The second day after leaving Gunkanjima.
The sky was pouring rain, and thick fog surrounded them. The Going Merry was cutting through the waves toward Reverse Mountain.
Nami looked at the sea chart in her hand, compared it to their surroundings, and shouted, "Everyone, pay attention! We're almost at Reverse Mountain!"
Luffy's heart swelled with excitement. "We're finally here!"
Just then, the ocean currents changed. All the currents converged at a single point and, instead of flowing downward, surged upward toward a high peak.
Sanji looked at the rising currents in surprise. "What's going on? Why is the seawater flowing upwards?"
Nami explained, "I heard from people who've entered the Grand Line that it's a sea of miracles. To get in, you have to ride an upward current that shoots you over the mountain to the other side."
She pointed to a symbol on the sea chart. "Everyone, stay alert. There are four upward currents leading into the Grand Line, one from each of the East, West, South, and North Blues. If another ship enters at the same time as us, the currents could intersect, causing a collision. If that happens, the ships will be destroyed, and we'll all die."
Shin'ya stepped forward and patted his chest confidently. "Leave that to me. I'll make sure no other ship crashes into us."
"Alright," Nami nodded, trusting him. Then she pointed to the entrance ahead. "Near the ascending current, there are many whirlpools. If we get caught in one, we'll lose control and crash into the Red Line. We need to find a way to steer the Merry through it safely."
Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji said in unison, "Leave it to us! We'll definitely get through Reverse Mountain!"
"Reverse Mountain's close. Let's have a ceremony," Sanji said, bringing over a barrel of sake. Luffy stepped on it first.
"I'm the man who's going to be King of the Pirates!"
Zoro followed. "I'm going to become the world's greatest swordsman!"
Nami: "I'm going to be the world's best navigator! I'll draw a map of the entire world!"
Sanji: "I'm going to find the All Blue, the dream of every chef!"
Usopp: "I... I'm going to be the bravest warrior of the sea!"
Shin'ya: "I'm going to travel freely across the world!"
"For our dreams, let's go!" Luffy shouted, and everyone raised their feet and smashed the barrel together.
Suddenly, the current below turned wild—like a raging beast rising from the depths, pulling the Merry into its path.
"Everyone, get ready! We're entering a sea whirlpool!" Nami yelled.
She began issuing commands:
"Usopp, furl the sails—now!"
"Sanji, take the helm and watch the rudder!"
"Luffy, Shin'ya—stand by and keep the Merry from crashing into the Red Line!"
"Zoro, everyone—brace yourselves! Don't fall overboard!"
"Let's move!"
"Oh-ho!" Everyone roared in response.
About ten minutes later, Usopp shouted, "Nami! There's a massive whirlpool ahead! It's dragging us toward the cliff wall! At this rate, we'll miss the current!"
Everyone's expressions turned serious as the Red Line loomed closer.
Just as Luffy prepared to use his rubber powers to steer the Merry, Shin'ya raised a hand.
"No need to panic. This little problem won't stop us. Everyone, hold on tight!"
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon!"
As they were about to crash, a massive wooden dragon—over a hundred meters long—rose beneath the Merry, lifting it high into the air. The ship soared over the whirlpool and landed safely into the current, rushing up toward the summit.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Nice job, Shin'ya! That was awesome! A wooden dragon that can make the Merry fly!"
Shin'ya didn't reply—his focus was ahead. "Hold on! We're going downhill now!"
With that, he guided the dragon downward.
Within seconds, a giant blue whale appeared in front of them. But since the Merry was still flying on the wooden dragon, no one panicked.
Luffy grinned. "A giant whale! Haha! We could eat for days!"
But to their shock, the whale suddenly lunged from the sea and swallowed the wooden dragon—and the Merry—whole!
Inside the whale's stomach, Shin'ya dispelled the dragon. It wasn't that Laboon was strong enough to eat it; Shin'ya had done it on purpose. He knew sea charts were useless in the Grand Line, and that an old man inside Laboon had an Eternal Pose. How else was he supposed to get it? He couldn't just kill Laboon.
"Ahahaha~ This is so cool~!" Luffy laughed, completely unbothered by being swallowed.
Meanwhile, inside the whale, on a small island, an old man in floral shorts, slippers, and glasses was relaxing in a lounge chair, flipping through a newspaper.
Suddenly, a waterfall burst from a nearby tunnel, accompanied by loud, idiotic laughter.
Lowering his paper, he looked up in alarm. "Someone got swallowed by Laboon?"
Before he could move, six people and a pirate ship flew out of the tunnel—headed straight for him!
"HEY! You little punks! Stop! You're about to hit an old man—!"
Boom! The Going Merry slammed into the man's house, smashing it to pieces.
He stood frozen, jaw slack, the newspaper fluttering to the ground.
Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Nami stumbled to their feet, dazed.
"Where are we? Weren't we just swallowed by a whale?" Nami asked.
"Is the Merry okay?" Usopp rushed to check. After a quick inspection, he sighed in relief. "She's fine."
"Huh? Old man, who are you? And what is this place?" Zoro asked, spotting the man standing nearby in shock.
The man snapped back to reality and shouted, "You brats! Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? You almost flattened me!"
After fuming, he took a good look at the group and raised an eyebrow. "Wait... Straw Hat Pirates? You reached the Grand Line already? That was quick!"
Luffy puffed up with pride. "We're that famous already? Hahahaha!"
The old man eyed Luffy's straw hat. "I'm Crocus, lighthouse keeper of Twin Capes."
Then he added, "Straw Hat boy, what's your dream? To become King of the Pirates—like Roger?"
Luffy blinked. "Why would I wanna be like Roger? I'm going to be King of the Pirates—my way!"
Nami smacked him on the head. "You idiot! You don't even know who Roger is? He was the Pirate King!"
Luffy rubbed his head, laughing. "Oh, really? That's who he was? Haha!"
Crocus smiled. "Is that so?"
Suddenly, the sea around the island began to churn violently. Droplets landed on the island, instantly burning black scorch marks into the ground.
Sanji flinched. "What kind of water is this? It's corrosive!"
"You're inside a whale," Crocus explained. "His name is Laboon. That's not seawater—it's stomach acid. He's been waiting decades for someone, but they never came back. Now he thinks the Red Line is blocking them, so he's been ramming it nonstop."
He sighed. "Anyway, I need to calm him down, or he won't stop."
With that, Crocus dove straight into the acid.
Sanji panicked. "Oi! He just jumped in! Won't he be digested?!"
Shin'ya rolled his eyes. "Are you dumb? You've learned Haki, haven't you? Use your head."
Luffy nodded quickly. "Exactly! Even I figured that out! Sanji, you're so dumb!"
Sanji gave him a deadpan look. "Oh, shut up. Smartass."
Crocus, wrapped in Armament Haki, reached the inner passage of Laboon's body. He pulled out a syringe from his pocket and injected a tranquilizer.
Within seconds, Laboon calmed down.
Crocus swam back and called to the crew. "Alright, I'll show you the way out. You're on your own getting your ship out."
He led them to an iron door and opened it. Sunlight flooded in.
"This way."
"You guys go first," Shin'ya said. "I'll bring the ship out."
Once the others had left, Shin'ya summoned the wooden dragon again and carried the Merry out.
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