August 11th, 1504 of the Sea Calendar.
The Noah family's birthplace: Starfish Island.
The family still maintained several small businesses on Starfish Island. At this moment, Noah and Ari, through a series of wormhole jumps, returned to the island. However, they didn't linger long. The two secretly boarded the Nautilus and set off toward the Red Line.
In fact, the entire Extreme Star Archipelago was located right next to the Red Line, with the shortest distance between them being less than 700 kilometers.
The reason Noah and Ari headed to the Red Line was to make their way to the North Blue.
In reality, traveling from the East Blue to the North Blue was relatively easy. The two seas were separated only by the Red Line. Later, the Vinsmoke family would famously cross the Red Line using massive snail ships to enter the East Blue directly.
However, traveling to the South Blue or West Blue would require navigating up the Reverse Mountain's canal—against the current—a highly difficult feat.
Naturally, any force capable of crossing the Red Line in the first place was already incredibly formidable, far from ordinary.
When Noah and Ari arrived at the Red Line, they stood in awe of the towering red cliffs that stretched endlessly into the sky, capped by the white snow atop the massive plateau. For regular people, scaling the 10,000-meter-high cliffs would be nearly impossible.
Luckily, Noah had no need to climb the Red Line.
The two spent over a week circling the surrounding seas, scouting potential entry points. The waters beneath the Red Line were treacherous, and among the most dangerous spots were Tidal Sea, Maelstrom Strait, and Ghost Reef Bay. Without the duo's powerful abilities, they might not have survived these perilous waters.
After careful evaluation, Noah finally chose the most dangerous yet secluded location: Tidal Sea.
Tidal Sea was shaped like a funnel. During high tide, seawater surged from the open ocean, and as the waves pushed inward, they grew taller and taller, reaching over a hundred meters during astronomical tides. When the tide receded, the water level in Tidal Sea dropped rapidly, exposing countless hidden reefs, transforming the area into a treacherous navigational hazard.
Abandoning the idea of navigating the Nautilus through the dangerous waters, Noah and Ari instead relied on their abilities to reach the innermost section of Tidal Sea.
The sheer red cliffs in this area were riddled with countless holes, eroded by the relentless pounding of the waves over time. These pockmarked walls reminded Noah of the cliffs on Sixis Island, which was why he chose this spot.
Although the core of the World Government's presence on the Red Line was at Mary Geoise, it didn't mean the rest of the Red Line wasn't being monitored.
If a cave suddenly appeared on the cliffs of the Red Line, patrol ships from the World Government would easily spot it.
Tidal Sea, however, had two major advantages: not only were there no regular patrols, but the cliffs were naturally full of wave-carved caves, providing perfect cover.
Once they found a suitable cave, the two began constructing a secret passage.
Using Ari's Hole-Hole Fruit powers, he quickly bored a tunnel through the rock. The excavated debris was transported via wormholes to a nearby ocean trench—this was the basic principle of using the Hole-Hole Fruit to dig.
The Red Line was immensely wide, spanning over 5,000 kilometers at its broadest point, and no less than 1,000 kilometers at its narrowest. The section of the Red Line between Tidal Sea and the North Blue measured roughly 3,200 kilometers.
However, the digging route wasn't necessarily a straight line. Since Noah wasn't yet sure about the conditions on the other side, they had to adjust the course in case the exit led to calm seas, which could be unsuitable for a hidden passage.
Ari's digging speed was impressive.
With his strength, he could dig for about three hours straight, creating a tunnel with a radius of 50 meters. Ari could tunnel forward about 10 kilometers per hour, meaning he could excavate 30 kilometers of tunnel each day.
For the 3,200-kilometer distance, they estimated it would take about 107 days to complete.
Noah wasn't idle, either.
While the tunnel was being dug, it wasn't ready for use yet. A long tunnel like this would have poor air circulation, creating a risk of suffocation.
While expanding the tunnel's radius to a kilometer would solve the issue, it would also increase the chances of exposure and risk destabilizing the surrounding rock layers, potentially causing cave-ins.
So, Noah opted for a different solution.
Every few kilometers, he built oxygen supply stations along the tunnel, where family members could replenish their oxygen tanks. These stations also stored fresh water and food supplies.
Additionally, to speed up travel through the tunnel, Noah installed two stone rails designed for electric trains.
These facilities, along with the tunnel, were primarily for the Noah family's ordinary members. Noah himself didn't need the supplies—he had his cards for storing provisions, and Ari could teleport via wormholes.
But the reason they were building this secret tunnel, despite having Ari's abilities, was as a precaution. In the event that Ari was killed or temporarily incapacitated, the family would still have a fast, secure way to travel between the East Blue and the North Blue.
In fact, Noah had several similar backup plans in place.
Better safe than sorry, as they say. If they waited until disaster struck to come up with solutions, it could have disastrous consequences—something Noah was determined to avoid.
With the Tidal Sea base now complete, Ari set a semi-permanent wormhole coordinate at the location.
At the moment, Ari could maintain a maximum of eight wormhole coordinates.
He had placed one at the Rum Kingdom base, another at the Ant Nest base on Sixis Island, and a third at the bottom of a deep trench near the Rum Kingdom. Adding the one at the Tidal Sea base, four of the fixed wormhole coordinates were now in use.
The remaining four coordinates were reserved for combat and travel purposes.
Aside from Ari's wormhole coordinates, Noah also secretly installed self-destruct mechanisms and other defensive measures at the Tidal Sea base.
Time passed swiftly, and over three months went by in the blink of an eye.
After more than 100 days of continuous work, Ari finally reached the rocky cliff near the North Blue.
For the last kilometer or so of rock, Ari didn't break through immediately. Instead, he opted to dig a small tunnel just wide enough for one person to pass through.
It didn't take long for Ari to pierce through the final layer of rock. But he was extremely cautious, opening only a small crack to observe the situation in the surrounding sea.
The exit point was located about 150 meters above the sea's surface, and to Ari's disappointment, the waters in this area were calm and still. Such a tranquil sea was far from ideal for a secret exit.
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𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!
𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸:
• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 30+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.
• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁: 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩!
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀!
👉 𝙅𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙣𝙤𝙬: patreon.com/sorkarnayeem
Now from today I am also going to upload 5 chapters weekly.