After sailing for nearly ten minutes, the Going Merry finally burst free from the suffocating ceiling of thunderclouds.
One moment, lightning cracked overhead and rain lashed the deck; the next, the ship emerged into a vast expanse of clear blue sky. Sunlight poured down as if someone had torn open the heavens, washing the crew in warmth and color.
The sea below was deceptively calm.
Too calm.
Luffy stood from his throne and walked to the side of the ship, resting one hand on the railing. His eyes narrowed as he watched the water carefully. Beneath the surface, the currents were no longer drifting—they were racing, pulling the ship forward with a quiet, relentless hunger.
The Going Merry began to accelerate.
"…There it is," Luffy murmured. "In a few more minutes, the current will be too strong to fight."
Before he could say more—
"BIG BRO!!"
Johnny and Yosaku's voices thundered from the watchtowers.
"MARINES!!"
Luffy snapped his head up.
Ahead of them, stretching across the horizon like a steel wall, sailed a fleet—more than twenty ships, their white sails snapping sharply in the wind, cannons already turning.
Luffy counted quickly.
"…Twenty-five," he said with a laugh. "Guess they really don't want me back in the Grand Line."
Nami and Nojiko ran to his side, faces tight with urgency.
"Orders, Captain?" Nami asked.
Luffy didn't hesitate.
"Sail toward them."
Every head snapped in his direction.
"…Toward them?" Usopp squeaked.
"Johnny, Yosaku—take the wheel from Usopp," Luffy continued smoothly. "Usopp, front cannon. Full charge. I'll handle the bulk."
Something in his voice left no room for doubt.
Usopp swallowed, nodded, and sprinted below deck. Nami and Nojiko split off toward the upper-deck cannons, already firing as the distance closed. Three marine ships erupted into fire and smoke almost immediately.
Sanji and Zoro joined Luffy at the bow.
"So what's the plan, Captain?" Sanji asked, eyes sharp.
Luffy hopped up onto the sheep's head figurehead, coat snapping in the wind.
"Something I've been wanting to test."
He stared ahead, eyes glinting.
"This fleet belongs to Marine Branch 8. Commodore Nelson's pride and joy."
Zoro raised a brow. "Strong?"
"No," Luffy said cheerfully. "Just fat."
Another ship exploded under cannon fire.
Sanji suddenly frowned. "Luffy—look behind them."
Darkness loomed at the fleet's back.
A massive wall of roiling storm clouds churned violently, spiraling inward, swallowing light and sound alike.
Luffy's grin widened.
"That's not a hurricane," he said.
Everyone stared at him.
"That," he continued, electricity beginning to crackle around his skin, "is the entrance to the Grand Line."
The air changed.
Luffy clasped his hands together, elbows flaring outward, and closed his eyes.
Electric-blue sparks exploded from his body, crawling over his coat, his arms, his sword. Thunder growled overhead, deep and ancient, as the sky darkened once more—but this time, it bent to him.
Luffy opened his eyes.
Cold. Focused.
"Thirteen Heavenly Pillars."
The sky screamed.
Thirteen colossal bolts of lightning descended like divine spears, each one slamming into a marine ship with apocalyptic force. Explosions chained together, fire and debris erupting as ships were torn apart in seconds.
The sea burned.
Crewmates stared in stunned silence.
Sanji exhaled slowly. Zoro simply watched, eyes sharp but calm—this was becoming familiar.
Luffy scanned the wreckage.
"Usopp," he shouted, "leave one ship."
"Aye, Captain!" Usopp's voice echoed from below.
Luffy drew his sword.
Lightning wrapped around the blade, compressing, howling, taking shape.
He pointed it at the flagship.
"Sixty Million Volts — Thunder Dragon."
A massive dragon of pure lightning burst forth, roaring as it tore across the sea. It struck Nelson's ship head-on and erased it—wood, steel, cannon, all gone in a blinding flash.
Silence followed.
Only one marine ship remained.
It turned and fled.
Luffy jumped back onto the deck.
"Raise the sails," he ordered calmly. "The current will carry us now."
Zoro and Sanji moved instantly. Nami and Nojiko shouted directions to the wheel. The Going Merry surged forward, cutting through the floating graveyard of shattered ships.
Luffy's gaze flicked left.
Nelson clung to debris, screaming.
Luffy raised his gun.
A single bolt of lightning cracked.
Nelson fell silent.
"LUFFY! FRONT!" Nami shouted.
Luffy looked up.
The Red Line rose before them—an impossible wall of stone stretching into the clouds.
"KEEP IT STEADY!" Luffy shouted. "ENTRANCE DEAD AHEAD!"
The current became violent. The wheel fought back like a living thing.
"I DON'T SEE IT!" Nami cried.
Luffy pointed. "That crevice—binoculars!"
She looked.
Her breath caught.
"…The water is flowing up."
"STEER FOR IT!"
The ship tilted sharply.
"WE'RE OFF COURSE!" Luffy barked.
"RIGHT! PUSH RIGHT!" Johnny and Yosaku yelled together.
Then—
CRACK.
The rudder snapped.
For one terrible moment, the ship was doomed.
Then the clouds struck.
The thunderclouds Luffy had prepared absorbed the impact, cushioning the blow, deflecting the ship just enough for the current to seize it and drag it into the canal.
Silence.
Then cheers.
"WE DID IT!!"
The Going Merry began to climb.
Higher.
Higher.
Past clouds.
Above them.
Four massive currents collided at the peak, water exploding upward and freezing midair, sunlight scattering through ice like diamonds.
Luffy stood at the balcony, coat fluttering, eyes bright.
"There it is," he said softly.
"The biggest ocean of them all."
He smiled.
"The Grand Line."
The sea swallowed them whole.