"What? 180 million? Is there another eye-catching rookie about to enter the New World from Paradise?"
From atop the giant rock above, Shanks' curious voice rang out.
"Probably. Let me take a look."
Beckman, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, glanced at the newspaper for a moment before suddenly widening his eyes in surprise.
"Hey! Wait, this isn't someone moving from Paradise to the New World! This kid is from the East Blue, and it's his first bounty! He hasn't even entered the Grand Line yet!"
The rest of the crew was equally shocked, quickly scrambling to their feet and gathering around.
"East Blue?! That place can still produce such a monster?"
"Another incredible guy has appeared, huh..."
"Wow, he hasn't even entered Paradise yet, and he's already got a bounty of 180 million? That's 50 million higher than mine..."
A newly recruited apprentice crew member couldn't help but look up and ask Shanks, "Hey, Captain, was your first bounty this high back in the day?"
"Of course not! This guy is breaking records, isn't he?"
Shanks, squatting on the rock, burst into laughter. "I wasn't that impressive. When I first joined another pirate crew and pissed off the Marines, I eagerly searched everywhere for my wanted poster. Turns out, everyone else had one, but I was completely ignored!"
"Eh? Really, Captain?"
"Shanks, you're so lame," Lucky Roux said, munching on a chicken leg.
"Come on, everyone starts as a rookie. Hey, Beckman, let me see that guy's wanted poster!" Shanks said with a grin.
"Here." Beckman handed it over.
"He's even younger than I thought... Huh?"
Shanks looked at the photo of the black-haired boy laughing with his arms wide open in the storm. He suddenly raised an eyebrow, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Even though it was the first time he'd seen the boy's face, why did it feel so... intimate? As if there was some kind of deep connection between them.
"He seems even more terrifying than I thought," Beckman added, still looking down at the newspaper. "This kid is only eighteen, and it's already confirmed—he possesses the Conqueror's Haki."
"Oh!" Shanks suddenly understood.
No wonder he felt like he was looking at a kindred spirit. That must be the reason.
...
At the foot of the Red Line.
After a night of sailing, as the morning light danced on the sea, the Sunset finally arrived at the entrance of Reverse Mountain.
"Ahead lies the Grand Line!"
Nojiko sat in the crow's nest, straining to lift her monocular telescope upward. The Holy Land Mariejois was said to be located on the other end of this place, right?
Unfortunately, the Red Line was simply too high and too steep. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see the scenery above.
"Everyone, get to your positions. Prepare to cross Reverse Mountain. If we're not fully prepared, it could be dangerous."
After giving the orders, Xiano turned to Nami.
"For now, I'll leave the full command to you. As for the helm, you're not strong enough yet, so leave it to Kuina. She'll follow your instructions to adjust the course. How about it? Confident?"
"Don't worry, leave it to me!"
Nami raised her fist, brimming with confidence.
She had specifically researched all sorts of information about Reverse Mountain before deciding to follow her brother out to sea!
Of course, even so, she would have to be extra careful.
The sea current leading to the mountain peak was far more turbulent than in other waters, and the passage was quite narrow. A slight misstep could send one crashing into the towering cliffs on either side, thousands of meters high.
Under such terrifying impact, ordinary ships wouldn't even have time to fall back to the sea surface before being shattered into pieces.
Even the Sunset, whose hull was primarily made of the Adam Treasure Tree, would suffer severe damage, delaying their journey.
"Alright! Set sail, let's climb the mountain!"
Xiano stood on the bow, gazing up at the towering Red Line, letting the increasingly fierce waves drench him completely. He laughed heartily and declared, "—Grand Line, here we come!"
"Woo-hoo, we're climbing the mountain!!!" Nami shouted even more excitedly than him.
Thud!
As soon as the bow crossed the vortex zone and entered the turbulent current, the ship jolted violently and began to ascend rapidly. Everyone, having been warned by Zeff, had already firmly grasped the railings, and no one was thrown off.
"Turn the rudder fifteen degrees to the right!"
Under Nami's constant adjustments and fine-tuning, the Sunset withstood the test of the fierce current.
