Crack—
Rumble!!
A deafening roar echoed across the sea.
In the blink of an eye, the sky turned pitch black.
The sudden change shocked the few people who had been quietly fishing.
"So fast already…"
"Hey, Nami, what's going on?"
Hearing the noise, Nami rushed out of the cabin and came to Jin's side, looking toward the sea.
"The fish are fleeing…"
Her expression immediately changed.
Something was wrong.
"Yeah, a huge school of fish just ran away. What does that mean?"
"Damn it, they're not biting the hook…"
"Hey! Is that really what you should care about right now?!" Usopp shouted with a shark-toothed expression.
"Nami's face is clearly screaming 'something is very wrong!'"
"So what's happening?"
Before Nami could answer—
The sea suddenly changed.
Within seconds, countless whirlpools appeared across the water.
They filled the entire area ahead of them, swirling violently.
"It's the Serpent Current!"
"The Serpent Current… what's that?"
Everyone looked at Nami with confusion.
They had never heard that term before.
Boom!!
The sea began shaking violently.
Suddenly, huge streams of water burst upward from the whirlpools.
They twisted and danced through the air—
Looking like gigantic sea serpents.
"So that's why it's called the Serpent Current…"
At that moment, Usopp and the others finally understood the name.
The water really did resemble giant snakes.
"Hey! Don't just stand there!" Nami shouted.
"The currents are coming!"
Boom!!
A massive serpent-shaped current rushed toward the Thousand Sunny at incredible speed.
"Two-Sword Style — 72-Pound Phoenix!"
Whoosh—
BOOM!!
Zoro's flying slash tore straight through the incoming current.
The serpent of water collapsed instantly, splashing across the deck.
"…Sea water…"
After being splashed, Chopper suddenly went limp.
"I can't block this forever," Jin said.
"Nami, what should we do?"
"Which direction should we go?" Merry asked nervously.
Everywhere she looked, the sea was filled with those massive currents.
She had no idea where to escape.
"Can we blast through them with wind?" she asked.
Nami lowered her telescope, her expression grim.
"No… even if we use wind to blast through, we won't escape."
"There's no end in sight."
Even through the telescope, she couldn't see the edge of the phenomenon.
It was as if the entire sea area had been surrounded.
"How can that be…"
"Then we'll just charge straight through!" Jin said.
"Nami, give me a direction!"
"Charge through?" Usopp shouted.
"How?! Which way?!"
They could use wind to propel the ship.
Or Jin could lift it with ninjutsu.
But without a clear direction—
They might end up sailing straight into an even more dangerous region.
"These currents rise very high," Jin said calmly.
"So we'll go higher than them."
"Nami, tell me the direction."
Seeing the determination in his eyes, Nami hesitated for a moment.
Then she looked down at the Log Pose.
"…Straight ahead."
At that moment, she understood Jin's plan.
If they continued toward Fish-Man Island, they might escape this current field.
Anything was better than waiting here to die.
"Got it."
Jin nodded and formed hand seals.
The sea beneath the ship suddenly began to tremble.
Then—
A massive water dragon burst from the ocean and lifted the Thousand Sunny onto its head.
"Water Release really is convenient…" Brook said in amazement.
"Yohohoho!"
"Everyone, hold on!"
BOOM!!
Under Jin's control, the enormous water dragon surged forward.
It rose higher than the surrounding currents and raced across the sky.
However—
Jin quickly noticed something strange.
The serpent currents seemed to target the dragon.
They slammed into it repeatedly as if trying to destroy it.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
"Wait, do these currents have minds of their own?!" Usopp shouted in shock.
"They don't want us leaving!"
"No," Nami said quickly.
"It's because Jin's water dragon is disturbing the surrounding currents."
"That's attracting them."
"Oh… so they're not alive."
"Idiot!" Nami snapped.
"If they had consciousness, we'd already be dead!"
If all those currents were intelligent—
They would have attacked all at once.
Under Jin's control, the water dragon carried the Sunny rapidly across the sea.
Yet even after traveling far—
They were still surrounded.
"Why aren't we out yet?"
"Hey, Nami! Does this thing really have no end?!"
"No…"
Nami raised her telescope again.
Then suddenly pointed forward.
"I can see the Red Line!"
Everyone's faces lit up with excitement.
Seeing the Red Line meant—
They had already traveled halfway!
"Hahaha! Are we almost at Fish-Man Island?!" Sanji shouted excitedly.
He danced wildly across the deck in celebration.
"Yeah!"
"Fish-Man Island!"
"Fish-Man Island!"
"Fish-Man Island!"
Watching them celebrate, Jin's blood pressure rose.
"You idiots! Grab onto something!" he shouted.
"Don't fall off!"
At that exact moment—
Several more serpent currents slammed into the water dragon.
BOOM!!
"AH!"
Chopper was thrown into the air.
"CHOPPER!"
Luffy reacted instantly.
"Gum-Gum Grab!"
