One Piece of a Battle Tactician [Discontinued]

Explaining the Method of Getting to Skypiea

And so, Cricket and I explain some things about the method of getting to Skypiea. "There's a phenomenon that occurs in the seas around this region, when day suddenly turns to night." Cricket tells them as Luffy and Usopp confirm about it. Cricket leaves the giant monsters aside for now and continues, "In any case, the suddenly occurring 'night' is actually the shadow of an extremely dense, towering cloud." The four that are listening thought the type of cloud was a Cumulonimbus and started doubting him, but Cricket yells at them to shut up and listen.

"'Emperonimbus.' There's a type of cloud by that name." we explain simultaneously, "They stack up high into the sky, but don't give rise to any currents nor rain. And when those appear in the sky, they block even the sunlight out, changing day on land to night. One theory states that the Emperonimbus clouds have been drifting in the sky for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, all the while never changing, causing some to nickname it a 'cloud fossil'."

"A cloud that doesn't let out any currents no matter how high it piles up!? That's impossible..." Nami states. "Believe what you want, Nami." I tell her, "We're not telling you guys all of this just to convince you or anything." "So, it's a 'mystery cloud,' huh." Luffy asks as Cricket confirms that it is, in a way. "Now listen up." he tells them, "If sky island really does exist, then it could only possibly exist on that cloud." Luffy and his crew get excited about all of that, yet Nami yells at them that they still don't know how to get to Skypiea.

Then, we explain the more crucial part of how to get there, "'Knock-up Stream.' If you can ride that, it'll take you to the sky, understand?" Nami and Usopp sound a little worried about using the Knock-up Stream while Luffy sounds excited again. "Of course, it sounds simple when I say you'll be 'riding the stream,' but it sure as hell ain't gonna be a picnic, that's for sure." Cricket explains, "After all, the Knock-up Stream is... A NATURAL CALAMITY. An event one normally wishes to desperately avoid."

Nami asks us how the stream travels upwards like that, and I reply, "The workings behind even that monster of a stream aren't beyond the realms of logic either. Although, of course, there isn't anyone stupid enough to go and confirm it... But the main theory goes like this. There's a large cave deep below the ocean floor, to which low-temperature water flows inside. The steam pressure caused by the intense geothermal heat builds and builds up, to the point of a limit is reached and it comes exploding out."

"An explosion of such scale that it knocks up a volume of water so large as to make it look like an ocean current heading straight up into the sky. For about a minute, the ocean water continues to jet up into the sky." As Nami is shocked and Luffy amazed about this, we also explain that the Knock-up Stream happens about five times a month. We continue to explain things as Usopp starts saying that they should just give up on Sky island. But Luffy says, "It'll be fine. Let's go."

Cricket starts talking about how it would be impossible for their ship, Going Merry, to survive the Knock-up Stream, even if it was brand-new. "But don't worry about that point at least." he tells them, "Masira and Shoujo can guarantee your ship will stay intact on the ride up... By giving it the needed repairs and strengthening reinforcements, that is." Just then, both monkeys poke their heads and arms out of the house's windows and yells, "HELL YEAH, WE CAN! JUST LEAVE IT TO US!" as Luffy thanks them.

As Usopp tries to escape the situation by saying that none of us know when the next time the Knock-up Stream will occur. Although, Cricket tells him, "Should happen tomorrow around noon. Get ready if you're set on going." Then, the long-nosed sniper starts saying that we're lying about all of this. While the monkeys exclaim that the food is ready with the help of the Straw Hats' cook, Sanji, Cricket just explains to Usopp about the "night" being in Masira's turf and that both the cloud and the stream should be south of Jaya. "But above all, I'm just happy meeting fools like you. Now let's eat. You can stay the night at my place today. Friend" he tells them.

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A/N: 785 words.