LRAB Chapter 54 Fly, Freedom!
Chapter 54 Fly, Freedom!
Chapter 54: Fly, Liberty!
Rumble!
Buzz!
Terrifying sounds continuously emanated from the depths of the sea, carrying surging energy. In Mu Chong's perception using Observation Haki, this energy was incredibly concentrated.
call!
Suddenly, as if a gust of wind had swept by, the previously bulging sea level abruptly dropped. When everything returned to calm, an eerie silence fell around the Freedom, a deathly stillness.
"Ok?"
Everyone on the deck of the Freedom was stunned for a moment, but the next moment Slad screamed in terror.
"captain!!!!"
"I know!!!"
The moment the sea suddenly calmed down, Mu Chong broke out in a cold sweat. The energy about to erupt from the depths of the ocean far exceeded his imagination. In that instant, he felt as if he had seen the gates of hell. Slad's roar jolted him awake.
"Damn it! Let's go for it!"
In that instant, Mu Chong separated his two hands, which had been clasped together, and pressed them hard onto the deck. Immediately afterward, an extremely dense white aura burst forth from his body, rapidly merging into the hull of the Freedom through his hands.
"what!!!"
hum! ! !
With a furious roar, veins bulged on Mu Chong's face, and the aura emanating from his body instantly created a gust of wind, causing his white robes and cloak to rattle loudly.
In an instant, a milky-white protective shield was visibly formed around the hull of the Freedom. At the same moment this shield formed, the long-awaited, raging, towering ocean current arrived as scheduled, carrying the force of thunder.
hum!
Rumble!
boom!
The explosion was like the deafening roar of an atomic bomb; it felt like the end of the world, the collapse of heaven and earth. Everyone on the Freedom went deaf; it was like death knocking at the door, their souls trembling.
Time is paused, calculated in seconds...
Just before the surging current made contact with the hull of the Freedom, Mu Chong applied three layers of protection to the Freedom.
The moment the surging ocean current made contact with the Freedom, the milky-white protective shield formed by the frantically accumulated Power-Power Fruit power snapped back into place, thus mitigating the impact.
The instant the surging current broke through the elastic protective shield, the upward traction that the wooden shovel had been building up was activated. In that instant, the speed at which the wooden shovel carried the Liberty upwards was almost exactly the same as the upward speed of the surging current, minimizing the impact as much as possible.
In addition to the two protective measures mentioned above, the wooden chute significantly reduced the weight of the Freedom's hull, thus perfectly ensuring that the sudden surge of the ocean current did not directly destroy the Freedom's hull.
Time flow resumed, and it erupted completely.
The terrifying force unleashed by the surging ocean current in that instant propelled the Liberty towards the cloud-covered sky.
"Hahaha!! Fly into the sky! Freedom! Hahahaha!"
Standing on the deck at the bow of the ship, Mu Chong spread his arms wide and shouted to the sky. At that moment, all his fear vanished, all his repression crumbled, and this moment felt like a rebirth for him.
He did it!! At this very moment, the surging ocean currents are propelling the Freedom into the sky!
Below the ship stretched the ever-receding ocean, above it the rapidly approaching sky. At that moment, the Liberty was like a winged eagle, soaring high into the sky.
"Captain! Ah!!!"
"Help, Captain!!"
"Ah! I can't stand up!!"
Just as Mu Chong was immersed in this joy, a series of wails came from the deck of the Freedom.
Slard, Hill Bot, Locas, and Baku lay motionless on the deck, their bodies seemingly enduring immense pressure.
"Hmm? It's because of the air pressure generated by the rapid ascent! Hahaha! How does it feel, everyone!"
When Mu Chong heard the shouts and turned to look at Slad and the others, he immediately understood why these guys were having this problem.
The surging ocean current, in just one minute, can generate the kinetic energy to propel objects seven thousand meters into the air. One can only imagine the immense air pressure these creatures were facing at that moment.
Why wasn't Mu Chong affected? This is thanks to Uncle Yixiao's loving training process.
"captain!!!"
"Hahaha! Don't worry! You won't die! It won't hurt to experience it!"
Mu Chong, who possessed the Power-Power Fruit ability, didn't immediately try to relieve the pressure on them. Since they wouldn't die from the pressure anyway, letting them experience that terrifying feeling might not be a bad thing.
Click!
Click!
Click!
Suddenly, three crisp sounds rang out in quick succession, sounding so jarring in the eardrums filled with wind noise.
"Huh? Oh no!!"
Amidst Mu Chong's cries of alarm, the horizontal beam above the mast in the center of the Liberty, used to secure the sails, snapped in two due to the immense air pressure, crashing down onto the Liberty's deck.
The weight of the crossbeam itself, combined with air pressure, would absolutely pierce through the deck if it were to crash onto it.
"Damn it!! Stop it right now!"
At this moment, Mu Chong's eyes were bloodshot, and he swiftly raised his hands, using all the remaining strength in his body to unleash his Devil Fruit power without reservation.
hum!
"Slad!"
After Mu Chong released his power, his entire body was instantly exhausted, and he plopped down on the deck, his eyes fixed on the two fallen crossbeams.
Mu Chong had already exhausted a large portion of his strength during the Freedom's ascent, and now he could only do his best to reduce the weight of the crossbeam, but he still couldn't prevent it from hitting the deck.
Upon hearing Mu Chong's shout, Slad, in that critical moment, caught a glimpse of the falling crossbeam out of the corner of his eye. At that instant, Slad erupted with rage.
"what!!"
With a roar, he braced himself against the immense air pressure, using his limbs to propel himself up and leap towards the crossbeam. In the instant of takeoff, his body flipped over, his hands reaching towards the sky.
boom!boom!
The crossbeam slammed into Slad's hands, the immense pressure causing him to fall onto the deck.
"Ah!! Pfft!!"
The two impacts, one after the other, ended, and Slad screamed in agony, spitting out a mouthful of blood as the log collapsed on top of him.
Just as Slard's situation ended, the crossbeam on the other side of the mast also fell, but it didn't hit the deck of the Liberty. Baku, who was lying down, was holding onto the crossbeam tightly.
"Hey hey hey..."
Baku looked at Mu Chong with a broad smile on his face and eyes full of the joy of success, but the blood at the corner of his mouth was particularly glaring.
"Tch! Baku!!"
Mu Chong's heart trembled as he whispered Baku's name. This honest, taciturn, big man was gradually entering Mu Chong's heart.
"Hmm? It's getting dark!"
Click!
Rumble!!
Just when everything seemed calm, the surrounding light suddenly dimmed, followed by flashes of lightning and bursts of thunder. Fortunately, the lightning hidden in the dark clouds did not strike the Freedom.
"Is that Ray? Hahaha! Thor Enel, your captain has arrived!"
Looking at the lightning in nature, Mu Chong couldn't help but smile. The main purpose of this trip to the sky island was to get the official crew of the Freedom to work.
The stormy clouds, accompanied by lightning and thunder, lasted only a moment. The Freedom, which had been shrouded in the clouds, quickly broke through the darkness, and the surroundings were instantly brightened as light returned.
"Ouch! That hurts, Captain!"
"Am I still alive, Captain?!"
"Cough cough! Brother Mu, the old man almost died!"
"Meow!!"
"So, that's the Sky Island?"
Just after the Freedom broke through the clouds, its ascent began to slow down, and the group, who had been living under gravity all day, regained their ability to move.
As Hill Bott's voice faded, everyone looked up at the massive white cloud approaching overhead, their eyes filled with a complex mix of shock, disbelief, and joy.