Chapter 190: CopyCat

Following Trenza's gaze, I looked at the snake and turtle duo, who kept looking at me with reverence, causing me to tilt my head in confusion.

"What's up with them?" Muttered Diddy in confusion as he observed the snake and turtle duo, who copied his action and tilted their heads.

"I don't know; I had passed out midway through; I figured you'd know, Captain." Remarked Trenza in confusion as she looked at the sea king duo before carefully standing up.

Standing up as well, just as I did so, I spotted the snake stretch its body into the sky, which filled me with even more confusion since I had no idea what it was doing. Shaking my head, I ignored them and reached down toward Nimbus, grabbing Naga-sa, yet when I did so, I heard a loud splash, prompting me to glance up at the two sea kings and saw the turtle remove its fin, flipper, leg, or whatever they're called, from the ocean before patting it's shell.

Frowning, I glanced at my back, looking at my hand, which was holding onto Naga-sa, before I glanced back at the turtle.

"Captain, I-I think they're copying you." Said Trenza hesitantly as she glanced between the duo sea king and Diddy, who removed his hand from his bo-staff, prompting the turtle to place its fin back into the ocean.

"Yeah, I just figured that out." Remarked Diddy with a perplexed expression as he intently eyed the two sea kings while raising his arms into the air.

Just a Trenza and I theorized the sea kings were indeed copying me as we watched the turtle raise both of its front flippers into the air before placing them back into the water when I lowered my arms. Faintly smirking, I twisted my upper body a complete three-hundred and sixty degrees, which wasn't something I generally liked doing since I was required to dislocate parts of my spine, which risked injuring my nervous system, however, now that I had full control of my body down to my very tissue, it was of minimal concern. Looking at the duo sea kings, I watched how the snake sitting atop the turtle's body copied precisely what I did and twisted its large body until it looked at us again.

"They really are copying you; what happened between you three when I was passed out?" Asked Trenza in slight surprise as she looked at the two sea kings before glancing at Diddy, who shrugged his shoulders while his body returned to normal, prompting the snake to do so as well.

"Well, after I defeated the salamander sea king attacking them, I blasted with my haki, the same one I used on you, Grand, and Scar when you tried sneaking on my ship, and then this happened." Replied Diddy lightly while glancing at Trenza before suddenly grinning as he raised his hand and grabbed her by her nape, lifting her slightly in the air.

I was curious how the sea kings would copy this, but it didn't take them long to figure out a solution as the snake lowered its body, prompting the turtle to wrap its flipper around the snake's neck while holding it in the air.

"Can you set me down now, Captain? This isn't exactly the greatest feeling." Asked Trenza with a slightly pained expression as she looked at Diddy, who released her, causing her to land upon Nimbus while rubbing the back of her neck in relief.

Deciding to do one last test, I took a deep breath before looking to the sky and roaring with all of my might, my voice resounding throughout the calm ocean for quite some distance; once I finished, I cleared my throat and looked at the two sea kings, who also took a deep breath loudly roaring.

"ROOOOOOAAAARRRR!!!!" Yelled the turtle and snake, their loud roars making Diddy's roar sound like a child's whimper while the very ocean rippled from their voice.

"Hehe, that's loud; I think it might've ruptured my ear drums." Remarked Diddy with a feral grin as he rubbed his ear in slight pain before glancing at Trenza, who was blankly looking around.

"DID YOU SAY SOMETHING, CAPTAIN?" Asked Trenza curiously as she glanced at Diddy while tilting her head in confusion; though he wasn't even given the chance to respond suddenly, another loud roar resounded through the ocean.

Hearing the loud roar of a sea king, I clicked my tongue in annoyance since I've heard that kind of roar before; it's one of the few I know very well, along with a mating call.

'Tch, I should've expected this would happen; I just figured this was the salamander's territory.' Thought Diddy with a slight frown as he glanced behind him just as a large bulge emerged from the ocean, only for the appearance of a massive, seahorse-like sea king.

