Red Line, Crocus

Night. The sea. Thunder and torrential rain!

A massive shadow appeared ahead of the ship.

"Rody, look! Is that the Red Line? That's unbelievable!" Nami stared ahead in shock.

"The mountains... the mountains are actually higher than the clouds. This is incredible."

Though they had heard of it before, seeing it with their own eyes was still overwhelmingly shocking. Everyone aboard was stunned by the magnificent sight.

"Yeah, this world really is full of miracles."

Looking at the Red Line, towering into the clouds with almost no slope, like a sheer cliff face, Rody sighed in admiration.

"Alright, Mike and Leo, take the helm. There'll be a gap up ahead. The sea current will narrow there, and its speed will increase."

"Yes, Lord Rody! ×2"

Before long, an upward current that defied physics appeared in everyone's sight. Soon, the ship smoothly entered the reverse-flowing current. In moments, the powerful current propelled them to the mountaintop. At the highest point, clouds and mist shrouded the summit, and the ship followed the turning current in a rapid plunge downward.

Suddenly, a strange and enormous roar rose from below, startling everyone.

"What was that? Did anyone else hear something strange?" Windfire Wheel asked.

"Could it have been the wind? Maybe it's because of all the strange terrain here," Nami guessed.

"Th-That's... a mountain?"

"How could there be a mountain here?! Are we going to die here? No, no! Captain, hurry and think of something!"

Seeing the towering, massive black shadow in the distance, Leo and Jose hurried to Rody's side, panic written all over their faces.

Rody glanced at the flustered group and calmly said, "Don't panic. That thing in the distance is the island whale I told you about back in Loguetown."

The ship passed through the thick clouds and mist, revealing Laboon's mountain-like body. Its enormous form stood upright on the water's surface, roaring continuously. Its forehead was covered in scars, and its body nearly blocked the entire exit.

It truly was unbelievable. A creature as massive as a mountain actually existed in this world. Seeing it in an anime and seeing it for real were worlds apart—there was simply no comparison.

If I killed a beast like this, I wonder how many slaughter points it would give me. Rody's eyes gleamed thoughtfully.

"Captain, forget whether it's an island whale or not—we're about to crash into it! With a body that huge, it'd be no different from smashing into a mountain for us!"

"Yeah, Captain, we're about to hit it!"

"Don't panic." Rody calmly walked to the bow deck and clenched his fist. Black Armament Haki and blue flames formed from cursed energy coiled around his fist. He swung it toward the sea ahead. "Cursed Energy Haki: Impact!" In an instant, the sea surface looked as though it had been struck by a giant cannon, sending up enormous waves.

"As expected of the Captain! He's amazing!"

"Of course! Our captain is the strongest!" Windfire Wheel, Leo, and the others looked immensely proud.

A moment later, the rapidly descending ship was struck by the current blasted up ahead, and its speed immediately dropped. Mike quickly turned the ship toward the gap Laboon had left behind.

Rody examined the sea, which was gradually calming down. This move was kind of useless. It looked powerful, but the attack was too dispersed to deal effective damage to strong opponents. It also consumed quite a lot of Haki. It was only good for bullying weaklings and showing off.

Rody flexed his fist and dispelled the Armament Haki and cursed energy wrapped around it. Ever since arriving in the world of One Piece, cursed energy could no longer be extracted from humans' negative emotions and could only be drawn from himself, much like Armament Haki. Yet despite having trained in this world for only a short time, his physical abilities and cursed energy had nearly more than doubled. It was as though his body's limiter had been removed, and he was still growing stronger—though the rate at which he grew stronger had clearly slowed.

The ship docked beside the lighthouse. "Come on. I'll take you to meet an old relic from a bygone era." Rody put an arm around Nami and jumped off the ship. Mike and the others dropped the anchor and followed them down one after another.

Nami skillfully clung to Rody's arm and looked around. Other than an old man beneath the lighthouse, reclining in a chair and reading a newspaper, there was no one else.

"Hello, Grandpa. May I ask, is there no one else here besides you?" Nami asked the newspaper-reading old man in confusion.

The instant Nami finished speaking, the old man's pupils suddenly shrank. An invisible pressure swept toward Rody and Nami, and Nami hurriedly gripped Rody's arm tighter.

Seeing Nami tense up, Rody reached out and rubbed her head. The invisible pressure immediately dissipated.

"Nami, you should train properly."

"Nooo. As long as I have your protection, Rody, that's enough. Training is exhausting," Nami said coquettishly, swaying Rody's arm.

"You really should train properly. You don't have to fight those powerful people, but if you're too weak to even withstand their aura, that'll be troublesome."

"Alright, I'll listen to you, my dear Lord Rody." Nami pouted.

Ever since that night, when she and Rody had officially confirmed their relationship, perhaps because she finally had someone she could truly rely on, she had become incredibly clingy and loved acting cute around him. Deep down, she was still strong, but outwardly she was like a young girl who had just fallen in love.

"You two youngsters, isn't it a little inappropriate to flaunt your affection in front of an old man?"

"Besides, before asking a stranger a question, isn't it polite to introduce yourselves first?"

Rody and Nami paid no mind to his words. Nami even kissed Rody and said mischievously, "Grandpa, we aren't flaunting our affection. We really are in love."

"Right, Rody?"

Ignoring the old man beside them, whose face had already gone speechless, Rody smiled. "Of course."

"Still, we should apologize. We ought to introduce ourselves first. My name is Nami..."

"I'm Crocus, guardian of Twin Cape Lighthouse. Seventy years old, a Gemini, blood type AB..." Before Nami could finish, Crocus introduced himself with a grave expression.

"You..."

Rody raised a hand to stop Nami, who was about to say something else, then stepped forward with interest. "Hey, old man. I heard you were the Pirate King's ship doctor. Make your move. Let me see what the people on the Pirate King's ship were capable of." In Rody's Observation Haki perception, Crocus was not weak, but he was far from powerful.

"That weird old man dressed so flamboyantly was actually the Pirate King's ship doctor?" Nami said in shock.

"Although I don't know who you are or how you learned of my former identity, as for fighting... let's not. People can die from that," Crocus said solemnly as he looked at Rody.

"Rody, I know you're strong, but this old man was once a crew member of the Pirate King. He definitely isn't weak. I think we should forget about fighting," Nami urged.

Ignoring Nami's advice, Rody condensed a slash in his hand and asked in confusion, "Well, as expected of a former crew member of the Pirate King. You're quite confident, aren't you? In my Observation Haki perception, there's no way you can defeat me. Can you tell me where the problem is?"