Red Line—this was Ortolan's first time seeing this legendary wonder. Crimson cliffs rose from the seabed, broke through the surface, and climbed endlessly into the sky before finally vanishing beyond the clouds.
"How tall is the Red Line?" Ortolan suddenly asked Garp beside him.
Garp clearly did not know the answer. Stroking his chin, he said, "No idea. Never asked. But it has to be several thousand meters, right?"
"If Fish-Man Island is the reference point, then it should be around ten thousand meters?" Ortolan asked again.
"Hahahahaha, that makes sense. But at ten thousand meters, it'd reach the White White Sea, which counts as Skypiea's waters. I've never seen it from Mary Geoise, so it definitely isn't ten thousand meters tall," Garp said with a laugh.
The White Sea was the first layer of cloud sea, roughly seven thousand meters above sea level. Reaching the White Sea already counted as ascending into the heavens, but to truly enter the so-called Skypiea waters, one still had to climb another three thousand meters to reach the White White Sea!
Bikini Island, where the Goro Goro no Mi had once been located, was within that White White Sea.
Once the Dog Head Warship docked in Mary Geoise's harbor, Ortolan asked, "So are we getting off now? We're changing ships on the other side, right?"
He knew a little about the Red Line and Mary Geoise—their rumors and common knowledge.
But Garp shook his head. "No need. The Marines and certain organizations under the World Government don't have to. We can take the ship directly over the Red Line and reach the First Half of Grand Line and other seas."
"Huh? How do we get over it? Is there some secret waterway?" Ortolan asked in surprise.
There had always been a fantasy construction project in the pirate world: digging a tunnel through the Red Line!
If such a tunnel were opened, it would benefit the entire world beyond measure.
But that ran contrary to the World Government's interests in monopolizing the shipping routes, so after all these years, no one had ever accomplished such a project.
As Ortolan remembered it, there were only two ways to cross the Red Line. The first was to go through Fish-Man Island, dive ten thousand meters underwater, and leave one's fate to chance.
The second was to pay the toll, dock one's ship on one side of the Grand Line, then transport people and cargo overland across the Red Line before switching ships at the harbor on the other side.
Simply put, it was like changing buses at the same stop.
But now, Garp was telling him Marine warships did not need to do that?
Seeing Ortolan's surprise, Garp smiled and explained, "Unless there's some particularly urgent mission, we only change ships because military ports on both sides keep warships ready to deploy at any time. That's much faster than hauling our own ship across. But most of the time, when there's no emergency, we use a winch cableway to ferry ships over the Red Line. After all, the Marines' budget is limited. We can't build too many warships and leave them sitting idle on both sides."
As soon as Garp finished speaking, Ortolan saw several burly members of the Giant race walk out from the Marine port. Each held a thick steel cable, and they skillfully began fastening them to the warship.
A few minutes later, the installation was complete. The leading giant seemed to know Garp quite well and greeted him with a grin. "Vice Admiral Garp, next year I'll be your equal in rank."
"Ahahahaha! Who knows? Maybe next year, if I'm in a good mood, I'll become a Marine Admiral," Garp replied with a booming laugh.
"Huh? Then the Fleet Admiral will definitely reward me!" the burly giant said, his eyes lighting up.
If Garp agreed to become a Marine Admiral because of him, the Fleet Admiral would surely commend him.
After exchanging a few jokes, the giants left. Before long, Ortolan saw the previously slack cables begin to tighten and rise. They were gradually pulled taut, and the warship that had been docked in the harbor was lifted from the water by the cables. A few minutes later, it was completely airborne.
"They're Marine recruits from the Giant race. They usually train here, familiarize themselves with Marine rules and regulations, and lend a hand while putting their strength to use. Once they understand the rules Marines must follow and pass the examination, they can immediately take up posts at Marineford and be directly granted the rank of Vice Admiral. That guy probably thinks he'll graduate from here next year, which is why he said those things," Garp explained with a smile.
