Chapter 98: We've Finally Arrived; Paradise!

"Urgh, i-is it over?" Asked Trenza weakly as she rolled over onto her side and warily looked around, only to sigh in relief.

"That was kind of fun; what do you guys think?" Asked Grand with a large smile as he hopped onto his two feet and looked down at Trenza and Scar, who gave him a blank stare.

"No, not at all; we were nearly thrown off the ship several times." Replied Scar as he stood up while grunting in pain, his wounds from before reopening after being thrown around like pinballs.

"If I find out you're not working again, I'll kill you!" Said Diddy with a growl as he glared at Scar, Trenza, and Grand, who all quickly nodded in fear before swiftly returning to their posts despite having already raised the sails.

Ignoring those weaklings, I focused in front of us since, while it looked like we'd overcome the worst of it, who knows what was waiting for us up ahead? For all I know, it could be a massive stone pillar right at the center of Reverse Mountain, where the four seas meet; granted, I don't think that's the case, but it's best to stay alert.

Besides, just because we've survived the worst of it, it's not like everything is fine right now; the ship is being carried up along the violent river at a tremendous speed, so I'll have even less time to react. However, I wasn't really worried that we wouldn't survive; I was more concerned about the damages my ship would sustain rather than anyone's well-being.

As time went on, and as we continued to go higher, we were now inside the dark clouds previously high above us; eventually, after a few minutes, we finally exited the dark clouds, allowing us to see the night sky and the beautiful bright moon.

"Woah, so beautiful." Muttered Trenza in awe as she gazed upon the night sky, her eyes reflecting the moonlight back into the sky.

"Yeah, what a sight." Said Scar with a nod as he appreciated the beauty of the moon.

"I wish Janet were here; she would be able to take a picture of this and save this beautiful sight forever." Remarked Grand with a happy yet sad smile as he looked up, the image of Janet briefly overlapping the moon.

"Ho, remarkable." Commented Sebas with a slight smile as he glanced at the moon.

"Forget the wealth; just the opportunity to witness such a beautiful sight is more than enough reason to become a pirate." Stated Freyja while glaring at the moon in both annoyance and delight before glancing at Diddy.

"Huh, I wonder why I never realized until now, but there are no stars in the sky. Weird." Said Diddy with a slight frown as he looked at the barren night sky, which was illuminated by a single moon.

Taking my eyes off the night sky, I focused back ahead, only to finally see what looked to be the top of the mountain, which was great, but it also meant we were about to face the second most dangerous hurdle on our path to enter Paradise.

"Hehe, here it comes!" Yelled Diddy with a feral grin in excitement, his words causing everyone to focus on him before they also noticed the incoming peak of Reverse Mountain.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Muttered Trenza with a nervous gulp as she wrapped her arms around the ropes used to hoist the sail, firmly locking her into place; Scar and Grand were doing the same thing as well.

"Freyja, give me the map of Reverse Mountain." Ordered Diddy, despite Freyja's annoyance, she did as she was told, not like she had an option.

Grabbing the map from Freyja that Sebas had bought from Chandelier City, I opened it and intently looked at Reverse Mountain, ensuring we weren't somehow derailing off track.

'Hmm, we'll need to take a right if we wish to enter the Grand Line, although it's going to be tight with how fast we're going.' Thought Diddy as he folded the paper and tossed it back towards Freyja, who barely managed to catch it before it went overboard.

"Sebas, on the count of 3, steer right!" Said Diddy as he looked back at Sebas, who nodded in acknowledgment before facing forward again.

"3... 2... 1... RIGHT!" Said Diddy, patiently waiting as they neared the precipice of Reverse Mountain before yelling at the final moment, prompting Sebas to quickly steer right.

With Sebas turning right, although it was hard to do given the aggressiveness of the current, we were slowly turning right; while doing so, we finally reached the peak of Reverse Mountain and shot high into the sky. For several seconds, we soared through the sky, just above the point where the four seas converged; though it seemed like we had overshot our mark, we were now heading right for the side of the mountain. However, before I allowed that to happen, I slapped the air above me, causing the ship to be flung downwards, right into the convergence point of Reverse Mountain.

