Chapter 186: Calm Belt

Emerging from the water, with a Nimbus-infused Naga-sa resting on my shoulders, I kicked out of the ocean and into the air, kicking the air with roughly all my might just to stay floating, let alone to move around as nimbly as usual.

Surrounding our ship were numerous sea king corpses, most of which were ones I had killed, though there were some others floating in the water with scorched skin, deep slash marks, and even ones that had seemingly withstood no harm whatsoever. Slowly approaching the ship while creating massive explosions every time my feet hit the air, I hovered above the deck before slowly lowering myself, though I don't know what I was expecting when I did that.

Landing on the upper deck a few feet behind the helm, where Freyja was currently watching me with a raised eyebrow, I shifted my weight to the floor beneath my feet from the air, though the instant I did so, I fell through the floor, and landed in the Captain's quarters; however, I was fast enough to react as I used geppo once more, kicking the air just above Freyja's bed, causing quite the extensive amount of damage to her room.

'Hehe, Freyja's going to be pissed.' Mused Diddy with a faint smirk as he looked at the ravaged Captain's quarters, and almost right on cue, a loud, furious voice called his name.

"DIDDY!?" Exclaimed Freyja angrily as she stood up and quickly approached the hole Diddy had made, only to look over the edge, eyeing the damage her room had sustained.

"What? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?" Remarked Diddy with a slight grin while slowly ascending into the air, leaving the room and floating a few feet above the deck as he eyed Freyja, who furiously gnashed her teeth.

Freyja was quite angry since she didn't even say anything else and instantly transformed into Satan's soul and aggressively charged at me, causing me to smirk as I dropped Naga-sa and dashed out the way at the least second, causing my bo-staff to land on her head, before it speedily fell into the ocean, taking Freyja with it.

"Oh, dear, that's not good." Said Sebas with a raised eyebrow as he looked over the edge, watching Freyja sink further into the ocean as she helplessly tried to fight back, though with her strength constantly being sapped by the sea, she was about as strong as a child.

"You sound worried, Sebas. Aren't you going to do something?" Asked Mael curiously as he crossed his arms and glanced at Freyja sinking deeper into the ocean before shifting his focus to Sebas, who merely chuckled.

"Hoho, she'll be fine. Besides, Scar is already chasing after her." Replied Sebas with a soft chuckle as he lightly shook his head while looking at Mael before glancing at Scar, who had leaped overboard without hesitation and swam after Freyja, though he was far too slow.

Grinning at Freyja's unfortunate circumstance, I landed on the upper deck beside the hole I had accidentally made before looking at Trenza and Grand, who were both currently looking over the ship's edge, watching Scar chase after Freyja.

"Trenza, I'm feeling hungry; make some food." Ordered Diddy as he looked at Trenza, who constantly glanced between the ocean and him before rubbing her head.

"Haa, yeah, I'm on it, Captain; can you just cut a big enough piece of meat from one of the sea kings for me?" Replied Trenza with a nod as she headed towards the lower deck while Diddy clicked his tongue in annoyance before nodding.

Leaping off the ship, I landed on the sea king with the tastiest scent before using my nails to cut a large piece out of its body, though that was only proportional to me; to the sea king, it was hardly anything compared to its massive body. Carrying the piece back to the ship, I landed on the deck and cut it into several smaller pieces; ordering Grand to carry them down to the kitchen for Trenza to cook with, I jumped overboard and dashed through the water, heading back for Naga-sa, passing Scar, who was doing a rather poor job of chasing after Freyja, though she was being held down by a multiple ton bo-staff so there's that.

Ignoring Scar, I continued to chase after my bo-staff and, unfortunately, Freyja, though even when I reached a depth where the sunlight didn't go, it still wasn't that hard to find them. Standing on the seabed, I walked across the sandy ground and approached my bo-staff, which just so happened to be pinning Freyja to the ground, preventing her from moving; well, not like it mattered now since she was unconscious.

Lifting Naga-sa off her, I reluctantly grabbed Freyja and tossed her onto my shoulder, only now realizing how enjoyable her presence is when she doesn't open her mouth.

