Half a year later.
Having completed their travels through the North Blue and South Blue, the Traveler finally appeared within the Calm Belt beside the Grand Line.
"Wow, is this the Grand Line?"
Standing on the deck, Perona looked at the completely still sea ahead and asked Arashi, who was standing on the other side of the ship,
"Arashi, didn't people say the Grand Line has chaotic magnetic fields, weather, currents, and winds? Why is it so calm here?"
Robin, who had been quietly reading beside her, blinked in confusion as well before her eyes suddenly widened.
"This... this is the Calm Belt?"
After surveying the surroundings, Arashi showed no surprise at all that the Traveler had appeared in the Calm Belt.
Instead, he laughed.
"Looks like it really is the Calm Belt!"
"Arashi, I have a question!"
Perona clearly had no concept of what the Calm Belt actually was.
Seeing the Traveler sitting motionless on the windless, wave-less sea, she blinked in confusion.
"Why is it that every time Robin and I faint, the ship suddenly appears in a completely different sea?"
"It was like that when we went from West Blue to North Blue."
"And again when we went from North Blue to South Blue..."
"Ahem."
Arashi coughed lightly.
"That's exactly what I've been wondering too."
"Why do you two always faint whenever I'm about to travel to another sea?"
"It's very strange."
Perona became even more confused after hearing that explanation.
Meanwhile, Robin merely smiled and shook her head.
The first time the Traveler left West Blue and appeared in North Blue, Arashi had told them they had been unconscious for half a month.
She had believed him.
Then, half a year ago, she and Perona had mysteriously lost consciousness again.
When they woke up, the Traveler was already sailing through South Blue.
Arashi's explanation had been that the two of them had suddenly fallen unconscious for some unknown reason and slept for seven entire days.
The explanation had sounded somewhat forced.
But since both she and Perona had felt slightly unwell when they left the High Court Kingdom, Robin had not questioned it further.
Then, after six months of traveling in South Blue, the exact same thing happened again.
When they woke up, they had somehow arrived in the Grand Line.
Robin did not know exactly how Arashi was accomplishing all this.
But she was certain their bodies were not the problem.
Instead, Arashi clearly possessed some mysterious method that allowed him to freely travel between the Four Blues and the Grand Line.
So although Robin knew something suspicious was going on, she chose to act as though nothing had happened.
After all, whether Arashi had some secret means of crossing seas—or even appearing in the Grand Line itself—wasn't important.
For both Robin and Perona, simply being able to remain by Arashi's side was already the greatest happiness imaginable.
Sitting on the deck, Arashi silently watched Perona.
Compared to when she first boarded the ship, she had obviously grown taller.
Counting carefully, Perona and Robin had already spent a year and a half aboard the Traveler.
During that time, Perona's changes had been the most noticeable.
Not only had she gained height, but her body had also begun developing.
Her delicate face remained beautiful as ever, though much of its childishness had gradually faded away.
Well...
This was probably what people meant by raising a loli.
After withdrawing his gaze from Perona, Arashi slowly turned toward the calm sea and narrowed his eyes.
He had not expected that traveling through West Blue, North Blue, and South Blue would take an entire year and a half.
More than half a year in West Blue.
Nearly half a year in North Blue.
Another half year in South Blue.
During those six months in South Blue, he had raised:
Armament Haki to Level 8Conqueror's Haki to Level 6Marine Six Styles remained at Level 5
What surprised him most was the cost of upgrading Armament Haki.
The travel points required per level were even higher than Observation Haki.
To advance from Level 8 to Level 9, he needed a staggering 50,000 Travel Points.
It was absurd.
Back when he upgraded Observation Haki from Level 8 to Level 9, it had only cost him 30,000 points.
Even more outrageous was Conqueror's Haki.
While traveling through South Blue, he had spent 10,000 points to raise it to Level 6.
When he checked the next upgrade requirement, the system informed him that reaching Level 7 would cost 50,000 points.
Jumping from 10,000 directly to 50,000 points was completely unreasonable.
"Well, no point dwelling on it."
Perona had already forgotten about the mystery of fainting whenever they entered a new sea.
Floating over behind Arashi, she wrapped her arms around him and asked excitedly,
"So where are we traveling in the Grand Line?"
"The important question right now isn't where we're going."
Arashi rubbed his forehead and looked around.
"It's how we're going to get the Traveler moving."
"Huh?"
Perona blinked.
Then realization struck her.
"Oh right!"
"The ship hasn't moved at all!"
"What's going on?"
Arashi patiently explained,
"The Calm Belt lies on both sides of the Grand Line."
"Because there are no winds or waves here, sailing ships can't move."
"And more importantly..."
"A huge number of Sea Kings live in this area."
"Oh!"
Perona's eyes suddenly lit up.
"If there's no wind, then ships can't sail!"
"I have an idea!"
Before Arashi could react, Perona immediately activated her Devil Fruit ability.
Countless ghostly spirits emerged around her and began floating through the air.
"Wait, wait, wait—"
Seeing her suddenly unleash her power, Arashi's eyes widened.
"Perona, stop—"
"Mini Ghosts: Ghost Bomb!"
Without waiting for him to finish, Perona compressed the ghosts into miniature forms.
Then she pointed toward the sea behind the ship.
The mini ghosts merged together and drifted down toward the water.
BOOM!!!
A tremendous explosion erupted.
A massive shockwave surged outward and instantly propelled the Traveler forward across the sea.
"Holy crap..."
Watching Perona use a Ghost Bomb's explosion to push the ship forward, Arashi lowered his head helplessly.
Black lines filled his forehead.
Clearly, Perona had completely ignored the part about the Calm Belt being filled with Sea Kings.
And sure enough—
The Traveler had only glided forward twenty meters when the explosion awakened the monsters beneath the sea.
One after another, enormous Sea Kings lifted their heads from the depths.
The next moment, they charged upward.
The ocean surface bulged violently.
Then gigantic shadows erupted from beneath the water, carrying towering waves into the sky.
One of them was so enormous it resembled a mountain.
Opening its blood-soaked maw, it lunged directly toward the Traveler at lightning speed.
Its gigantic jaws descended upon the ship in an instant.
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