Chapter 283: I Want to Leave a Bad Review for This Parachute
Then, her foot slipped.
The surrounding scenery rapidly blurred backward as she initiated a high-speed freefall starting from an altitude of 10,000 meters.
"Ahhhhh!!! Chloe! Why do you have to copy my bastard old man?!"
Some rather unpleasant memories instantly resurfaced in Yamato's mind. A few years ago... Kaido had thrown her out of the sky exactly like this!
"Relax, relax! I promise it's going to be fun."
Chloe didn't stay hovering in the clouds waving at Yamato; instead, she jumped down alongside her, flying steadily right next to her in a freefall formation.
"That backpack is a parachute. Just pull the cord when we reach the right altitude. Going skydiving every once in a while is pretty fun, isn't it?"
"When you put it like that, I guess it makes sense..."
After the initial wave of panic subsided, Yamato actually calmed down. After all, Chloe wasn't Kaido. Even though the action was terrifyingly similar, there was a fundamental difference between Chloe and her psychotic father.
Although Yamato couldn't articulate exactly what that difference was, the massive psychological shadow Kaido had cast over her allowed her to selectively ignore the terrifying parallels.
At the very least, Chloe had given her a parachute and was flying right beside her...
"Wait a minute! When did you even prepare a parachute?!"
Yamato suddenly realized that during their entire voyage, she had never seen Chloe bring out such a thing.
Airborne flight was an incredibly rare phenomenon in this world, making the practical application of parachutes even rarer.
"I quickly made it on the spot using local materials while we were on the Sky Island! I tested it, the fabric is super sturdy. I heard that deploying the chute too early makes you drift off course, though."
Yamato seemingly didn't process the second half of that sentence. Harboring deep trust issues regarding Chloe's "DIY parachute," she immediately yanked the ripcord.
Fwump!
The canopy burst open. A massive, sudden upward force transferred through the harnesses, making Yamato feel as though she had violently been yanked back up into the sky.
At the same time, Yamato noticed a massive cluster of cargo floating far above her. The crates had also been bundled with parachutes and airdropped, while Amphelite was flying between them, meticulously adjusting their descent trajectory.
"See? I told you it was sturdy!" Chloe grinned, floating effortlessly beside her.
"Ahem... this is purely a psychological trauma inflicted by my old man! It definitely isn't because I don't trust you! How about we do it again? This is actually really fun!"
Yamato's joy, however, was fleeting. Although the structural integrity of the parachute was flawless, it couldn't compensate for her absolute lack of skydiving experience.
Combined with the fact that she was physically incapable of sitting still, she carelessly thrashed around during the descent, violently tangling the parachute lines together. Her leisurely skydive instantly transformed back into a terrifying freefall.
"It seems like this thing is still a little defective..." Yamato yelled as she plummeted.
"That's because you were flailing around too much!" Chloe scolded, diving after her. "But honestly, this thing is basically just a toy anyway. You really need to learn Geppo (Moonwalk) or a similar technique so you can at least hover in mid-air temporarily."
Chloe was highly dissatisfied with Yamato's "bad review." As the dedicated safety instructor for this drop, she knew this was unequivocally user error and had absolutely nothing to do with product quality.
This logically extended to the conclusion that Yamato required further, intensive martial training.
For individuals and races naturally capable of flight, Geppo wasn't strictly necessary, but it wasn't entirely useless either. The ability to violently kick the air for leverage could exponentially increase one's short-burst mobility.
When Chloe mentioned Geppo, she wasn't exclusively referring to the specific Marine Rokushiki technique, but rather to the general concept of mid-air propulsion. Once a powerhouse reached a certain threshold of strength, they invariably developed their own methods for aerial maneuvering.
It was just that the training regimen for Geppo was the most highly systematized and easily teachable method.
"So, do you want Uncle Sebastian to teach you, or..."
