The past half a month had been a period of forced tranquility. For Yamato, it felt more like a prolonged injustice.
Ornn had been meticulous. He moved with a quiet, relentless urgency, pushing their journey toward the Blue Seas. His goal was simple: to vanish before the Beasts Pirates could even begin to map their trajectory.
They had spent a mere half-day at Fish-Man Island before plunging back into the waters of Paradise.
They didn't stop at Sabaody Archipelago. Ornn knew the risks of the Mangrove groves; it was a den of information brokers and world-class eyes. Instead, he kept the Sun Pirates' flag high on the mast as a deterrent and moved according to the steady pull of the Log Pose.
During the entire transit, they only dropped anchor at two minor islands for food and water. Neither stop lasted more than six hours.
It was nowhere near enough time for Yamato to recover from the sea, nor enough to explore even a single landmark.
For Yamato, the last fifteen days had been indistinguishable from confinement. She was trapped in a cycle of nausea and boredom that made the open ocean feel like a cage.
However, there were pros to the suffering. The constant sailing had forced her body to adapt. Her seasickness was finally receding from a terminal condition to a background annoyance.
Under a clear sky and a pleasant wind, she could finally walk the deck without leaning on Ornn for support.
...
"Okay... that's amazing!"
Yamato stared upward, her head craned back.
"Even though it's the second time I've seen it, I still can't believe a mountain like this actually exists."
An hour later, the ship officially docked at the shore of the Twin Capes. As soon as the hull kissed the stone, Yamato staggered toward the Red Line. She moved with a drunken, joyful gait, stretching out her hand to caress the rough, crimson rocks of the continent.
The clouds shrouded the summit. Even the base of Reverse Mountain was a vertical marvel that made her feel like a child witnessing a miracle.
When they had passed Sabaody, Ornn had refused to linger. He feared Kaido's informants. Yamato had been forced to watch the prosperous archipelago and the magnificent Red Line from a distance—a slight that had caused her to go silent for three days.
But now, she could touch it. She could feel the ancient, cold scale of the world under her palms.
Unlike Yamato, who was consumed by the geography, Ornn's attention shifted toward the lighthouse.
Sitting in the shadow of the great tower was an old man wearing an eccentric headdress. He looked vaguely like an Indian chief. He was unassuming—just a senior reading a newspaper—but Ornn knew the history hidden behind those glasses.
Crocus. The gatekeeper of the Twin Capes.
Formerly the ship's doctor for the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger.
"I feel like I've seen him somewhere before..."
Yamato, her initial excitement cooling, finally noticed the old man. She stared at him with a thoughtful, squinted expression.
"Big flowerpot?" she muttered.
Crocus paused. His hand froze on the edge of the newspaper.
A flicker of genuine curiosity cut through his bored exterior. In all the years he had lived, only the men on one specific ship had called him that—thanks to a particularly idiotic warrior with a penchant for nicknames.
He hadn't heard that name since they had reached Laugh Tale nearly twenty years ago.
The old man folded his paper.
"Little girl... where did you hear that nickname?"
Yamato's eyes went wide. "It really is you?!"
She reached into the storage space near her chest and produced Oden's journal.
A soft, melancholy expression of reminiscence settled over Crocus. He stared at the weathered book for a long time before finding his voice.
"I haven't seen that book in many years. How is that idiot Oden doing?"
Yamato hesitated. The joy drained from her face.
"He... he's dead."
She began the long, painful narration. The execution. The betrayal. The long night that had settled over the Kozuki family.
Crocus listened in silence. For a brief second, a powerful, sharp aura erupted from the old doctor—a ghost of the strength that had sailed with the Pirate King—but it vanished as quickly as it had come.
He let out a long, tired sigh.
"Everyone has their own destiny. Perhaps this was Oden's doom."
Ornn watched the old man's resignation. He knew that the survivors of Roger's crew had embraced a deep, unshakable fatalism. They were content to watch the world rot, waiting for a 'destiny' they believed they couldn't interfere with.
Ornn didn't like it. He didn't believe in waiting for a script to be written.
But he said nothing. It was their freedom to be silent.
"Let's not dwell on the dead," Crocus said, standing up. He walked toward the water's edge and dipped his hand into the sea, closing his eyes.
"You're lucky. The reverse current will arrive in three days. You can ride it directly into the Blue Seas."
Ornn had heard of this from Jinbe. While the mountain usually flowed into the Grand Line, tidal shifts and soaring currents occasionally forced the water backward.
It was random. Random and rare.
Only someone like Crocus, who lived at the heart of the world's plumbing, could predict it.
Yamato was thrilled. Seventy-two hours of not being seasick.
For Ornn, it meant the beginning of a stable development period. A chance to start 'farming' in earnest.
...
The first two days at the Twin Capes were peaceful. They lived in the lighthouse, sharing meals and quiet stories.
In the early morning of the third day, the silence was shattered.
"Booooooooo!!!"
The penetrating, mournful cry jolted them from their sleep. They shared a quick look before racing outside.
Yamato was on edge, her mace half-drawn. Ornn remained calm.
He already knew the owner of that voice.
As they rounded the base of the tower, they saw it. An island whale of impossible proportions. Over four hundred meters of scarred skin, slamming its head into the Red Line.
Compared to the beast, their sailboat looked like a toy. It wasn't even as large as the creature's eye.
Island Whale Laboon... I've finally found you. Ornn looked at the whale, then at the scars on its forehead. Behind him, the Heart of Steel hummed.
"Don't attack it," Ornn said, stopping Yamato's advance. "It's not an enemy. It's just waiting for a promise that was broken a long time ago."
He looked up at the Red Line. The reverse current was coming.
The real forging was about to begin.