His arm stretched out and caught Chopper's tiny leg.
With a yank—
He pulled him back onto the deck.
Clack.
"I… I almost died…"
Chopper lay there shaking, tears streaming from his eyes.
If he had fallen into the ocean below—
He would have been finished.
"Whew… good thing you're okay…"
"Okay my ass!" Jin roared.
"You idiots, hold on tight! I'm speeding up!"
"Yeah!"
BOOM!!
The water dragon suddenly accelerated.
It smashed through the attacking currents and burst out of the serpent current zone.
The moment they escaped—
The sky began to change.
The dark storm clouds faded away, replaced by bright sunlight.
"We… we made it out!!"
"YEAH!!"
Chopper wiped his forehead nervously.
"The Grand Line is terrifying…"
If they had been even slightly weaker—
The sea might have swallowed them whole.
"The dangers of the Grand Line aren't just enemies," Robin said calmly.
"It's also the unpredictable weather and seas."
"That's why it's called the Pirates' Graveyard."
Weak pirates couldn't even survive the ocean itself.
"Hahaha! That just makes it more fun!" Jin laughed.
"Exactly."
"Hahaha!"
Instead of frightening them, Robin's explanation only made everyone more excited.
If every sea were calm and predictable—
That would be boring.
Just like the day before.
They had sailed for hours and seen nothing.
Not even a bird.
Fishing had been their only entertainment.
"Nami, now that we've seen the Red Line, where do we go next?"
Jin lowered the Thousand Sunny back onto the sea and canceled his jutsu.
There was no need to waste chakra anymore.
"Let me check."
Nami looked at the Log Pose.
The needle tilted slightly but still pointed forward.
"…Straight ahead."
"Understood!"
Soon, under Merry's control, the Thousand Sunny sailed steadily toward the base of the Red Line.
"So this is the Red Line…"
Chopper stared up at the towering wall of rock in shock.
It stretched endlessly into the clouds.
"That's right!"
"This brings back memories…"
"Yeah!"
"The last time we saw this was at the entrance to the Grand Line."
"Laboon should be on the other side of this continent," Brook said softly.
"That's right."
"Yohohoho…"
Brook smiled as he imagined meeting Laboon again someday.
That huge whale must be waiting for that moment.
"Anyway, reaching here means we've completed half the journey," Luffy said with a wide grin.
"I'm glad everyone made it safely."
"When we sail halfway around the world and see the Red Line again…"
"I'll be the Pirate King!"
"Hahaha!"
Everyone laughed along with him.
They all looked forward to that day.
The day Luffy would become Pirate King.
After the laughter died down, Luffy turned to Nami.
"So where do we go now?"
He was eager to continue the journey.
"Well…"
Nami looked at the Log Pose again.
"This is similar to what happened when we went to Skypiea."
"This is tricky."
"Skypiea?" Usopp blinked.
Then he looked up at the Red Line.
"Wait… does that mean we have to climb it?"
Franky stared at the towering continent.
Franky: …
"That's impossible!" he shouted.
"The Sunny is amazing, but it can't climb mountains!"
"It's not a Zoan Devil Fruit!"
Sanji snorted.
"A ship eating a Devil Fruit? That's ridiculous."
"Well then tell me how we're supposed to climb it!" Franky snapped.
"When we entered the Grand Line, we rode the current of Reverse Mountain," Usopp said.
"But there's no current here…"
"Current…"
Everyone slowly turned toward Jin.
The meaning was obvious.
Maybe he could do something.
Jin: …
He examined the towering Red Line carefully.
Using Water Release…
It might actually be possible.
"…Should I try?"
"Try what?!" Nami snapped.
"Fish-Man Island isn't in the sky!"
"Why would we go up there?!"
Jin blinked.
"Didn't you say it was like Skypiea?"
"I said it's similar, not that we're going to the sky!" Nami said.
"Fish-Man Island is 10,000 meters beneath the sea!"
"Did none of you listen to Kokoro?!"
"…No."
Nami: …
She sighed.
Thinking back—
Only she had been in the room with Kokoro.
So it made sense that the others didn't know.
Even Robin hadn't known.
Robin shrugged.
"I know a lot, but I'm not omniscient."
Nami nodded.
"So instead of going up… we need to go down," Jin muttered thoughtfully.
But ten thousand meters underwater…
How were they supposed to bring a ship down there?
The pressure alone would be terrifying.
He might survive.
But the others?
And the ship?
"Since Fish-Man Island exists," Robin said calmly,
"there must be a way to reach it."
"True."
"In that case…"
Franky scratched his chin.
"Why don't we use Shark Submerge III to scout?"
"It can dive 5,000 meters."
"We won't reach Fish-Man Island, but we might find a clue."
"Shark Submerge III, huh?" Jin said with interest.
"Count me in."
"Alright!!" Luffy shouted excitedly.
"Guys!"
"Underwater adventure time!"
"YEAH!!"
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