Reverse Mountain, also known as Levis Mountain, was one of the two points where the Red Line Continent and the Grand Line intersected. The other was Holy Land Mary Geoise.
It was an incredible yet dangerous mountain, the entrance to the Grand Line. Unless one traveled through the Calm Belt, this was the only route into the Grand Line.
The waters of the Four Seas were driven by currents so powerful that they could overcome gravity and flow uphill, defying the laws of physics as they converged at the mountaintop, forming an "X"-shaped intersection. At the point where they converged, the seawater flowed downward. That was the only exit—and the entrance to the Grand Line.
Newton: Tsk, can't you cartoonists show me a little respect?
Reverse Mountain was the starting point of the Grand Line, as well as its end. On the other side of the mountain lay the end of the New World. Of course, one had to cross the Red Line Continent before entering the boundless and dangerous New World.
Besides, no one knew what they might encounter in the New World's ever-changing environment. Traveling by sea was the safest method—though that was only in comparison to the alternative.
Reverse Mountain towered into the clouds, its peak impossible to see at a glance. By the time one reached halfway up, thick clouds blocked the view. The mountain was majestic and imposing, leaving a deep impression at first sight. No grass or trees grew on it; only red stone covered its slopes.
"Damn, how high is this?" No one knew exactly how high it was. All they knew was that it was very high.
When they reached the entrance to the waterway, seawater surged upward, completely ignoring the laws of physics. It looked almost dreamlike. White stone gates stood over the waterway, layer upon layer, their surfaces carved with mysterious patterns. No one knew how long those gates had stood there or how many ambitious young people longing for the Great Treasure they had seen off. They would remain there, day after day and year after year, standing at their posts like guards, enduring the wind and sun without moving an inch.
"MooMoo, let's go. We'll head up and leave this place. Once we reach the Grand Line, you'll be free." Rodney patted the Sea Cow MooMoo's horns, which were taller than he was.
The Sea Cow MooMoo mooed once and swam toward the mountain under the current's push.
The current was extremely swift, as if it were rushing down from the mountain, yet it was actually flowing from low ground to high ground.
If anyone tried telling me water flows downhill now, I'd fight them on the spot!
The Sea Cow MooMoo swished its tail and moved incredibly fast. The wind howled against Rodney's face, stinging painfully and forcing him to squint.
Propelled by the current, they passed through the vapor-filled clouds. After several bursts of acceleration, they reached the mountaintop, where they could see the other three incoming waterways. The four currents converged at the summit before charging toward the same outlet.
"Go!"
Rodney laughed heartily and had the Sea Cow MooMoo charge downward.
It was as thrilling and dangerous as a roller coaster ride. The Sea Cow MooMoo remained steady, but seawater frequently splashed up around them and soaked Rodney's clothes. He had become a drowned rat, yet he was still full of energy. This was even more exciting than a roller coaster or a pirate ship.
"Oh—MooMoo, speed up, speed up, speed up!"
The Sea Cow MooMoo accelerated. The gale whipped against its face, making its expression look utterly ridiculous.
After breaking through the clouds once more, Rodney could already see the outlet below, as well as... a black island.
Wait, an island?
"MooMoo, slow down! Slow down! Hurry and slow down!" Rodney shouted. At this speed, they would definitely crash into the island below. Why was there an island blocking the outlet?!
"Moo—" The Sea Cow MooMoo wanted to slow down too, but even if it stopped swimming, its previous momentum combined with the current's force still made it astonishingly fast. They were going to hit it—they were about to hit it!
Human! Why are you such a disaster?!
"Wuu~~"
A piercing whine rang beside their ears. Rodney felt as if dozens of people were shouting and bickering around him, with some even scratching their fingernails across a blackboard and scraping a knife against glass.
The Sea Cow MooMoo also shut its eyes in pain, flattening its ears against its skin. Its hearing was far more sensitive than Rodney's, and it understood the language of animals. It could hear the pain, longing, and sorrow mixed into that sound.
But more than anything, the sound was damaging its hearing.
