Chapter 30 - 30: Knock Up Stream and A Demon!

The going Merry sailed around the coast of the island making their way to the home of the man named Cricket. Luffy sat on his throne in silence the whole way there with an emotionless look on his face but his crew could tell that he was very angry just from the look he had in his eyes. Another give away to his anger was the raging stop that was brewing over the Island of Jaya. there were random flashes of lightning that followed by extremely loud thunder. Zoro and Robin had explained what happened while they were docked in Jaya to the rest of the crew. They weren't that much surprised by Luffy's actions, however, the thing that surprised all of them was the fact that they encountered Blackbeard, the man who Ace is hunting and who also pillaged Chopper's home. All of them stuck to the front of the ship leaving Luffy alone in the back. As for Luffy, he was doing his best to try and keep his anger under control. The thing that pissed him off was the fact that he left Teach escape before he could teach him a lesson. Thatch was one of the people who took care of Luffy while he on Whitebeard's ship, he was already pissed off about the fact that he wasn't allowed to kill Teach but now his chance to beat him an inch away from death slipped away.

"Captain!" shouted Usopp knocking Luffy out of his brooding. We are approaching a pirate ship!" he shouted while pointing to the front of the ship. Luffy looked at the ship through narrowed eyes.

"Is it those salvagers?" Luffy asked in a bored tone not caring about some random group of pirates.

"No, but the sh.i.p.s are kind of similar," Sanji replied causing Luffy to sigh and get up from his throne and began making his way to the front of the ship. When he got the front of the ship, he saw a pretty large ship with a giant tree on board it is blocking their path.

"I don't have time for this just get them out of our way," Luffy said in a bored voice.

"Hey, you guys!" someone shouted from the ship getting all their attention. "Stop what you are doing and pay attention!" they said. When Luffy and the crew looked up at the ship to see he spoke they saw a large man who looks like an orangutan with long green hair. "Could you believe I got all worked up wondering who you people were," the man said as he sat down on a throne of his own.

"What an ugly creature," Luffy said in a low voice.

"What did you say!?" the man screamed back down at Luffy. "Do you have any idea who I am!?" he asked.

"No, I don't, nor do I care who you are," Luffy replied. "I'm already in a bad mood and you're in my way. If you don't wish to die, I suggest you move that hunk of junk out of my way," he said in a dangerous tone.

"Why you!" the man growled out. He was about to say something else, but before he could one of his crew members got his attention.

"U-um, boss," a random member of his crew said getting his attention.

"WHAT!?" the large man screamed at the man.

"That's...that's...the Thunder Demon," he said while pointing at Luffy. "He...he...is the one who beat Crocodile and formed an alliance with one of the four emperors," the man said with fear laced in his voice. The large man who is the obvious captain who the crew snapped his head around to Luffy and started the sweat slightly as he stared at the pirate wearing the straw hat.

"What are you all standing around for!" the man shouted to his crew. "Didn't you hear him! We are in his way!" he yelled causing them to salute their captain before they all scrambled around getting ready to move the ship. The captain then looked back over to Luffy and spoke. "Terribly sorry for the inconvenience," he said with a large smile while scratching the back of his head. Luffy didn't say anything, he just turns around and made his way back to his throne as the Going merry sailed past the group of pirates.

"Well, that was easy," Nojiko said as they sailed past.

"Guess allying with one of the four emperors means that there are more pirates who are afraid of us now," Sanji said as he lit a new cigarette.

"I think Luffy is scary on his own," Chopper added causing everyone to chuckle. The Going Merry sailed around the northern coast of Jaya before the sight of what looks palace came into view.

"Whoa! Amazing!" Usopp and Chopper yelled as they stared at the palace.

"That's where he lives!?" Usopp yelled/asked in amazement. "It's a freaking palace!" he added.

"I've never seen a house that big before," Nojiko commented as she stared up at the palace-like house. "This Mont Blanc Cricket guy must be load," she added. Zoro scoffed as he looked at the house.

"Look closer," he said in a frustrated voice.

"That's really unattractive," Sanji said as he smoked his cigarette. "This guy must have some guts to build a house like that," he added. Luffy couldn't help but agree with his cook. As the ship got closer and closer to the shore of the island the true appearance of the house began to reveal itself.

"That's no palace," Robin said as she folded her arms and walked out onto the deck.

"It's a facade, the actual house is only half that size," Zoro said as he walked up to the anchor, picked it up and dropped it into the water.

"This guy is even vainer than I thought," Sanji said as he stared at the house.

"Why exactly did Cricket leave his home to com live all the way out here," Luffy asked Robin as he walked to the front of the ship.

"I don't know all the details, but it has something to do with his belief that there rests a large amount of gold somewhere in the hills of Jaya," Robin replied as she leaned against the banister.

"Gold!?" Nami and Usopp shouted out while Luffy and the rest of the raised their eyebrows in interest.

"Do you think he is here searching for some form of buried treasure?" Nami asked in an excited voice.

"I do not know," Robin replied with a shrug. An excited Nami leaped off the ship along with Chopper and Usopp to begin the search for the gold.

"Well, let's go see if he is home," Luffy said as he teleported off the ship in a flash of lightning. As everyone else was disembarking the ship Luffy walked up the door of the house and knocked a few times. "Hellooo!" Luffy called out as he knocked a few more times, but no one answered. "It doesn't look like anyone is home he said as he grabbed the doorknob and turned it. Surprisingly it was unlocked.

"What are you doing!?" yelled a scared Usopp. "You can't just open people's doors like that!" he said to Luffy who ignored him and walked inside the house. Luffy spent a few minutes in the house before he came back out and spoke to his crew. "It doesn't look like anyone is home," he said as he walked up to them. "We'll wait here in case he comes back," he added causing them to nod their heads.

