Chapter 26: Knock Up Stream
Year 1516 - Near Jaya Island, Paradise
The ocean was wrong.
Aiko could feel it through his Observation Haki—the water wasn't moving naturally. Currents collided at strange angles, pressure built beneath the surface, and the entire sea seemed to be holding its breath.
"That's where the Knock Up Stream happens," Iceburg said, pointing to a seemingly calm patch of ocean. "In approximately..." He checked his calculations. "Seven minutes. When those currents fully converge, they'll create an explosion of water that reaches ten thousand meters into the sky."
"And we're going to ride it," Koji said flatly. "Deliberately sail into an explosion."
"SUPER deliberately!" Franky corrected from the engine room. "The Hakusetsu Kai is ready! Reinforced hull, improved stabilizers, emergency thrusters—we're gonna SUPER fly!"
"Everyone secure!" Aiko commanded. "Tie down anything that can move! Double-check your safety lines! This is going to be rough!"
The crew moved with practiced efficiency. Isra supervised securing cargo. Yuki checked weapon storage. Marcus reinforced weak points in the ship's structure with his Armament Haki. Robin used her Devil Fruit to create additional support beams from arms.
In the brig, Lucci watched through his cell window, his expression unreadable.
"You're really doing this," he said as Aiko passed. "Sailing a ship into a natural disaster to reach a legendary sky island. This is insane."
"Yes," Aiko agreed. "But we need that Poneglyph. And sometimes, the only path forward is the insane one."
"You're going to get your crew killed."
"Maybe. But they chose to follow me anyway. That's what trust looks like—believing in someone enough to face impossible odds together."
"Trust is a weakness that gets people killed."
"And paranoid isolation gets you locked in a cell, betrayed by the system you served." Aiko met his eyes. "Which is worse?"
He left before Lucci could answer.
"THREE MINUTES!" Akira called from the helm, his navigational calculations racing. "Current convergence accelerating! Pressure building exponentially!"
The ocean began to churn. Whirlpools formed, collapsed, reformed in different configurations. The Hakusetsu was pulled toward the epicenter by forces beyond any ship's capacity to resist.
"TWO MINUTES!"
"Everyone, brace positions!" Aiko took his place at the bow, his Devil Fruit powers ready. If things went wrong—when things went wrong—he'd need to react instantly.
"ONE MINUTE!"
The ocean went still. Completely, unnaturally still. Even the wind stopped. The silence was oppressive, wrong, the calm before apocalypse.
"Here it comes," Iceburg whispered.
The Knock Up Stream erupted.
Water exploded upward with force that defied comprehension. The Hakusetsu was caught in the blast, launched skyward at speeds that would have torn a normal ship apart. G-forces pressed everyone against the deck. The roar was deafening. The world became a chaos of white water and impossible acceleration.
"STABILIZERS!" Franky screamed. "DEPLOY STABILIZERS!"
Wings extended from the ship's sides—modifications Franky had installed specifically for this. They caught the water's flow, turned destructive force into something almost like flight. The ship spun, then steadied, riding the stream upward.
One thousand meters.
Two thousand.
Five thousand.
The air grew thin. Breathing became difficult. Ice formed on the railings from the temperature drop. And still they climbed, the water carrying them higher than any ship should go.
Eight thousand meters.
Aiko's Observation Haki detected the stream's end approaching—the point where water would run out of momentum and gravity would reassert control. If they weren't moving fast enough when that happened...
"EMERGENCY THRUSTERS!" he commanded. "NOW!"
Franky activated his modifications. Cola-powered engines roared to life, adding speed, pushing the ship just a bit faster, just enough to—
Ten thousand meters.
They broke through the cloud layer into impossibly blue sky. Below them, the ocean was invisible, hidden by solid white clouds. Above, the sky continued, and ahead—
"THERE!" Robin pointed. "Skypiea!"
The Sky Island floated on a sea of clouds, looking like something from a fairy tale. White shores, unusual architecture, and in the distance, a massive beanstalk that reached even higher into the sky.
But they were falling.
The Knock Up Stream's momentum had ended. Gravity was pulling them back down toward the cloud layer, toward a ten-thousand-meter drop that would destroy the ship and kill everyone aboard.
"THE CLOUDS!" Iceburg shouted. "They're solid here! We can land on them!"
"Solid clouds?" Marcus asked. "That's impossible!"
"So is being ten thousand meters in the sky, but here we are!" Aiko used his snow powers, creating cushions of ice beneath the ship, trying to slow their fall. "Everyone! Anything that can help with descent—use it now!"
