章 99: Chapter 99: Seven Routes

Opening my eyes and seeing the morning sun rise above the horizon, I gave a small yawn before leaping out of my hammock. Landing on the deck, I stretched a little and grabbed Naga-sa before looking around, only to spot what looked like several ships in the sea, yet they were of no concern as they were either sinking, destroyed, on fire, or all the above.

"Oh great, you're finally awake; what joy." Said Freyja sarcastically while sitting on the helm as she glanced behind her, looking at Diddy.

"Yeah, yeah, I just woke up, so I'm not in the mood to deal with your insults. We entered Paradise, right?" Replied Diddy with a groan as he ignored Freyja's words while leaning on the rail in front of the helm, overlooking his small ship.

"Shouldn't you know best? After all, without you, the ship wouldn't have survived sailing through Reverse Mountain." Said Freyja calmly as she folded her arms while looking at Diddy, who was rubbing his head.

"Tch, don't give me that, Freyja; you know I can't remember everything after I transform. I remember destroying that small fleet of marine ships that were patrolling this area; that's why several destroyed ships were surrounding us. I just don't remember whether we entered Paradise or not." Remarked Diddy with a grunt as he looked down at Grand, who was punching the iron weight nailed to the mast, which had sustained quite a bit of damage from his fist.

(Note: The only reason why he can't remember everything is unlike other Minks who learn to suppress their heightened animalistic desire when in their Sulong form, Diddy doesn't do that; instead of suppressing, he embraces it.)

"Yes, we entered Paradise, and shortly after destroying the small fleet of marines, you went to sleep; it's been only a few hours since then, and we or I should say, I've been waiting for you to awaken so we can finally start our adventure through the Grandline." Stated Freyja with a sigh as she shook her head and outstretched her arm, showing Diddy the log pose attached to her wrist.

Looking at the log pose on Freyja's arm, since we've now entered Paradise, no longer was it just spinning around in circles; the needle was instead shifting between what seemed to be seven different directions. It would tremble while pointing in one of the seven directions for a few seconds before switching to the next direction, repeating the cycle, which confused me as I had no idea what was going on.

"Do you know what's going on with it? It doesn't seem to be broken, and if it is, it looks like it's been partially fixed from before; at least it's no longer spinning in circles endlessly." Asked Diddy with a raised eyebrow as he tapped the log pose, though other than trembling, nothing happened.

"No, other than knowing that a log pose is required if you wish to sail through the Grand Line, I'm also rather clueless; however, I'm sure our walking encyclopedia could enlighten us." Replied Freyja with a shake of her head as she retracted her arm before smirking as she glanced to her right, looking right at the approaching Sebas.

"Hoho, I'm honored that you would compare me to such an amazing book, Freyja, but my wisdom cannot compare to something that's been improved upon through hundreds of years." Said Sebas with a soft chuckle as he gave Freyja a slight bow before giving Diddy a nod.

"Heh, an encyclopedia? You two are fucking old; why don't you just use goo- never mind, it's the year 1522." Remarked Diddy with a mocking grin, though he stopped himself when he remembered what year he was in.

"Tch, just because you're younger than us doesn't mean you can call us old Diddy; for the record, I doubt you know my age, but I'm 37; I'm still very young." Declared Freyja with an ugly expression before flicking her hair behind her head, attempting to show off her youthfulness, though it proved to have the opposite effect.

'Eh, she's actually younger than me if I were to take into account both of my lives; I died at the age of 27, and I've lived for a little more than 15 years here, so I'd be 42. Damn, I'm fucking old.' Mused Diddy with a thoughtful expression, though he wasn't about to reveal his true age, not that he was scared of people knowing; he just didn't like to be reminded of his past life.

"37? You're more than double my age, and you've got the audacity to call ME old? Hehe, whatever you say, senior citizen." Said Diddy mockingly while laughing, his words eliciting Freyja's anger as she manifested a fireball in her hand before hurling it at him.

"You fucking child, you're not even an adult yet, so how about you shut your mouth!" Yelled Freyja angrily, though before her fireball could hit Diddy in the face, it suddenly came to a halt mid-air before it floated into the sea, causing Freyja to look at Sebas.

