บท 46: Chapter 46: Back to The Palace

Landing on the ground, before me was nothing but a dimly lit narrow passage supported by wooden pillars on the side of the wall; from the looks of it, it extended for quite a long while, which caused me to frown at how idiotic the royal family was, I mean, why didn't they destroy the passage; instead they left it perfectly intact as if inviting me to follow after them.

'Heh, I'd be utterly stupid if I didn't expect this to be a trap.' Mused Diddy with a feral smirk as he got down on all fours before speedily dashing through the narrow passageway.

As I ran down the passage, I made sure to stay relatively alert for any possible traps since while I was confident I'd be able to tank whatever they threw at me; it's better to be careful; I'm crazy, not stupid, there is a distinct line between the two. While running, I suddenly inhaled the scent of gunpowder, which caused me to grin as I hopped off the ground and latched onto the ceiling with my nails before continuing to run down the passage.

Looking at the ground below me, I noticed a few pieces of the ground were slightly different from the rest of the dirt; it was a little too smooth and didn't seem to flush with the rest of the surrounding dirt.

"Hehe, pressure plates, which probably ignite the gunpowder I can smell, causing the entire passageway to be destroyed while burying anyone caught in the explosion; anyone stupid enough to set those off deserves to die." Remarked Diddy while eyeing the few pressure plates from the ceiling before ignoring them as he continued running on all fours.

While the trap from earlier was decently clever, they were too stupid to add any more, so the rest of the run through the passage was serene, only the sound of my nails digging into the ceiling; after a few minutes of running, I arrived at the end of the passage as I hopped off the ceiling while landing on the ground, eyeing the boulder that was blocking my path.

Placing my hands atop the boulder, I began pushing, and a few loud noises later, I moved the boulder out of the way, allowing me to see the ocean I had heard from the other side of the boulder.

'Hmm, it seems the passageway leads to an uninhabited coast of the island, which could only mean one thing: they fled the island by boat.' Mused Diddy as he exited the passageway and walked along the sandy beach while observing the coast for signs of a ship.

Other than a relatively small dock nearby, there was nothing else I could glean, meaning they must've fled shortly after we started the raid; otherwise, they wouldn't have made so much progress in such a short time. However, it didn't matter; they couldn't have gotten too far; it hadn't even been an hour since we first started fighting, so they must still be relatively close to the island. Besides, I still have the King's scent, and I can sense it extends into the sea; the royal family never had a chance at escaping in the first place.

"Hehe, it's been a while since I've participated in a hunt; this isn't too bad, much more fun than hunting unintelligent beasts." Muttered Diddy as he jumped into the sky and propelled himself through the air just above the water while following the King's scent.

While the ocean definitely made it harder to track the scent, thankfully, I didn't arrive too late, since if I had just waited twenty or so minutes, I'm confident the ocean's strong salty smell would've dispersed the king's scent, at that point, it would've been extremely difficult for me to track him.

Propelling myself just a few feet above the sea, in the distance before me, I saw the silhouette of a boat appear; seeing that, I quickly sped, and in a few short moments, I arrived near the inconspicuous ship, which was covered in the King's scent, causing me to smile. However, I quickly dived into the water to avoid being discovered.

'Now then, time to take you back home.' Mused Diddy with a smirk as he neared the underside of the boat.

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Just a few minutes before Diddy arrived near the boat, the King of the Briss Kingdom, his family, and his few trusted guards were aboard the fleeing ship as they sailed to the closest island for safety.

"Chase, have you managed to contact the Marines at all?" Asked one of the guards curiously with a frown while looking toward Briss Kingdom.

"For the 20th time, hase, no, I still haven't; Captain Ness isn't responding at all." Replied one of the guards while also frowning as he held a motionless transponder snail wearing a marine hat on its shell.

"Don't get mad at me; the King is the one who ordered me to ask you. Haa, I'll go and report to him. Make sure to keep a lookout in case any ships happen to follow us." Said Hase with an annoyed expression as he turned around, leaving the stern of the ship while heading toward the captain's quarters, or the kingly quarters, if you will.

"Your Majesty, it's me, Hase. May I enter?" Asked Hase as he knocked on the door while waiting for a response, only for a nervous voice to emerge from behind the door.

