Bang!
Several figures came flying through the sky!
They crashed straight into the ground, leaving four deep craters behind.
Ptooey…
Ryuuto was the first to climb out of his pit, spitting out mud as he pulled the Vivre Card from his chest. It was the last thing Kuma had pressed into his hand.
A moment later, the other three emerged as well.
"What an incredible Devil Fruit ability!" Vivi couldn't help but exclaim. They had been transported hundreds of miles in an instant.
"Yeah!" Jean Bart nodded in agreement, his rugged face filled with shock. The Paw-Paw Fruit was terrifyingly powerful, capable of repelling the very air to achieve high-speed travel.
"I wonder if the timing is right?"
Ryuuto looked up at the sky. A flicker of lightning danced across his body, and he shot a hundred meters into the air.
"It seems... it really is a Cumuloregalis Cloud!"
Now high above the sea, Ryuuto had a much clearer view of the colossal and oppressive dark cloud looming in the distant heavens.
"Looks like the underwater eruption is about to happen!" Ryuuto thought to himself.
As everyone knew, how does one get to a Sky Island?
The simplest method was this: in a specific region of the sea, there were massive underwater caverns where geothermal heat would accumulate. When it reached a certain point, it would cause a violent eruption of seawater, creating a gigantic pillar of water that shot straight into the sky. Its force was enough to carry a ship all the way to the White Sea, located 7,000 meters high, or even the White-White Sea at 10,000 meters.
And the massive Cumuloregalis Cloud in the sky was the key, for it was what held the Sky Island. When the colossal Knock Up Stream connected with the Cumuloregalis Cloud, one could ride the current to reach their destination. This was the most straightforward way for an ordinary person to reach a Sky Island.
Of course... the risks were immense. Few ships could withstand the sheer force of such a powerful current.
But for Ryuuto, this wasn't an issue. All he needed to do was find the Cumuloregalis Cloud, which marked the Sky Island's location.
As for flying up there… all he needed was a little wind, right?
"I think I found Sky Island!" Ryuuto announced excitedly to the other three as he landed back on the ground.
"Where, Captain?" Vivi looked around, her eyes scanning the horizon before finally turning her gaze upward.
Jean Bart followed her lead and looked up at the sky as well.
Crocus simply smiled as he looked at the dark shadow in the heavens. He, too, had once ridden the great Knock Up Stream to reach a Sky Island.
Ryuuto just smiled without a word, pointing a finger upward.
"Let's go! We're heading to Sky Island!" Ryuuto shouted to the others.
"How are we getting there?" Jean Bart asked, a look of complete confusion on his face. Having only just joined the Soaring Dragon Pirates, he was still unfamiliar with Ryuuto's abilities.
"We're flying up, of course!" Vivi shouted excitedly.
"That's right! We fly!"
Ryuuto swept his right hand through the air, and a fierce wind instantly enveloped Vivi, Crocus, and Jean Bart. As lightning crackled beneath his feet, the wind began to spiral, forming a tornado with the four of them at its calm center.
Crackle!
The lightning exploded, launching them forward and giving the spiraling tornado a powerful initial burst of speed.
Boom!
In an instant, the four of them were soaring into the sky, riding the wind.
"Hahahaha, I'm flying!" Vivi yelled with delight, watching the scenery recede rapidly below them.
"The captain's power is amazing!" Jean Bart thought, his mind reeling. This was the first time he had seen Ryuuto use his command over the wind.
"This is a lot safer than that Knock Up Stream," Crocus remarked, stroking his beard. He remembered how their own pirate ship had nearly been torn in half.
As if Crocus had jinxed it, no sooner had they reached a few hundred meters in the air than he noticed the sea below beginning to churn violently. The surface of the water was being sucked downward. The Knock Up Stream was about to erupt.
"Watch out! Brace yourselves!" Ryuuto shouted, warning the others.
Just as he predicted, a moment later, the sea roiled with a deafening roar. Then, with a massive explosion, a gargantuan pillar of water shot up from the ocean floor.
BOOM!
The stream, hundreds of meters wide, rocketed toward the sky, carrying with it a terrifying destructive power.
Ryuuto could only dodge its initial onslaught, steering the tornado to the side to avoid a direct hit. The current ascended at an incredible speed, bringing with it a powerful updraft.
WHOOSH!
After Ryuuto dodged the main column, the powerful updraft caught them, sweeping them along for the ride. He immediately shifted his strategy, changing his wind from a force of ascension to a protective shield around them.
"This is terrifying!" Vivi cried out from within the wind shield, her eyes wide as she watched the monstrous torrent of water just beside them. "If that thing hit us, we'd be gone in an instant!"
"Definitely!" Jean Bart couldn't have agreed more.
"Thank goodness we have the captain," Vivi said, her gaze fixed on Ryuuto, who was concentrating intently on protecting them. Her eyes sparkled with admiration.
As for Ryuuto, this turn of events actually made things easier for him. By hitching a ride on the updraft, he barely had to do any work himself. His mind was already elsewhere, deep in thought.
An idea had suddenly struck him. What if he could combine his Wind Calling and Rain Calling skills to develop a technique similar to this Knock Up Stream?
The thought sent him into a state of deep contemplation.
"It's completely possible!"
Ryuuto focused all his senses on the massive column of water, analyzing the flow of the sea and the movement of the wind around it.
After a short while, his eyes snapped open, a look of pure elation on his face. He had reached an epiphany.
With a slight movement of his hand, Ryuuto generated a new updraft beside them. He then began to draw water from the massive current, channeling his powerful spiritual energy into the wind and the water he controlled. Gradually, a small-scale version of the stream began to form.
"Not enough! It's not nearly enough!" Ryuuto roared in his mind.
Crack…
It felt as though something in his mind had just shattered.
"RISE!"
With a furious shout, countless tons of seawater were drawn into the new current he was creating. It swelled in size, expanding rapidly until it was dozens of meters in diameter.
Though it was still small compared to the real Knock Up Stream, Ryuuto was immensely satisfied.
"I did it! I successfully combined Wind Calling and Rain Calling!" he thought joyfully.
Inside the wind shield, Vivi, Jean Bart, and Crocus stared in astonishment as Ryuuto managed to create a miniature Knock Up Stream of his own.
The ascent was incredibly fast. While Ryuuto was practicing his new skill, their altitude climbed higher and higher.
One thousand meters…
Three thousand meters…
Seven thousand meters…
Suddenly, they burst through a vast expanse of white clouds. They had reached the White Sea.
At this altitude, the energy of the Knock Up Stream was finally beginning to dissipate.
Ryuuto checked his internal status. His mastery over [Rain Calling] had just broken through to the Proficient level.
As for the name of his new skill…
He would call it: Abyssal Geyser: Sky Burst