The wind howled and rain lashed down as the waves churned like boiling water.
The Eclipse passed through the dense thunderclouds, and the sea ahead seemed to have cast off the laws of gravity. An incredibly wide canal, its currents rushing violently, climbed uphill along the towering crimson cliffs of the Red Line in direct defiance of the laws of physics!
The entrance to the Grand Line—the Reverse Mountain.
"How is the water flowing up a mountain?! This is insane!"
Carina clung tightly to the mainmast, staring at the mythical sight of the waterfall flowing uphill, her mouth hanging open in shock.
"Hold on tight! We're going to ride the current up!"
In the wheelhouse, Sabo gripped the helm, his dark eyes shining with unprecedented focus and excitement. On deck, Buggy quickly adjusted the sails, guiding the Eclipse with pinpoint precision into the upward-flowing current.
"Rumble!"
The ship lurched violently, and a feeling of weightlessness hit them at once. Like a black flying fish, the Eclipse was lifted by the raging current and shot skyward along the cliffs of the Red Line.
Ace didn't reach for anything to hold on to.
With his hands in his pockets, he stood at the bow, his tall frame rooted firmly in place.
They broke through the thick clouds, and the view opened up before them.
Sunlight pierced the mist, bathing the magnificent Red Line in a radiant glow. The waters of the Four Seas converged here with a deafening roar, like the grandest symphony nature had ever played.
Ace gazed silently at the fantastical sight before him, beyond anything words could describe. For the first time, his deep black eyes held a trace of heartfelt wonder and yearning from someone who had crossed over from another world.
"What an unbelievable world!"
Feeling the gale rush against his face, Ace couldn't help smiling.
In his previous life, this had existed only on the pages of manga. Now he was standing here, truly feeling the wild, dazzling, utterly illogical power of this planet.
No wonder Roger and so many other great men had charged toward this sea, one after another. In a world full of endless miracles and unknowns, not reaching its summit with his own feet and taking in every one of its wonders would be a waste of his second chance at life.
"Get ready for the final plunge! Hold on!"
Carina shouted. The Eclipse surged over the peak of Reverse Mountain, then plunged down the converging current toward the mist-shrouded waters below—the sea known as the Grand Line!
Amid the weightlessness and howling wind, the Eclipse cleaved through the spray like a sword and crashed hard into the waters of Twin Capes, sending white foam flying in every direction.
"We made it! We're in the Grand Line!" Buggy collapsed onto the deck, gasping for breath.
But before they could even make out their surroundings, an enormous black wall of flesh appeared on the sea ahead, so immense that it seemed to reach the clouds.
"What is that thing? A black mountain?!" Carina's eyes widened.
"No! It's moving!" Sabo tightened his grip on his staff, his eyes narrowing.
"Roooar!!!"
With a mournful bellow that shook the entire sea, the "black mountain" slowly turned around. It was an Island Whale, so enormous it defied all reason. Its head was covered in a crisscross of horrifying scars, and one huge eye fixed intently on the Eclipse.
"It's an Island Whale! It's going to ram us!" Buggy panicked and fell apart into pieces.
Facing a creature like a moving natural disaster, Ace calmly raised a hand to signal Sabo not to attack.
He strode to the bow and looked up at Laboon, the lonely whale that had been waiting for fifty years.
In the original story, Laboon had kept ramming his head against the Red Line every day, trying to break through the mountain and find his friends because the Rumbar Pirates had never returned.
Looking at the dreadful scars on Laboon's head, Ace didn't rush forward to fight him like Luffy had.
He drew a deep breath. A voice, deep and powerful, tinged with the faint pressure of Conqueror's Haki, rang out across the sea.
"Stop ramming that mountain, you stupid whale."
Laboon paused, his enormous eye turning toward Ace at the bow.
"That man with the afro who plays the violin all day is still alive."
With his hands in his pockets, Ace met Laboon's gaze. His voice was calm, yet carried the weight of a promise that would never be broken. "His crew ran into trouble and got trapped in the Florian Triangle. But he still remembers his promise to you."
At the mention of the afro and the violin, Laboon's massive body shuddered. He seemed to understand Ace's words, and a deep, plaintive cry rose from his mouth, almost like a sob.
"Keep watch here. You won't have to wait another fifty years."
Ace's lips curled into an easy smile. "When I've established absolute order across these seas, I'll bring that man back to you. That's my promise."
Laboon gazed silently at the tall man before him.
Soothed by Ace's steady, powerful presence, the whale that had been restless for decades miraculously calmed down. He slowly sank beneath the waves, leaving only half his head above the surface, and let out a long, gentle call filled with gratitude.
Ace had made the promise partly because he liked the whale and the skeleton from the original story. Though the story hadn't revealed it yet, it was obvious that Brook was a man with a tale to tell.
"Unbelievable. It actually understood him?" Carina covered her mouth in amazement.
Just then—
"That's quite something. I've been watching over him here for decades, and this is the first time I've seen a pirate calm Laboon with just a few words."
An old man's voice, aged but powerful, came from the lighthouse on shore.
Everyone turned. An old man in a flower-patterned shirt, with a strange flower-like ornament on his head, was walking slowly over from the Twin Capes lighthouse, holding that day's newspaper.
When Buggy recognized the old man, he froze. Then his eyes reddened, and he scrambled over to the ship's railing.
"Doctor Crocus?!" Buggy's voice brimmed with barely contained excitement.
The old man on shore paused, his cloudy eyes settling on Buggy's unmistakable red nose.
"Oh? Aren't you one of the apprentices from the ship back then, Buggy?" Crocus lowered the newspaper, surprise and nostalgia flickering in his eyes. "What brings you here? I just read in the paper that you joined a rookie pirate crew called the Eclipse."
As he spoke, Crocus's gaze passed over Buggy and landed on the tall, dark-haired young man standing at the bow, whose presence was as deep as the Abyss.
The moment he saw him, the former Pirate King's ship doctor could not look away.
Before you continue