Chapter 37: Reverse Mountain

They prepared to reach the Grand Line, but since it was still raining, they had to steer the ship in the direction of the light.

Luffy and Nami were outside the kitchen, watching the path ahead while the rest took shelter from the rain inside.

"The rain is pretty strong," said Oliver while exercising.

"Yeah," said Usopp. "Don't you ever get tired of exercising?"

"No. I do it to become stronger, so I can't stop," Oliver replied. 'I have to do it. I must become stronger, much stronger.'

At that moment, Nami entered wearing a raincoat, while Luffy came in completely soaked.

Luffy dried himself with whatever he could, while Nami placed the map on the table, catching everyone's attention.

"The entrance to the Grand Line is a mountain," said Nami, showing the map.

"A mountain?!" asked Usopp.

Oliver stopped exercising to pay attention.

"Yes! I thought it was impossible, but look at the map, and check this out," she pointed to where Loguetown was marked. "The place where the Guide Light was pointing is right at this spot on the Red Line. Reverse Mountain."

"What do you mean? Do we have to go through the mountain?" asked Luffy.

"No, there are channels here, see?" Nami replied.

"Channels?! You have to be kidding me," said Usopp in disbelief. "Even if there's a channel, there's no way a ship can climb a mountain!"

"But that's what the map says," said Nami.

"That'll be fun to watch," said Oliver.

"We're going to climb a mountain with our ship?! Amazing!" said Luffy excitedly. "Is it some kind of mysterious mountain or something?"

"Why is it so necessary to enter through the entrance? Couldn't we just go south?" asked Zoro.

"You're wrong!" shouted Luffy.

"Yes, there's a reason," said Nami.

"It's much better to enter through the entrance! Are you stupid or what?!" shouted Luffy.

"No!" said Nami, hitting him on the head.

"Hey! The storm just passed!" shouted Usopp.

"You're right. It's really calm now," said Sanji.

Oliver swallowed hard, knowing what was coming.

'I really don't want to see the size of the Sea Kings,' thought Oliver with a bit of fear.

They all stepped outside and found themselves in a warm climate with no air currents.

"Oh no... we're in the Calm Belt," said Nami, scared.

"Calm Belt? What's that?" asked Usopp.

"It's a horrible place, very horrible. We need to go back to the storm," said Oliver as he went to gather the sails.

"Go back? Why do we have to go back to the storm?" asked Usopp.

"Just hurry up, gather the sails, and start rowing!" shouted Nami, ordering everyone. "The Grand Line is surrounded by two strips of sea. And that's what this small piece of sea is, the Calm Belt!"

Suddenly, the ship started shaking violently, revealing a massive number of extremely giant Sea Kings, leaving all the Straw Hats in shock.

"It's a nest of the biggest Sea Kings," said Nami, crying as she clung to the mast of the Going Merry.

"W-We need to get out of here," said Oliver, feeling his heart pounding. 'H-How do you even defeat these things?'

Everyone prepared themselves so that the moment they hit the water, they could start rowing immediately to get away from the Sea Kings.

They were on top of a Sea King that started moving, causing the whole ship to shake, nearly making them fall off, so they had to hold on tightly to the Going Merry.

One of the Sea Kings noticed them and went straight for them, but luckily, another Sea King interfered, preventing them from being eaten—although it was more about deciding which one would get to eat them.

Thanks to that, they managed to return to the storm.

"What luck. We're back in the storm," said Luffy, lying on the Merry's floor, breathing heavily.

Just like Luffy, everyone else was in the same position after going through that ordeal.

'I think I just developed thalassophobia,' thought Oliver, lying on the floor, trying to recover from the scare.

"Now do you understand why we have to go through the entrance?" asked Nami.

"I get it," Zoro replied, recovering from the situation.

Nami stood up and thought about how to enter the Grand Line.

"I figured as much. We really have to climb the mountain," said Nami.

"If the enormous ocean currents from the four seas converge at this mountain, they must rise through the mountain's channels to flow into the Grand Line. What we need to do is follow the current and stay alert. Reverse Mountain is a winter island, so the currents that hit it from each side travel to the ocean floor," Nami began explaining.

"If we accidentally enter from the wrong side while trying to reach the channel, we'll crash into the Red Line and become fish food. Do you understand?" asked Nami, making sure they got it.

"So, it is a mysterious mountain," said Luffy, now fully recovered.

"I don't think you understand," said Nami, resigned to the fact that explaining things to Luffy was pointless.

As they spoke, they could see a gigantic mountain piercing through the clouds.

'Is the Red Line a natural structure, or was it created by something?' Oliver wondered as he looked at it closely.

As they stared in awe at the massive mountain, the current suddenly dragged them forward with great force.

"We're being pulled in! Grab the helm!" shouted Luffy.

Sanji and Usopp immediately took their positions at the helm.

"Hahaha, this is incredible," said Oliver.

The entrance was a large channel that ascended the mountain thanks to the ocean current.

"The sea is really going up!" said Zoro, amazed by what he was witnessing.

"We're going off course! A little to the right! TO THE RIGHT!" shouted Luffy.

"Right?! This thing is heavy!" said Usopp, struggling to turn the helm with Sanji, but all they managed to do was break it.

With the helm broken, they were left unable to steer the ship.

"The helm!" shouted Nami, scared and on the verge of tears. "WE'RE GOING TO CRASH!"

Luffy quickly ran to the front, but not before tossing his straw hat to Zoro. Then, he jumped, positioning himself between the Merry and the mountain.

"GOMU GOMU NO FUSEN!!"

Using his Devil Fruit, Luffy inflated his stomach like a balloon, preventing them from crashing and taking a potentially fatal blow.

"WE'RE SAVED!" shouted Nami, relieved.

"GRAB MY HAND, LUFFY!!" shouted Zoro.

Luffy stretched out his arm, and Zoro caught it, pulling him back onto the ship with a strong yank.

Everyone cheered, knowing they were just moments away from entering the Grand Line.

"WE DID IT!" they all shouted excitedly, having passed the hardest part.

"Wow! I CAN SEE THE GRAND LINE!!! This is the biggest ocean in the world!" shouted Luffy, overjoyed to see the first step toward becoming the Pirate King. "Let's go!"

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I would like to thank Jordan, CJ Kennedy, Albion3000, fiddlerlee, Rogue Demon, Jakari Wrightfor, Nemesis27, PathSeeker and Thomas Pappaianni jr supporting me on patreon. Thank you so much.