Seeing that Ortolan was still focused on the cables, Garp continued, "There are also Giant race comrades at the Marine base atop the Red Line, and there are winches there as well. When the upper and lower winches turn together, they pull the cables. The warship tied to them crosses the Red Line just like this and reaches the military port on the other side."
"This really opened my eyes," Ortolan said with feeling.
Sure enough, the resources and conditions available to the Marines' official institutions were completely different from those enjoyed by pirates and other idle members of society!
A pirate might never enjoy this kind of service in an entire lifetime, but the Marines could haul their own ships over the Red Line and avoid the risk of diving through Fish-Man Island!
After all, for the strong—especially powerful Devil Fruit users—if something happened underwater, it truly meant certain death. But if something happened high in the air, it was not such a serious problem.
Abilities for long-distance flight might be rare. Twenty years later, only five were publicly recognized in the world, but who didn't have one or two methods for briefly staying airborne or making a safe landing?
If they changed ships, then according to Garp, they only needed to take the Bubble Elevator twice, and it would be very fast. But climbing the cables with this winch system took more than three hours before Garp's Dog Head Warship finally descended into the waters of Paradise, the First Half of Grand Line.
The Holy Land Mary Geoise was not far from Marine Headquarters Marineford. At a warship's speed, they could arrive within an hour. The Marines even had a dedicated route for it, a perfectly straight sea lane.
As Garp's Dog Head Warship traveled through that route, they often encountered Marine escort patrol fleets. According to Garp, these fleets existed to ensure absolute unobstructed passage between Marineford and Mary Geoise!
Though the voyage took about an hour, after around thirty minutes, they could already see the magnificent Marine Headquarters Marineford on the horizon from the warship's deck!
They could even see the two characters for "Justice" written atop the massive building at the center of the island known as the Fortress of Justice. As Ortolan knew, this was the back of Marine Headquarters. On the front of that fortress were the two characters for "Marines"!
Ortolan had visited two major headquarters in total. One was the Big Mom Pirates' headquarters, Totto Land's Cake Island. The other was Marine Headquarters Marineford, which they were about to reach!
But no matter how he looked at it, Marine Headquarters possessed a far more imposing presence than Totto Land's Cake Island. Even from afar, an intimidating pressure radiated outward from Marineford into the empty seas in every direction.
"Is this the domineering aura the Marines have forged over eight hundred years?" Ortolan looked at that enormous, towering island, his heart filled with emotion.
At that moment, he seemed to understand Doflamingo's assessment of the Marines in the original story.
Who ruled these seas? The Four Emperors who shook the New World? The Shichibukai, one of the Three Great Powers? Or the Revolutionary Army, which had already become an unstoppable blaze?
None of them!
There was only one force that could be called the ruler of the seas: the Marines, who wielded violence in the name of justice and had intimidated the entire world for more than eight hundred years!!!
Countless forces that could be considered the Marines' greatest enemies had appeared on these seas, but after hundreds of years, only the Marines still stood unshaken. That was the clearest and most straightforward proof!
Only the Marines could call themselves the rulers of the seas. Even the once-proud and unruly Shiki would not dare boast like that. At most, he could call himself the ruler of pirates.
"What? Are you overwhelmed by the Marines' imposing presence?" Garp asked with a genial smile as he looked at the silent Ortolan.
"Yes!" Ortolan's eyes shone. "If I can become a Marine Admiral, or even Fleet Admiral, would that mean I'd stand at the very top of this island?"
"Ahahahaha! You haven't even officially joined the Marines yet, and you're already dreaming about that?" Garp laughed as he patted Ortolan on the shoulder. Then his expression turned serious. "But the one standing at the top of this island isn't some Marine Admiral or Fleet Admiral. It's justice!"
"Justice?" Ortolan rubbed his chin, then grinned. "Mr. Garp, you're right! It should be justice!"
But if justice had to have an incarnation, then I could only take the role without hesitation!
Before you continue