When we landed back onto the water, a whole bunch of water entered the ship, though Freyja boiled all the water with her fire, saving us from possibly sinking. However, even though we were now being pushed towards the grand line, we were sideways, which was less than ideal, as steering would prove to be difficult if it were even possible in the first place.

"Freyja, take command." Said Diddy, and without even looking at Freyja, he jumped overboard, submerging himself into the turbulent sea.

Despite the aggressiveness of the water, it was relatively calm underneath the sea; of course, it was still powerful, but it wasn't anything I couldn't easily overpower if need be. Diving even deeper, I looked up at the ship, which, at this rate, was going to hit the mountain, and reached forward, tightly grabbing the water with my nails.

'72 Bian, variation 54: Fish-Man Karate.' Thought Diddy as he clutched the water and started spinning in a circle, adding even more water under his control.

'Oceans Wave!' Thought Diddy with a grin as he launched the massive amount of water towards his ship while swimming along with it, causing him to exit the sea inside an enormous wave.

"W-What the!? Where did that massive wave come from!?" Exclaimed Scar in disbelief, his words causing Trenza and Grand to look behind them, only for them to see a massive wave approach their ship at breakneck speeds.

"I-Is that Captain, inside a massive wave?" Asked Trenza as she pointed towards the top of the wave, noticing a sliver glint.

"Yes, that's him. Awesome!" Said Grand with widened eyes while smiling in awe as the three looked at Diddy surfacing amidst the wave with his feet.

Leaping out of the wave, I flew through the sky and landed back on the ship, just in time for it to be swept into the wave embrace as it shifted the position until we were facing forward, allowing Sebas to finally steer once more, well, somewhat at least, the water was still very aggressive.

"Hehe, get ready; here comes the fun part!" Stated Diddy with a feral grin as he walked past Freyja, wrapping his arm around her neck and putting her into a choke-hold while continuing towards the ship's bow.

"L-Let go of me!" Yelled Freyja in anger as she opened her mouth and bit down as hard as she could on Diddy's arm, though other than causing him to bleed a little, she didn't do much.

Ignoring Freyja's useless attempts to escape my arm, I looked ahead, and in doing so, I got front-row seats to the great descent we were about to undertake. With the massive wave behind us pushing forward, we finally overcame the horizon of Reverse Mountain, which allowed us to see the massive drop that extended all the way down through the dark clouds, which blocked most of our sight.

With a massive grin, our ship pointed downward at an almost ninety-degree angle as we sailed along the river, practically falling.

"AHHHH!!" Yelled Trenza in fear as she hung onto the ropes for dear life.

"Oh boy, this is going to hurt." Muttered Scar with a slight frown as he lowered his stance, bracing himself for the inevitable impact.

"Haha! Faster!" Said Grand with a giant smile while laughing, a stark contrast to Trenza.

The ride down was much faster than sailing upwards; while it took us several minutes to reach the peak of Reverse Mountain, it looked like we wouldn't even need half the time to get to the bottom. Entering the dark clouds once more, in a matter of several seconds, we exited, the night sky hidden from view, though no one was even looking up, so it's not like it mattered.

Seeing the incoming ocean, I grinned, and a few seconds later, we collided with the ocean, causing a large splash, though just like she'd done previously, Freyja burnt any water before it could even enter the ship.

"Ugh, thank god; it's finally over." Muttered Trenza as she lay weakly on the ground while kissing the deck in joy.

"Wasn't as bad as I thought." Said Scar with a sigh of relief, while Grand just continued to laugh.

"So this is Paradise? Looks the same as the South Blue." Remarked Diddy with a frown as he looked out into the sea, only to see nothing but clouds and an endless blue ocean.

"Tch, well, what do you expect? We had just entered Paradise; did you think there was going to be a welcoming party or-" Replied Freyja with a scowl as she looked up at Diddy, though before she could finish speaking, the sound of cannon fire was heard, followed by several black dots appearing in the sky.

Following the source of the cannon fire, I saw a few ships off in the distance which must've thought, with the cover of night, they would remain hidden, but not before my eyes.

"Marines or Pirates, I don't care who it is; I'm going to enjoy myself!" Declared Diddy with a feral grin as he released Freyja and leaped into the sky while propelling himself to the various ships.

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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 185: Endless Horde) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 66: 24-Hour Long Session(R18)) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 108: 3 Vs. 3) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]