"I hope you don't mind, Freyja, but we've gotten a little off track; you wished me to inform you about how the log pose operates, yes?" Said Sebas with a slight smile as he smoothed his suit, his words causing Freyja to click her tongue, though she didn't argue back while Diddy folded his arms and leaned against the railing.

Nodding at Sebas, he cleared his throat and tightened his bow tie, although he usually wears a tie, before speaking on the matter at hand.

"While I don't know everything about the Grand Line, I've done my research, and I've come to know a decent bit of information. Now, the reason why the log pose is pointing in 7 different directions is that, unlike in the four blue's, where one can travel using a normal compass, in the Grand Line, thanks to the unique minerals hidden beneath the earth, each island gives off its own magnetic frequency." Stated Sebas as he glanced at Freyja and Diddy, allowing them to digest what he said while also catching his breath.

"So that means there must be 7 islands nearby, right?" Asked Diddy with a raised eyebrow while looking at Freyja.

"So instead of a compass pointing in one fixed direction, a log pose's needle shifts toward the closest island?" Asked Freyja while fiddling with the log pose in hand.

"Hoho, you're both correct; however, unfortunately, it's not that simple. You see, in order to safely travel between islands, we must wait while the log pose records the magnetic frequency of an island, which means we can not sail backward; the Grand Line is strictly one way." Replied Sebas solemnly with a nod, his words causing the three to descend into silence for a few seconds.

"Hmm, well, that's not something I was expecting to hear, but whatever; it doesn't really change much. We are just required to wait sometime before the log pose memorizes the next island's magnetic frequency; besides, if we really need to return to the previous island, It won't be that big of a deal; I'll just use my senses to guide us back." Remarked Diddy with a smile while glancing at Sebas and Freyja.

"Yeah, as much as I hate to agree with Diddy on something, it doesn't really seem like a big deal, Sebas." Added Freyja with a frown while looking at Diddy.

"Hoho, I know your senses are quite sensitive, Captain, but apparently, there is a saying about log poses. No matter what happens to this ship... no matter what kind of crisis we face... We must never suspect the Log Pose. That is essential. If we doubt anything on these seas, it should be our own senses." Declared Sebas earnestly while eyeing Diddy, though he merely laughed in response.

"Haha, my own senses? You must be joking, Sebas, maybe for other people, but not me; I'd rather doubt my own sanity before I ever doubt my senses. Just because I can't sense the magnetic field doesn't mean I'm entirely helpless; I've still got Mother Nature to guide me to islands. Although I don't intend to try it, at least not right now, I can't have the Frenzy Pirates' first expedition be us getting lost." Stated Diddy with a grin as he chuckled at such words, though thankfully for the Frenzy pirates, he wasn't stupid.

"Words said by an insane person; how ironic." Muttered Freyja, her words causing Diddy to click his tongue in annoyance.

"Anyways, we've figured out how to sail through the Grand Line, but why is the needle still pointing in 7 different directions?" Asked Diddy while looking at Sebas, signaling him with his eyes.

"In the Grand Line, there are seven different paths one can take; once you decide on the path, there will be no deviating from the taken path, that is, unless you wish to get lost." Said Sebas, and while one would expect a Captain to think deeply about such a decision as this could mean the difference between life and death, Diddy wasn't the best of Captains.

"Let's take the leftmost path; my senses warn me of danger that way, and if it somehow turns out to be a bust, we'll just sail to a different route." Said Diddy with a feral smile as he grabbed the helm and turned it counter-clockwise, though since they weren't moving, it did nothing.

"Tch, haa, I should've known you'd do something stupid like this." Muttered Freyja with a frown as she approached the ship's side and grabbed a rope before yanking it up, causing a large boulder to be flung out from the sea.

'So that's why we weren't moving, a self-made anchor.' Mused Diddy as he watched Freyja burn the rope off, causing the boulder to sink back into the sea, allowing the boat to start sailing finally.

"Hehe, this will be fun!" Declared Diddy with a feral grin as he grabbed Naga-sa from his back and slammed it onto the deck.

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