"What? One hundred and eighty million? Another eye-catching rookie, looking to enter the New World from Paradise?"
From atop a giant rock, came Shanks' curious voice.
"Probably, let me take a look."
Beckman, with a cigarette in his mouth, glanced at the newspaper and suddenly widened his eyes, saying in surprise:
"Hey! Wait, it's not from Paradise to the New World! This kid's from the East Sea; it's his first bounty, and he hasn't even entered the Grand Line yet!"
The other crew members were also taken aback and quickly climbed up from the ground, gathering around.
"East Sea?! A place like that could birth such a monster?"
"Has another terrifying guy appeared...?"
"Wow, having one hundred and eighty million before even entering Paradise, that's fifty million more than my bounty..."
A new apprentice crew member couldn't help but look up and ask Shanks, "Hey, Captain, was your first bounty that high?"
"Of course not! This guy, he's broken the record!"
Shanks squatted above, laughing heartily, "I wasn't that amazing. When I first followed another Pirate Gang and angered the Navy, I excitedly searched everywhere for my own warrant, only to find everyone else had one except I was ignored!"
"Oh, that happened, Captain!"
"Shanks, you're so lame," Lucky Roux said, taking a bite of chicken and smacking his lips.
"Hey, everyone starts as a rookie. Beckman, let me see that guy's warrant!" Shanks said with a grin.
"Here." Beckman handed it over.
"He's younger than I thought... huh?"
Shanks looked at the photo, which showed a black-haired boy laughing with his arms spread wide in the wind and rain. He raised an eyebrow, feeling an inexplicable sense of connection.
Even though it was his first time seeing the other's face, why did it feel so familiar... as if there was some intimate connection between them?
"He seems scarier than I imagined," Beckman, still looking at the newspaper, suddenly added, "This kid's only eighteen and already confirmed to be a Supreme King user."
"Oh!" Shanks realized.
No wonder it feels like seeing someone similar; probably because of this, right?
......
At the base of the Red Earth Continent.
After sailing through the night, when dawn drifted across the sea, the Endgame finally reached the entrance of Inverted Mountain.
"Ahead is the Grand Line!"
Nojiko sat in the lookout tower, straining her monocular to gaze upwards. Holy Land Mary Geoise is said to be on the other end up there?
Alas, the Red Earth Continent is just too high and steep to see the view above clearly.
"Everyone, take your positions; prepare to cross Inverted Mountain. It's dangerous if we're not fully prepared here."
Shano gave the command, then turned to look at Nami.
"For now, I'll leave it all to you. As for the helm, your strength isn't big enough yet, so leave it to Kuina. She'll follow your instructions to maneuver and adjust. How do you feel? Confident?"
"Don't worry, leave it to me!"
Nami raised her fist, full of confidence.
Before deciding to follow her brother out to sea, she had specifically checked all kinds of information about Inverted Mountain!
Of course, even so, she must proceed with utmost caution.
The currents leading to the mountain summit are far more rapid than other sea areas, and the passage is quite narrow. A slight mistake could result in crashing into the cliffs, thousands of meters high on both sides.
Under such terrifying force, ordinary ships wouldn't even have time to fall into the sea before being smashed to pieces.
Even for the Endgame, built with Treasure Tree Adam as the main material, the hull would be severely damaged, delaying the journey.
"Alright! Set sail, ascend the mountain!"
Shano stood at the bow, looking up at the towering Red Earth Continent, soaking wet from the increasing wind and waves, laughing as he announced, "——Grand Line, here we come!"
"Woohoo, we're going up the mountain!!!" Nami shouted, even more excited than him.
Thunk!
As the bow crossed the whirlpool belt and plunged into the fast current, the ship jolted and rapidly began to climb. Everyone, warned by Zeff earlier, had firmly held onto the railings, so no one was thrown off.
"Starboard fifteen degrees!"
Under Nami's constant micro-adjustments, the Endgame braved the fierce ocean currents.
Even though the waves grew larger as they sailed higher, the ship remained straight as a sword, effortlessly surging past the peak, as the entire ship leapt high into the air, entering a brief state of suspension—
"We're taking off!"
