AUTHOR: @BowFilthyMortal, yeah man, I am now working part time at a medical lab for more learning purpose, and also going gym and hanging out with my best friends to make some memories before we go to our different colleges. So, yeah I am somewhat busy.....
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
As the days passed by, the Strawhats were nearing the Redline and it was also the time for Sanji to come out of the chamber. Everyone was waiting for Sanji to come out, Ussop suddenly said, "Sanji should be very happy for these two years in the chamber, spending time with a beauty…." He then looked at Luffy, "Don't you think Luffy!!??" Luffy just smiled, "Well, he will be very grateful to me when he comes out!!"
Then an image of Ivankov chasing after Sanji came to Luffy's mind and he shuddered. "Well he sure will…" then he recalled that this time he and his group didn't encountered the Millennium Dragon or any kind of situation related to it. So with this he concluded that, somehow because of his 'System' few events had not occurred to make up the time spending in the Chamber.
A sudden light shined on the Deck of Going Merry and from it came out Sanji in his black suit and a little bit stubble. But the noticeable change was the swirls of his left eyebrow, previously the swirl was inward towards his forehead but now it is outwards. Luffy from his previous world's memories can somewhat speculate that, this only happen when Sanji's body became exactly like his brothers…it enhanced…or maybe not.
As the Strawhats were about to greet Sanji for his return, he suddenly looked at Luffy with an intense gaze, "You….you…." his eyes became shadowed as his right foot ignites with flames and he launched himself at Luffy so fast that only Zoro, Luffy and Ussop could read is movements with help of their Observation Haki, but it was still little bit difficult for Ussop. As for Nami, it was like Sanji teleported from his spot and appeared infront of Luffy.
Luffy had already anticipated that this could happen when Sanji sees him, so he too covered his leg with Armament Haki but to not clash with Sanji's attack, instead to repeal the force from it towards the sea so to not damage Merry. As Sanji's firing foot neared Luffy, he cried, "DAMN YOU…..YOU TRICKED ME INTO THAT HELLLLLL" and with that foot made contact with Luffy's and instantly Luffy redirected the force towards the sea. Instantly the water parts away and steam rise because of the heat. Seeing his attack missed his intended target, Sanji was again readying his next attack when he sensed Zoro just behind him and the tip of a sword at his neck, "Well shitty cook, why don't you go ahead and give me a nice reason to separate your neck from your body???" Zoro asked in menacing tone. Sanji looked at Zoro with a glare but then both of them stiffen when they felt a dangerous presence on them, both of them looked at Luffy who was grinning widely while his eyes shining red indicating the usage of Haki, "Why not you two gentlemen's calm the fuck down so that we all can talk this out like a civilized manner…." Both Zoro and Sanji knew that it was not a suggestion but an order, so they both settled down. Seeing them calm down, Luffy stopped his Haki.
All this happened but both Nami and Ussop were confused, "H.hey guys…what's going on!!??" Nami asked in nervousness while Ussop was shaking a bit at Sanji's sudden attack. But Luffy looked at them and smiled warmly, "Don't worry Nami, Ussop…everything is fine. It's just Sanji is really upset about something that I didn't mentioned to him!!!" at this, Sanji hugged himself and started to shiver, "That was the worst days of my life…..!!" Zoro seeing this smirked, "Oh!! Now I really wants to know what happened!!??"
Luffy shook his head and walks towards the kneeling Sanji and patted his shoulder, "Now now, don't be like that…..I know what I did was harsh, but you need to understand that it was necessary for your own growth." Nami and Ussop were supper confused as to what really happening but they know one thing that something really bad happened to Sanji in the teaching chamber.
Meanwhile Sanji who was kneeling down can clearly knows what Luffy is saying is true but atleast he should have warned him sooner about that. He stood up and sighed and then looked at Luffy, "I am still mad at you….but I shouldn't have just straight out attacked you. Sorry for that!!!" Luffy waved his hands in dismissive manner, "Nah man chill, I all good." Then he looked at Nami, "Oi Nami, how long will it take us to reach Redline!??" the question brought Nami out of her stupor, as she immediately looked at her map, "About a day more…." Then she looked at the dark clouds above clearly indicating a storm is coming, "If the wind picks up then less than 16 hours."
Luffy nodded at that, then he looked at Sanji, "Oi Sanji!! Can you do me a favor and look at Nami for a second!!" Nami was confused as to what Luffy is trying to do, but Sanji was more than happy to see a real beauty in two years. As he looks at Nami, he froze and a little bit of blood started to leak from his nose. Seeing this, Luffy sighed in relief, 'Atleast it is not like spraying blood all over!!' Ussop seeing Sanji bleeding from his nose immediately started to panic and took some cotton from the first aid kit and gave it to Sanji, "Oi oi man…..you're bleeding!!"
Seeing Sanji taking the cotton and placing it in his nostrils to stop bleeding made Luffy sigh, "Ussop…" he called to which said person look at him with curiousness, "From now on, you keep an eye on Sanji till the moment his nosebleed stops by seeing Nami or just any kind of beautiful women." Everyone was confused at that but none of them said anything as it was Luffy who was telling something to do and they all know that he is the brains.
Then he clapped his hands in joy, "Well now, as we have everyone here…." He then walks towards an empty barrel near the mast and dragged it towards the group, "We are about to enter the Grandline to achieve our dreams and goals….so why not we should celebrate this occasion by declaring it to this wild sea!!!" he grinned widely as listening to him, others also grinned widely. Then he step forward and placed his right foot on the top of the barrel, "TO BE THE PIRATE KING…"
Then Zoro stepped forward and put his right foot on the barrel, "TO BE THE GREATEST SWORDSMEN IN THE WORLD…."