"Huh?" Nami said as something caught her attention. "What's this?" she asked as she walked up to a tree stump with three chairs around it and picked up a book. "A book," she as she held it up. "Looks pretty old," she commented as she looked at the cover. "It's called 'Nolan The Liar,'" she said getting Sanji and Luffy's attention.

"Did you say Nolan the Liar?" Sanji asked as he looked at Nami.

"Yeah, have you heard of it?" she asked as she looked at the cover. "It says here that it was published in the North Blue," she added.

"Yeah, I was born int he North Blue. I'm certain I must have told you guys that," Sanji said surprising everyone especially Luffy and Robin.

"No, that's news to me. I always thought you were born in the East," Usopp said while Luffy nodded his head in agreement.

"I grew up there," Sanji added. "It is a famous story in the North Blue about the life of Nolan who supposedly lived in the North Blue a long time ago," Sanji said to explain what the book was about before Nami began to read it for everyone. While she was reading the story for everyone Luffy was staring at Sanji through narrowed eyes, still thinking about the fact that his cook was from the North Blue. Just as Nami finished the story and man jumped out of the ocean and landed on the island in a fighting stance getting everyone's attention.

"Who the hell are you?" the man asked as he stared at the Straw hats. "You all have some nerve relaxing at someone's house without permission. This is my land and I suggest you leave," he said.

"Sanji," Luffy said in a bored tone causing his cook to nod his head before he rushed forward at the man.

"I know why you're here," the man said as he prepared to fight Sanji. "You're after my gold," he said as he ducked under Sanji's kick. He immediately retaliated with a punch aimed at Sanji's c.h.e.s.t forcing the cook to jump back in order to dodge the punch. The man then rushed forward with his right arm in the air preparing to chop Sanji who defended by raising his leg and blocking the chop. The man then reached behind his back and pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Sanji's head before pulling the trigger.

"SANJI!" Usopp, Nami, and Chopper yelled in fear for their crew members.

"Relax," came the voice of Sanji causing them to relax. "He's a terrible shot," he said before he is forced to dodge multiple shots compliments of the man.

"Idiot," Zoro said as he unsheathed one of his swords. "Never underestimate your foe," he said berating Sanji before he dashed forward preparing to slice the man in two. Before he could get there, the man began to stagger, and the gun fell out of his hand fright before he collapsed on the ground confusing everyone.

"Chopper," Luffy said with a sigh. "Go treat him," he ordered causing the little reindeer to rush forward with his little blue medical bag.

"Hey! you two!" Luffy yelled out to Zoro and Sanji. "Take him in the house," he said before he turned around and begin walking towards the house with Usopp, Nami, and Nojiko following behind him. After Zoro and Sanji got the man inside the house, they placed him in the bed for Chopper to start treating him.

"I don't see why we need to treat him," Nami said as she folded her arms. "He attacked us," she added with a huff.

"We are treating him because he is Mont Blanc Cricket," Luffy said getting their attention. "Didn't you hear him call this place his home when he jumped out of the water?" he asked causing all of them to think back before only a few of them nodded their heads. "Well, it is obvious if we want to know about the knock-up stream, we need him to be alive," he finished causing them to nod their heads.

"Okay, I need more towels," Chopper said to the crew. "He has Caisson disease," the little reindeer said.

"What is the Caisson disease?" Nojiko asked while looking at Chopper.

"It is something divers get, but it's not long-lasting, but it can become fatal if the person exerts themselves too much. It is cost by a lack of decompression when surfacing from the seabed," Chopper explains causing a proud smile to form on Luffy's face. "The nitrogen in the blood is released too quickly and causes gas bubbles to form in the circulatory system. When those bubbles expand, they can cause serious damage to the muscles and joints and seriously decrease blood flow," the doctor explained as he placed a wet cloth on top of Cricket's forehead.

"Think you can help hi, Chopper?" Nojiko asked. Chopper thought about it for a few seconds before he replied to Nojiko's question.

"I'm not sure," he replied in a low voice. "My guess is that he continued to dive every day without allowing his body to recover and it finally caught up to him," he said causing them to nod in understanding. "That's why he passed out during the fight. If anything, he is lucky to be alive," he added grimly. Luffy was about to say something but before he could Masira and the pirate who they bumped into before reaching Jaya appeared in the doorway and yelled inside the house.

"Hey, old-timer are you alright!" they yelled as they stuck their head through the door. Everyone inside just stared at the two ape-like men and blinked a few times while the two men did the exact same. About ten seconds past before the two men screamed at the straw hats. "What the hell are you monster doing to the old man!?" they yelled/asked.

"We are trying to help him," Nojiko said as he folder her arms under her b.r.e.a.s.t. "So, you can either help us or get the hell out," she said in a stern tone. The two men stared at her for about five seconds before tears started streaming down their faces and they began to weep uncontrollably.

"Thank you, guys!" they said between sobs. Causing everyone to stare at them strangely.

'Are they crying?' Luffy asked himself as she stared at the two strange men. After the Masira and his friend stopped crying, everyone except Chopper and Nami went outside and sat down by the tree stump where they found the book about Noland. Luffy and the two men began conversing while waiting for Cricket to regain consciousness. They talked four about a half an hour before Chopper came running out of the house.

"Luffy!" hopper yelled getting all their attention. "He's awake," he said causing Luffy and the two monkeys to get up began walking towards the house. When they got there, they say Cricket sitting on the bed smoking a cigarette.

"I am sorry I attacked you," Cricket said. "I thought you were here to steal my gold," he said. Luffy walked in and sat down on one of the chairs before he pulled out a glass and poured himself a whiskey before he spoke.