Nojiko hugged the mast tightly, shouting excitedly, while scanning the surroundings from the lookout tower, "Huh, is that sea route ahead leading to the West Sea? Beside it... wow, it's a Sea King Species! Everyone look, there's a huge Sea King Species in the Windless Zone!"
"I see it too, my god, just the parts of those massive ones to the north exposed above the water must be four or five thousand meters high, right?!!"
"That's why so few dare to cross the Windless Zone." Zeff chuckled, turning to ask, "Captain, with your current strength, can you cross the Windless Zone yourself?"
"Shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Shano scratched his chin thoughtfully, even if he was unlucky and got swallowed whole, the Sea King Species couldn't chew him up, so he had ways to escape.
But it's definitely a hassle, time-consuming and exhausting, better to take a ship if possible.
"Hey, we're descending, everyone hold on tight!" Nojiko precisely judged the position from above, just reminding everyone, suddenly screamed:
"No, there's something coming up below!"
Gurgle, gurgle...
The others noticed too, beneath the sea surface that was supposed to be empty, a gigantic shadow suddenly appeared, blocking the sky.
A gray-blue mountain of flesh slowly emerged, its head covered with rugged scars, and in the morning light, it let out a mournful howl, crashing towards the Inverted Mountain—
"What is that?!" Nami screamed, "There's no mention in the data I checked of any Sea King Species lurking here!"
"It's not a Sea King Species, it's the Island Whale Laboon!" Zeff yelled, "Quick, turn, or we're gonna hit it!"
"It's too late! We can't control the ship anymore!"
Just as she said.
At this moment, the Endgame was like a roller coaster at the threshold, starting its descent, plummeting wildly, its speed increasing ever faster.
No matter how hard they turned the helm, it was impossible to steer.
Violent air currents hit them head-on, almost everyone's skin was shaking wildly.
They could only watch wide-eyed as the bow of the ship drew closer to the massive beast Zeff called "Laboon," and conveniently, the creature had its bottomless mouth wide open—
"Don't panic."
Seeing this, Shano was surprisingly calm, reassuring everyone, "Charging into its mouth is actually better than crashing into its head."
"What are you saying, brother!" Nami instantly clung to his leg tightly, "Not everyone is as tough as you, brother, boo hoo hoo, if I die, remember to bury me in the Orange Garden onboard, so I can continue the Grand Line journey with you..."
You unlucky kid!
"Stop acting foolish." Shano snapped, kicking her to the railing, "You're a Logia-type Ability User, what are you afraid of?"
"Oh, right!" Nami realized.
And at that moment, a massive suction pulled the entire ship into darkness, everyone felt the world spinning, ears filled with roaring water and low whale calls.
Bang!
The hull slammed heavily into some soft tissue, bouncing a few times.
In the dim light, pink fleshy walls on both sides could faintly be seen rhythmically rising and falling, digestive juices gathering in the crevices, driving the ship forward into a narrower passage...
"Are we entering the intestines?" Nami grimaced, "So gross!"
"It's not intestines, it's the cardia, you're already fourteen, at least supplement your biology knowledge!" Shano grumbled, rubbing her head, "Get ready, we're about to reach the stomach."
Entering the stomach?
But isn't the stomach all sticky and gross too?
Nami got more worried, looking down at herself, wearing clothes she had just changed into after a bath an hour ago to welcome entry into the Grand Line.
Whoosh!
At this moment, as if a spotlight illuminated her, the surrounding light suddenly brightened.
She instinctively looked up, astonished to find a giant iron gate tens of meters high opening on both sides appeared in front.
And as the Endgame passed through the iron gate, what unfolded before them—
Was a boundless blue sky and white clouds, with pleasant wind and sunshine, a warm and inviting climate, as if everything just now had been a dream.
Including Zeff, almost everyone was dumbfounded.
"This really does look a bit like..." Shano, seeing this anticipated scene, couldn't help but smirk, "the set of 'The Truman Show.'"