Looking at the massive seahorse sea king, I clicked my tongue as I unholstered Naga-sa, preparing to fight it, but to my surprise, the turtle and sake loudly roared in protest before latter opened its mouth, its two fangs glistening in the sunlight as it launched a dark greenish substance from them, which landed right on the seahorse's eyes, causing it to roar in pain loudly. Following that, the turtle opened its mouth, chugging thousands upon thousands of ocean water, resulting in its neck bulging before it tightly compressed itself as a pressurized jet of water shot out its mouth, blasting the seahorse, ripping off a large chunk of flesh.

"With strength like that, they should've at least been able to fight against that salamander somewhat; why was the battle so one-sided then?" Remarked Diddy confusion as she glanced at the seahorse, which was eyeing the turtle and snake in fury, prompting him to glance at them only to stare at them blankly.

No longer did the snake and turtle look so lively as before; they, in fact, seemed utterly exhausted; the snake was lying sprawled on the turtle shell with half-lidded eyes, while the turtle itself was completely immobile with its face in the water.

'Those two attacks must exhaust them; well, they're still rather young sea kings, so I suppose that's understandable. Whatever, I'll deal with this stupid sea horse.' Mused Diddy as he glanced at the exhausted turtle and snake before turning around and looking at the furious seahorse, which was already charging toward them.

"Wait right here, Trenza." Said Diddy with a grin as he leaped off Nimbus, kicking the air while heading straight for the seahorse.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, CAPTAIN? WHAT THE HELL!? WHERE DID THAT SEA KING COME FROM!?" Exclaimed Trenza loudly as she glanced at Diddy, only to back away in fear when she finally noticed the seahorse.

Rapidly approaching the sea horse, I leaped into the sky above it before powerfully kicking upwards, launching myself right toward the head of the seahorse; spinning in the air, I slammed Naga-sa right atop its head, forcing it back into the ocean. Closely following the sea king into the ocean, I coiled my bo-staff in lightning before launching a thick bolt of lightning right at its eye, setting it flame and causing it to flail aggressively while roaring in pain. Speedily approaching the seahorse, I landed atop the bridge of its nose and dug my feet into its skin as I used wild strikes, one of my seventy-two bian techniques, to repeatedly slam Naga-sa against the sea king's skull.

Finally breaking through its tough skin and durable skull, I stabbed Naga-sa as deeply as possible before looking into its eyes while grinning.

'Hehe, I wonder if fried brain tastes good.' Thought Diddy with a grin as he summoned a substantial amount of lightning before surging it through Naga-sa, causing the sea king to flail around even more aggressively before suddenly stopping a few seconds later.

No longer sensing any life emanating from the sea king through my haki, I removed my bo-staff and kicked the water, launching myself back to the surface as I emerged from the ocean and landed right atop Nimbus.

"Well, with that now finished, I think it's about time to return back to the ship." Said Diddy with a slight smile as he sat on Nimbus while holstering Naga-sa onto his back.

"HUH? WHAT DID YOU SAY, CAPTAIN? I STILL CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING?" Remarked Trenza loudly as she aggressively rubbed her ears while looking at Diddy, who promptly ignored her before glancing at the turtle and snake.

"I've got a feeling you two are going to follow me as well." Muttered Diddy as he glanced at the two exhausted sea kings before shrugging his shoulders and commanding Nimbus to fly away, causing them to react quickly and follow right behind them.

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"So, let me get this straight, Captain. Trenza heard two voices that you, nor anyone else, could hear; then you two went on a little adventure, which she nearly died on, before meeting those two, and now they won't stop following you? I'm not missing anything, right?" Remarked Sebas skeptically as he looked at Diddy and Trenza before glancing at the snake and turtle, who were still numerous times bigger than their ship despite being children.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, FATHER? MY HEARING IS STILL MESSED UP!" Yelled Trenza with a slight frown, sitting down beside Diddy while wearing a new outfit.

"Hmm, yeap, that about sums up everything." Replied Diddy with a nod as he glanced at Trenza and placed both his hands on her ears before emitting a weak current of electricity through her head, causing her body to spasm slightly.

"Ouch, what the hell was that for, Captain!?" Exclaimed Trenza angrily as she turned and looked at Diddy, only to freeze when she could hear herself.