— HEY! What are you doing on our ship??? — a sharp, indignant voice rang out.
From the voice alone, I instantly knew — it was Sabo.
I'll just sit here and listen to how he talks his way out of this… — I thought lazily, settling in more comfortably and leaning against the wooden wall.
But apparently, the barrel had its own opinion on the matter.
The moment I leaned a little harder to the side, something cracked, the planks trembled…
Thump! — and I, like a sea urchin without spines, rolled right out onto the deck, tumbling over the lid.
— Bellamy??? — several voices said in unison, startled, as they rushed toward me.
I lifted my head and saw that Sabo, Gin, and Karina had already gathered around.
— So, everyone's here! — I quickly got to my feet and brushed myself off, as if nothing strange had happened. — I want to introduce our new nakama — Auger. He's a sniper.
— What? — Sabo squinted, glancing from me to Auger. — You were gone for half a day, and you've already recruited someone into the crew?
Everyone nodded in turn, but I immediately raised my hand, cutting the moment short:
— You can get acquainted later. The main thing now is to get out of here. The Marines are combing the whole port, and they're surely on their way to us already.
— Hoist the sails, I'm heading to the anchor! — I shouted and ran into the hold, leaping over coils of rope.
— Auger, — Sabo turned to him as they walked, — I'm Sabo, this is Gin, and that's Karina.
— A pleasure, — the sniper nodded, his expression unchanged.
— Raise the gangplank, we'll handle the rest! — Gin called, already turning to the wheel.
— Alright, — Auger replied calmly, lifting the hundred-kilo gangplank with one hand…
The deck burst into motion — sails unfurled, rigging tightened, and the planks underfoot gave off a deep hum from the hurried footsteps. The wind was already tugging at the flags, and the ship began to slowly come alive, preparing for a dash.
Two hours later…
— If these maps I bought are to be trusted… — Sabo began, leaning over a table covered with a dozen mismatched maps, many already damp from spray. — Look here… — he tapped the same spot on each map. — This mountain. It's marked everywhere. The entrance to the Grand Line.
— This looks strange, — Karina muttered, examining the outline of the Red Line on one of the charts.
— And how are we supposed to get there? — Gin frowned, crossing his arms.
The hold door creaked open, and Auger walked in, dripping like a wrung-out rag.
— The weather's getting worse by the minute, — he stated flatly.
— Which means we'll reach the Red Line within thirty minutes, — Sabo added, assessing the situation.
— You still haven't answered how we're supposed to climb the mountain! — Karina asked irritably, hands on her hips.
I, who had been quietly watching the argument, finally decided to step in:
— The current is strong enough to throw us up there.
— What?! — Gin and Karina exclaimed in unison, as if I'd just said a flock of flying whales would carry us.
— It makes sense, — Sabo quickly picked up, pulling another map toward him and drawing lines on it. — If you look closely, all the currents from the four oceans converge at one point.
He looked up and, like a commander before storming a fortress, said:
— Leave the helm to me, and I think we'll make it through.
— "Think," — Gin snorted — well, at least it's not "for sure."
— We'll know "for sure" when we're alive on the other side, — Sabo smirked, already climbing to the helm.
In the distance, a dark-gray mass was already rising — like a stone wall reaching into the sky.
— Auger, what are you doing? — Gin asked, noticing the new sniper standing at the railing, aiming toward the mountain.
— Checking whether luck is on our side this time or not, — he replied evenly and pulled the trigger. The shot echoed over the waves.
— Fate says we'll make it, — he added, slinging his rifle over his back, as if he'd just put a bold period on someone's life.
— We're getting too close! — I shouted, grabbing the railing as the current began spinning our ship like a toy. — Hold on to anything you can so you're not thrown overboard!
— Gin! Turn a little left so we go in straight! — Sabo yelled over the wind.
— Holding! — Gin roared, forcing the wheel around as the waves tried to rip it from his hands.
— We're not going to crash into the Red Line, are we? — Gin shouted.
— No, now— — Sabo didn't have time to finish before a giant wave lifted us.
— The water's really going uphill! — Gin yelled.
The ship lurched upward, as if thrown from below by an enormous hand. Water roared, masts groaned, and ahead, in the misty rain, the narrow water corridor of Reverse Mountain opened before us.
We climbed higher and higher until the world was swallowed in thick fog, and the masts began slicing through clouds like knives through cotton. The air was damp and cold, and it felt like we might just touch the heavens.
For about two minutes we rode the crest of the water stream until suddenly the current's force changed. The ship jolted, as if someone had suddenly let go from underneath, and we swung nose-first downward.
— Hop… — I breathed, realizing what was about to happen.
— AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! — the scream spread across the deck, mixing with the roar of the water.
We plunged down like a stone dropped from a mountain, not pulled by gravity but hurled by the raging current dragging us into the watery shaft of Reverse Mountain. Spray battered my face, saltwater blinded my eyes, and in my ears there was nothing but a roar — louder than a cannon blast.
— Hold the wheel steady, Gin! — Sabo shouted, clinging to a rope.
— It wants to turn on its own! — Gin howled, wrestling with the handle that thrashed in his grip like a living thing.
The ship's sides scraped against the churning walls of the current. Any moment now, it felt like we'd be smashed like fish against the rocks.
— Don't let go, we're almost there! — I yelled over it all, though I wasn't sure if "almost" meant "almost through" or "almost done for."
Suddenly the current surged even stronger, and the ship shot forward like an arrow loosed from a giant bow. Clouds and spray blended into one unbroken tunnel of water, and somewhere ahead a bright light began to appear — the exit.
Then a huge shadow covered the passage!
— What is that?! It's a wall! — Karina shouted, staring at a massive gray shape that blocked half the sky.
— No… — Auger's voice faltered for just a moment before turning firm again. — That's a whale. — He pressed the rifle to his shoulder, peering through the scope, and his usually emotionless face showed the faintest trace of surprise.
— So… huge, — I breathed, involuntarily comparing it to what I'd seen in the anime. There, the creature's eye was the size of the Straw Hats' ship — but now… reality was far more overwhelming.
— Move aside! There's a passage! — Sabo barked, yanking the wheel so sharply the ship tilted dangerously.
Waves lashed the sides, rain whipped our faces, and the current, as if angered by our presence, dragged us back toward the black shadow lurking beneath the water.
Gin was already reaching for the sails to adjust them, Karina clung to the bulwark, and I felt the deck shudder under my feet — not from wind, but from a deep thud that rolled through the water. The whale was moving… and fast.
The wheel spun another half turn, and the ship slid into a sharp turn, skimming the crest of the wave like down a slippery slope. By some miracle, we slipped through a narrow gap between two rocky cliffs and the whale.
— We just got to the Grand Line and already this… — Karina muttered.