"It's all good," Luffy said as he poured the whiskey. "We are only here for information on how to get to sky island," he said causing Cricket to raise an eyebrow at him before he started laughing nonstop causing Luffy to this time raise an eyebrow.

"Sky Island?" he asked while laughing. "That place doesn't exist," he said before started laughing once more. While he was laughing, he noticed that neither Luffy nor none of his crew members were laughing with him instead, they all had a serious look on their faces as they stared at him causing him to stop laughing. "There has ever only been one man who claimed to have been to the sky island and he is somewhat of a notorious liar," he said causing Zoro and Chopper to turn and look at Usopp.

"IT'S NOT ME YOU IDIOTS!" Usopp yelled at the two of them causing Luffy to chuckle. Cricket then began to explain the true tale of Noland and the fact that he was a descendant of Noland himself. After he finished telling them about his destiny to restore his family name he reached onto a bookshelf and pulled out an old book and handed it to Nami. It was the logbook of Noland which had the details of his journey. Luffy and Robin's interest piqued at the sight of the book since the book in Nami's hand was over 400 years old. Nami then began to read from Noland's logbook about his adventure and how they saw sky fish causing Usopp, Chopper, and Nami to get even more excited.

"That's all nice and all, old man," Luffy said in a calm tone getting everyone's attention. "But you still haven't told me what I wanted to hear," he said as he stared at the man on the bed.

"Captain," Robin said getting his attention. "Maybe you should be a bit more specific about what you are asking for," she suggested with a smile on her face. Luffy thought about it for a few seconds before he spoke again.

"You're right," he said agreeing with Robin before he turned back towards Cricket. "Tell me where I can find the knock up-stream," he said in a serious tone causing Cricket and the monkey brothers' eyes to widen in shock.

"Y-you know of the knock up-stream?" Cricket asked in a surprised tone as he stared at the boy with the straw hat. Luffy nodded his head before he took a sip of his drink. "Why risk your lives for a place that you don't even know exists?" Cricket asked Luffy causing him to chuckle.

"Adventure," Luffy replied with a smirk causing his crew to smile as well. "And as for whether or not sky island exists...it does," Luffy said in a confident tone. "I've been to numerous sky islands in the New World, and I know someone who been to the one where we are going," he added causing Cricket and the monkey brother's eyes to widen even further.

"Y-you've been to a sky island?" Masira asked in an astonished voice to which Luffy nodded.

"Y-you know someone who been to the sky island that Noland went to?" Cricket asked causing Luffy to nod his head again. "Who?" Cricket asked.

"Red-Haired Shanks," Luffy replied before taking a sip of his whiskey. "20 years ago, the now named King of the Pirates Gol D. Roger went to Skypiea on his journey to conquer to Grand Line. Shanks was a member of that crew and I was a member of Shanks's crew," Luffy explained nonchalantly stunning everyone in the room including his crew. They all stared at him with an astonished look on their faces.

"Amazing," said the monkey brother simultaneously as they stared at Luffy with nothing but admiration in their eyes.

"So, how can I find the knock up-stream?" Luffy asked once more knocking everyone out their astonishment. Cricket then got up from his bed and began walking outside.

"Follow me," he said causing Luffy and everyone else to get up and follow him outside. They all stood in a circle around the tree stump and stared at Cricket who had his hands on his waist. "Now listen up, the knock-up-stream is the only way to get to sky island. It shoots straight up into the so, it can theoretically take you up into the sky if you are lucky," he said while looking at them.

"Wait, so you are telling me that this current can actually send sh.i.p.s flying?" Nojiko asked sounding a bit skeptical about the whole thing. "Wouldn't that just cause us to fall back down to the ocean and smash into pieces?" she asked.

"Usually that is true unless you can get the timing just right," Cricket replied as he folded his arms. "It is one thing to sit here all comfy and think that it is easy to ride the knock-up-stream however, you are in for a rude awakening. The Knock-up-stream is as dangerous as any hurricane and should be avoided at all cost," he said scaring Chopper and Usopp. Cricket then began to explain what causes the knock-up-stream scaring Chopper and Usopp even more along with Nami and Nojiko. They all slowly turned their heads to Luffy hoping to see their captain having some second thought about going but what they saw absolutely terrified them. He had an excited smirk on his face.

"Sounds fun," Luffy said in an excited tone.

"But Luffy," Usopp said getting his captain's attention. "I don't think the going Merry will make it through something like that," Usopp said while pointing to their ship causing Luffy to sigh. He couldn't help but agree with his sniper, the Merry just wasn't made to handle the perils of the Grand Line.

"The boy is right," Cricket said. "That ship even brand new will be blown to pieces by the knock-up-stream," he said.

"See Luffy," Usopp said. "It's best we don't go," suggested a very scared Usopp.

"Don't worry, I'll have Masira and Shoujou refit your ship to withstand it," Cricket said causing Luffy to smile while Usopp's head dropped.

"Luffy, what about the log pose," Nami said deciding to help Usopp. "We can only stay here one more day before the log pose resets," she said while holding up the log pose.

"That's right," Usopp said with a large smile on his face. "We don't even know when this knock up-stream will happen," he said.

"The next knock-up-stream should be tomorrow around noon," Cricket said causing Luffy to chuckle while Nami and Usopp sweat dropped. "Now, let's go have lunch," he said as he began walking back into the house with Luffy following right behind him.

**Night**

Luffy, his crew and Saruyama Alliance were all sitting around in Cricket's house drinking and having a good time. Somehow the lunch that they all came inside to have turned into a party with Cricket tell stories from Noland's logbook. Right now, everyone was staring Cricket who was showing them the gold that found on the seafloor. It wasn't until he brought out a pretty big golden statue of a bird that Cricket and the monkey brother's face sobered up almost immediately.