Then Sanji stepped forward and put his foot on the barrel, "TO FIND ALL-BLUE…"
Next was Nami and put her foot on the barrel, "TO DRAW THE MAP OF THE WORLD…
And finally was Ussop, who puffs his chest and put his foot on the barrel, "TO BE THE BRAVE WARRIOR OF THE SEA…"
With that, they all grinned and raise their foots and bring it down, smashing the barrel, "TO THE GRANDLINE….."
Few hours later, the storm got more violent and the wind current became very strong. The rate at which the Going Merry was sailing through the wind, it can be easily said that they will be near the Redline with just few more hours. Currently Nami is surveying the map which she got from Buggy pirates, she was looking really frustrated as she couldn't find any way to bypass the giant Redline except one pathway which shows climbing up the current but that is impossible in her eyes. The she remembered that Luffy has knowledge about Grandline, so walks outside of her room to the deck and saw him sitting at his usual spot, on the top of Merry's head.
"Oi Luffy, I need your help with something…." He looked at her with curious gaze, "What is it Nami!??" she rubbed her forehead in frustration as she laid the map open in front of him, "See here…." She said pointing at the small gap between the Redline, "It shows here that this is the way to Grandline….but I don't know how the hell Merry will even climb it…." She was really frustrated, this was the first time something like this happened with her that she could not tell what map is showing.
Luffy chuckled and patted her head, "Oh dear Nami….don't pressure youself!! This is Grandline we are talking about where the words like no and impossible doesn't work." She became annoyed at how easily can Luffy calm her down with just a headpat. "And don't worry about anything, just follow what map is showing….this here is called Reverse Mountain. The water current flows upward through it!!" Nami was gobsmacked hearing what Luffy said, "Amazing…." She said while looking at the map.
Then Nami get to the command, "Guys listen, you all see that canal between the mountain…..we need to enter that in order to enter the Grandline." Zoro and Ussop both were little bit skeptical about it but Sanji immediately believed her, "Ofcourse Nami-swan~~~…." While Zoro looked at Luffy who only nodded in return telling Zoro to do what Nami is saying. So with that, everyone gets to work by adjusting the sails and lining the Merry according to the water current.
As the ship nears the giant Redline, the Strawhats were at awe seeing such a thing with no top visible, "Wonder if it natural or man-made!!!" Ussop suggested to Sanji butted in, "How the hell can this be man-made!?? It must be natural…." Luffy was also in thoughts, thinking about the theories in heard or listen from his previous world that maybe it was created by JoyBoy 800 years ago with the help Nika powers. But if it is true, then why would he separate the world in two half or maybe it is somehow related to Imu's powers, various theories suggested that if we spell Imu backwards it is 'Umi' which means sea. Does that mean's it has the power to control the sea water or something??
"Get ready and the Merry in the line or the wind current can make it crash to the Redline…." Nami ordered which bring back Luffy out of his thoughts. Soon, the ship entered the canal path and started to climb up the mountain at very fast rate, showcasing the speed of the water current and soon they all reached the top of where the water from All four blue intercept. Everyone was awe by the scenery, they were sailing in the clouds, colorful mist everywhere and the water was shining brightly.
As others were amazed by the view, Luffy with a neutral face was looking up somewhere with his Strawhat shadowing his eyes, if someone were to look at his face right now….they will only see two Red eyes shining from the shadow. Meanwhile, on the top of the Redline opposite side of the Reverse mountain, at the holy land of MaryGeoise Pangaea Castle, a very tall person wearing all black gown with a very tall crown above its head was taking a stroll through the garden when suddenly it stopped and looked at the certain direction with its ringed pupils shining red as if it is gazing at someone's eyes.
Back with the Strawhats, Luffy broke from his trance and blinked in confusion, "What the hell was that….!!??" He looked around himself and was really confused as he didn't remembered anything that happened in last two minutes, 'What happened to me!!??' then he broke out of his shock when someone tapped his shoulder, he looked at saw it was Ussop, "You alright man….???" Luffy who was still in confusion just smiled, "Yeah…."
Then suddenly the current picked up again and the ship started to descend from the conjunction while picking up speed. "BRACE YOUSELF….WE ARE ABOUT TO ENTER THE GRANDLINE….." Nami yelled as she hold the mast tightly while Ussop holds the railing, both Zoro and Sanji were just standing there enjoying the cool breeze and Luffy jumped on top of Merry's head and spread out his Observation Haki to sense if Laboon is still blocking their path.
As the clouds and mist part away showing the path ahead, Ussop with his binocular goggles saw a huge black mountain ahead, "Ah guys….I think there is something ahead blocking our path….." Nami immediately got on attention, "What…..???" she took her own binocular and saw it to, "Oh my god….there is a mountain ahead, at this rate we will just crash into it!!" Zoro narrowed his eye and looked at the black dot which becoming bigger and bigger as they approaches the end of the canal, "That's not a mountain…it's a giant whale." "WHAT…..??" both Nami and Ussop screamed in unison.
Luffy then steps forward getting everyone's attention, "Don't worry, I'll handle it…." And with that he closed his eyes, 'Okay, let's try that!!' then he started to focus only on Laboon and clearing his mind from everything, while he was doing that…the ship was approaching fast towards the whale, "Oi oi Luffy, do it fast…." Ussop panicked. As they were just kilometer away from hitting the whale, suddenly for Luffy everything stops moving and the world itself became still, then he spoke, "PLEASE MOVE ASIDE….."