If Justice Must Have an Embodiment, Then I Shall Not Yield!

Red Line. Ortolan was seeing this legendary wonder for the first time—a crimson wall of rock growing from the seafloor, rising past the surface, climbing endlessly toward the sky until it vanished beyond the clouds.

"How tall is the Red Line?" Ortolan suddenly asked Garp beside him.

Garp clearly didn't know the answer. He rubbed his chin and said, "No idea, never asked. But it's got to be at least a few thousand meters, right?"

"If we're comparing it to Fish-Man Island, then it's about ten thousand meters?" Ortolan pressed.

"Hahahaha, that's true, but if it were ten thousand meters, we'd be up in the White White Sea by now. That counts as Skypiea territory. I've never seen that from Mary Geoise, so it's definitely not ten thousand meters." Garp laughed.

The White Sea was the first cloud sea, roughly seven thousand meters above sea level. Reaching it meant you were already in the sky. But to actually get to the so-called Skypiea seas, you'd need to climb another three thousand meters to reach the White White Sea.

Bikini Island, where the Goro Goro no Mi used to be, was in that White White Sea.

When the Dog Head Warship docked in the harbor of Mary Geoise, Ortolan asked, "So, are we getting off here? We need to transfer on the other side, right?"

He knew a little about the Red Line and Mary Geoise from rumors and common knowledge.

Garp shook his head. "No need. The Marines and certain organizations under the World Government don't have to. We can sail our ship straight over the Red Line to reach the first half of the Grand Line and other seas."

"Huh? How do we sail over? Is there a secret waterway?" Ortolan asked in surprise.

For ages, there'd been a fantasy project in the pirate world: digging a tunnel through the Red Line.

If that tunnel were ever built, it would benefit the entire world.

But that went against the World Government's monopoly on controlling the shipping lanes, so no one had ever pulled off such a project in all these years.

As far as Ortolan knew, there were only two ways to cross the Red Line. The first was to go through Fish-Man Island, diving ten thousand meters—life and death uncertain.

The second was to pay a toll, dock your ship on one side of the Grand Line, then transport people and cargo overland across the Red Line to the port on the other side, where you'd switch ships.

Basically, like taking a bus and transferring at the same stop.

But now, Garp was telling him Marine warships didn't need to do that?

Seeing Ortolan's surprise, Garp explained with a grin, "Unless there's some urgent mission, we'll transfer. Both sides have warships on standby ready to deploy, which is way faster than hauling our own ship over. But most of the time, when there's no rush, we use the cable pulley system to ferry the ship across the Red Line. Our budget's limited—can't just build too many warships and leave them idle on both sides."

As luck would have it, right after Garp said that, Ortolan saw a few giants from the Giant race walk out of the Marine base. Each carried a thick steel cable in hand, moving with practiced ease as they installed them on the warship.

A few minutes later, it was done. The lead giant seemed to have a decent relationship with Garp. He grinned and greeted him, "Vice Admiral Garp, next year I'll be your equal."

"Hahaha, well, who knows? Maybe next year I'll be in the mood to become an Admiral," Garp laughed back.

"Oh? Then the Fleet Admiral will definitely reward me!" the giant's eyes lit up.

If Garp agreed to become a Marine Admiral because of him, the Fleet Admiral would surely give him a bonus.

After a few more laughs, the giant and his crew left. Not long after, Ortolan saw the once-loose cables start to take tension, pulling taut and rising. The warship, which had been docked in the harbor, was lifted by the cables, rising from the water until it was fully airborne a few minutes later.

"Those are Marine reservists from the Giant race. They usually train here, learn our rules and regulations, and help out while they're at it. Once they understand what it means to be a Marine and pass the exams, they're sent straight to Marineford and given the rank of Vice Admiral. That guy probably thinks he'll 'graduate' next year, which is why he said what he did." Garp explained with a smile.

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Seeing that Ortolan's attention was still on the cables, Garp continued, "There are also Giant colleagues at the Marine base on the Red Line. They've got winches there too. The upper and lower winches turn together, pulling the cables. Our warship, tied to those cables, will cross the Red Line just like this and reach the port on the other side."

"This is really an eye-opener," Ortolan said with admiration.

Sure enough, the resources and treatment the Marines got as a public institution were completely different from what pirates and other drifters could ever enjoy.

If you were a pirate, you might never experience this service in your life. But as a Marine, you could have your ship hauled over the Red Line without risking a dive through Fish-Man Island.

For strong fighters, especially Devil Fruit users, getting into trouble underwater meant certain death. But if something went wrong up in the air, it wasn't that big a deal.

Long-distance flight abilities might be rare—twenty years from now, the world would recognize only five—but short-term hovering and landing tricks? Everyone had a few.

If they'd transferred, according to Garp, they could have taken the Bubble Elevator twice and been done quickly. But this cable-pulley climb took over three hours before Garp's Dog Head Warship finally splashed down into the waters of Paradise, the first half of the Grand Line.

Holy Land Mary Geoise and Marine Headquarters Marineford weren't far apart. At warship speed, they could reach it in under an hour. The Marines even had a dedicated straight-line route for this.

As Garp's Dog Head Warship sailed through that channel, they often ran into Marine patrol escort fleets. According to Garp, these fleets were there to guarantee absolute smooth sailing between Marineford and Mary Geoise.

The voyage took about an hour, but thirty minutes in, standing on the warship's deck, you could already see Marineford rising on the horizon—the imposing Marine Headquarters.

You could even make out the giant word 'Justice' written on the central building, known as the Fortress of Justice. From what Ortolan knew, this was the back of the headquarters. The front of the fortress bore the word 'Marines' in huge letters.

Ortolan had been to two major headquarters before. One was the Big Mom Pirates' base, Totto Land's Cake Island. The other was Marineford, which he was about to reach now.

But no matter how you looked at it, Marineford's presence was far more overwhelming than Totto Land's Cake Island. Even from a distance, it radiated a pressure that shook the heart, spreading outward from Marineford into the empty seas around it.

"Is this the domineering aura the Marines have built up over eight hundred years?" Ortolan gazed at the massive, towering island, deeply moved.

In that moment, he felt he understood Doflamingo's assessment of the Marines from the original story.

Who was the ruler of these seas? The Four Emperors shaking the New World? The Shichibukai, one of the three great powers? Or the Revolutionary Army, already spreading like wildfire?

None of them.

The only force on these seas that could be called the ruler was the Marines—wielding violence in the name of justice, shaking the entire world for over eight hundred years.

Countless forces had risen as great enemies of the Marines over the centuries, but only the Marines had stood firm. That was the clearest, simplest proof.

Only the Marines could call themselves the 'Ruler of the Seas.' Even the unruly Shiki back in the day wouldn't dare boast that way. At most, he'd call himself the 'Pirate King.'

"What? Overwhelmed by the Marines' presence?" Garp asked with a chuckle, seeing Ortolan silent for so long.

"Yes," Ortolan said, a sharp glint in his eyes. "If I became a Marine Admiral, or even Fleet Admiral, would I be standing at the peak of this island?"

"Hahahaha, you haven't even officially joined the Marines yet, and you're already dreaming about that?" Garp laughed, slapping Ortolan on the shoulder. Then his expression turned serious. "What stands at the peak of this island isn't an Admiral or a Fleet Admiral. It's justice."

"Justice?" Ortolan rubbed his chin, then grinned. "You're right, Mr. Garp. It should be justice."

But if justice needed an embodiment, I'd have to be the one to take that role.

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