Chapter 14 – The Knock Up Stream: Gateway to the Sky

The Grand Line was rarely still.

Yet for the past few days, the sea had been eerily calm, as if the world itself was holding its breath.

Kaito stood at the bow of the Queen's Grace, the salty breeze tugging at his coat. Nojiko's voice cut through the wind as she studied the compass and the strange log pose on her wrist.

"We're close," she said, her brow furrowed. "The next island isn't on any of the maps. The current shifts violently ahead. If my guess is right, we're nearing the Knock Up Stream."

Carmen, sitting cross-legged near the mast while peeling potatoes, glanced up. "The Knock Up Stream? Sounds like trouble."

"It's more than trouble," Nojiko replied. "It's a water pillar powerful enough to shoot entire ships into the sky. And we're going to ride it."

Kuina's grip tightened around her sword. Her eyes, ever calm but sharp, fixed on the horizon. "So this is our path to the Sky Island."

Kaito smirked, leaning against the railing. "Exactly. The sky's not something most people ever think of reaching. But we're not most people."

Khalifa crossed her arms, unconvinced. "Even if we reach it, what's waiting for us up there?"

Kaito's eyes glimmered. "That's the point. We don't know. It's freedom. The unknown."

His words lingered, settling into the hearts of his crew.

Freedom.

That was the pulse that kept them moving.

As the Queen's Grace sailed deeper into the unstable waters, the sea began to shift beneath them.

The waves no longer moved in smooth rhythm.

The currents spun chaotically.

Thunder rumbled in the distance though no storm clouds had formed yet.

Nojiko tightened her grip on the wheel, adjusting the sails carefully. "We're nearing the formation point. The sea pressure's rising. Any mistake from here on will capsize us."

The ship creaked, groaning as the currents pulled harder.

Kaito's system chimed softly in his mind.

[Special Route: Knock Up Stream Path Confirmed.]

[Success Rate: 27%]

[Crew Synchronization Required.]

He smiled. "Everyone, take your positions. This will test all of us."

Carmen lashed down the cargo with thick ropes. Khalifa reinforced the rigging with steel cables she had prepared earlier. Kaya secured the medicine cabinets below deck, her calmness a pillar in the midst of rising tension.

Kuina tied herself to the railing with one hand while keeping her sword ready with the other. She didn't need words to show her readiness.

Nojiko's voice steadied. "Approaching the base of the stream."

The sea ahead spiraled violently, forming an abyss that swallowed water from all directions before erupting skyward.

The Knock Up Stream.

It was taller than any mountain they'd ever seen, a roaring, spiraling water pillar reaching toward the heavens.

Carmen's eyes widened. "We're really going up there? That looks like suicide."

Kaito's grin didn't falter. "A ship that fears the sky will never leave the sea."

Nojiko adjusted the sails with precision. "On my signal—brace!"

The Queen's Grace hurtled forward, caught in the powerful current.

The ship tilted sharply, the deck groaning as they entered the swirling vortex.

Wind screamed around them.

Water battered the hull.

Nojiko shouted, "Sails! Carmen, tighten the stern rigging!"

"On it!" Carmen's hands flew, locking the ropes in place with practiced speed.

Khalifa leapt onto the upper deck, reinforcing the mast. "The crossbeam's holding but we won't survive a full spiral if the left side collapses!"

Kaito rushed to her side, using his sword to jam the beam securely.

The system's voice echoed in his mind.

[Crew Coordination: 62% – Current Success Rate: 45%]

Not enough.

They needed to push further.

"Kuina!" Kaito barked. "Cut the wind drag on the right sail! Now!"

Kuina didn't hesitate. In a flash, her blade sliced through the ropes, dropping the sail cleanly to prevent the ship from capsizing.

Nojiko twisted the wheel violently, using the momentum to stabilize them.

The ship's bow rose sharply as they climbed the spiral.

The roar of the water was deafening.

Kaya's voice rang out from below deck. "I've secured all supplies! Everyone's treated for sea-pressure sickness in advance!"

[Crew Coordination: 82% – Success Rate: 73%]

Almost there.

But the final wall was approaching.

The spiral tightened.

The pull intensified.

Carmen gritted her teeth. "We'll be crushed at this rate!"

Kaito's mind raced.

If they held their current course, they wouldn't make it.

Unless—

"Full release on the left sail! Cut drag on the right rudder! Khalifa, brace the mast! Kuina, with me—we're cutting straight through the final spiral!"

The crew obeyed without question.

Kuina leapt beside him, her blade ready.

Together, they sliced through the encroaching whirlpool walls, creating a temporary opening.

The Queen's Grace surged forward, freed from the crushing spiral.

The system chimed one last time.

[Crew Coordination: 100% – Success Rate: 98%]

The ship shot upward like a bullet, the Knock Up Stream launching them toward the white sea above.

Wind whipped past their faces.

Clouds broke apart.

The sunlight grew blinding.

And then—

Silence.

The Queen's Grace sailed smoothly into a sea of white, the pressure easing, the chaos behind them now a distant roar.

They had arrived.

The Sky Island awaited.

Nojiko finally exhaled, the adrenaline draining from her body. "We made it…"

Carmen collapsed on the deck, breathing hard. "We're alive… We're alive!"

Khalifa, adjusting her disheveled hair, muttered, "That was… tolerable."

Kaya emerged from below deck with a small smile. "I never doubted us."

Kuina sheathed her blade, her calm voice carrying quiet pride. "That was good work."

Kaito stepped forward, surveying the endless white sea stretching before them.

Sky fish leapt from cloud to cloud.

Strange islands floated in the distance.

It was unlike anything he had seen.

His system chimed softly.

[Sky Island – Skypiea Discovered.]

[New Quest Paths Unlocked.]

A slow grin spread across his face.

"This… is going to be fun."

That evening, as they anchored near the edge of Angel Island, the crew gathered to recover from the intensity of the ascent.

Kaito looked at each of them, pride warming his chest.

"We didn't just survive that," he said. "We conquered it."

The Queen's Grace wasn't just a ship now.

It was their home.

Their bond.

Their sky.

Kuina's gaze remained steady. "What's our next move?"

Kaito turned toward the glowing lights of the nearby island.

"We explore. We meet the people of the sky. And we find what this place has in store for us."

Carmen leaned back, smirking. "Hopefully something that doesn't involve nearly dying again."

Khalifa raised an eyebrow. "Highly unlikely."

Nojiko smiled faintly, her hands still steady on the wheel. "Let's see what kind of freedom we can find up here."

The crew rested, not knowing that their next encounters—with a sky musician and a fierce little sniper—were already waiting for them beyond the white horizon.

Their journey was just beginning.

And the sky was now within their reach.