"So, what did you learn, Sebas? It better be something useful, or I'm going to do to you what I just did to Trenza!" Said Diddy as he smirked and pointed at the unresponsive Trenza while landing on the railing just before the helm, which Freyja was sitting at.
"Can you move? I can't properly steer the ship with a hairy beast blocking my view." Asked Freyja as her face twitched in annoyance, though Diddy promptly ignored her, causing her twitching to intensify.
"Well, Captain, I did acquire some information, but it seems like the person's status wasn't high enough to know everything as he held quite a lot of confusion and answers to his assigned duty. However, from what I could decipher, there seems to be a civil war happening on Centaurea, and it seems the fleet we just destroyed were reinforcements sent directly from Marineford to quell the war." Replied Sebas, explaining the situation on Centaurea to the best of his ability while Freyja and Diddy listened.
"Hmm, that's it? A civil war? Lame, I thought it would be something special; oh well, it should at least be somewhat fun; chaos and war go hand-in-hand." Remarked Diddy with a frown before shaking his head and smirking, already deciding to intervene in the civil war and cause even more chaos.
"Hold on, you fool of a Captain; doesn't this seem a little weird? They sent such a large fleet and two rear admirals to deal with a simple civil war. It sounds rather suspicious to me, and I'm no genius." Said Freyja lightly through furrowed brows, her words earning her a nod of agreeance from both Diddy and Sebas, though only one of them really cared.
"You had the same suspicion that the rear admiral had, and from what it seems like, while civil wars aren't considered very rare, it does happen from time to time; usually, though, they'll at most send a fleet half that size to quell the rebellion and restore order." Stated Sebas with a thoughtful expression while standing adjacent to Freyja as he looked out at sea.
"Heh, well, don't leave us hanging, Sebas; it seems like you've already come to a conclusion." Said Diddy with a slight grin while looking at Sebas, eliciting a chuckle from him.
"Hoho, you expect too much from this old man; I've at most concluded a theory. From what I gleaned from the marine's mind, I don't believe this to be a simple civil war on Centaurea; too many suspicious things without enough answers. The war had just started a few weeks ago, yet they're already sending such a massive fleet with two rear admirals who know next to nothing about what's really happening on Centaurea, not to mention a vice admiral is already present at the scene." Declared Sebas, causing Freyja to ponder about his words while Diddy merely grinned at the mention of a vice admiral.
"These are just a few perceptive details I could point out, and there are still many more; however, overall, I speculate this civil war is a ruse to hide the bigger picture at play, whatever that may be." Added Sebas as he looked at Freyja and Diddy, curious about their response.
"Well, I don't know as much as you regarding the subject at hand, but I'd believe you; having spent most of my life as a noble, I, myself, have been required to cover up many things that would otherwise give my family name a bad image or reputation among the masses, and I know for a fact we weren't the only nobles who did this. Granted, the things I covered up were rather small, and I could only imagine what a powerful organization like the Marines and WG have hidden from the public." Mentioned Freyja calmly while frowning as she nodded in agreement.
"Hehe, that's cool and all, but I could care less about what the Marines or WG are hiding from the public. All I know is that there is a vice admiral, and war is occurring at Centaurea; that's more than enough reason to go dock at Centaurea." Stated Diddy with a feral grin as he hopped off the railing and landed beside his hammock.
"Since we encountered the reinforcements heading for Centaurea, we should be relatively close. Wake me up once we arrive; I want to be in pristine condition when facing a vice admiral; it should be more fun that way." Added Diddy with a smirk as he lay in his hammock and was already sound asleep in a matter of a few seconds.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Haa, how close are we, Sebas?" Asked Freyja with a sigh, she shook her head, ignoring Diddy altogether.
"We should be just a few hours out; at least, that's what I gleaned from the man. Hoho, now, if you'll excuse me, Freyja, I need to check on Trenza; she seems to be hardly responsive." Replied Sebas with a small laugh as he walked down the stairs while approaching Trenza lying on the deck being tended to by both Scar and Grand; if you were to look closely, one would see white ethereal smoke escaping her mouth.
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Snapping my eyes open, I stared deeply into what looked like two barrels of a gun, and shortly after I was forcefully awakened from my nap, I saw a slight spark appear inside the barrels; before the bullets could penetrate my eyes, I slammed my forehead onto the barrels, while using tekkai, causing the bullets to hit my head, though what I didn't expect was for them to explode.
"Ow! It burns!" Yelled Trenza in pain as she dropped her destroyed pistols onto the ground while blowing on her hands to cool them off, though it wasn't proving to be very effective.
"What a way to wake someone up; you must've learned from Freyja. Though it seems like you weren't smart enough to fire from a distance if you were going to use explosive ammunition." Remarked Diddy, nearly completely unharmed with a grin, displaying his sharp teeth as he sat upright while looking at Trenza on her knees.
Standing up while laughing at Trenza's self-made predicament, I walked past her and her dual pistols, which were now destroyed, and approached the side of the ship that was currently in the process of being docked.
"So this is Centaurea? It looks like every other island to me." Muttered Diddy blandly as he observed the forest lining the coastline, which was helpful to keep their ship concealed.
"Which side of the island are we on?" Asked Diddy as he glanced at the nearest person, which so happened to be Grand, who was currently tying a rope around the mast.
"The west side, Captain; we are quite far away from any piers, so the ship should be safe by itself in this location, at least that's what Father said." Replied Grand as he finished tying the rope, which was attached to a massive boulder on the island around the mast, anchoring the ship to the island.
"Good, I don't want this ship being seized or destroyed. Anyways, where are Freyja and Scar? I don't sense them anywhere?" Asked Diddy curiously as he sniffed the air, and while he smelled Freyja's scent, it wasn't as potent as usual.
"They've already gone ahead, Captain, along the lines of scouting if you will." Said Sebas as he emerged from the stairs and neared the two, his words causing Diddy to grunt in annoyance.
"Tch, lier, she just wanted to find a brothel, that slut; whatever, better for her to do it elsewhere than on the ship." Muttered Diddy while Sebas chuckled in response as he also had the same thought.
Clicking my tongue, I looked up at the sky, noting the time of day to be around evening, not too far away from dusk.
"Alright, let's hold off on causing any massive commotion until the next day; for now, I suppose we can just split up into teams of three and observe the city and the current state of Centaurea." Remarked Diddy while looking at Grand and Sebas, who nodded in response.
"Well then, let us get a move on, Grand; we've got a short vacation ahead of us." Said Sebas, glancing at Trenza, who was attempting to fix her pistols, before looking at Grand and lifting him into the air as the two flew off the ship and into the forest.
Seeing the two vanish into the forest, I turned around and approached Trenza, who was still kneeling before my hammock, only to find her seemingly trying to fix her destroyed pistols, much to my confusion since the barrels were blown open; unless she was a blacksmith or something, she wasn't going to fix them.
"Well, that's what you get when you fire explosive ammunition at point-blank range; what did you think was going to happen?" Said Diddy as he folded her arms while looking at Trenza, who glanced up at him.
"Haa, I didn't anticipate you blocking the bullets with your head; I thought you'd get out of the way. Either way, it was a stupid decision on my part; next time, I should think more deeply before trying to get revenge." Replied Trenza with a sad sigh while shaking her head as she stood up and holstered her pistols.
"So, where has everyone else gone to?" Asked Trenza, still feeling dispirited at the destruction of her pistols.
"To explore the island, just like what we are about to do, though that's really only Sebas, Grand, and Scar; Freyja is probably somewhere enjoying herself." Mentioned Diddy as he wrapped his tail around Trenza's waist and jumped into the air before propelling himself and Trenza through the sky.