Slowly carving through the mountain like a human, or I should say, mink-sized excavator with each swing of my bo-staff; though I really hoped this wasn't a waste of time and they were actually hiding somewhere in this mountain, otherwise, I was going to be very annoyed.
After a few minutes, I felt Naga-sa hit something much sturdier than stone as it managed to stop my advance, causing me to retract my bo-staff and back away, only for me to see what looked like a man-made structure; now I could only see a small area of it, but I was rather confident I had found what I've been looking for.
"Hehe, found you." Said Diddy with a feral grin as he excavated the surrounding perimeter, revealing a large iron wall with what seemed to be a vault door sealed tightly shut.
'Heh, this is definitely it, and if it's somehow not, I've found something interesting. After all, who would make a safe room or vault in the middle of a mountain with seemingly no way to easily access it?' Thought Diddy with a smirk as he stood before the vault door while resting Naga-sa beside him.
Before breaking my way through, I turned around and looked at Freyja, whose situation has only worsened; now, I don't even think she can feel me anymore and is merely following wherever I lead her. She'll sometimes look in random directions while shouting stuff or glare in another direction, only for her to throw a ball of fire. I wasn't concerned for her safety; she was only facing illusions, so it's not like she'd die, and if she somehow dies to mere illusions, that's honestly incredibly pathetic.
'Hmm, what to do with her?' Mused Diddy with a thoughtful expression as he glanced at Freyja before looking at his bo-staff.
"Eh, I suppose that could work; I just hope she's smart enough to realize what she's holding; I also hope she can feel her strength deplete, and that's also not being blocked by whatever illusion she was in." Remarked Diddy as he placed Naga-sa in Freyja's arms, though she dropped it since the illusion muddled all five of her senses.
Clicking my tongue, I took off my holster and placed it on Freyja's back before putting Naga-sa in the holster; finishing that, I released my hold on her and approached the vault door.
Just looking at it, I knew the vault door was very thick, maybe even a foot of iron, which would be quite difficult to break through, but all it would really take is time, and I've got plenty of that. Getting into stance, I reeled my fist back before violently punching the vault door with some of my strength, causing the area around us to tremble intensely.
"Never mind, seems I've underestimated how much my strength has grown since Centaurea." Muttered Diddy with a feral smirk as he looked at the vault door, which had a deep fist imprint in the center.
Punching the vault door again, I felt it cave inward; with another punch, it was faint, but I heard something break, causing me to punch it again and nearly break it completely; punching it one final time, I heard the sound of metal tearing as the vault door was ripped off its hinges and blasted wide open.
"Hehe, I can see, smell, and hear you; no more hiding." Stated Diddy with a ferocious grin as he grabbed the side of the vault and entered, only to find a large black man wearing a Victorian maid outfit seemingly protecting an old woman.
"Madam, stay behind me." Said Pill seriously as he got into a fighting stance and eyed Diddy, though when he looked into his beastly eyes, he instantly felt fear.
Looking around, the place was pretty large. There was what looked to be a control desk to my left, and in front of me, there was an area to lounge around, though one thing that annoyed me was that I found another secret entrance right underneath the couch.
'Tch, I would've saved so much time if I had found that secret entrance; it must've been hidden somewhere else on the island, far from where we searched; otherwise, I would've found it.' Thought Diddy with a scowl as he grunted in annoyance before ignoring it and eyeing Pill and Mirage while slowly approaching them.
As I neared them, the man, seemingly finally having enough, took a few steps toward me, which caused me to smirk at his useless attempts; lunging toward him, I leaped into the air and grabbed his head with my foot before slamming it to the ground, crushing his head a grape.
"Pathetic, isn't this the Grand Line? Shouldn't you have been at least slightly stronger than that?" Remarked Diddy with a frown of disappointment while looking at what was previously a man before shrugging his arms and forgetting about it as he glanced back at Mirage, who looked unphased.
