a massive breath, and thick, white smoke poured from his pipe!
The smoke moved as if alive, splitting into three streams. One shot up the center, unfurling into a gigantic triangular mainsail. The other two spread along the sides, forming wide, stable wings like a bird's!
Just as the ship reached the tipping point, the updraft slammed into the smoke-sail!
WHOOSH—!
The invisible wind pressure grabbed the sail, yanking the ship forward with immense force, pulling it back into a vertical alignment!
Morel manipulated the smoke-wings with precision, constantly adjusting the angle to counteract the turbulence, stabilizing the Hunter's ascent.
"It worked!" Shoot shouted.
Everyone felt the insane sensation of riding a water column into the sky. The mix of weightlessness and G-force flooded their systems with adrenaline. Their faces showed a mix of terror and extreme excitement.
This was an adventure beyond their wildest dreams!
Kyle felt the wind howling in his ears and the power of the water beneath his feet. His excitement overflowed, and the lightning energy inside him seemed to sing in response.
Just then, debris from above—broken masts, planks, and the skeleton of a pirate ship that had been caught in the initial blast—began to rain down on them like meteors!
"Look out!" Knuckle yelled.
Kyle's eyes narrowed. He stepped forward, his Ken instantly coating his body. His aura concentrated in his right arm, and blinding silver arcs of electricity gathered in his palm, crackling with a terrifying POP-POP-POP. The compressed energy ball radiated destruction.
He aimed at the largest piece of wreckage—the pirate ship's hull—hurtling toward them.
"Railgun."
PEW—!
A beam of condensed energy, wrapped in violent arcs, shot out faster than the eye could follow!
The sturdy hull was paper before the fusion of Nen penetration and lightning destruction. It was torn apart and detonated instantly, turning into a cloud of burning fragments that scattered harmlessly past the Hunter.
"What power!" Morel stared at the obliterated wreckage, shocked.
He could feel the terrifying energy in that shot. "Is that the fusion of Ko and the Devil Fruit?"
Kyle dispelled the electricity. "Pretty much. It's compressing almost all my 'Output Aura' into a single point, then mixing it with lightning energy for instant release. The base concept is Ko, but the lightning multiplies the destructive power geometrically."
Morel analyzed it. "A classic 'extreme offense' strategy. Sacrificing all defense for instant, maximum destruction."
"And since you're not an Emitter, normally the power would drop off significantly over distance."
"Right," Kyle agreed. "But lightning conducts extremely well. It boosts the base range and power of the emission. Even though I'm not an Emitter, I can maintain high lethality within a hundred meters."
"Hoh hoh hoh, save the lecture for later, boys," Netero said, opening his eyes. He pointed upward with interest. "Looks like we're reaching the 'finish line'."
Everyone looked up.
At the top of the water column, a massive, thick layer of pitch-black clouds loomed like a ceiling. This was the end of the stream.
Kyle knew those weren't normal clouds. They were Impericmulus Clouds—dense enough to hold solid objects. The entrance to the White Sea!
They needed to punch through this final barrier!
As Netero spoke, the stream seemed to hit its peak speed, slamming into the dark clouds with unstoppable momentum!
"Hold on!" Kyle shouted.
CRASH—!
The impact shook the entire ship violently. The hull smashed through the thick, elastic cloud layer. For a moment, everything went dark, and then—light flooded their vision!
They broke free of the stream, launching upward another dozen meters on inertia, reaching the apex of their arc before starting to fall!
"Mr. Morel!"
"Way ahead of you!"
As the ship began to drop, the smoke that formed the sails and wings instantly retracted and reshaped, forming a massive, fluffy cushion directly under the hull!
FLOOF!
The Hunter landed steadily on a vast, endless expanse of white "cloud ocean"—the White Sea.
The ship sank slightly, then was held by the strange buoyancy, bobbing gently.
Behind them, the hole punched by the Knock Up Stream slowly closed, leaving only a calm, white plain stretching to the horizon.
Kyle took a deep breath. His lungs felt tight; the air here was definitely thinner, carrying a crisp, unique scent.
They had made it. Skypiea.