Rumble!
A thunderbolt flashed across the sky, the black ship sailed straight into the gate amidst the storm and lightning, skimming over the fierce vortex of the Red Earth Continent.
Just as Renedia had said, the ship she built was meant to sail safely amidst waves and storms.
As it entered the turbulent current, even though the Death Star swayed, it remained on a stable course, passing through the gate, swiftly surging upwards against the flow, facing the wind and rain.
The higher it went, the stronger the surrounding air currents became, blowing Sage's white hair, making his cloak flutter wildly.
Until the Death Star broke through the current, leaping up with enormous force, crossing the peak, entering a brief weightlessness.
"Woohoo!"
Renedia spread her little hands, letting the torrential rain splash on her, revealing an excited smile: "Fly high!"
Even though she was an Ability User, this level of soaking didn't affect her at all, as long as her body didn't sink more than halfway into the water.
"Is that the Grand Line below?"
Lily looked down, seeing five sea currents below, four were reversed and only one flowed downward. Entering that one would lead to the Grand Line.
"Ah, the legendary route, they say that sailing around the Grand Line is completing a journey around the world," Marika smiled.
"The world is vast, and the Grand Line is just a route, no way it completes a world journey. But this route is indeed not small, wonder how many islands there are," Sage said.
This ocean is just too immense, and some islands are unbelievably large.
But that's not something to investigate now.
Sage pointed in the direction the Death Star was flying toward, "Renedia, adjust the course, or we'll end up in the West Sea."
From the East Sea's current, rushing straight out won't lead to the Grand Line. Most ships get spun around endlessly in these reverse currents, eventually crashing into the continent and getting destroyed. A few get swept into the Four Seas routes, then hit by upward opposing currents into the Red Earth Continent, then destroyed.
Only a tiny fraction, by luck, falls from the peak to the Four Seas.
As for the Grand Line, that's the tiniest fraction.
The reputation as the Pirate's Graveyard starts here at the first pass.
If it were an ordinary ship, even a sturdy one, following the current direction would just hurl it into the West Sea, but with Renedia, it's different.
"Okay!"
Renedia opened her little hands, a tiny spark of electricity appeared as she pressed on the deck, and she shouted, "Power Braking!"
The massive black ship flying in the air miraculously adjusted its direction, flying towards the sole downward flowing channel.
"That's enough!" Renedia grinned, showing her cute little fangs.
As the Black Ship descended, Lily fixed her gaze on a rising current, saying, "Sage, something's wrong..."
Rumble!
Another thunderbolt exploded, illuminating the stormy, dark night sky, and casting a shadow over their deck.
In an instant, the three women's pupils contracted sharply as they stared upwards to the side.
In the squall, pirates tightening ropes on deck and raising or lowering sails were stunned, shouting, "Ship, ship!!"
Above at an angle, a dilapidated ship just a bit smaller than the Death Star suddenly appeared overhead, about to crash down.
Instinctively, Lily drew her White Lightning, Marika shook her hands, and Renedia widened her beautiful eyes, quickly taking out a toolkit and transforming it into a hammer.
But it was too late; such a large ship, once it crashed down, would immediately smash theirs away, crashing near the currents' juncture, spelling total disaster.
Boom!
But at that moment, the ship about to descend exploded with a sound, a hole blasted through its hull, forcefully deviating its course, slamming into the land rock wall, breaking into pieces sinking into the current.
Sage withdrew his hand, as the Death Star too descended into the current, sailing downwards along the descending sea stream.
"Captain!"
"As expected, it was Captain, after all!"
"Captain is invincible!"
The pirates couldn't see much, but they knew it was their Captain making a move!
"Is it the power of Haki?"
Marika smiled, "How convenient, Captain."
"If you're envious, maybe spend less time on cooking research and focus on training," Sage glanced at the three, "The Grand Line isn't that simple."
Among them, Lily tried the hardest; Renedia was still young, but Marika ironically had the highest aptitude.
This woman mastered Life Return, so her physique and willpower couldn't be weak, but she wasn't keen on enhancing her strength. Otherwise, she would be the most capable of grasping Haki.
Sage had just used Haki and managed an external release. Even though that ship was at quite a distance, it didn't matter to him, the impact of Haki alone could drive it off.
But, a bit unfortunate...
He glanced at his hand, "External release and Internal Destruction can't be combined at a distance yet..."
He knew Internal Destruction but limited to close combat; integrating it into an external release lacked something.
Otherwise, earlier, he wouldn't just blast a hole but could've shattered the entire ship.
In fact, for an ordinary person, jumping up to punch is the way, mastering Internal Destruction means a single punch can smash such a ship if the strength and Haki are sufficient.
But if you can stand still, why move?
It's not like his Haki needs rest; such an effort takes less than a single breath to recover.
Whoosh!
The wind roared on the deck, torrents carried the Black Ship swiftly as it reached the bottom, racing forward, plunging into the sea, tossing about, bursting giant water sprays, merging into wind and rain, then vanishing together.
Ahead, the sky lifted a hint of morning sunlight, dispersing dark clouds, shining on the Death Star.
The day had broken.
And so, the Death Star, rarely, basked in the sun.
"The Grand Line!"
Renedia cheered, glancing back at the enormous landmass, "So the Red Earth Continent is really red!"
This giant wall, stretching across heaven and earth, was a pinkish color, different from other islands' land hue.
"Otherwise, why call it the 'Red' Earth Continent? Don't dwell on these details, figure out how to find a sea map for the Grand Line. Lily, pick a direction, let's move," Sage said.
"We can't move, Sage."
Currently, Lily was staring at the Compass, "The Compass seems to be broken..."
The Compass in her hand, a navigator's essential, similar to a guide, used Magnetic Power to determine direction, but as they entered the Grand Line, its needle spun endlessly, unable to fix a direction.
At this point, Sage paused, body stiff.
He remembered...
Whether there's a sea map for the Grand Line, he didn't know.
But in this bizarre place...
A Compass was utterly useless!
"Not broken, just useless."
Sage shook his head, "Lily, give up on the Compass now, it's completely useless. The magnetic field in this cursed route is chaos; to navigate, a Log Pose is needed, didn't you snatch one in Logue Town?"
"What's that?" Lily was stunned.
The others also looked puzzled.
The Grand Line was a legendary route for those from the East Sea, called a Pirate's Graveyard, some referred to it as Paradise.
But how to navigate...
At least, people on Sage's side didn't know.
The East Sea seemingly hadn't seen anything like a Log Pose...
"Don't worry, I have a plan."
Sage stretched his hand forward, looking towards the sides of the channel where two lighthouses stood, one with a building.
"Where there's a house, there's people. Being at the Grand Line's entrance, someone there must know, let's go ask for one!"
Some memories were faint, but these two lighthouses were somewhat familiar.
This seems to be the Twin Cape...