Aria transformed into mist, spreading beneath the ship, creating resistance. Franky fired thrusters in reverse. Marcus's Armament Haki reinforced the hull against impact. Even Lucci, watching from his cell, found himself hoping they'd survive—though he'd never admit it.
The Hakusetsu hit the cloud sea.
And didn't fall through.
The "clouds" were something else entirely—some kind of vapor or moisture that had density, that could support weight. The ship crashed onto them, bounced, skidded, and finally came to rest, intact but smoking slightly.
Silence.
Then, from below decks: "THAT WAS SUPER AWESOME! LET'S DO IT AGAIN!"
"Absolutely not," Doc Reiner said, emerging from the medical bay looking green. "I'm a doctor, not a pilot. My organs aren't meant to experience that."
Aiko did a quick headcount. Everyone accounted for. Some injuries—bruises, one broken arm that Doc was already treating—but no casualties. They'd survived.
"Welcome to Skypiea," Robin said, looking at her notes. "The island above the clouds. Now we just need to find the ancient city of Shandora, locate the Poneglyph, avoid the self-proclaimed god Enel, and somehow escape back to the Blue Sea without dying."
"When you put it that way, it sounds difficult," Koji observed.
"Because it is difficult."
"At least there's not a Marine fleet up here," Yuki offered. "That's one less thing to worry about."
As if in response, Aiko's Observation Haki suddenly screamed a warning.
"Everyone DOWN!"
A massive bolt of lightning struck where the ship had been floating moments before. The attack was so powerful that it ionized the air, leaving afterimages burned into everyone's retinas.
From the sky—literally from the empty sky—a figure descended. Tall, wearing traditional Skypiean clothing with modern modifications, earlobes stretched to absurd length, carrying a golden staff. His presence radiated absolute confidence.
"Yahahaha!" His laugh was distinctive. "Blue Sea dwellers. You've come to MY kingdom without permission. That's quite rude."
"Enel," Robin breathed. "The self-proclaimed god."
"Not self-proclaimed. Simply factual." Enel's staff spun. "I am god. I have the power of lightning itself. I hear everything, see everything, control everything in my domain." His eyes fixed on Aiko. "And you... you're interesting. Your bounty says 800 million berries. That's impressive for someone from the Blue Sea."
"How do you know about bounties?" Isra asked. "Skypiea is isolated from the world below."
"I have my methods. Den Den Mushi aren't the only way to receive information." Enel's smile was predatory. "But more importantly, I sense something else. You have Conqueror's Haki. Quite strong, too. That makes you a potential threat to my rule."
"We're not here to challenge you," Aiko said carefully, his hand moving toward Yukikaze. "We're looking for historical records. The Poneglyph in the ancient city."
"Ah, that. The indestructible stone covered in meaningless symbols." Enel's expression showed genuine disinterest. "Take it, for all I care. It's worthless to me. But first..." Lightning crackled around his body. "You'll need to prove you're strong enough to survive my island. Consider this... a divine test."
He attacked without further warning.
Lightning moved at near light-speed, but Aiko's Observation Haki had been predicting the attack. He became snow, letting the bolt pass through his Logia form, then reformed instantly.
"Oh?" Enel's interest sharpened. "You can see my attacks coming. Strong Observation Haki indeed. And a Logia fruit? How fortunate. This might actually be entertaining."
"Everyone back!" Aiko commanded. "He's focusing on me. Get to cover!"
"But—" Isra started.
"That's an order! He's using lightning—one hit kills most of you! I'm the only one who can fight him safely!"
The crew reluctantly retreated, leaving Aiko alone to face the self-proclaimed god.
"Wise decision," Enel approved. "Mortals would only get in the way. Now then..." His entire body transformed into lightning. "Let's see if the Blue Sea has produced anyone worthy of challenging a god!"
What followed was one of the most difficult fights of Aiko's life.
Enel wasn't just powerful—he was fast, unpredictable, and his Observation Haki was augmented by his Devil Fruit, letting him hear heartbeats and electrical signals from across the entire island. Every attack was predicted, every movement anticipated.
Lightning struck from impossible angles. Enel moved through his element, becoming pure electricity, attacking at light speed. His golden staff was a conductor that extended his range, letting him strike from hundreds of feet away.
And through it all, that laugh: "Yahahaha!"
"Yuki no Mai: Hyōga Kiri!" Glacial Slash!
Aiko's technique created blades of absolute zero cold, but Enel simply transformed into lightning, moving through and around the attack.
"Ice versus lightning? That's not even a fair matchup!" Enel's voice came from everywhere and nowhere. "Lightning travels through conductors, and frozen water is an excellent conductor!"
He was right. Every ice construct Aiko created became a pathway for Enel's attacks. The god could strike through them, travel through them, use them against their creator.
