Shortly after leaving Loguetown, the ship gradually sailed out of the rainstorm's reach.
Soon, the sky overhead cleared up completely.
"Captain! I see the Red Line!"
Up in the crow's nest atop the mainmast, a pirate poked his head out and shouted excitedly.
Inside the captain's quarters.
Allen set down his teacup, stood up from the sofa, and walked outside with a cigar clamped between his teeth.
Looking past the bow, he gazed ahead at a towering red cliff that pierced the clouds, standing majestically above the sea and stretching endlessly across the ocean from left to right.
In the direction the ship was sailing, right where the sea met the mountain range, a massive, rushing river flowed upward against gravity until it vanished into the clouds.
Sanji and the others stepped out of their rooms and came to stand beside him.
"It's literally like the seawater is climbing the mountain. This is unbelievable."
The Nyaban Brothers looked up, their faces filled with absolute shock.
In contrast, Sanji, Gin, and Nami appeared rather calm.
Sanji and Gin had already crossed Reverse Mountain once before. Although Nami had never been up there, it wasn't her first time seeing an upstream waterway, and she even understood the mechanics behind it.
"Let's go. We're riding that waterway."
Allen ordered with a resolute gaze.
Nami quickly shouted down to the deck:
"Furl the sails! We'll move forward using the current's momentum. All non-essential personnel, get inside! If you fall off, no one will be able to save you!"
The sails were rapidly furled one by one, and the rest of the pirates on deck hurriedly ran back inside the ship's cabin.
Under the helmsman's control, the ship advanced steadily. As they drew closer, the current grew increasingly turbulent.
When they reached the base of the upstream river, the *Freewill* surged upward along the current, almost completely out of control!
*Bang! Bang!*
Riding the upward current, the *Freewill* instantly began to shake violently, sending numerous objects tumbling inside the cabin.
*Splash! Splash!*
The fierce current slammed against the hull, kicking up waves and splashing cool droplets of water onto their faces.
Allen stared straight ahead, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes as he grinned into the howling wind.
Soon, carried by the current, the *Freewill* plunged headfirst into the clouds, and the surrounding light gradually dimmed.
Nami was trembling with fear, her hands gripping the railing tightly as she kept her eyes glued to the bow.
The pirate at the helm was the former helmsman of Don Krieg's ship. Thanks to his previous experience crossing Reverse Mountain and the *Freewill*'s exceptional handling, the speeding ship barely deviated from its course.
A short while later, the ship finally crested the mountain peak. Left, right, and forward—the upward currents from the other three seas and the current leading into the Grand Line all converged here at once!
The ship rocked violently, and the difficulty of steering reached its absolute peak in that instant!
"Port rudder, ten degrees!!"
Spotting the correct direction, Nami hurriedly shouted.
Hearing the command, the helmsman strained with all his might to turn the ship's wheel.
"Hold it! We're about to switch to the downward river, prepare to straighten the rudder!"
Nami yelled again, her eyes locked dead ahead, not daring to be the slightest bit careless.
This was the most critical step. The rapid, chaotic currents could knock the ship off course at any moment, severely testing both their reaction speed and the vessel's performance.
The moment they entered the downward current, the ship's speed would accelerate to an absurd degree in a very short amount of time.
Even the slightest deviation that caused them to scrape the cliff face would instantly smash the entire ship to pieces!
"Now!"
As the *Freewill* tilted diagonally and was just about to plunge into the downward river, Nami quickly barked the order.
The helmsman gritted his teeth and violently wrenched the wheel back to center.
*Bang! Bang!*
Amidst another violent jolt, the *Freewill* successfully plunged straight into the downward river, its speed skyrocketing!
The oncoming gale whipped Allen's black hair into a frenzy. The cliff walls on either side blurred past them as the entire ship hurtled downward, almost as if it were in freefall!
Finally.
*BOOM!!*
The *Freewill* slammed down heavily, kicking up a massive splash dozens of meters high. Before it could even stabilize, the rushing torrent pouring into the sea pushed it forward!
The pirates inside the cabin were all thrown off their feet, tumbling over one another.
Allen caught Nami just in time before she could be thrown overboard, holding onto her until the *Freewill* gradually steadied itself.
"We... we survived..."
Nami released the hands shielding her head and looked up from Allen's embrace, still shaken. Her legs gave out, and she slumped down onto her rear.
Soon, the pirates stumbled out of the cabin and stood on the deck, looking around at their surroundings in bewilderment.
"So this is... the legendary Grand Line..."
"It doesn't look all that special."
"To think we've actually returned to this place... it feels like a dream."
The pirates each voiced their own sentiments.
Up on the deck, Sanji scanned the area and quickly spotted two buildings constructed on either side of the river's estuary, situated at the foot of the Red Line not far away.
"Are those... lighthouses?"
Sanji voiced his confusion. "Is there actually someone looking after a place like this?"
"I'm not sure. We didn't see anyone around the last time we came here," Gin said, shaking his head.
"Let's go take a look first."
Allen instructed, then looked down at Nami. "How's the Log Pose?"
Hearing this, Nami snapped back to reality and instinctively checked her wrist, only to find that the Log Pose she was wearing had shattered.
"It must have gotten smashed just now. I'll go inside and grab another one."
Nami lowered her head and sighed, then stood up and walked back to the surveying room.
The magnetic fields in the Grand Line were chaotic, meaning they could only navigate using a Log Pose or an Eternal Pose.
Allen had given Nami the several Log Poses he had previously taken from Fullbody, along with instructions on how to use them.
