Reverse Mountain

As soon as Ye Mu finished speaking, Freya felt a chill on her arm. She looked up and saw a drizzle beginning to fall from the sky, while the clouds overhead grew darker and thicker.

At that moment, Tiger was also a little nervous. He tightened his grip on the helm and called out.

"Everyone, hold on tight. The current's about to speed up..."

The moment he said that, the entire ship suddenly picked up speed. Freya lost her balance and instinctively clung tightly to Ye Mu beside her.

It was as if, in the span of just a few breaths, the world before Freya's eyes had completely changed.

The rain fell harder and harder, the dark clouds grew thicker and thicker, and everyone began to lose sight of the path ahead. The howling gale made it impossible to stand steady, and the terrifying current sent the Twin Goddesses pitching and tossing amid the waves.

"Is this really going to be okay? Can we find the entrance to Reverse Mountain? We're not going to crash into the Red Line, are we?!"

Freya asked in a panic.

"That is possible..."

Ye Mu said with a smile.

"Ehhh!!!!"

Just as Freya was in a complete panic, Tiger spoke.

"I see it. The Red Line..."

Freya's attention was instantly drawn over, and she looked into the distance.

Amid the mist and dark clouds, an enormous red mountain, like a wall propping up the heavens, appeared in everyone's view.

That massive continent, as thick and solid as a mountain range and towering into the clouds, gave off an incredibly terrifying sense of pressure.

And at that moment, Tiger's voice also grew tense.

"Everyone, stand firm..."

In an instant, a huge whirlpool appeared on the sea ahead. The Twin Goddesses was swept into it, and the whole ship began spinning in the vortex.

Fortunately, Tiger seized control of the helm in time and escaped just as the entire ship was about to be sucked in.

And just then, the entrance to Reverse Mountain appeared.

It was in the center of the continent, as if someone had sliced it open with a blade—long and narrow like a single line, a canal where a massive current flowed from bottom to top, piercing into the clouds.

"This channel is way too narrow. Mr. Tiger, we can get in smoothly, right...?"

"Of course. Don't worry, it'll be fine."

With Tiger's confident smile, the helm in his hands shifted under his control, and the entire Twin Goddesses entered the entrance of Reverse Mountain smoothly as if following a straight line. Carried by the current, it climbed toward the sky.

At that moment, as the Twin Goddesses climbed higher, the rain grew lighter and lighter, the dark clouds gradually dispersed, and everything before their eyes became clear.

"This is amazing... The ship is actually climbing a mountain..."

"It's so beautiful..."

At that moment, the Twin Goddesses seemed to have entered the clouds, flying among multicolored vapors.

"It feels like I'm back on Sky Island..."

Enel also said reminiscently.

"Ehhh!!! Sky Island!!!"

Freya was startled and was about to ask more when Tiger's warning rang out again.

"Hold on tight. We're about to reach the peak of the current..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the clouds and mist parted, and Reverse Mountain's highest point appeared before the naked eye, shaped like a triangle.

The entire Twin Goddesses shot straight out of the current and into the sky. After gliding through the air for several seconds, it finally fell under the pull of gravity and slammed hard into the descending current.

At that moment, Tiger finally let out a long breath and said to Ye Mu.

"Captain, I have fulfilled my mission!"

"Yeah... Tiger, you really are amazing!!! Then I'll leave the rest to me and Enel. Freya, take baby-5 away."

"Huh... What do you mean...?"

Although Freya did not understand, she still obediently listened. Taking advantage of the ship's temporarily steady speed, she held baby-5 in her arms.

Very soon, she understood.

As the Twin Goddesses slid downward at high speed, the exit of Reverse Mountain appeared in everyone's view.

Appearing along with it were countless ships packed densely together, completely blocking the exit.

Those ships were both large and small, of all different types. Some looked extremely luxurious, while others were very worn down.

Freya thought they were pirate ships, but she did not see any pirate flags.

"Not pirates... and not the navy either... Then what are they?"

"They're a group of people called pirate hunters... They're saying they're going to take our heads and exchange them with the navy for the bounties..."

The one who answered her was Enel. When it came to eavesdropping, his Observation Haki really was very useful.

"Oh... There are even spies from that World Government..."

Only now did Freya finally understand. She looked at Enel in shock and said, "Y-you can actually hear them talking from that far away?"

"Yeah."

Enel's answer was extremely simple, but the smug look on his face was enough to show how pleased he felt inside.

Seeing this, Ye Mu explained, "Vice Captain Enel's Observation Haki is exceptionally powerful. In general, for an island like Loguetown, his Observation Haki can completely cover it. No matter what anyone on the island says, he can hear it. That's also why, when we were in Loguetown, we were able to learn about the navy's plans."

"Wh-what..."

"So this is also one of the reasons we aren't afraid of the navy or the World Government. Before they learn this secret and come up with a way to deal with it, they'll never be able to find us. Of course, this place is an exception. After all, this is the only entrance to the Grand Line..."

At that moment, Freya truly felt that her pirate crew was incredible.

In that case, she couldn't hold them back either.

"Then should we deal with them?"

Enel asked, sounding somewhat impatient.

"Mm. Since they dared to point their guns at us, there's no need to show mercy. Clear the obstacles quickly."

"Understood."

Enel's expression turned excited as he slowly walked to the very front of the ship.

"Let me count. Fifty-six pirate ships in total, 1,024 people. Then, let's begin."

As Enel spoke, he raised the golden staff in his hand straight up. Blue lightning visible to the naked eye traveled through the golden staff in Enel's hand and shot into the sky, disappearing from sight.

Freya was just about to ask Enel what he was doing when she heard him utter four words.

"God's Judgment..."

In an instant, ahead of them, where the pirate hunters' ships were, enormous, dazzling pillars of lightning descended from the sky.

Rumble...

The blinding light made Freya lose control and squeeze her eyes shut, letting out a terrified cry.

After the sound of thunder passed, Freya opened her eyes again. The ships that had been blocking the exit had vanished in an instant, leaving only wreckage floating on the sea to prove they had once existed.

The Twin Goddesses finally reached the exit of Reverse Mountain, its speed dropping as it drifted past the wreckage.

Freya looked at the wreckage on the sea and the corpses floating among it, her face deathly pale as she asked, "Are... are they all dead?"

In the end, she was still only a young girl. Before this, although she had handled many dishes, she had absolutely never killed anyone.

"Yeah..."

Ye Mu's broad arm came to rest on her shoulder.

"If they're lucky, perhaps they'll be rescued. But if they're unlucky, they'll sink to the bottom of the sea and become food for the fish. I know this is hard for you to accept right now, but you have to accept it, because this is the Grand Line. From here on, days like this will slowly become more common."

"However, you can rest easy. Just like the agreement I made with that navy man Kuzan, as long as they don't point their guns at us, I'm not interested in slaughtering the innocent."

"If you don't believe me, you can stay right by my side and keep watch over me..."