"Shit!" the three of them cursed puzzling the straw hats.

"What's wrong you guys?" Nojiko asked while looking at them with a confused look on her face.

"You guys need to go to the south shores of this island and capture a south bird," Cricket said with urgency in his voice.

"Why do we need to do something like that?" Zoro asked as he downed some sake.

"At noon tomorrow, the knock up-stream will appear directly south of here. Seeing as how you are in the Grand Line and compasses don't work here you need something to tell you where to sail and that is where the South bird comes in," he explained causing Luffy to nod his head seeing where he was going with this. "Certain animals have a very accurate internal sense of direction as if they are born with a natural compass. This bird is a perfect example of this type of animal. No matter what this bird always faces South," he said causing them to nod their heads.

"Alright," Luffy said getting their attention. "Usopp you stay here and help get the ship ready," Luffy ordered causing Usopp to nod his head. "The rest of you begin making your way to the southern shore and catch this bird," he added puzzling a few of how crew members.

"What about you, captain?" Zoro asked.

"I'm going to go make a few calls and check in on my little organization. Besides, you guys have Robin with you so it should be easy to catch one of these things with her devil fruit," he added with a reassuring smile.

"Aye captain!" they all yelled before they ran out of the house. Luffy then walked out of the house and called his thunder cloud. When it arrived, he hopped on and sat down on his throne before he spoke to Usopp and Cricket.

"You lot should get started on the refitting. I'll be back soon," Luffy said before the thundercloud took off leaving behind three stunned faces.

Luffy ascended into the air before coming to a stop at about 5000 feet in the air. He then reached into the cloud and pulled out a small c.h.e.s.t and opened it. Inside of the c.h.e.s.t were multiple transponder snails. he looked around and carefully pulled out six specific snails and laid then in two rows on the cloud before he pulled out two more snails which were a bit bigger than the ones he previously pulled out. One of them was pure white while the other man was purple with a larger shell, on the shell were multiple holes for wires to be plugged in. Luffy then plugged six cables into seven different holes on the snail's shell. He then connected one of the seven cables into the white transponder snail and the remaining six into the smaller ones. When done he picked up the microphone on the purple snail with multiple holes on hits shell and pushed the red button on top of the shell causing all the other snails to wake up and begin to ring.

*purupurupuru**purupurupuru**purupurupuru**purupurupuru**Clachak*

"Hello?"

"Hello,"

"Lu?"

"Captain?"

"What?"

"Yes?"

All Luffy's subordinates answered his call causing him to smile before he spoke in a commanding voice.

"Yes, it's me," he said as he spoke into the microphone. "Give me a status update on what you all been doing since," he ordered.

"Well, we just arrived back in the East Blue," Said Johnny causing Luffy to nod his head. "We are now making our way to the Baratie to tell the old man about your organization and drop off a few guys from the Hino branch there to work as waiters before we head to Cocoyasi Village," he said causing Luffy to smirk.

"Sounds like a good plan," he replied. The idea of leaving a few guys at the Baratie to work as waiters was a brilliant idea, they could work in the floating restaurant and pick up information from the customers. "Give me a call if you need someone to build the base on Cocoyasi Village," Luffy said to Johnny and Yosaku.

"Aye, Captain!" both Johnny and Yosaku said through the phone.

"Isaac, what do you got to report," Luffy asked.

"Ummm...well, I got good news and bad news," Isaac said causing Luffy to narrow his eye. "Which one do you want first?" he asked causing Luffy sigh before he replied.

"Give me the bad news," he said as he leaned back into his throne.

"You remember that Mr. 2 guy?' Isaac asked.

"Yeah, the one with the Clone-Clone fruit," Luffy replied.

"Well, he kind of got captured by the marines when we left Alabasta and is likely in Impel Down," he said causing Luffy to growl through the hone.

"Explain!" Luffy yelled out.

"Well, the three of us were on our own sh.i.p.s heading for the West Blue when Black Cage Hina showed up with her fleet alone the White hunter himself," Isaac explained causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow at that.

"Smoker?" Luffy asked in surprise.

"Yeah, he and I danced around a for a while Jiro and Bon Clay kept Hina back. I was able to handle Smoker thanks to my haki, but Bon Clay and his crew sacrificed himself so the rest of us could escape," he said causing Luffy to once again sigh.

"If you had Smoker beat why did he need to sacrifice himself?" Luffy questioned.

"What was I supposed to do?" Isaac asked. "The motherf.u.c.ker already sacrificed himself before I got done with Smoker," he said in a frustrated voice.

"Fine," Luffy said before a serious look crept onto his face as he spoke again. "But Isaac," he said in a deadly tone. "Should something like this ever happen again...I'll personally pay you a visit and rip those angle wings right off your back," he said into phone sending chills down Isaac's back.

"R-right," he replied with a slight stutter.

"Now, what's the good news?" Luffy asked.

"We found a town that was occupied by a group of weak pirates. We beat them into submission and added them to Hell's Company before we set up shop on the island," he said causing a smirk to creep up on to Luffy's face.

"Good, very good," Luffy said. "Ms. Merry Christmas, how re things in the North?" he asked.

"Good, good, good" the woman said very fast. "We just reach the North Blue and haven't found a place to set up a base yet but once we do, I'll use my Mole-Mole fruit to make an underground base," she said a lot slower and how he normally speaks.

"That sounds pretty good," Luffy said while nodding his head. "Gem, have you reach he South Blue yet?" he asked.

"Yeah, we arrived a few days ago and set up shop on Karate Island," he said causing Luffy to nod his head. "We already began spreading out the Hino Branch to spread the word and to begin gathering information," he added causing Luffy to smile.

