Feeling an intense amount of killing intent directed at me, out of instinct, I awakened from my slumber, snapping my eyes open as I swiftly hopped toward my feet while searching for the source of the killing intent that was directed at me, only to find an injured Freyja glaring at me, though it seemed like Sebas were pinning her down.

"Tch, thanks a lot, Sebas. I would've finally killed him if it weren't for you." Said Freyja angrily as she glared at Sebas, who was calmly sitting at the helm, steering the ship.

"Hoho, I apologize I interfered with your grail, Freyja, but I can't just allow you to kill Captain; I hope this doesn't spark any hard feelings between us." Replied Sebas gently as he glanced at Diddy before waving his hand at Freyja, releasing the suppression, allowing her to stand up.

"Hmph, I'll think about it." Commented Freyja as she glared at Diddy, who was fearlessly staring at her before turning around and walking down the stairs, returning to her room.

Seeing Freyja leave, I sighed in relief, since after all that fighting I'd done, I wasn't in the mood to fight Freyja, not to mention I was still significantly injured, speaking of injured.

"Urgh! M-My body's a wreck!" Said Diddy as he collapsed to one knee while gasping for breath, clutching his stomach in pain, which was wrapped in several layers of bandages.

"Captain, you're awake!" Yelled Trenza when she noticed Diddy after coming to see what all the commotion was, causing her to run towards him in slight worry.

"Urgh, yeah, barely; I still would've been peacefully sleeping if it weren't for Freyja. Anyways, how long has it been since we've left Centaurea?" Asked Diddy as he leaned against the railing, wincing in pain, while glancing at Trenza, who assisted him.

"It's been a little over a day since we've left, Captain, but you should worry about that later; you're still grievously wounded, and it'll take some time for you to heal, so just rest for now." Advised Trenza lightly as she tried forcing Diddy to lay down, though her strength wasn't enough to budge him even when severely injured.

"Heh, a full day? I don't think I've ever been unconscious for that long; new record." Said Diddy with a smirk as he ignored Trenza's assistance and attempted to laugh, though that only caused him more pain.

"That's not something one usually keeps track of, Captain; who keeps track of how many times they've nearly died or how many times they were forced to flee?." Remarked Trenza with a shake of her head as she gave up moving him.

"54 and 13; actually, it's 56 and 14 now." Said Diddy with a grin as he looked at Trenza, who merely gave him a blank look.

"Haa, how did such a lunatic become the Captain of a pirate group? Actually, never mind, that makes perfect sense." Muttered Trenza in slight disbelief as she just looked at Diddy.

"Hehe, so where are we currently headed, Sebas?" Asked Diddy curiously as he shooed off Trenza and looked at Sebas, who was manning the helm.

"Nowhere in particular, Captain, just far away from Centaurea." Replied Sebas, his words causing Diddy to nod as the upper deck fell into silence.

'Tsk, I've never liked being forced to flee; it's such a pathetic feeling.' Thought Diddy in anger as he thought back to his fight with Lindbergh and Mini, which quickly turned into him fleeing for his life while carrying four people with him.

I was pretty angry at our result on Centaurea; sure, I had fun and enjoyed myself. I've even gotten stronger and learned about Haki, not to mention that after I heal, I'll once again get stronger. Yet, the feeling of being forced to flee easily outweighed all of those; after all, being forced to flee means you're weak, and weakness is something I deplore, something I strive never to be. Though, as the saying goes, there's always a bigger fish; granted, I never thought myself to be the strongest, and while it's true I've thought myself to be decently strong, that didn't really seem to be the case when fighting against Lindbergh.

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I couldn't best him in close-quarters combat, which I excel in, nor could I even put up a fight from ranged combat; to say it wasn't a blow to my pride would be me lying. I don't mind losing or being defeated; such a thing will happen. It's just that the sensation of being utterly outclassed is vexing. However, on a positive note, it's an experience I'll grow and improve from, not to mention being defeated in such a humiliating way only spurs my resolve to grow stronger.

