"Boom!"
Ryu's Subduing Dragon Palm collided with Dragon's technique, creating a massive explosion.
"What's that?" The Straw Hat crew, fleeing from the scene, noticed the commotion behind them.
"Don't worry about it! Luffy, hurry, get on!" Nami, already aboard the ship, could see that a Marine was fighting a mysterious figure. But she didn't care who they were right now. If someone was holding off the Marines for them, all the better.
"Subduing Dragon Palm: Seeing the Dragon in the Sky!" Ryu hadn't given up. The intense clash had caused blood to trickle from the corner of his mouth.
"Not bad! Dragon's Claw!" Dragon's hand shifted, forming a claw with only three fingers. He aimed at Ryu's dragon-shaped energy attack and ripped it apart effortlessly.
"Subduing Dragon Palm: The Goose Descends to the Land!" Gritting his teeth, Ryu unleashed his fourth strike, though he was nearly out of energy. Even with the regenerative abilities of the Purple Mist Divine Art, it couldn't keep up with the energy consumption of his Subduing Dragon Palm.
"Dragon Hook Claw!" Ryu saw clearly that Dragon's arm had changed color, likely using Armament Haki.
"Boom!" Dragon's claw made direct contact with the fourth strike. However, Ryu's energy only held for a few seconds before being dispersed by Dragon.
"Ugh!" Ryu spat a mouthful of blood. Smoker attempted to catch him, but the rain interfered with his powers, scattering his smoke, and he could only watch as Ryu was struck by Dragon and fell into the sea.
"Hey, Luffy, isn't that your brother?" Nami's sharp eyes spotted the Marine being knocked into the sea, right in their direction.
"What do we do? Should we help him?" Zoro asked, glancing at Luffy.
"Yes!" Luffy nodded firmly.
Ryu had already shared a brotherhood drink with Ace, and he'd helped them several times—they couldn't just leave him to die.
"But Luffy, the wind and rain are too strong. Even if we jump in, we might not be able to save him. We could end up drowning ourselves!" Usopp said, his voice trembling with fear.
"I'll go instead," Sanji said, kicking off his shoes and loosening his tie. "Luffy's a Devil Fruit user, so he'd be useless in the water."
"Wait, Sanji, Usopp's right. The weather is too rough. Tie a rope around your waist," Nami insisted, stopping him.
"Nami-swan~ I knew you cared about me the most!" Sanji's eyes turned into hearts as he started circling around Nami.
Annoyed, Usopp grabbed a long rope, tying one end around Sanji's waist and handing the other to Zoro.
"Sanji, we're counting on you," Luffy said seriously.
Sanji nodded and dove into the sea.
"Look, what's that?" Usopp suddenly shouted, noticing something.
"It's the lighthouse! The guiding light into the Grand Line!" Nami's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Hmm?" At that moment, Zoro felt tension in the rope. It seemed Sanji had reached the end, but he continued onward. A moment later, the tension eased—Sanji must have untied himself.
"What's going on?" the others crowded around, curious.
"He must've found him," Zoro said calmly, pulling the rope back in.
Sure enough, moments later, Sanji surfaced, with an unconscious Ryu under his arm.
"Sanji, grab hold!" Luffy extended his arm, stretching it towards Sanji.
After some effort, they managed to pull Sanji and Ryu back onto the ship.
"He should be fine, just unconscious," Nami said after checking Ryu's injuries.
The crew hurriedly carried Ryu to the cabin, letting him rest.
Once they were done, Sanji brought over a large wooden barrel and grinned. "Let's have a ceremony to celebrate!"
"To finding the legendary sea, All Blue!" Sanji put his foot on the barrel first.
"My goal is to become the Pirate King!" Luffy followed suit, his foot joining Sanji's.
"To becoming the world's greatest swordsman!" Zoro said, adding his foot to the barrel with his usual cool demeanor.
"I want to draw a map of the world!" Nami joined in with a smile, placing her foot on the barrel as well.
"I-I want to become a brave warrior of the sea!" Usopp stammered, but he followed the others, putting his foot on the barrel with a determined expression.
"Let's go! Towards the Grand Line!" the crew shouted together.
With their ceremony complete, the Straw Hat crew headed into the cabin. They checked Ryu's injuries first, then Nami began studying how to enter the Grand Line.
"It looks like… the entrance to the Grand Line is a mountain!" Nami shared her insight.
