The Miss Love Duck continued to sail up the river. They saw wooden and brick buildings and flags along the river.
"This is like a parade," Nojiko commented.
"Yes it is surprisingly nice," Marianne said.
"They are pirates," Vivi said.
"Some can be good but most are bad, so let's keep our guard up," Kaya remarked.
"HQ, Nojiko stay on course," Ben ordered.
They both nodded back.
"Let's head to the deck," Ben said. The rest of the girls nodded.
As they entered the deck of the ship, Mikita met them on the stairs. "Where were you Mikita?" Marianne asked.
"Getting some breakfast from our Captain," Mikita replied.
"Pervert," Kaya said.
They saw the crowds of people, singing, drinking, dancing. "Don't mess this up for us you punks," a random pirate was heard saying.
"Guess we are not the favorites, my love," Alvida commented. Ben shrugged his shoulders.
"We can make some big money since we are not," Kaya said.
"Yes," Honey agreed.
"But I thought we did not care about the money," Vivi said.
"We don't but money is money," Alvida replied.
"The Captain must have some plan," Marianne said. They all looked at the Captain.
"As we discussed last night, this will be a good test for our training. When we are attacked by other ships, we will work as small groups. The group will either raid the ship and take the crew down or disable the ship," Ben explained.
"Okay, sounds risky," Kaya said.
"The other groups will jump in. We will try to focus on one ship at a time," Ben said.
"What are the groups?" Marianne questioned.
"That will be a surprise, so be on your guard," Ben answered.
"Exciting," Mikita remarked.
"But be careful, this is the Grand Line," Alvida stated.
As they travelled up the river, they could see more ships entering via the different tributaries. There were many types of ships of which some were large with three masts and others which had two masts. The Jolly rogers of all the ships were either flying high or painted on the ship.
"Lots of ships entered this competition," Kaya said.
"Yes, the prize money is not insignificant," Mikita said.
"Look at the ship," Marianne pointed to. They looked and saw a massive three mast marine ship. The sails had marine written on it however they were crossed out. The notable feature of the ship was the golden figurehead which its design is reminiscent of a serpent or dragon, with a long and curving hull.
"There is a chimney stack with smoke coming out," Kaya said.
"A steam powered chip, you do not see that often," Mikita commented.
"It can move without the wind," Vivi said.
"Our ship can as well, there is a motor which gives power, however I am not sure of the fuel source," Ben said. Now that Ben thought, the ship back in Cocoyasi Village moved without the wind, he should check with HQ on the power source of it.
[ A reactor powers the ship engine which drives the propeller. ]
(Thank you Sweetie.)
[I am always happy to help you.]
"That is General Gasparde ship," Ben said.
"I want to fight him my love," Alvida said. Alvida thought back to Ben explaining his actions and attacking the crew.
"I want to as well," Mikita added.
"It would be like what Belo Betty says. Scum," Kaya said.
The girls laughed.
Ben smiled and said, "We will decide in time."
"So he is strong?" Marianne said.
"A former marine who turned with a 95,000,000 Beli bounty and devil fruit called the Candy-Candy fruit which allows him to turn into candy syrup. He is a logia type," Ben explained.
"Another one," Vivi said.
"He will be difficult to hit," Kaya said in frustration.
"Unless he has a weakness like Crocodile," Mikita said.
"And he does, flour," Ben replied.
"Flour?" Marianne asked.
"Yes, the one you use to cook with it," Ben said.
"We have some in the kitchen storage my love," Alvida said.
"We should prepare and have some on the deck ready," Mikita said. They both nodded to each other.
"Karoo can help move it," Vivi said. Karoo quacked. The four of them went to the kitchen.
As the entered the kitchen, the river started to become more vertical. Another tributary joined the main river as well as another pirate ship. The ship had a unique design where the front of the ship had two skulls on each side pointing out. The centre of the ship had a building structure where there were two floors. It got side by side the by Miss Love Duck.
"A big ship but can you use it," said a large man with a large head,with a black ponytail. His left eye had a black sun design around it. He was wearing a big coat and pants and no shirt.
"Who are you?" Kaya asked.
"I am Bigalo you brat," Bigalo said.
"He is rude," Honey said.
"Can I take him Captain?" Kaya asked.
"We will decide that soon," Ben replied. Ben wanted to keep this to the last minute to let them know danger is all around them.
Another ship joined them. The ship had three masts and was painted yellow with purple vertical stripes. The ship had a large spinning drill in front of it.
"That is Willy's ship," Bigalo said.
Then another ship came which looked like a bullet. The face of the ship was menacing and had sharp teeth and eyes all drawn on it.
"The giants, Bobby and Pogo," Marianne said.
All the four ships raced vertically to the top. The gradient of the slope got higher and higher. The river was almost vertical. They were climbing rapidly. The water was getting slightly rougher.
"Hold on," Ben said.
Marianne, Kaya, and Honey held on to Ben. Ben held onto a railing. The Miss Love Duck climbed until they were at the peak and they flew off.
"The race is on," Ben announced.