"I appreciate your assistance, Pill, for all these years, but sacrifices are required to achieve our dream; you just happened to be one of them." Muttere Mirage as a single tear emerged from her eye before dropping to the ground while looking at Pill's corpse, before shifting her attention to Diddy.
'What the, is she a cultist or something? Didn't know they had those in this world.' Thought Diddy with a raised eyebrow before ignoring her remark and standing before her.
"Your scent; you've eaten a devil fruit, which means you're the one who keeps messing with our senses." Said Diddy with a slight frown as he glared at Mirage while lightning emerged from his body and coiled around his arm.
"Yes, and what a unique way to figure such a thing out; my name is Madam Mirage, and I've eaten the vision-vision fruit, allowing me to create and control illusions through a person's five senses." Stated Mirage with a smile, though before she could say anything else, she was suddenly lifted into the air, a tail wrapped around her neck.
"Alright, enough playing games; I would kill you, but I've got a feeling you know something. So either say it, or I'll just outright kill you; I'm not all that interested in learning whatever you know, so don't expect me to torture you." Remarked Diddy blandly as he folded his arms and glared at the suffocating Mirage, lifted into the air.
"P-P-Prophecy." Said Mirage with difficulty, her voice hoarse and hardly audible, but thanks to Diddy's acute hearing, he released her from his tail, causing her to drop to the ground while taking big breaths of air.
"I'm not one to believe in prophecies, but I won't lie; they do interest me. You've got five, no four minutes; after that, I'll kill you." Said Diddy lightly as he sat down on the couch while looking at Mirage struggling to breathe.
After waiting for Mirage to regain her composure, she stood up and sat on the couch opposite of me.
"I-I'll tell you the short version, but after you learn of this, you won't kill me." Declared Mirage confidently while Diddy just nodded his head, not really paying attention.
"My husband, who has been dead for a few decades, used to be a rather terrible archaeologist since he was only focused on discovering a certain island that was said to be a myth. Even after marrying, he continued to dedicate his entire life to finding this lost island, and eventually, while he didn't manage to find it, he did a piece of the puzzle. An eternal pose to Angel Island, the mythical Sky Island!" Stated Mirage with a large smile of excitement as she pointed at the pedestal, though when she looked at Diddy's bored expression, she quickly composed herself.
"Anyways, knowing how much finding the legendary Sky Island meant to my husband, I helped him search for a way to reach Angel Island; however, after several years of searching, we were stuck with only one option: the knock-up stream, a dangerous and deadly path. One that we'd undoubtedly die on if we dared to take it." Added Mirage with a frown as she took a second to catch her breath, though she noticed when Diddy showed interest when she mentioned knock-up stream.
"While we were at Mock town, where the knock-up stream occurs, I happened to encounter a very old woman who had eaten the future-future fruit, allowing her to see into the future. She then proceeded to tell me that one day, I'd meet a group of pirates that would take me to the mythical sky islands, though sacrifices were needed. When I learned of that, I immediately went to inform my husband, but he foolishly went behind my back and tried to take the knock-up stream, only for him to die after not even making it halfway up." Said Mirage with an eager smile before she quieted down at the mention of her husband.
"So, ever since that day, I returned to this island, my home island, and created challenges, such as the pirate royale and phase 2, in order to find the most suitable pirate that would take me to Sky Island and such pirate is you, Chaos Kong! You're the only pirate who's been able to overcome all of my challenges and even managed to find me, something I hadn't ever considered!" Declared Mirage confidently as she stood up, approached the pedestal, and grabbed the eternal pose before handing it to Diddy.
"With this eternal pose, lead us to the mythical sky islands so that I may finally achieve my, our dre-" Said Mirage with a smile, though she didn't finish speaking as a bullet-sized hole appeared in her head.
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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, [https://discord.gg/TGc9yymDJP]
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 193: Half-Step Celestial) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 74: Lavender's Rest) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 124: Nude Diddy) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]