The Grand Line

Don't let Luo Ya's loud mouth fool you; he couldn't hold his liquor for long. "You call yourself a Great Swordsman with a tolerance like that? You've still got a long way to go, kid, hahaha!"

Don't let the fact that Maynard is an old man with white hair fool you either. He drank faster than he breathed. With a flushed face, he held up his glass and mocked Luo Ya.

Seeing Luo Ya passed out on the table, he went back to drinking with the others.

In the end, the banquet lasted until the sky began to brighten, ending only when everyone in the room had been wiped out.

Luo Ya clutched his head and slowly rose from the table. He looked at the mess around him, smiled, and headed for the docks.

"It's time for a journey that starts whenever I feel like it, hehehe." Luo Ya was brimming with anticipation.

As he pressed the button, the eight pairs of propellers spun faster and faster, and the Black Pearl slowly pulled away from the pier.

"Mihawk, you've sat in the number one spot for too long. Get ready to face the storm of a new era."

Maynard, who had sobered up at some point, watched the Black Pearl leave the harbor through the window and muttered to himself.

Once the Black Pearl cleared the port, Luo Ya checked his bearings, set the course, and headed back to his bedroom to catch up on sleep.

Half a month later, a massive red mountain that seemed to reach into the heavens appeared before Luo Ya. Even though the anime had described the Red Line as vast and towering, seeing it with his own eyes was incomparable. Luo Ya felt truly stunned.

As they drifted with the current, a river flowing upward came into view.

The world of One Piece is divided into three parts: the Four Blues, the Grand Line, and the New World, separated by the Red Line and the Calm Belt in a cross shape.

Aside from crossing the Calm Belt, the only way to enter the Grand Line is to sail up Reverse Mountain against the current.

Luo Ya struggled to control the ship as the rapid currents pushed it toward the Red Line.

He had been sailing for a long time before he finally saw the entrance in the distance. The energy consumption was so high that he had already had to recharge the ship twice.

He calibrated his position and activated the ship's propulsion system. The reason so many pirate ships were destroyed or lost at this stage was that whether they successfully navigated the reverse current or smashed into the Red Line was often left to fate. In such violent torrents, even a ship powered by Luo Ya's energy would struggle.

Not to mention those standard sailboats, which relied entirely on the helmsman's skill.

This was where the two jet thrusters could really show their worth. Even the strongest ocean currents could be redirected by the force of massive flames.

Luo Ya felt his ship accelerate rapidly, charging headlong toward the towering Red Line.

Standing on deck, Luo Ya gripped the railing tightly to keep from being blown away by the air currents.

Watching the ship surge upward, Luo Ya felt a rush of excitement. This kind of thrilling adventure was the life he longed for.

The ship reached the very peak, and momentum sent it soaring into the air before it splashed down, rushing downward at an even greater speed.

Having cleared Reverse Mountain safely, Luo Ya felt a twinge of regret that the jet thrusters hadn't really had a chance to shine.

With that, Luo Ya officially left the West Blue and entered the Grand Line.

Normally, the first hurdle in the Grand Line is navigation; without a Log Pose, one can only drift aimlessly across the sea.

This is why the Grand Line is divided into seven routes; the magnetic field is consistent along each one.

Only by reaching an island and recording its magnetic field with a Log Pose will it point to the next destination.

Maynard had originally prepared a pre-recorded Log Pose for Luo Ya, but Luo Ya had refused it.

In his words, only the unknown was truly exciting. In the novels he used to read, the protagonist would transmigrate only to follow Luffy's route—what would be the point of that?

So, Luo Ya only took two blank Log Poses from Maynard.

If Maynard hadn't solemnly explained the consequences of a broken Log Pose and insisted he take a spare, Luo Ya probably would have left with just one.

Of course, what Luo Ya didn't know was that the protagonist's route wasn't fixed either. After all, there were seven Seven Warlords of the Sea, and Luffy's crew encountered three of them during their journey.

Jinbe guarded Fish-Man Island, the Empress was in the Calm Belt, Mihawk spent his free time slicing his little wooden raft with Yoru, and Kuma had thrown himself into the World Government's experiments.

No matter which route one took, one would basically run into these monsters sooner or later.

The excitement of entering the Grand Line faded into boredom after Luo Ya had been drifting aimlessly for half a month.

Sailing the sea was truly dull; even the most beautiful scenery eventually became tiresome.

If not for the occasional Sea King that lacked the sense to avoid the Black Pearl and became a snack, giving Luo Ya something to do, he probably would have spent all his time training in the gym.

But Sea Kings were actually hard to come by during the voyage, so Luo Ya simply focused on honing his Haki on the ship.

After all, the duration of his Black Flame Mode was tied to his Haki reserves, and he was only a step away from hardening his Armament Haki.

As for his Observation Haki, it remained at an entry-level stage for unknown reasons.

As time passed, after drifting on the sea for over half a month, Luo Ya finally spotted an island.

The island's docks were packed with all sorts of merchant vessels and pirate ships, and the harbor was bustling with workers, appearing incredibly prosperous.