"Nicely done," Luffy said with a satisfied look on his face. "Paula, what do you have to report?" Luffy asked.

"Well we found an abandoned island not far from Alabasta and are setting up shop here," she said.

"Good, I have someone building a private shipping port for in Alabasta. Send someone there and look the man in charge of building the port, his name is Paul, tell him Asura sent you," he said through the phone. "He has the blueprints of how I want the headquarters of the Hino Branch to look like. So, don't fret about building a base, he will do it for you," Luffy explained.

"Very well, I have to send a few ppl to Alabasta anyway to act as spies. I'll just have one of them go see this person," she said while Luffy nodded his head in agreement.

"Now, Daz, what do you have to report?" he asked.

"We haven't found a base yet but some of the guys from the Kiten Branch already began spreading out looking for things to sell," he said causing Luffy to nod his head.

"If you are looking for a base you can go to the island of Jaya, there is a town there called Mock town. It is littered with pirates and the sc.u.m of the world," he suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea, I'll see if I can find out how to get there," he said while Luffy nodded his head.

"Alright, let me know about any developments," he said.

"Aye, Sir!" they all replied before hanging up. When they hung up Luffy leaned back in his throne and looked up at the stars.

'Hmmm, I wonder If they caught that bird yet?' he asked himself before he decided it was time to head back. The thundercloud heeded its master's wishes and turned around before it began making its way back to Cricket's house. It about ten minutes to reach there because Luffy was cruising on his way back enjoying the calm night. When the house came into view Luffy's eyes widen the size of dinner plates at what he saw. There was nothing but destruction everywhere with evidence that a battle took place. ditching the cloud, he turned his body into lightning and teleported off the cloud and onto the ground near a badly wounded Masira and Cricket.

"Old man," Luffy said to a barely conscious Cricket. "What happened here?" he asked as he looked around at the carnage. There was a giant hole in Cricket's house, the ground was wrecked in multiple places, and to top it all off, the bow of the Going Merry was broken off from the ship.

"It...it was Bellamy," the old man said in a weak voice. "He came for my gold," he said to Luffy. "He beat us, took the gold and... took your long nose friend as well," Cricket said causing a blank, emotionless look to appear on Luffy's face as thunder clouds began to fill the skies. "I'm sorry," Cricket said to Luffy.

"It's not your fault," Luffy said in a monotone voice as he turned and looked in the direction where his crew went to look for the south bird. "I'll be back," he said before he turned into lightning and shot up into the sky.

**With the Crew**

The entire crew was all standing in a circle sweating bad and breathing heavily. Since they started looking for the south bird, they were met with opposition from everything direction. It was like the birds knew that they were there to catch one of them and they were turning the animals of the forest against the straw hats. They had been attacked by all sorts of bugs and animals; it was very frustrating. All their frustrated thoughts were interrupted however were interrupted by lightning and thunder in the sky.

"What's going on?" asked Nojiko as she looked up and see thunder clouds fill the sky. Before anyone could answer her a bolt of lightning struck down in the center of the group startling every one of them. When the bolt disappeared, they saw Luffy standing there with an emotionless look on his face but from his eyes, they could all tell he was very pissed.

"Chopper, come with me. The old man and the monkey brothers need some medical assistance," he said surprising them.

"What happened?" Sanji asked.

"They were attacked by that fool from Mock Town and Usopp was kidnapped," Luffy explained and as he was explaining the lightning and the thunder in the sky was getting worse showing that the more he talked about it the more upset he was getting. The crew was shell shocked when they heard Usopp was kidnapped. "Come on Chopper, I need you to heal the guys while I go get Usopp back," Luffy said causing Chopper to walk towards him.

"Right," Chopper replied as Luffy places his hand on his shoulder.

"As for the rest of you," Luffy said while looking at his crew. "hurry up and catch that damn bird!" he said before turning into lightning and shooting up into the sky with Chopper.

"Well, it going to be a bloodbath," Zoro said while everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.

**At Cricket's house**

Luffy and Chopper arrived right next to Masira. As soon as they touched down Chopper sprang into doctor mode and began treating Masira who had a deep slash down his back. Luffy turned his hand into lightning and stretched it all the way into the water where Shoujou was floating unconscious and pull him back onto the land for Chopper to treat. After that, without saying he turned to lightning and teleported to Mock Town.

**Mock Town**

A bolt of lightning struck down in front of the bar that Luffy encountered Teach earlier in the day. When the bolt of lightning disappeared, Luffy was standing there with his arms in his pocket staring at the bar where there seems to be a party going on. It was so loud in there that the people on the inside probably couldn't hear the loud thunder in the sky or the lightning striking down. Luffy used his observation haki to sense the people inside the bar and much to his relief, Usopp was still alive. He then began walking forward toward the doors of the bar. He pushed open the saloon-style doors and took a step inside the bar. As he stepped inside, the entire bar fell silent and he narrowed his gaze at Bellamy who was sitting at the bar with his back to Luffy while Usopp was tied up on a chair with Bellamy's crew. Hearing the entire bar falling silent, Bellamy turned around to see what was going on. When he turned around, he saw a very pissed off Luffy staring directly at him with the cold eyes of a killer.

"You f.u.c.k up...big time," Luffy said in a cold chilling voice as he stared at Bellamy.

"Luffy!" Usopp yelled out with joy in seeing his captain.

"Sit tight Usopp," Luffy said putting his sniper at ease. "I'll be there in a second, but first I have to slaughter some people," he added coldly as his gaze moved from Bellamy to the rest of the patrons of the bar causing them to flinch at his gaze. "Outside, now!" Luffy said as he turned his gaze back to Bellamy before turning around walking back out the bar. Bellamy smirked confidently before turning to his crew and spoke.