"Y-Yes, you can enter hase; did Chase manage to contact the marines!?" Asked the King, an ugly, fat, middle-aged man with a crown on his head, sitting atop a small throne in the center of the room while his queen, a few concubines, and several children sat together.

"N-No, he hasn't your Ma-" Said Hase as he entered the room and kneeled, though before he could finish speaking, the king had thrown his crown at him in rage.

"FUCK! Stupid marines can't even deal with a few pathetic pirates, making me flee my own Kingdom! What do I pay them for if they can't even protect me!?" Exclaimed the King in remarkable anger as he stood up and approached Hase, who was bleeding from his head, yet he was out of breath by the time he reached him.

"M-My King, please, quell your anger; being agitated will affect your health." advised the Queen as she attempted to calm the King's anger, though it seemed like he was past his limits.

"Shut up, WHORE!" Yelled the King in pure rage as he backhanded the Queen, causing her to fall to the ground while bleeding from her mouth. Although a few of the children clenched their fists in anger, they did nothing.

"H-How am I supposed to calm down!? They even managed to defeat a Rear Admiral! Tell me, how am I supposed to calm down!? What if they decide to come after me next!?" Added the King with fear and rage as he looked at the bleeding Queen before glancing at Hase; however, before anyone could respond, they suddenly felt the entire ship tremble, causing the King to nearly fall to the ground.

"A-Are you okay, your Majesty!?" Asked Hase in concern as he stopped the King from falling.

"W-What was that!? A-A Sea King!" Yelled the King, thinking the worst as he was already consumed by fear.

Just when someone was about to respond, the ship again trembled, though this time, it was much more violently, causing everyone to fall to the ground as they attempted to gain balance.

"W-What's going on?" Muttered one of the children as everyone slowly stood up.

"Y-Your Majesty! W-We've got a problem!" Stated Chase in a panic as he busted through the doors and entered the room.

"T-The boat, i-it's flying!" Added Chase, his words causing everyone to look at him as if he were stupid, though they didn't completely dismiss his words.

With Chase's words, everyone stood up and quickly exited the room before approaching the ship's railing, only to look over it, and though they were expecting to see the ocean, while they still did, it was tens of feet below them.

"W-We are really f-flying." Muttered Hase, as he and everyone present was filled with disbelief.

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While Diddy was hauling the ship filled with fleeing royalty back to their Kingdom, Freyja and Sebas, who were carrying an unconscious Hina, had just arrived at the castle, specifically the throne room, where they expected to see Diddy, but to their confusion, all they saw was an entrance to a secret passage along with Janet, hiding behind a statue.

"Hoho, you can stop hiding, Miss Janet Cander; we mean you know harm, at least until Captain says otherwise." Declared Sebas with a light chuckle as he approached the exact statute Janet hid behind.

"H-How, do you know my name, and h-how did you know I've interacted with t-the Frenzy pirates C-Captain?" Asked Janet hesitantly as she nervously eyed Sebas from behind the statue, though given his elegant attire and aura, she wasn't nearly as frightened when in Diddy's presence.

"I wouldn't mind telling you, Miss Janet, but since you're a journalist of the W.E.N.P, it would be best to keep my abilities a secret from you lest you go and tell the whole world." Said Sebas softly with a light smile as he outstretched his hand, to which, after some hesitation, Janet accepted it.

"Sebas Visage, member of the Frenzy pirates; she is Freyja, Vice-Captain of the Frenzy pirates. A pleasure to be of your acquaintance, and no need to introduce yourself, Miss Janet; I already know everything there is to know about you, and I must say, you are one fortunate lady." Added Sebas with a smile as he gestured toward Freyja while gently shaking her hand, retracting his mind from Janet's body.

"O-Okay, then S-Sebas, it's nice to meet the two of you." Replied Janet awkwardly while eyeing Sebas, who reminded her of her late grandfather.

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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, it also works this time; I've reset it again, https://discord.gg/gyR4yJcU

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Elven Legacy (Chapter 156: Shocking Truth!?) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 36: Battle Concluded!?) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 56: Scar, Grand, & Trenza Vs The Bear Pirates) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]