What he was most curious about was how the multiple compasses would point, considering there were seven different routes to choose from starting here.
Soon, Nami emerged from the surveying room holding a wooden display box that contained exactly five Log Poses.
Allen took a look and noticed that two of them were pointing in the same direction, while the remaining three each pointed in different directions.
This meant they currently had four routes to choose from.
Nami looked up at him questioningly. "So, what do you think? Any ideas?"
"Umm..."
Allen pondered for a moment before suddenly getting an idea. He chuckled,
"Let's roll some dice to decide."
"..."
Nami's mouth twitched. *'Isn't that way too casual?'*
It couldn't be helped. Allen wasn't familiar with the seven routes, and he hadn't visited many places during his time as a Marine at Headquarters.
The only one he knew anything about was the route leading to Whiskey Peak from his memories, but he had no idea which pose pointed to which route.
He wasn't even sure if any of the four available directions actually pointed to Whiskey Peak.
The ship docked.
A dozen or so pirates went inside the lighthouse to search the area.
Unfortunately, there was no sign of Crocus, leaving Allen with no way to ask for directions.
"Forget it, let's just pick one at random. We can always change routes later anyway."
Allen said, waving a hand at Nami.
There were ways to change routes, one of which was using an Eternal Pose to travel to an island on a different path.
They currently possessed Eternal Poses for Marine Headquarters, Enies Lobby, Impel Down, and a G-Branch Base, so switching routes would be a simple matter whenever they wanted.
Allen selected one of the Log Poses and tossed it to Nami.
"This one it is. Let's go."
...
The magnetic fields in the Grand Line were extremely chaotic, but the initial stretch departing from Twin Cape wasn't heavily affected, so the changes in ocean currents and climate weren't too exaggerated yet.
It was almost as if the Grand Line specifically gave newcomers a grace period to adapt.
The *Freewill* sailed very steadily along its route. Inside the navigation room, people took turns keeping a regular watch to ensure they didn't unknowingly drift off course.
The shipwrights of the Fifth Division began inspecting the *Freewill* to see if any of its functional facilities had been damaged during the recent impact.
Down in the first-floor recreation room, Sanji was teaching his subordinate chefs and apprentices how to mix drinks and prepare certain dishes.
Meanwhile, Gin was leading the Second Division in drills on the bow deck, primarily focusing on getting them accustomed to fighting with their brand-new batch of weapons.
To be honest, Gin felt that spending 400 million Berries to equip these arms was a bit extravagant.
The gear was powerful and would drastically boost the crew's combat effectiveness, but it offered almost no cost-to-performance ratio.
The ammunition consumption was far beyond what they had imagined. Unless they encountered a wealthy target, the spoils from a single battle might not even cover the cost of the bullets fired.
Allen, however, didn't care about the expense at all. To him, combat power meant everything.
Nowadays, spending money to significantly increase their strength was the easiest method available.
Once they reached the New World—a place where even nameless nobodies knew how to use Haki—this level of weaponry wouldn't be nearly enough.
Allen and his crew still had a long way to go.
Against a Four Emperors faction like Totto Land, let alone seeing Big Mom, they wouldn't even make it to a Sweet Commander before being entirely swallowed up by a Homie army led by countless powerhouses.
"Sure enough, entering the New World without knowing Haki just makes you a stray dog on the side of the road."
Inside the captain's quarters, Allen sighed, leaning back against the sofa and staring up at the ceiling.
Thinking about it now, "Mad Monk" Urouge—who managed to defeat a Sweet Commander shortly after entering the New World—was an absolute monster at this stage.
In terms of pure physical prowess, Allen's own bodily strength really wasn't bad. Using battleships as punching bags like Garp did would just be a waste of good ships for him.
But Garp could obliterate a battleship with a single punch using Conqueror's Haki Coating, whereas Allen couldn't even touch the edges of Armament Haki.
Come to think of it, Teacher Kaido's words weren't entirely without merit.
...In this world, only the power you can actually swallow is real!!
Allen's eyes revealed a resolute gleam. He had to find an opportunity to get his hands on a Devil Fruit and eat it!
And he needed to find a way to train in Haki!
——————
"Captain! Island spotted!"
It wasn't until the setting sun cast its slanted rays, gradually dyeing the clouds across the sky a deep red.
The faint silhouette of an island finally appeared from the crow's nest, prompting a pirate to shout down below.
The crew members excitedly ran to the bow to look out.
Allen and the others stepped out of their rooms. As the ship drew closer, the appearance of the island ahead gradually became clear.
There was a small town on the island with curling smoke rising from its chimneys. Four or five ships of varying sizes were docked at the port. However, at this moment...
Everyone's attention was completely captivated by another fantastical sight on the island.
"What the hell is that?"
"Trees? No, they're mushrooms!"
"Hey, aren't they way too big?"
Everyone's expressions turned to sheer disbelief.
Towering across the massive island were numerous red-capped mushrooms with chubby white stalks.
The smaller ones were about the size of a person, while the larger ones had grown to over a dozen meters tall, their massive, heavy caps completely overshadowing the houses.
Nami stared blankly, unable to hide her amazement. "Can mushrooms really grow this big? It's so magical..."
"Hehehe, they look delicious."
Buchi clutched his stomach and grinned, his eyes filled with a craving for a tasty meal.
"I just wonder if they're poisonous. If not, we might be able to whip up a lavish all-mushroom feast tonight."
Sanji took a drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled the smoke. Rubbing his chin with one hand, he actually began to consider the idea seriously.
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