"Come on guys," he said as he stood up. "let's go teach this rookie a lesson, bring our hostage too. I'll like to see him fight us while we have his friend hostage," he said c.o.c.kily as he began heading outside to confront Luffy. The entire bar followed him outside wanting to see how Bellamy was going to handle the new rookie. When they got outside their attention was immediately drawn to the sky which was filled with thunderclouds and lightning. They then turned their attention to Luffy, who was standing there staring at Bellamy.

"Let me explain how this is going to go, Bellamy," Luffy said getting all their attention. "You're going to let my crew member go and hand over all of Cricket's gold," he said in a cold emotionless tone. "And then one by one I'm going to kill you," he added causing a shiver to run all their spines. Bellamy just stood there and smiled before he started laughing.

"Hahaha! You? Kill me?" Bellamy asked in a mocking tone. "I'll admit you took by surprise this afternoon, but now I'm prepared for you," he said arrogantly. "If you even think about fighting back, we'll kill your friend. Bahahaha!" he said while pointing to Usopp who was standing between two of Bellamy crew members with guns in each hand. The two men began raising their gun to point at Usopp's head. Before the guns could ready his head, the heads of the two men suddenly fell off their bodies and unto the ground causing blood to spray out like a fountain from the neck wound, covering Usopp and those around the two men in blood before their bodies fell over. Everyone stared at the scene with eyes the size of dinner plates. None of them saw a thing, one moment the men were raising their guns and the next their heads fell on the ground.

"Who's going to him?" Luffy asked getting everyone's attention away from the body. When they looked over, they saw he was standing there with his palm covered in blood. It was then made clear who killed those two men.

"H-he killed them," a random spectator said with fear in his voice.

"I-I told Bellamy not to mess with him, but he wouldn't listen," a drunk man said.

"You'll pay for that!?" Bellamy yelled out in anger as he stared at Luffy with a look of pure hatred.

"Boy, you still don't get it, don't you?" Luffy asked as he stared at the arrogant pirate. "Even Doflamingo knows I am not someone who you f.u.c.k with, but you think you can f.u.c.k with me and my crew and get away with it!?" Luffy said letting some of his anger show. "You are nothing more than an insignificant little shit who sucks Doflamingo's d.i.c.k every chance you get, and you have the audacity to f.u.c.k with me," he said pissing Bellamy off and causing everyone's eyes to widen. "You're going to see just why people call me...a demon," he added in a menacing tone before he raises up his right hand and grabbed the left shoulder of his captain's coat and pulled it off and tossed it to the side. Bellamy turned to his crew and spoke.

"Get him!" he yelled causing two of his crew members to rush at Luffy. The two men rushed at Luffy with swords in hand with the intention of killing Luffy to avenge their fallen crew members. One of the men raised his sword to slash at Luffy. Luffy dodges the slash and uppercuts the man sending them airborne before he spun on his left heel and delivered a roundhouse kick the back of the other man's head causing a sickening crunch to be heard. Luffy then covered his palm in lightning before he slashed the air above.

"Lightning Cutter!" he yelled out as he slashed the air above him causing a crescent-shaped arc of lightning to leave his palm and slice the man who was falling back down in half. Luffy then turned his attention back to Bellamy as the two halves of the man fell on either side of him. Bellamy and everyone around were staring at Luffy as though he was the devil himself.

"Y-you bastard!" yelled Bellamy's vice-captain as he rushed at Luffy with a pretty big knife. He had a bandage wrapped around his face from the wound that Zoro gave him this afternoon. Luffy just stared at and shook his head.

"You fools never learn," he said with a sigh as he dodges the slashed and kneed the man in the stomach causing him to cough up some blood before he hunched over on the ground. Luffy then raised his right foot in the air before he slammed it down on the man's back sending him crashing into the ground face first. With his foot still on the man's back, Luffy reached down and grabbed both of his arms and began pulling the back causing the man to scream out in pain. "You seem to like these arms quite a lot," Luffy said as he pulled the arms back. "You know what, I like them too. You don't mind if I have them, do you?" he asked as he tilted his head to the side.

"W-what!?" Bellamy's vice-captain yelled/asked. "NOOOO! stop! Please!" he begged as Luffy began pulling back further and further. However, all his begging fell on deaf ears causing Luffy didn't stop, instead, he gave one final pull and ripped both of the man arms off his body. "AHHHHHHH!" the man yelled as blood gushed out from both wounds. Luffy then looked up at Bellamy while holding onto the man's arms and stared at him as he removed his foot from the man's back and placed it onto his head.

"You shouldn't have f.u.c.k.e.d with me," he said coldly before he covered his foot in lightning and crushed the man's head causing blood the splatter on the ground.

"S-Sarquiss..." Bellamy whispered out as he stared at the dead body of his first mate.

"Sarquiss!" a blonde-haired woman yelled out as she and a blonde-haired man with a log pose strapped to his wrist rushed at Luffy with his b.a.r.e hands. Luffy just stared at them rushing towards him before he dropped one of the severed arms he is holding while covering the other haki. He then swung the haki covered arm at the man hitting him square in the c.h.e.s.t causing him to get knocked back into the woman sending the two of them crashing into the ground with one on top of the other. Luffy then walked over to the two of them, flipped the severed over so he was holding it by the bicep instead of the wrist, and covered it armament haki before he plunged the severed arm into both the man and the woman. It pierced right through them like a hot knife through butter.

