Chapter 451: Skyward Sea Current
"Hurry! Hurry!!"
Under Ian's urging, the ship's sails were fully unfurled, and propelled by the strong winds stirred up by the abnormal weather, it sped forward at great speed.
At this moment, the black clouds in the sky were relentlessly chasing behind Ian's ship, rapidly swirling and closing in. Accompanying this was a low atmospheric pressure. Feeling the oppressive weight, even Robin and Reiju sensed something unusual.
Both knew that in the Grand Line, there were many bizarre weather phenomena. Ordinary people either never encountered them or, if they did, faced certain death. Now, it seemed they were about to experience one.
As the ship advanced, Ian and the others saw the Straw Hat Pirates' vessel at a closer distance.
It wasn't just the Merry Go that was there; farther away, there were two strange ships. At the bow of each stood a clothed gorilla and an ape, respectively. Without a doubt, these were the leaders of the two salvage ships helping Luffy find the upward sea current.
The Merry Go also looked somewhat altered, with wing-like extensions added to both sides of its hull. Seeing this, Ian immediately summoned the Black Dragon Wave to consume it, then spread his black flame wings, stuffed the box containing Germa technology into Robin's arms, wrapped one arm around Robin's waist, grabbed Matthew with the other, and said to Reiju, "Quick, abandon ship! We have to get onto the Straw Hats' ship!"
Reiju nodded, activated her jet boots, picked up Dorry from behind, who was still steering, and despite his flailing, dragged him along as she flew after Ian.
The reason for abandoning ship was that Ian knew their vessel had no reinforcements or modifications. Once the upward sea current erupted from beneath the surface, the fragile hull would be shattered instantly. Only by getting onto Luffy's ship could they hope to survive this.
There was no time to explain this to Reiju, but fortunately, she didn't ask questions. Ian flew ahead carrying two people, and she followed closely behind.
Meanwhile, Luffy, Zoro, and the others were marveling at the eerie sky phenomenon. Nami, Chopper, and Usopp already had a bad feeling, their faces pale. Zoro, sharp-eyed, looked up and spotted Ian and the others flying toward them, and couldn't help but mutter, "What's that?"
When Ian and the others got closer and Zoro recognized Ian, his jaw nearly dropped in shock.
Spreading his massive black flame wings, Ian landed on the Merry Go's deck, set Robin and Matthew down, and let out a sigh of relief.
They had made it just in time.
Reiju landed on the deck as well, a bit winded from carrying the heavy Dorry.
"You... you..." Zoro pointed a trembling finger at Ian. "What are you doing here!?"
Ian was a bit irritated and couldn't help but punch him on the head, shouting, "You dare ask why we're here!? You almost got us killed!"
Ian was at a loss for words. Luffy and his crew couldn't have chosen a worse time to head to Skypiea, waiting until Ian's ship entered this sea area before setting off, dragging Ian into the mess.
Zoro crouched down, holding his head from the punch, while Luffy grinned at Ian and said, "Ian, you're just in time! We're going to Skypiea, Skypiea!"
Luffy said this like a child showing off a new toy, his teeth and eyes gleaming with excitement.
Only Chopper and Nami, seeing Ian appear, acted as if they'd found a savior, lunging at him. Chopper hugged Ian's leg, and Nami wrapped her arms around his waist, looking up with teary eyes and pleading, "Ian, you're just in time! Stop Luffy!"
Ian glanced back at the sea and said with a bitter smile, "It's too late. We can't stop it now."
Everyone followed his gaze to the sea and saw a massive whirlpool forming on the surface ahead.
The whirlpool was enormous, covering the entire horizon. Its center happened to be right where Ian's ship was, so as soon as it formed, their previous vessel was pulled in.
Watching in stunned silence, the medium-sized ship disappeared without even a splash, swallowed by the whirlpool.
Robin and Reiju broke out in a cold sweat. If they had been even a step later, they would have gone down with the ship.