"200 Million Volt Amaru!"
Enel's ultimate form—a massive construct of pure lightning shaped vaguely like a deity. It filled the sky, power radiating from it in visible waves. This wasn't just an attack—it was an expression of godhood made manifest.
Aiko looked up at the impossible construct and made a decision.
He'd been holding back, conserving power, trying not to damage the Sky Island's strange ecosystem. But against Enel, holding back meant death.
"Yuki no Mai: Kyūkyoku no Gishiki—Eien no Fuyu!" Snow Dance: Ultimate Ritual—Eternal Winter!
His awakening fully manifested. The temperature didn't just drop—it plummeted to levels that shouldn't exist naturally. The cloud sea beneath them froze solid. The air crystallized. Even lightning—even electricity itself—began to slow as thermal energy was stripped away at the molecular level.
Enel's lightning construct flickered, its movements sluggish.
"What... is this?" For the first time, uncertainty entered the god's voice. "Lightning shouldn't slow. It's electromagnetic force, not dependent on temperature—"
"Everything is dependent on temperature," Aiko replied, his body more ice than flesh now, his awakening pushed to its limits. "Even electricity requires thermal energy to propagate efficiently. Remove enough heat, and even light slows. Even lightning hesitates."
He attacked through the frozen domain, Yukikaze coated in Conqueror's Haki and absolute zero temperatures. Enel tried to dodge, but his light-speed movement was compromised by the impossible cold. The blade connected, cutting through the lightning construct, through Enel's Logia form, drawing blood.
First blood to Aiko.
Enel staggered back, reforming his human shape, his expression shocked. "You... hit me? But I'm lightning! I'm intangible! I'm—"
"Vulnerable to advanced Haki and environmental manipulation," Aiko finished. "You're powerful, Enel. Probably one of the strongest Logia users I've faced. But you've been isolated up here, fighting opponents without advanced Haki, without experience against other Logias. You've never been truly challenged."
"I... am... GOD!" Enel's voice cracked with desperation and rage. "I have the power of Thor himself! I am unstoppable! I am—"
"Losing," Aiko said simply.
The truth of it hit Enel harder than any attack. His entire identity, his entire worldview, was built on being untouchable, unkillable, divine. And now a stranger from the Blue Sea had wounded him.
"No," Enel whispered. "NO! I won't accept this!"
He gathered every volt of electricity he could muster, preparing an attack that would likely kill him from the strain but would definitely destroy everything in range.
"Mamaragan!" Mother of Lightning!
The technique was apocalyptic—pure electricity on a scale meant to destroy countries. The sky lit up brighter than the sun. Every cloud within miles became ionized. The discharge was so powerful that it was visible from the Blue Sea far below.
Aiko had one choice.
"Zettai Reido: Sekai Funsai!" Absolute Zero: World Shatter!
His own ultimate technique—the awakened Yuki Yuki no Mi pushed beyond safety, beyond reason, creating cold so intense that physics itself broke down. Not a barrier against the lightning, but an absolute cessation of thermal energy that consumed everything in its path.
Cold and lightning met in the sky above Skypiea.
The collision created a phenomenon that shouldn't exist—a sphere where temperature and electrical energy canceled each other, where matter simply stopped behaving according to normal rules. For three seconds, there was a hole in reality itself, a point where neither heat nor cold, neither energy nor absence existed.
Then the sphere collapsed.
Both combatants fell from the sky.
Aiko hit the cloud surface hard, his awakening released, his body reverting to human form, unconscious before impact. Enel crashed nearby, his lightning form dissipated, barely breathing.
The crew rushed to Aiko's side. Doc immediately began treatment, checking vitals, administering emergency care.
"He's alive," Doc reported, relief evident. "Barely. Haki depletion, hypothermia from his own powers, and what looks like electrical burns despite his Logia form. He needs days of rest. Maybe weeks."
"What about the god?" Yuki asked, looking at Enel's unconscious form.
"Also alive. Also going to need serious medical attention." Doc's medical ethics wouldn't let him ignore an injured person, even an enemy. "Get them both to medical bay. And someone secure that one—he's too dangerous to leave unsupervised."
As they carried both fighters to treatment, Robin looked at the frozen clouds, at the scorch marks from lightning, at the evidence of a battle between two awakened Logia users pushed to their absolute limits.
"Twenty-six chapters into our journey," she said quietly to Isra, "and he's already fought CP0 agents, Warlords, Admirals, and now a self-proclaimed god. What's next?"
"Knowing our luck?" Isra replied. "Something worse."
She had no idea how right she was.
END OF CHAPTER 26
Next Chapter: "Shandora - The Golden City's Secret"