'If she kept her mouth shut, she'd be the perfect wife, but alas, she's fucking annoying and irritating to deal with.' Mused Diddy as he glanced at Freyja before shaking his head in pity and looking at Naga-sa.

Unfortunately, despite how amazing it would be to fight with such a heavily weighted weapon, I can't do so at sea; the boat can't handle the weight, so, with a heartbreaking sigh, I expelled all the water out of the Nimbus-infused Naga-sa, which proved to be decently easier than absorbing water, though it still took some moments of concentration.

Separating Nimbus from Naga-sa caused the cloud-like emblems, which emerged from the base of the golden tips onto the red shaft of my bo-staff, to recede before vanishing entirely. Sighing to myself, I hopped onto Nimbus and speedily flew back towards the surface with Freyja on my shoulder's. Passing Scar along the way, I grabbed him with my tail before emerging from the water a few seconds later, prompting him to gasp for breath while I tossed him onto the ship.

"Hoho, see, I told you she'd be fine." Said Sebas with a chuckle as he looked at Mael, who lightly nodded.

Dropping the unconscious Freyja right next to Scar, I raised my leg and stomped my foot onto her stomach, causing her eyes to suddenly widen as she vomited all the water out of her mouth while Scar helped her.

'She'll probably try to fight me later, but eh, I don't care enough about it right now.' Thought Diddy as he looked at Freyja, who was staring daggers at him, before shrugging his arms and walking toward his hammock.

Removing my damaged holster, I tossed it overboard before reaching into my sack, grabbing my spare, and wearing it.

"Haa, I really just want to sleep; fighting all those sea kings wasn't easy; I'm actually quite injured." Muttered Diddy with a yawn as he stretched his body before turning around and approaching Sebas.

"So, where the hell are we, Sebas?" Asked Diddy curiously as he leaned against the mast while glancing at Sebas, his words causing Mael to furrow his brows slightly.

"Yeah, this place must be unique; we've been here for a few hours, yet there hasn't been a single gust of wind, I've never seen the water so calm, and it's infested with powerful sea kings. I find it hard that such a place can't be somewhere special or unique." Stated Mael as he skeptically eyed Sebas, who nodded with a smile while he put his tea down.

"The moment tens of sea kings attacked us, I already knew where we were at. We're currently inside the Calm Belt; now, before you ask what the Calm Belt is, it's everything Mael has just pointed out. The Calm Belt is located on either side of the Grand Line, which makes escaping it essentially impossible for pirates, and any pirate foolish or unlucky enough to sail here will become stranded before quickly turning into a snack for a sea king. Of course, as you can see, we're clearly outliers of this situation." Declared Sebas with a nod as he glanced between Mael and Diddy, who were surprisingly both intently listening.

"So, we're stranded on either the left or right side of Paradise? That helps narrow down our location, but this situation is still terrible. The sea kings, while annoying, aren't our main threat; after all, we're being hunted by the marines, who have sent three admirals after us, and we're not ready for one Admiral, let alone three." Remarked Diddy with a frown and a thoughtful expression before opening his eyes and observing his surroundings, using his observation haki as well.

"True, our situation is pretty bad, but I'm highly doubtful the Marines will check the Calm Belt; after all, as I said, this place is usually a death sentence for any pirate foolish enough to attempt to sail through here, so why would they bother checking this place? If I'm being honest, this situation of ours is actually pretty good; as you said yourself, Captain, the Marines are our biggest worries, but they aren't something we must concern ourselves with right now." Replied Sebas with a nod as he took a sip of some tea and snacking on crackers.

"So we're safe?" Asked Mael curiously, only to cause Sebas to shake his head.

"No, far from it; the Marines are capable of traversing through the Calm Belt. However, the chances of them crossing the water and spotting us are incredibly slim, so long as we're in the Calm Belt, the last thing we must worry about is pirates." Stated Sebas confidently as he nodded his head while looking at Mael and Diddy, both of them nodding.