Its enormous body involuntarily rolled and plunged into the seawater. Rodney went into the water with it, his feet stuck to MooMoo's scalp as if glued there while his hands gripped both its horns.
However, sound traveled even faster underwater, making the Sea Cow MooMoo and Rodney suffer even more.
They had no choice but to surface again.
The enormous black island now stretched across their path. Their speed had slowed considerably, but it still looked as if they were going to crash into it.
Just as Rodney was about to act, the "island" moved. A gigantic abyssal mouth opened, its white fangs towering like mountain peaks, and seawater flowed between the teeth into its maw.
"MooMoo, turn! Turn quickly! Unless you want to be swallowed!" Hearing this, the Sea Cow MooMoo used every ounce of strength it had to break free of the terrifying suction and successfully reached the other side of the island.
"Phew, we escaped." The man and the cow breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. Fortunately, MooMoo wasn't a ship, or turning around would have been much harder.
Rodney gazed at the "island" and murmured, "Is this the Island Whale Laboon? It's huge."
They arrived beneath the Island Whale Laboon's eye and looked up at the eyeball, nearly a hundred meters in diameter. They were left utterly awestruck.
The Island Whale had originally lived in the West Blue before following the Rumbar Pirates here decades ago. The Rumbar Pirates entrusted it to Crocus, the keeper of Twin Capes, and promised Laboon that they would return after traveling around the world. Unfortunately, forty-nine years ago, the Rumbar Pirates were wiped out by another pirate crew in the Thriller Bark.
That pirate crew, which could make even a crying child smile again, had ultimately been reduced to Brook, who had eaten the Revive-Revive Fruit and was stranded in the Thriller Bark.
Laboon had waited fifty years, yet the Rumbar Pirates it longed for had never returned. Its enormous body also made it impossible to take the waterway back to its former homeland. Wanting to see its friends, it rammed the Red Line Continent day after day, hoping to reach the other side and meet the members of the Rumbar Pirates, fulfilling the promise they had once made.
It was a whale with human emotions, and it was truly pitiful.
It rammed the Red Line Continent every day, leaving its body covered in wounds. If not for Crocus, the Pirate King's ship doctor, treating it, it would probably have died already.
"Forget it. I'll help it out." Rodney sighed and gathered Chakra around his vocal cords, amplifying his voice. "Laboon, look over here! I have news about the Rumbar Pirates!!"
To Laboon, the Rumbar Pirates were like family. Upon hearing this, its enormous eye shifted toward Rodney and the Sea Cow MooMoo.
The Sea Cow MooMoo was so frightened that tears welled in its eyes, and it nearly fainted. It tried to turn and flee, but Rodney threatened it, "Don't run. If you do, I'll stew you. You'll end up just like the Sea King you ate before."
Sea Cow MooMoo: This is too much!
(T＿T)
"Wuu~"
The piercing sound rang out again, making Rodney cover his ears, though it did no good.
"Boy, how do you know about the Rumbar Pirates?" At that moment, a sturdy old man wearing glasses, a floral shirt, and a rooster-comb-like headdress stood on Laboon's back and asked with an unfriendly look.
He was Crocus, the Pirate King's ship doctor and the guardian of Twin Capes. Every day, he read newspapers, kept Laboon company, and treated it.
To him, Laboon was already a close friend. They had accompanied each other for decades. Aside from the period when Crocus left to sail aboard Roger's ship, he had spent all his time with Laboon.
Yet even after sailing all the way to Laugh Tale, they had never encountered the Rumbar Pirates. At that point, he realized that the Rumbar Pirates were probably gone. To stop Laboon from waiting pointlessly, he told it the news. That news was precisely what caused Laboon to begin ramming the Red Line Continent, hoping to reach the other side and search for the Rumbar Pirates in person.
Now that he heard a young man telling Laboon this, he suspected that the boy might be a fraud. The kid looked barely twenty, while the Rumbar Pirates had been a crew from fifty years ago. Not many people knew about them, so where had this boy learned of them?
At first glance, the kid looked like the slick, glib type. So he was probably a fraud, right?
Before you continue