"The entrance to the Grand Line? The seawater is actually flowing upward—how spectacular!"
Staring at the waterways where millions of tons of seawater surged uphill, both Nami and Carina wore expressions of awe.
Only Karl, who had long known of it, remained impassive.
"Not good, the channel's too narrow. Hurry and furl the sails."
As the sloop neared the entrance to Reverse Mountain, Nami finally reacted, her face tense.
Karl stood beneath the mainmast, grabbed the line, and gave it a hard pull.
The open canvas folded at once.
Securing the line to a cleat, the sloop rode the upward current and entered Reverse Mountain's gate.
"Don't be nervous. I'm here."
Nami, only fourteen this year, faced the greatest challenge of her sailing life.
Without the mental steel of her counterpart in the original tale, her hands on the helm trembled slightly.
At that moment, Karl appeared behind her, strong hands settling on her shoulders, pouring an incomparable sense of safety into her.
After the fall of the Arlong Pirates, a dependence had taken root. Nami calmed down completely.
Under her steering, the sloop reached the summit, then entered the downward channel, rushing toward the descent even faster.
The drop sent the wind howling like a hurricane.
The two younger girls were nearly flung off.
Fortunately Karl caught one in each arm and pulled them into his embrace.
Even so, both faces had gone a little pale.
Thankfully, the mountain run was almost over.
Perhaps thanks to luck, the three did not encounter the island whale, Laboon.
Once the sloop burst out of the downward channel, the world fell instantly still.
The gale roaring at their ears, forcing their eyes shut, vanished like an illusion.
In its place, the sun dipped westward, and the afterglow painted the sea—an exquisite scene like a scroll come to life.
"Karl, where do we go next?"
Loosening her grip on the helm, Nami leaned into Karl's chest and looked up to ask.
Karl glanced down at Carina beside him. "Got the item?"
"Of course."
Carina's lips quirked as she took out a wrist-sized glass sphere and handed it to Nami. "This is a Log Pose, the Grand Line's compass. I just pick any heading, and the first island along that route will emit a magnetic pull that guides us there."
"So magical?"
Nami accepted the Log Pose, studying it with wonder.
"The East Blue is the weakest sea, and Loguetown is a peaceful island where pirates stop. The navigation shops there don't sell Log Poses."
Carina sighed. "I bought this at a high price from the black market."
Strapping on the Log Pose and dropping the sails, Nami chose a direction at random.
After the sloop cleared Reverse Mountain, Nami fixed the helm and looked at Karl and Carina on deck, each busy with their own task.
After thinking it over, Nami stepped up to Karl, curiosity bright. "Karl, now that we've entered the Grand Line, do you have a dream?"
Almost everyone who goes to sea has a dream and an ambition.
Some sail to seek the legendary great treasure.
Some sail to make their names known the world over.
Some sail to change the world.
…
Even Nami had her dream—to draw a map of the world.
So she was very curious about Karl's dream.
Before Karl could answer, Carina seemed to recall something, the corner of her mouth twitching. "You'll find his dream unbelievable."
"My dream?"
Karl, who had been lying back counting the emerging stars, grinned, spread his arms, and looked at Nami. "My dream is to eat the cuisines of the whole world, become the strongest man alive, find Pure Gold that grants immortality, then own a mobile island of my own and live a long, happy life on it with her."
"…"
Hearing Karl's dream for the first time, Nami's lips parted slightly, stunned.
"See? Unbelievable, right?"
Carina teased. "He actually believes that Pure Gold that could 'buy the whole world' really exists. That's even more unbelievable than becoming the strongest man in the world."
"Uh… heh-heh…"
Coming back to herself, Nami gave a dry laugh. "It's a great dream… just a bit difficult."
"Don't worry. I'll make it happen." Karl showed a confident smile.
Claiming the title of strongest was only a matter of time for him.
The current world's strongest man, Whitebeard, had declined too much. For Karl, he was less enticing than the three monsters in their prime—Charlotte Linlin, Kaido, and Shanks.
As for Pure Gold, as a transmigrator Karl didn't mind Carina's teasing.
All he needed was to find that lantern fish—and give Carina the best kind of face-slap.
Watching Karl lost in his vision, Nami edged over to Carina and whispered, "Um… Carina, you don't mind?"
"Hee-hee… Nami, you've got the wrong focus."
Carina blinked, then realized what Nami was hung up on after that final line of Karl's. She gave a wicked little smile and teased, "Such a girly heart, Cat Burglar—you actually like damsels-saved-by-heroes."
Seeing Nami's face go scarlet, Carina curled her lip. "Mind? If I did, I wouldn't have let you aboard. Those nobles keep a dozen, even dozens of concubines. What's one more at Karl's side?"
"Uh…"
Staring at Carina's "I'm not surprised; you're the weird one" face, Nami finally understood why their relationship was so good.
They both had problems.
"Here, I'll tell you something…"
Seeing Nami shift from shy to speechless, Carina's cheeks turned a little pink as she leaned to her ear and murmured a few words.
At once, Nami's little face flushed crimson.
"R-really… that strong?" she stammered.
"Of course."
Carina nodded firmly and took Nami's hands. "So please help share the burden from now on."
"N-no… I'm not doing that…"
Nami shook off Carina's hands and fled into the cabin, mortified.
For a fourteen-year-old far bolder in the original story, that conversation had been far too much.