"What? A mountain? How are we supposed to get in?" Everyone else was dumbfounded.
"According to the sea chart, there's a canal on Reverse Mountain!" Nami pointed at the map seriously.
"That's nonsense! Even if there's a canal, it wouldn't go up a mountain!" Usopp protested in disbelief.
"But that's exactly what the map shows!" Nami insisted, pointing at the chart.
"This is a pain. Can't we just skip the entrance?" Zoro grumbled, preferring to avoid the hassle.
"You're wrong!" Luffy reprimanded Zoro with unusual seriousness.
"That's right! There's a big reason…" For once, Luffy's seriousness brought a hint of pride to Nami.
"Going through the entrance feels way more exciting!" Luffy exclaimed, obliviously cheerful.
"That's not the reason~~~" Nami smacked Luffy, frustrated that she had actually trusted him to be serious.
In the midst of their bickering, Usopp looked outside and said, "Huh? Why did the wind stop? It was pouring just a moment ago!"
"Yeah, and now the weather looks great!" Sanji added, gazing outside.
"Wait… could we have drifted into the Calm Belt?" Nami's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the eerily calm sea.
"The Calm Belt? What's that?" Luffy asked curiously as he walked out of the cabin.
"Looks like it's still storming over there, but here it's completely calm. How weird," Sanji observed, standing on the deck.
"Hey! Do you guys have time to stand around and chat? Hurry up, take down the sails, and row us back into the storm!" Nami shouted furiously.
"Why would we go back into the storm? It's fine here!" Usopp protested.
But seeing Nami on the verge of exploding, they all quickly sprang into action.
"I can't catch a break. What kind of ship did I even get on?" Nami muttered, exasperated at their laid-back attitude.
"Wow, the weather is so nice!" said Zoro, who walked out of the cabin stretching without any awareness of the situation.
Nami's face darkened. "Don't you realize we're drifting south? Start rowing back!"
"Oh? Doesn't that mean we're heading towards the Grand Line?" Zoro, for once, seemed to grasp the direction.
"If it were that easy, everyone would take this route! The Grand Line is bordered by two narrow sea regions. That's the Calm Belt, where we are now—a windless area!" Nami explained briefly.
"No wind, so what? We can just row through it," Zoro said, unfazed.
"That's because the Calm Belt is—"
Before Nami could finish, the entire ship shook violently, as if something huge was lifting it into the air.
"What the…" Everyone looked up, faces pale, at the massive Sea King that had appeared before them.
"That's right, the Calm Belt is a Sea King's breeding ground… and they're enormous!" Nami clung to the mast, practically sobbing.
At the edge of the ship, Usopp had already fainted in terror, while Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy each clutched a paddle, frozen in place.
"Listen, when this monster dives back underwater, we're going to row as fast as we can towards the storm!" Zoro whispered, barely daring to breathe.
"G-Got it!" This time, no one questioned him, and no one argued.
Unfortunately, their ship happened to be right next to the Sea King's nose, and a single sneeze from the creature sent them flying. Thankfully, they were launched toward the storm, and as soon as they hit the water, everyone frantically rowed back into the storm's edge.
By the time they made it back, everyone was sprawled out in exhaustion. Usopp was still unconscious; he'd fallen overboard during their flight, and if Luffy hadn't grabbed him with his outstretched arm, he'd have been eaten.
"Finally… we're back! Thank goodness!" Even the fearless Luffy felt relief to be back amidst the storm.
"Now do you see why everyone takes the entrance?" Nami lay flat on the deck, speaking weakly.
"Understood…" Zoro replied without much enthusiasm.
"Understood?" Realizing something, Nami hurried back to the cabin to carefully examine the map. She explained her findings to everyone, pointing out that the canal up Reverse Mountain was the only safe route; entering incorrectly would mean certain doom.
"Mhm! I got it! It's the amazing mountain!" Luffy nodded confidently, which only made Nami give up trying to explain further.
"Just follow my lead, everyone. Don't forget who the navigator of this ship is!" Nami declared proudly.
"Oh~ oh~ Nami-san is amazing!" Sanji was instantly smitten, transforming into a love-struck mess circling her. One couldn't help but wonder if this was how his eyebrows got twisted into spirals.
"Look! That's the amazing mountain! It's huge!" Luffy stood at the bow, staring in awe at the Red Line in front of them, so massive that its peak was hidden by the clouds.
...........
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