Chapter 31: Sky Island (Part 1)
"Chiron, head into the southern forest and catch a South Bird," Eric began assigning tasks.
"Hm? How do you know they're in the southern forest? I never mentioned where to find those birds," Cricket asked in confusion.
"Because their heads always point south, right? Anatomically Speaking, birds don't normally fly with their heads twisted 180 degrees. So these birds should keep moving southward," Eric explained. His IQ might not be 180, but thanks to solid compulsory education, his logic was still sound.
"I see, that's an interesting line of reasoning."
"Akame and I will go chop wood. Da Vinci, you'll handle the design. Make it suitable for flight, and while you're at it, prepare five parachutes."
"Mhm."
"Leave it to the perfect me."
"Wait, kid, what about me? What's my job?"
"…Want to take over mine?"
"…I'll just go help the archer catch the South Bird. Wouldn't want to grab the wrong one."
"Mhm. I look forward to working with you," Chiron responded warmly.
"Tch…" Eric clicked his tongue, having failed to shirk work.
Ding ding…
After a full day of effort, the ship's reinforcement and modification work was finally complete.
A pair of main wings and auxiliary wings were added. The main wings were designed to generate downward pressure by exploiting the difference in airflows above and below—yes, downward pressure. As the Knock Up Stream launched them upward, the wings would help press the ship tightly against the upward current, allowing it to ride the surge straight to Sky Island.
The auxiliary wings controlled air pressure and lateral deviation to keep the ship heading directly upward.
Both sets of wings were made using alloy frames synthesized by Da Vinci, reinforced with wood. Due to time constraints, she only managed to test 53 types of alloys and chose the lightest and hardest one available.
Da Vinci commented, "The tight deadline forced the perfect me to make this less-than-perfect alloy… but the Swallow-Swallow Fruit is incredible! This power feels like it was made just for inventors like me! A perfect ability for a perfect person—truly the perfection of perfection!"
'It's like perfection's mom opened the door for it—perfection came home,' Eric silently added.
"Also, everyone put on your parachute packs in case we fail to reach the sky. Remember, the red cord opens the chute. Once deployed, the yellow cord turns you right, the white cord turns you left," Da Vinci explained the usage of her parachutes.
"This bigger one's for Chiron. It even includes a life ring in case he falls in the water and others can't reach him in time. And this one's mine."
"Thank you very much." Since it was custom-made, Chiron expressed his gratitude.
"Can I get a life ring too?" Eric asked, raising his hand.
"Hm? You're not a Devil Fruit user, right? You can swim, can't you?" Da Vinci asked curiously.
"Uh… I can float on my back, but I can't really swim. If a wave hits me, I'll probably just blow some bubbles and sink." In his past life, Eric never learned to swim—he had a traumatic experience when a classmate held him underwater during elementary school swim lessons. In this world, even though he wanted to eat a Devil Fruit, he hadn't learned to swim since it wouldn't make a difference afterward anyway.
"Alright, give me your parachute. I'll fix it up real quick."
Ten minutes later. "All done, here you go."
"That was fast! As expected of the perfect big sister—amazing!"
"Great! Tonight we feast! Eat well, drink well, and rest well for tomorrow's journey!"
Upon hearing the word "feast," Akame's eyes lit up and she started drooling.
"To a successful climb to Sky Island tomorrow—cheers!" Eric , as captain, gave the opening toast.
"Cheers!" The four raised their cups. (Underage drinking is not encouraged.)
"The sky's darkening," Cricket said hoarsely. After all, this was a duel 400 years in the making between him and Noland.
The once-calm sea began to grow rough, and the currents turned fierce.
"Chiron, have you spotted the vortex?"
"Ten thousand meters ahead, right side." Clairvoyance was incredibly useful—especially since the ocean's color made it hard to distinguish.
"Alright, head toward the vortex!"
"Watch my perfect steering!" Even the usually composed Da Vinci was getting excited in this thrilling moment.
The vortex, once indistinguishable from the surrounding waters, now appeared clearly before them.
It was massive and deep—the center of the vortex sank so far down it seemed bottomless.
"Hey! Are we really going in?!" Cricket shouted. Though he'd only been diving for six months and planned to devote the rest of his life to it, he'd never done anything this reckless.
"Of course! This is our 100% guaranteed method to reach Sky Island! Either we all die—or we all make it!" Eric shouted. The roaring wind and crashing waves were growing louder, forcing them all to raise their voices.
The sky was dark, and the sea howled like the end of the world. It was terrifying, but also awe-inspiring—a reminder of nature's grandeur.
Suddenly, the huge vortex vanished without a trace. The sea surface smoothed out, the waves fell silent. It was the calm before the storm.
At that moment, the ship seemed to slowly rise.
"Is it just me, or are we going up?" Eric asked.
"It's not just you. We're definitely ascending. The explosion's about to happen. Hold onto the ship's anchor points!" Da Vinci confirmed, urging everyone to brace themselves or risk being thrown off by the blast.
A circular bulge of sea lifted the ship several dozen meters into the air. Then the sea surface burst open! Before them, a towering waterway shot straight into the sky. The ship was now two to three hundred meters above sea level, carried by the powerful current directly upward.
"The ship is now rising vertically along the water pillar!" Da Vinci shouted from the helm.
"Incredible!" Cricket exclaimed. He thought he'd already done some foolish things, but these people were even crazier.
'There really is an upward air current… could this really be from undersea steam?' Da Vinci felt the breeze. As a geologist and meteorologist, she had an intense desire to understand it—but now wasn't the time. She steadied herself and adjusted the rudder and auxiliary wings, ensuring the ship's smooth ascent along the Knock Up Stream.
"Our upward speed is decreasing, which means the air pressure pushing against the water column is dropping. We'll be pulled out by gravity!" Da Vinci called out, her words too technical for most to grasp.
"Speak human!" Eric 's brain was overloaded. Having never flown before, his fear of heights was kicking in.
"What Da Vinci means is: we should open the sails to catch the updraft for extra thrust," Chiron explained, already taking action. As expected of a true sage.
"Captain, that won't do! My perfect captain can't be so flustered and ignorant! Big Sis will have to give you some lessons later~" Da Vinci, still calm as ever, kept up her perfect genius persona.
"We're about to break through the clouds!"
"Uncle! Hold tight to Chiron! That's seawater!" Eric suddenly remembered and shouted at Cricket, reminding him to protect the Devil Fruit user. He himself ran to Da Vinci, wrapping his arms around her and sandwiching her between himself and the helm.
Mist sprayed against their faces—not quite seawater, but still hard to breathe. Eric instinctively held his breath.
Only when sunlight bathed his skin in warmth did he let go and exhale deeply. "Huff… huff…"
Chiron and Da Vinci, also Devil Fruit users, looked pale for a moment but quickly recovered.
"Captain-kun~ That moment you protected me was very manly~ High score!" Da Vinci smiled, clearly in a good mood.
"Hahaha, really? Have I won your heart?" Eric suddenly turned the teasing back on his big sister figure.
"Mhm, totally smitten."
Eric quickly turned around and shouted, "We—have arrived at Sky Island! Huff~" out of breath.
(END CHAPTER)
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