"You know something, Bellamy," Luffy said as he looked back up at the pirate captain. "I really that you were going to jump in at some point during all this but instead, you just stood there and watch me slaughter your crew," Luffy pointed out as he stared at the once arrogant pirate. Bellamy for his part wanted to jump in, but he couldn't move from the spot that he was standing. He was frozen in fear. After the gruesome death of his first mate, he realized that he shouldn't have messed with Luffy. "But don't worry, I'm not going to kill you," Luffy said surprising Bellamy and everyone there. Before Bellamy could contemplate what Luffy was talking about, Luffy disappeared and appeared in front of him. Before he could react Luffy uppercuts him sending him about 50ft in the air. Luffy then disappeared once before he appeared above Bellamy with his right leg extended out and raised in the air.

"Storm Breaker!" Luffy yelled out as he covered his leg in lightning and slammed his heel down onto Bellamy's c.h.e.s.t sending him flying towards the ground at blinding speed. When Bellamy impacted the ground, the impact caused a giant crater to from with Bellamy in the center. Luffy then landed on the edge of the crater and stared down at the broken and eaten Bellamy.

"As I said," Luffy began, "I won't kill you. Instead, I'll let you live. That way you will never forget what happened here today," he said coldly. "For as long as you live, every time you close your eyes you will see the faces of your dead crew whose deaths are on no one but yourself," Luffy finished before he turned around and walked up to Usopp. "You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," Usopp replied in a sad voice causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow. "Captain, I'm sorry I got captured," he apologized causing Luffy to chuckle.

"Don't worry about it," Luffy replied. "besides, I see you got some good shots in," he said while pointing to the dead bodies that had burn marks on their clothes. "Come one, let's head back," he said before he walked over to the side and picked up his coat and put it back on. "Now, who wants to tell me where Cricket's gold is?" he asked as he looked at all the spectators. Not wanting to die, every single person that was there pointed to the bar where Bellamy was drinking. Luffy chuckled before he walked inside, grabbed the gold and then walked back out. He then waked up to Usopp placed his hand on his shoulder before the two of them turned into lightning and shot up into the sky leaving behind a stunned audience who were all staring at the battered and broken form of Bellamy.

**Cricket's House**

The crew along with the entire Saruyama Alliance were working on the repairs for the ship. It had been one hour since Luffy left and they had only two more hours to get the ship ready to set sail.

"Man, these guys sure can work," Nojiko said as she paused and look at the monkey brothers hauling huge amounts of lumber.

"Yeah, they are pretty strong," Sanji said with a nod. Before anyone else could say anything else however lightning struck down not too far away from where they were working leaving behind Luffy and Usopp.

"Usopp!" the Straw hats yelled as they dropped what they were doing and ran towards their captain and sniper. Luffy had a small smile on his face as he watches his crew check on Usopp. He then turned around and walked up to Cricket and handed him a small bag which contained his gold.

"Here's your gold old man," he said as he placed it down on a tree stump. "how are the repairs coming along?" he asked

"Everything is on schedule," Cricket replied as he smoked his cigarette.

"Well then, no reason to slow down now," Luffy said before he turned to his crew. "What are all of you standing around for!?" he yelled/asked at his crew who were still talking to Usopp. "Get to work! We got a schedule we have to stick to!" he yelled causing to run back to their stations.

**2 Hours Later**

After two hours of hard work, the ship was finally done. Luffy had made the mistake of leaving the design of the refitting up to Usopp, Masira, and Shoujou. In simple terms, those three made the Going Merry look like a chicken. Luffy was hoping no one from Shanks or Whitebeard's crew sees him on board the "Going Merry: Flying Mode" as they were calling it.

"I don't know why they made it into a chicken," Zoro said as he stood next to Luffy staring at the new Merry. "Chickens don't even fly. they should have made it into a pigeon instead," he said causing Luffy eyebrow to twitch.

"Alright, enough!" Luffy yelled out getting everyone's attention. "grab the south Bird and prepare to set sail!" he yelled out causing his crew to nod his head and began making their way to the ship. Luffy walked over to Cricket and stood in front of him before he spoke again. "Thanks for refitting our ship, old man," Luffy said.

"Don't thank me," he said as he smoked a cigarette. "Thank them," he said while pointing at Masira and Shoujou who were on their respected sh.i.p.s. Luffy then took a few steps in their direction before he spoke again.

"Thanks, fellas!" he shouted to them.

"Don't mention it, Straw hat!" Masira yelled back.

"Yeah, don't mention it!" Shoujou said as well. Luffy just smiled before he teleported to his ship.

"Is everything set?" he asked his crew as he stood on the upper deck with Nami beside him.

"Aye, captain!" they replied.

"Good, then raise anchor!" he yelled out causing Zoro to walk to the front of the ship and pull up the Anchor.

"You guys just follow us," Masira said as their ship pulled up alongside the Going Merry. Luffy nodded his head before he turned and nodded to Nojiko signaling her to take the helm. The Going Merry then pushed off from the Shore and began sailing South with Masira and Shoujou's sh.i.p.s on either side of them. "Okay, it is currently 7 A.M, we need to arrive at our destination no later than 11. Cricket already told us the location of the Knock Up Stream changes every single time. We need to get there as early as possible to pinpoint its exact location!" Masira yelled from his ship over to Luffy's.

"Got it!" Luffy replied before walking to the rear deck and sitting on his throne. "If everything goes according to plan then we should arrive on schedule," he added as he sat down and poured himself a drink. Everyone sat around relaxing for the next three hours mainly causing there was nothing else they could do. It wasn't until a member of Masira's crew shouted out in panic that knocked everyone out of their relaxation.

"Boss! The C.u.muloregalis has appeared to the South West!" he yelled causing Luffy to stand up and walked the font of the rear deck. It was there he saw a pretty large dark cloud some distance away.