"It has to be Mr. Nereus, of course!" Yamato declared excitedly. "He said he wanted me to build a solid foundation first. It's been a few years, so my foundation should be pretty solid by now! It's finally time for Mr. Nereus to personally teach me!"
"Hmm... maybe. I'll ask Dad when we get back. But you really shouldn't harbor any beautiful illusions about Dad's training. It is absolutely not a gentle process..."
The Nereus of everyday life and the Nereus acting as a combat instructor were two fundamentally different entities.
"You don't need to worry about that! I prepared myself for this years ago!"
"We'll talk about it when we get back. If Dad thinks you're qualified, he'll make his move. Though, following the usual protocol, he'll probably have Alber administer a preliminary combat evaluation first."
Chloe and the crew safely gathered the airdropped cargo and began their voyage home. Because they had never actually docked at Jaya, they had zero interaction with the violent pirates residing in Mock Town.
The turbulent waves of the sea never ceased, and the brutal slaughter between pirates never stopped.
This perpetual state of chaos had persisted for ages. It didn't begin with Roger ushering in the Great Pirate Era, nor did it start during the terrifying era of Rocks. Centuries ago, when Joy Boy first set sail as the world's very first "Pirate," the violent tides of this era had already begun to surge.
The incident in Alabasta wasn't broadcasted to the general public, but those with formidable intelligence networks were fully aware of what had transpired.
Some time ago, even before Chloe and the others had departed for their mission, the roster of the Seven Warlords of the Sea had undergone a significant shift.
Following Crocodile and Dracule Mihawk, two new individuals had been formally appointed as Warlords: Gecko Moria, and the "Lizard King," Hanafuda.
Fascinatingly, the reason these two ascended to the position was practically identical: they had both engaged in open warfare with Kaido and actually survived.
As Kaido's terrifying infamy grew exponentially, the World Government naturally took notice of anyone capable of surviving a clash with him. However, their personal motives for accepting the Warlord title were fundamentally different.
The World Government no longer cared if they harbored ulterior motives. Mary Geoise simply needed to leverage their monstrous strength for the time being.
Due to Crocodile's recent skirmish and his subsequent paranoid inquiries regarding the Lunarian race, the World Government actually convened a brief, internal conference call among the active Warlords.
The core directive was simple: focus your attention on hunting pirates, and absolutely stop digging into the Lunarian issue. The World Government had specialized, highly classified personnel to handle that specific matter.
Mihawk and Moria couldn't have cared less about such trivial politics. Hanafuda, however, immediately perked up. The bizarre, horned girl Crocodile had angrily described sounded exactly like the daughter Kaido had casually mentioned sending away for training.
Unlike Moria, whose entire crew had been brutally slaughtered by Kaido, Hanafuda had been profoundly captivated by Kaido's overwhelming charisma. He had already established a covert, cooperative alliance with the Beast Pirates.
Hanafuda had accepted the Warlord title specifically to exploit the World Government's massive logistical channels to secretly funnel more Zoan-type Devil Fruits to Kaido.
Therefore, he naturally relayed this highly amusing piece of intelligence directly to Kaido.
"Crocodile? Who the hell is that?" Kaido grunted, drinking from his gourd.
"One of the Seven Warlords?"
"A pathetic weakling who willingly became a lapdog for the World Government. What kind of standard could a worm like that possibly possess?"
Kaido was a massive hypocrite. If one of his highly valued subordinates lost a fight, it was simply because the enemy was overwhelmingly strong—no big deal.
But if an ordinary, external collaborator lost, it was purely because they were pathetically weak, and they had no one to blame but themselves.
Consequently, Kaido held an astronomically low opinion of all the Warlords, excluding Hanafuda. However, when Kaido heard the detailed description of Crocodile frantically complaining with a massive turban of bandages wrapped around his skull—and the distinct, unmistakable imprint of a spiked kanabo smashed into his face—Kaido's uproarious, booming laughter echoed endlessly throughout Onigashima...
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