As I continued to head north, following the scent of salt, It continued to get more prominent with every passing minute, and not only that, the sky above was getting darker as thick clouds covered the blue sky; now I wasn't a navigator, nor did I understand the what these clouds mean from a weather standpoint, but one thing I did have, was instincts. To be honest, it would be undermining my instincts to simply call them that; they are essentially my sixth sense for how potent and versatile they are; not only do they warn me of danger, but they can help me discern whether someone is lying, and they can help me predict the weather, which, if I'm not mistaken, are all things certain beasts can do.
'I've got no evidence, but I'm pretty confident we're in the correct spot; either that or we're fucked when the enemies from afar finally reach us.' Mused Diddy with a slight smirk as he floated in the air and looked up at the clouds before turning around and heading back toward his ship, which had been following him the entire time.
Kicking the air, I propelled myself through the sky and headed toward my ship, yet while doing so, I noticed the Strawhats ship was adjacent to ours, which slightly confused me since I thought they were following us, only to suddenly realize they had wings on their ship.
'I'm fucking stupid, how did I only realize it now? They're also attempting to ride the Knock-up Stream. Well, aren't they fucking crazy? Hehe, I like it!' Thought Diddy as he slapped himself before glancing at Nami, causing him to grin, only to notice a third ship far off in the distance.
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous; who the fuck even is that following us? Never seen that flag before." Muttered Diddy with a twitching face as he eyed the third ship far off in the distance, looking at the flag only to quickly ignore it.
Ignoring the third ship, I landed on the upper deck beside Sebas and Mael while Freyja was still manning the helm, though that was about to change quickly.
"Keep heading north; I'm pretty sure that's where the Knock-up stream is, and if I had to take a wild guess, I bet it's going to erupt today and soon at that." Remarked Diddy with a smirk as he approached the helm and stood beside Freyja, who nodded at his words while Mael curiously glanced at him.
"How do you know that?" Asked Mael with a raised eyebrow while eyeing Diddy, who smirked before pointing his tail at the Strawhats ship.
"Look at their ship; a pair of wings nailed to their ship, along with a proper navigator, the two exact things Sebas warned us about before daring to take the Knock-up stream." Replied Diddy, his words causing the three to glance at the Strawhats ship before looking back at him while frowning.
"Tch, and look at us; we've got neither, and to make matters worse, we don't have many other options since we're apparently being hunted as well. It's either die taking the Knock-up stream, die from whoever is hunting us, or stay lost at sea for an indefinite amount of time." Remarked Freyja with a click of her tongue as she aggressively poked Diddy's body before elongating her nails and aiming to stab his heart, only for him to grab her hand.
"Yeah, we're in a pretty terrible situation, but isn't it rather exhilarating? The chances of us surviving are slim, but that only makes us strive for it even harder, and that's the best part about it: giving it your all and then some if you wish to survive." Declared Diddy with a feral grin while tightly holding Freyja's wrist as he looked straight into her eyes before tossing her into the air and sitting in the helm.
"Hoho, I don't know about this being the best part, Captain, but I can't tell a lie; this is indeed rather exhilarating. I just think this old man has had a little bit too much thrill recently." Said Sebas with a soft chuckle as he outstretched his arm, catching Freyja with his telekinesis before slowly lowering her onto the deck while she grumbled in annoyance.
"Tsk, yeah, I agree with Sebas; as exhilarating as this may be, it's only been nine days since we raided a Celestial Dragon ship, and now we're about to do something crazy again. Don't you believe in the word, break?" Remarked Freyja with a frown as she folded her arms and tapped her foot in annoyance while looking at Diddy fiddling around at the helm.
"I think the same as them." Commented Mael, his short response causing Diddy to chuckle as he leaned back and rested his legs on the steering wheel.
"Heh, nine days is already one hell of a long break if you ask me; my breaks are over once I've fully healed. Now, your three shut up and get ready; we should arrive at the Knock-up stream soon." Said Diddy with a smirk as he dismissively waved his hand, causing both Freyja and Mael to grunt while heading to the left and right side of the boat, respectively.