Even as the waves grew stronger the higher they went, the ship remained as straight as a sword, smoothly surging past the peak. The entire ship leaped high into the air, entering a brief moment of suspension—
"We're taking off!"
Nojiko clung tightly to the mast, shouting excitedly as she looked around from the crow's nest. "Huh, is that the West Sea directly ahead? And next to it... wow, it's a Sea King! Everyone, look at the Calm Belt, there's a super-sized Sea King!"
"I see it too, heavens! The largest ones up north, just the parts above the water are four or five thousand meters high, right?!"
"That's why so few dare to cross the Calm Belt," Zeff chuckled, then turned to ask, "Captain, with your current strength, could you cross the Calm Belt on your own?"
"Shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Xiano scratched his chin, thinking seriously. Even if he had bad luck and got swallowed by a Sea King, it wouldn't be able to chew him up, and he'd have plenty of ways to escape.
But it would indeed be quite troublesome, time-consuming, and exhausting. It's better to take a ship whenever possible.
"Hey, we're about to descend, everyone hold on tight!" Nojiko accurately judged their position from above and just as she warned, she suddenly screamed:
"Wait! Something's emerging from below!"
Gurgle, gurgle...
The others also noticed. The sea surface, which should have been empty, suddenly revealed a massive shadow that blotted out the sky.
A gray-blue mountain of flesh slowly rose from the water, its head covered in jagged scars. In the dawn light, it let out a mournful howl, charging towards Reverse Mountain—
"What is that?!" Nami screamed. "The information I found didn't mention any Sea Kings lurking here!"
"It's not a Sea King, it's the Island Whale Laboon!" Zeff roared. "Turn the ship, or we'll collide!"
"It's too late! We've lost control of the ship now!"
As she said.
At this moment, the Sunset was like a roller coaster reaching its tipping point, plummeting downward at an increasingly frantic speed.
No matter how hard they turned the rudder, it was difficult to maneuver.
The violent airflow rushed towards them, causing almost everyone's faces to tremble uncontrollably.
They could only watch helplessly as the bow of the ship drew closer and closer to the massive creature Zeff had called "Laboon." And, as if on cue, the creature opened its bottomless maw—
"Don't panic."
Seeing this, Xiano actually felt more at ease and calmly reassured the others, "It's actually much better to rush into its mouth than to crash into its head."
"What kind of nonsense is that, bro!" Nami immediately clung tightly to his leg, "Not everyone has a body as tough as yours, bro! Wuwu, if I die, remember to bury me in the ship's orange grove, so I can still follow you through the Grand Line…"
This unlucky kid!
"Stop being an idiot," Xiano said with a dark expression, kicking her toward the railing. "You're a Logia-type ability user, what are you afraid of?"
"Oh, right!" Nami suddenly realized.
At that very moment, a tremendous suction force pulled the entire ship into the darkness. Everyone felt the world spinning around them, with the roaring sound of water and the deep calls of the whale echoing in their ears.
Boom!
The ship's hull slammed onto some kind of soft tissue, bouncing a few times.
In the dim light, they could vaguely see the pink flesh walls on either side rhythmically rising and falling. Digestive fluids gathered into streams in the crevices, pushing the ship forward into a narrower passage…
"Are we entering the intestines?" Nami grimaced, "So gross!"
"What intestines? This is the cardiac sphincter. You're fourteen, at least brush up on your biology knowledge!" Xiano grumbled, ruffling her hair. "Get ready, we're about to reach the stomach."
Enter the stomach?
But isn't the stomach all sticky and gross too?
Nami grew even more worried, looking down at herself. She had just taken a bath and changed into new clothes an hour ago to prepare for entering the Grand Line.
Whoosh!
At that moment, it was as if a spotlight had been turned on them, and the surrounding light suddenly brightened.
She instinctively looked up, stunned to find a massive iron gate, dozens of meters high and wide open on both sides, appearing before her.
And as the Sunset passed through the gate, what came into view—
Was an endless expanse of blue sky and white clouds, with a warm and pleasant climate, as if everything that had just happened was nothing but a dream.
Including Zeff, almost everyone was left speechless.
"This place really does feel like…" Xiano couldn't help but grin as he looked at the scene he had anticipated, "The set of 'The Truman Show.'"
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