Chapter 249: Satori

They sailed through the tunnel. "We should head to the deck soon," Ben ordered.

"Nojiko, Honey stay on the Bridge, we need to keep course on this river, if we lose sight then we would be stuck here forever," Ben explained.

"Yes Captain, I will keep her on course," Nojiko replied. 

"Yes Master, I will protect the Miss Love Duck," HQ replied. 

"Why don't we go now?" Mikita asked. She added, "It will give us some time to prepare and be in position."

"Well because of that," Ben pointed to. As they past the tunnel, they saw the horizon. 

"Everyone hold on and sit down," Ben ordered and added, "We are going down a waterfall." The girls scrambled to get a seat. Alvida and Saphir held onto Ben. 

The Miss Love Duck went airborne. It went down and landed on the river. There was a big splash. 

"Is everyone alright?" Ben's voice cut through the tension. The girls nodded in unison, their expressions a mixture of relief and apprehension.

"We dodged a bullet by staying up here," Zala remarked, her tone tinged with gratitude.

"Yeah, we could've ended up soaked or worse, fallen into that treacherous river filled with monsters that would eat us" Robin chimed in.

"Monster-filled river?" Marianne repeated, her eyes widening in shock at the thought of such perilous waters.

"Don't worry," Ben reassured them, his voice firm and resolute. "I'll stand guard against any creature that dares to threaten you. You're safe with me." His declaration was met with a collective sigh of relief, the group finding solace in his protective resolve.

"Should we head down my love?" Alvida asked. 

"Yes, we should," Ben replied. 

The rest of the girls headed on to the deck. Ben, Alvida, Mikita, Honey, Vivi, Marianne, Zala, Robin, Saphir and Conis stood on the deck. 

"Kaya not here," Vivi remarked. 

"She is safe," Ben stated. They all nodded. They saw the river meandering in the distance. It looked like it was floating in some places. 

"This place is unique for sure," Zala remarked. 

"It is," Conis said and added, "But dangerous." 

They looked around and saw large white balls. "This looks like snowballs," Marianne said. 

"We can make a snowman," Honey added. 

"Don't touch those balls," Ben warned. He added, "Those clouds have anything in them, it could be a flower or live snake or crab." 

"That is horrible," Saphir remarked. 

"We should keep away then," Mikita added.

"I wonder if Nojiko can control them if they are clouds or do something similar," Alvida wondered.

"Could be but we need her and HQ to focus on keeping the Miss Love Duck on course," Ben said. 

They all nodded. The balls of clouds got closer and surrounded the Miss Love Duck. They sailed on. The river went upwards slowly. 

Alvida had Seraphina in her hand. Everyone scanned around. "Ho, ho hoooo!," they heard a laugh. They all looked up and saw a round-shaped man with fair skin and long, dark red hair. He was in a white, full-body jumpsuit, which has a vertical line of golden rings that run from front to back. He had an orange hat, orange gloves, shoes, and large, yellow sunglasses that completely obscure his eyes. He had small wings on his back.

"You seem cautious," the man added.

"Who are you?" Vivi asked. 

Conis looked shocked. "That is one of the God Priests," Conis noted. 

"Ho, ho hoooo. That is correct, I am Satori, one of the God Priests serving Enel," Satori introduced himself. 

"You are all criminals," he added. 

"We are not," Vivi responded. The girls looked at Vivi and smiled. They giggled. 

Satori started dancing on his large white ball which he was floating on. "He is interesting," Zala observed. 

"Funny," Robin remarked. She giggled.

"You all will not leave until you beat me," Satori said. 

"Fine," Ben replied. He transformed into his beast form. He flew up towards Satori. 

"So you are going to punch," Satori commented. Ben heard them, he punched Satori but missed completely. 

Satori then moved his other hand and put his hand forward in front of Ben. "Impact Dial," he said and a blast of pressure of air. Ben got hit and went flying back. 

"Ben," Saphir shouted. The girls looked worried. 

"Haki, he predicted Ben`s attack," Alvida observed. 

"He is powerful," Mikita added. 

Vivi and Marianne took out their guns. Vivi aimed her Gero Gero gun. Marianne aimed her Yellow gun. They both fired their guns. A frog shaped bullet left Vivi`s gun and went towards Satori. At the same time, a dice shaped bullet fired from her gun. The two bullets went towards Satori. 

"Two of them," Satori commented. He dodged both the bullets as they went past him. They both exploded behind him. Satori moved forwards slightly from the aftermath of the explosion.

Honey and Mikita saw this. "He is slow," Robin said.

Ben got up and thought, having haki gives you an advantage, however there is a limit. 

Ben flew back to the ship. "Haki is strong but there is a limit, we need to overwhelm him with our attacks. He is alone," Ben said. 

"Alone?" Satori said. He smiled. 

At that moment, several people on clouds started coming towards them. They were wearing white robes. "The Divine Soldiers," Conis said. 

"We need to defeat them and protect the Miss Love Duck, they might throw bombs," Ben said. 

"Ben, me, Honey, and Robin can take him," Mikita declared. She looked at the large round man.

"We can," Honey stated. Ben smiled. Honey has come a long way, he thought. From running away, now taking challenges directly. 

"I will follow your order Captain," Robin replied. She smiled. 

"I will never order you to do anything," Ben stated. 

She smiled. "I know that is why I will help," Robin said.

"Okay, be careful," Ben said. They nodded. 

Mikita grabbed her umbrella from the deck. She jumped into the air. "Featherfall," she said as she decreased her weight and floated up. She got close to Satori and swung her leg.

"Too slow," Satori said, as he dodged the attack. Honey held her hand up. 

"Dieciséis Fleur," Robin said.