After Ian's ship was taken, the whirlpool's reach extended to the Merry Go. However, since they were at the edge, the Merry Go was only being carried along by the rapid currents, spinning in circles.
During this spinning, a massive creature appeared in the whirlpool—a Sea King also dragged in by the force. It had no resistance, let out a scream, and was pulled into the center, vanishing with a gurgle.
Ian heard the sound of teeth chattering and looked down to see Nami and Chopper, their faces pale with fear. Nami hugged her arms, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.
And yet, Luffy, the reckless fool, was waving goodbye to the gorilla and ape behind him, who hadn't been affected.
"Ahhh!" Nami, Chopper, and Usopp finally screamed. "Why didn't anyone tell us there'd be a whirlpool!? Spare us! This is terrifying!"
Reiju turned back to Ian nervously and asked, "What do we do? We'll get pulled in on this ship too!"
Ian counted the people and shook his head. Only he and Reiju could fly, and they couldn't carry everyone. So he said, "We'll have to leave it to fate! If something goes wrong and the ship sinks, we'll save as many as we can..."
Though he knew Luffy had the gorilla and ape's help and might ride the upward sea current to Skypiea, he couldn't be sure if their presence had caused a butterfly effect that would ruin everything.
Just then, the sky was completely shrouded in darkness. The entire sea area turned into night, and the Merry Go was drawn closer and closer to the whirlpool's center.
"Waaaaahhhh!!! We're going down!!!"
Usopp screamed hysterically, thinking the whole crew was doomed. But then, suddenly, the sea became calm!
It was as if the massive whirlpool had been an illusion, vanishing abruptly.
"Wh... what happened!?" Everyone stared in shock, not understanding.
"...No! That's not it!" Nami, as the navigator, leaned over the railing and looked at the sea below, her face pale. "The whirlpool didn't disappear! It just sank beneath the surface!"
"Quick, Luffy!" Usopp grabbed Luffy's collar. "Turn the ship around now! We need to get out of here!"
But Luffy looked reluctant, staring at Usopp like an old man.
As if fate itself was on Luffy's side, the ape far behind shouted to them, "Be careful! It's coming! The skyward sea current!"
As his words fell, everyone noticed that the seawater around them seemed to be sinking.
But it wasn't sinking. Instead, the sea surface beneath the Merry Go was slowly rising! That created the illusion.
"Hold on tight!" Ian saw this and shouted in alarm, "Grab onto anything that can secure you! The eruption will be violent!"
Hearing his warning, even Nami and the others, scared to death, quickly followed his instructions.
Just as they grabbed hold, the skyward sea current erupted fully! A force capable of destroying heaven and earth lifted tens of thousands of tons of seawater from the seabed! The sudden upward current shot straight from the sea into the sky!
Everyone on the ship felt a powerful pressure pinning them to the deck, unable to move.
The Merry Go rose with the wave, hurtling toward the clouds in the sky. From a distance, the skyward sea current looked like a splash from a cannonball hitting the water, but infinitely larger, blotting out the sky.
When the immense pressure subsided, everyone saw that the Merry Go's bow was now pointing skyward. The skyward sea current was actually a spiral wave, carrying the Merry Go upward in a spiraling "voyage" toward the sky!
"Haha, this is fun!" Luffy laughed carelessly. "Go, Merry Go! Ride this all the way to the sky!"
But his joy didn't last long. Nami and the others noticed something wrong—the ship was starting to drift off the current's surface, floating away. At the same time, the objects they were holding onto began to slip.
Usopp was the first to lose his grip. The railing he was holding suddenly snapped with a crack, and the wind blew him off the ship.
"Usopp!!!" Sanji and the others shouted in alarm. Zoro reached out a hand to grab him but missed by a hair.
"Idiot!" Seeing this, Ian had to act. His flame wings flared, and he flew out, grabbing Usopp by the hand.
But in that instant, the distance between the Merry Go and Ian had already grown wide...