With the ship now relatively quiet, we continued sailing north while I used this free time to figure out how sailing worked; I've watched Freyja and Sebas do it on numerous occasions, but I didn't really pay attention since I never intended to sail, I mean, this is like my third time ever sitting at the helm and now I'm about to sail us up a blast of pressured ocean water?
'Heh, this isn't even crazy; this is plain stupid. At least the Strawhats came prepared; we're about as unprepared as possible. Our wings are Freyja and Mael, and the helmsman is a mink who can count how many times he sat at the helm on one hand.' Thought Diddy with a wry expression as he took a second to reflect on what they were about to do before shaking his head and grinning.
"At least we got rid of the gold; that's a plus." Muttered Diddy optimistically as he sat correctly in the chair with his hands at ten and two on the steering wheel.
After a few more minutes of sailing, I noticed the sea was getting rougher and more turbulent while the scent of salt was at an all-time high, so, following what my instincts were telling me, I decided right here, in the middle of absolutely nowhere, would be the perfect spot to stop.
"Hoist the sails! Drop the Anchor!" Yelled Diddy loudly.
With my words, Grand and Scar raised the sails, and Trenza dropped our makeshift anchor; once that happened, they all huddled together inside Freyja's room to ensure they didn't get flung off the ship.
"Sebas, do your best to keep the ship intact while we sail across the Knock-up Stream; this thing doesn't have much left in it, and we need it to at least get us to Water 7." Said Diddy as he glanced at Sebas, who was standing by the railing, waving his hand at the Strawhats that were parked not too far away from them.
"Hoho, smart, I completely overlooked that; things could've ended quite badly otherwise." Said Sebas with slightly widened eyes as he nodded while turning around, glancing at Diddy before walking down the stairs and heading to the lower deck.
With Sebas going to reinforce the ship, I reached into my pocket and grabbed four ear plugs, two for my nose and two for my ears; I was going to use them while sailing the Knock-up Stream, along with closing my eyes. It may sound stupid that I planned to sail across something so deadly while effectively limiting half of my senses, but doing so will also help strengthen my other three senses, and since I plan to sail using only my instinct, I needed it to be as strong as possible.
'I'd also get rid of my other two senses, but they're passive, and I also haven't learned how to cut off my senses yet; if I could've gained more direct control over my nervous system, then this wouldn't have been a problem.' Mused Diddy lightly while juggling the four earplugs with his eyes closed, only for his ear to twitch when he heard that familiar laughter.
"Zehahaha! Strawhat Luffy!" Yelled Blackbeard with a large grin as he stood at the bow of his ship while he and his crew neared the Strawhats.
Opening my eyes, I stood up and saw Blackbeard off in the distance, picking on the Strawhats, which caused me to smirk; standing up, I manifested a lightning bolt on my arm before hurling toward him. Unfortunately, one of his crewmates noticed it and managed to block it for him, though I had attacked Blackbeard, someone roughly as strong as me, so I hadn't held back, and when the smoke cleared, the man's arms were heavily scorched.
"Hehe, what did I say, Blackbeard!?" Yelled Diddy with a grin as he ignored the person who blocked his lighting bolt and eyed Blackbeard, who frowned.
"My business isn't with you right now, Chaos Kong; I'll deal with you later; right now, I want Strawhat Luffy!" Stated Blackbeard as he ignored the Strawhats and eyed Diddy, who merely chuckled.
"Hehe, I don't give a fuck what you want, Blackbeard; I'll come over then and kill you while I get Trenza to kill that fake marksman of yours!" Declared Diddy aggressively as he pointed at the tall, lanky man wearing a hat and holding a rifle, who frowned at his words before suddenly firing at Diddy, causing his head to snap back.
"Watch who you call fake, Chaos Kong." Said Blackbeard's marksmen with a slightly proud smirk, only to show an ugly expression when he saw Diddy wasn't only unharmed, but he had also caught the bullet in his mouth.
"Hehe, tastes like gunpowder!" Remarked Diddy with a feral grin as he bit down, his sharp teeth biting through the lead bullet.