"What time is it!?" Masira yelled/ asked.

"It's only 10'o clock! It's a full hour early!" the man said in a panic. By now the rest of the straw hats came out to see what was going on.

"Is that the C.u.muloregalis?" Nami asked to which Luffy nodded his head.

"Yeah, it's early," he replied before he turned to Masira and spoke. "Do you think we can make it!?" he asked.

"I don't know," Masira replied before he looked over to Shoujou. "Shoujou, do you think we can make it?" he asked. Shoujou didn't reply, instead, he barked out orders to his crew.

"Dispatch the divers!" he yelled causing three men wet suits to climb up onto the side of his ship getting ready to dive into the water. "Find me those currents!" he ordered before the men dived into the water. A few seconds later Shoujou got onto the microphone and let out one of his sonar screams. One minute after than the three divers surfaced and yelled out their findings.

"Sonar waved detected! There is a large current at 12'O clock!" Diver #1 said.

"Lage creature detected at 9'O clock! it could be a sea king!" diver #2 said.

"There is wave activity detected at 10'O clock going against the current! I believe it is a giant whirlpool, Sir!" diver #3 said. By now Luffy was beyond impressed at their skill set.

"That's the one! Head for 10'O clock!" Masira yelled out. "that's where the knock upstream is going to erupt. I'm sure!" he said causing Nami and Nojiko to adjust their course. as they were sailing towards the direction of where the knock upstream should be, the waves began to get bigger and bigger forcing everyone to hold onto something.

"Hold her steady!" Luffy yelled out as he anchored himself in place with lightning.

"it is a pre-eruption tremor!" Masira pointed out before clamps from both his and Shoujou's ship shot out and latch onto the Going Merry. "We will lead you to the outer edge of the whirlpool! Position yourselves on the flow and head towards the center! Then you'll be fine," he said causing Luffy to nod his head. As the Going Merry came out of the giant waves the whirlpool came into sight, and it was a big one. When they were on the outer side of the whirlpool the clamps came off and the two sh.i.p.s sat some distance away from the merry as the two captains and their crews waved goodbye.

"Alright, take us in!" Luffy yelled out causing everyone to look at like he was crazy. "What?" he asked after seeing how they were looking at him. They all just sweat dropped before Nojiko adjusted the rudder and steered the ship into the giant whirlpool.

"Come on, Luffy!" Usopp said with a terrified look on his face. "It's not too late to turn back," he said causing Luffy to smirk.

"Okay then," Luffy said causing all of them to fall silent and stare at him. "I mean I will just have to tell kaya how the great captain Usopp chickened out," he said with a smirk as he saw Usopp froze.

"You hear him, men! Take us in!" Usopp yelled while pointing towards the whirlpool causing everyone to chuckle. As the ship hit the currents of the whirlpool it went airborne and began to wall directly towards the center. After falling for a few seconds, it suddenly landed on calm water as the giant whirlpool and turbulent seas turn calm so much that there wasn't a single wave in sight.

"What happened to the whirlpool?" Zoro asked as he looked around. it was then Luffy felt small vibrations at the bottom of his feet.

"Everyone, hold onto something! It's going erupt anytime now!" he yelled as he walked forward and held onto the rails of the balcony. Everyone else began scrambling around trying to find something that they could hold on to. Suddenly the ship was being raised into the air by the water below it. it looked like a giant bubble that was about to burst anyone minute now. After being raised in the air for a few seconds, the water finally erupted sending a powerful stream of pressurized water straight into the sky. after being shaken for a few seconds, the crew got their bearings and realized that the Going Merry was sailing up a huge pillar of water.

"This is amazing!" Chopper yelled out in excitement.

"How are we doing this!?" Usopp yelled/asked.

"We're going to Skypiea!" Chopper yelled.

"I don't think it's going to be that easy," Sanji said getting all their attention. "The hull is starting to float and if we don't stop it, we are going to fall back down to the ocean," he said as the front of the ship began to rise into the air.

"Well, Ms. Navigator," Luffy said with a smirk as he stared at Nami. "What do we do?" he asked calmly.

"Release the sails! and catch the starboard current!" she replied immediately causing Luffy to smile.

"You heard her! Release the sails!" Luffy yelled out causing Zoro and Sanji to release them. "Nojiko! Catch that current!" he added. Soon the sails the caught the wind the ship began to rise in the air.

"We're still rising!" Chopper yelled out in panic.

"Relax, that's supposed to happen!" Luffy said putting everyone at ease. The ship then completely lifted off the water pillar and began flying towards the clouds.

"We're flying!" Usopp and Chopper yelled out in amazement. Luffy just smirked as he stood on the door of his private quarters staring up at the sky.

"As long as the wind keeps up, we can sail as high as we want!" Nami said with a huge smile on his face.

"I told you!" Luffy said while looking at Nami. "This ocean defies all logic," he said as they flew up to the sky.

"Are we close to Skypiea?" Robin asked while looking at Luffy.

"No," he replied with a smile. "but we are close to White White Sea!" he yelled out for all of them to hear.

"What's that?" Nojiko asked from inside the kitchen where the rudder was.

"You'll see," Luffy said before turning his attention back to the front. After flying upwards for a few more minutes, the ship finally entered the clouds. the crew except for Luffy had to shield their eyes from the high winds and water vapors that were hitting their faces. Soon the Going Merry broke through the clouds breaking off the wings that Cricket the guys installed in the process and landed on what seems to be an ocean. Everyone except Luffy was laying on the floor gasping for air.

"Are we dead?" Nami asked while laying on her while being soaking wet.

"Welcome! To the White White Sea!" Luffy said loudly with the arms spread out wide.

**Chapter End!**