"Hehe, what an experience." Said Diddy with a grin as he looked toward the sunny sky, his desire to grow stronger at an all-time high.

Using the railing, I stood back up, and amidst the pain from every single point on my body, I headed towards the stairs, as I was quite hungry. Arriving at the deck, I spotted Trenza, the only person beside Sebas who wasn't seriously injured, sitting at the bow of the ship while messing with her pistols, though as my vision was still decently blurry, I wasn't able to discern whether it was her destroyed pistols or the ones she stole. Either way, I didn't bother figuring it out as I headed down toward the lower deck and walked toward the galley, passing a few cabins along the way, spotting Freyja seemingly feeding Scar while he lay on his bed, though Grand on the other hand, was nowhere to be found as of yet.

Ignoring those two, I eventually arrived at the galley or kitchen, and unsurprisingly, Grand was present too, eating a rather hearty meal befitting of his size.

"Oh, Captain, you're awake; how do you feel? Any noticeable pain?" Asked Grand as he looked at Diddy, slowly walking towards the massive fridge where most of the food was stored.

"Tsk, I feel like shit, and my body's a wreck, though I'm fine; give me a few days, and I'll be back in tip-top shape." Replied Diddy as he grabbed several pieces of frozen sea king meat before heading toward the table with them.

"Well, just be careful, Captain; I had checked upon your injuries shortly after we fled from Centaurea, and to say your body was in a wreck would be putting it lightly. On all accounts, you should've been dead; nearly every bone in your body was broken, 85% of your muscles, along with most of your organs, besides your heart and brain, were severely damaged, and the remaining amount of blood in your system was meager, far below what's considered the minimum amount of blood a person should have. Not to mention, your leg was nearly completely frozen; if we weren't careful, it could've shattered like glass!" Stated Grand as he broadly explained the extent of Diddy's injuries, all while the person in question was thawing slabs of sea king meat with electricity.

"I wasn't really listening, but I figured out long ago that I'm quite robust; if you wish to effectively kill me, just decapitate me. My vitality is insane, but it's not helping me survive decapitation." Said Diddy calmly as he ate one slab of meat while thawing another.

"Your vitality is more than insane, Captain, but I suppose we'll leave it at that." Remarked Grand with a shake of his head as he started devouring enough food for a large family; still, it didn't compare to Diddy, who was eating the remaining sea king meat, which would've been enough for a small banquet.

After finishing my food, with a bloated stomach, I made my way back to the upper deck and slept in my hammock, allowing my body to do its thing while I slept through it all; thankfully, a murderous succubus didn't wake me up in the middle of my slumber.

___

___

"Heh, I suppose even without your stored vitality, you can heal just fine." Remarked Diddy, eyeing Freyja, who was manning the helm while still injured, from his hammock.

"Hmph, but it's not comparable to how fast you can heal." Replied Freyja with annoyance as she glanced at Diddy's perfectly healed physique, not a single wound upon his body.

Chuckling, I hopped out of my hammock and approached Freyja, standing right beside her as I overlooked the surroundings, which consisted of endless water.

"So, are we heading toward the Grand Line, or what?" Asked Diddy with an eager smirk as he glanced at Freyja, who handed him a map and a compass.

"You're the Captain; why don't you figure it out?" Said Freyja, her words causing Diddy to grumble in annoyance, but he still did as she said since she was right.

Snatching the map and compass out of her hand, I opened the map and looked at it.

'Hmm, since we've been heading west for the past few days, we're actually moving in the right direction. We just need to head North now, and we should get there within a week or so.' Pondered Diddy as he intently observed the map before folding it and handing it back to Freyja.

"Our destination is the Grand Line, so start heading north. Also, make sure to stop at the last island before the Grand Line; we still need to acquire a few things before entering Paradise. Well, actually, all we really need is a log pose, but I'm sure there are other things we could use." Declared Diddy while Freyja spun the helm clockwise, causing the ship to make a hard right.