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"Everyone, heads up—we're almost at Reverse Mountain!"
The Merry was charging forward through the rain and fog.
Nami looked at her sea chart and called out to the crew.
"We're finally here!!!"
Luffy was the most hyped.
"Yeah, but just getting near the Grand Line has already been this crazy."
Sanji looked out ahead, unable to stop himself from sighing.
"Who knows what kinda madness is waiting for us in the Grand Line."
"It's gotta be one hell of an adventure, right?"
Bai Ye walked up beside him, clearly excited too.
Ever since they left Loguetown, they'd been heading for Reverse Mountain.
On the way, they had to steer off course to avoid the Marines. A strong wind storm helped them shake off the battleships.
That was the first time Nami revealed her special ability to sense weather changes.
And from that, Bai Ye realized—she probably had the talent to awaken Observation Haki someday.
But right now, there wasn't time for training. Because while escaping the Marines, the Merry accidentally wandered into the Calm Belt.
After Nami explained what that was, the crew got their first look at one of this world's most terrifying creatures—Sea Kings.
Even Luffy and Sanji didn't joke about trying to cook them.
In the end, using both his water and wind-based Qi techniques, Bai Ye helped the Merry escape the Calm Belt at full speed.
That's also when they met Apis, who had just escaped from a Marine ship—starting the anime-original Millennium Dragon arc.
When Luffy met the dying Millennium Dragon, known as "Old Man Dragon," he didn't hesitate to help it find its lost home.
That was also the first time Luffy showed his ability to understand animal speech.
Compared to the original timeline, the current Straw Hat crew was way stronger—like, next-level strong.
So when it came to dealing with the villains of this incident—Rear Admiral Nelson and the Scythe-Scythe Fruit user Eric—they handled it way more easily and relaxed.
Hell, Bai Ye even reported the local Marines for arresting random civilians to Brian.
Brian ended up yelling into the Den Den Mushi in frustration but promised he'd report it up the chain.
Eventually, the crew made it to the legendary Lost Island—the one that only surfaces once every thousand years. It's also where the thousand-year dragons begin and end their life cycles.
Every thousand years, the dragons migrate there from afar—to say goodbye to those at the end of their lives, and to welcome the birth of the next generation.
As for the legendary "dragon bones" that were said to grant immortality? Turned out they were just stone statues formed from the bodies of the dragons.
Bai Ye, who had some experience in alchemy, was super disappointed. These dragon bones didn't have any life-extending effects at all.
In fact, after soaking in seawater for so long, they were salty as hell.
After saying goodbye to Apis and the people on Warship Island, everyone boarded the Merry and set off again—back on course toward Reverse Mountain.
Reverse Mountain—an insane, dangerous mountain and the entrance to the Grand Line.
There are five waterways on Reverse Mountain, forming an X-shape. Four streams flow upward toward the peak, each one connecting to one of the four seas: East Blue, West Blue, South Blue, and North Blue.
Then, there's one final stream flowing down into the Grand Line.
"Just like Bai Ye said!" Usopp stood at the crow's nest, peering through the telescope. He was starting to get the chills.
"Reverse Mountain isn't just high... it's ridiculously tall!"
Up ahead, through the thick fog, a colossal wall loomed. It stretched into the clouds so far you couldn't even see the top. The pressure it gave off was unreal.
A moment later, the Merry reached the base of the uphill stream.
Seeing the water literally rushing up, Luffy's eyes lit up. He grinned ear to ear and laughed like a maniac:
"This is freakin' awesome! Hahahaha!"
He jumped into his "captain's throne," pressed his hat down with one hand, and pointed forward with the other:
"Let's gooooooo!!!"
BANG!!!
A second later, Nami dropkicked him right off the goat figurehead.
"You don't need to yell that kind of stuff, you idiot! Go help out or something—can't you see we're all busy?!"
"Even if you're the captain, you better pull your weight, moron."
Still pissed, she punched a massive bump onto his head.
Bai Ye winced at the sight: Damn, did Nami awaken Armament Haki already?
Still, he kept working without missing a beat.
As for the usual paper puppets Bai Ye used as his 007-like helpers, he'd already packed them up.
Not because they feared the rain, but if they stayed on deck, the wind would blow them away in seconds.
That made Bai Ye consider strengthening them even more.
After all, until Franky installed the Soldier Dock System, it was tough to run the upgraded Merry with just the few of them.
With that in mind, they finally managed to steer the ship into the upward stream.
In a blink, the Merry reached the top of the current.
FWOOOSH!!!
In the next instant, the ship shot up into the sky, breaking through the clouds with insane force.
Then came the fall.
If all went well, they'd land in the current that connected the four seas to the Grand Line.
But things went sideways—fast.
"Hey hey hey! If this keeps up, we're gonna crash into the Red Line!" Nami screamed.
"Leave it to me!" Luffy yelled, clamping down his hat before leaping off the Merry.
Everyone freaked out.
"Luffy!" Zoro shouted.
"Are you crazy?! What the hell are you doing?!" Sanji panicked.
Then—
"Gomu Gomu no... Balloon!!!"
As he neared the Red Line, Luffy sucked in a massive gulp of air and inflated his body into a giant balloon.
The Merry landed right on top of him, and the rebound from his rubbery body flung the ship safely onto the correct sea current.
Luffy stretched his arms, grabbed the ship, and slingshotted himself back aboard.
After all that chaos, everyone gazed ahead, where the Grand Line was finally coming into view.
Sanji: "All Blue... it's gotta be somewhere in there."
Nami: "Time to start charting the world's seas—my map begins here."
Usopp: "My dad's up ahead somewhere... Once I become a real warrior of the sea, I'll go meet him."
Zoro: "Mihawk... you won't have to wait long."
Bai Ye: "This is where our legendary journey begins."
Luffy: "Hahahaha! GRAND LINE, HERE WE COME!!"
"I'M GONNA BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES!!!"
"....."