The Straw Hat Pirates' Predicament
"Ahhhhh~~~~!" With Carina's scream, the medium-sized candle ship was violently flung out by the waterway from over a thousand meters in the air. It landed on one of Reverse Mountain's steps, then plunged straight down through the heavy current like a roller coaster.
During that time, Sanji, Usopp, Carina, and even Luffy were flung off the ship. An ordinary vessel would probably have been wiped out in an instant, but aside from Luffy stretching out his arms to grab the mast, Mr. 1 used a Candle-made net to catch everyone else.
This was Reverse Mountain. This was the Grand Line.
Relying on such terrain, the World Government and the Marines could easily ensure that fewer than one in a hundred pirates survived. Even powerful pirates would lose crew members.
This was the World Government's natural barrier.
Other than Devil Fruit Users like Mr. 1, most pirates would be eliminated by such a barrier unless they were exceptionally lucky.
And beyond this point, countless disasters awaited pirates. If you wanted to find One Piece, then congratulations—enjoy slowly playing this dungeon-crawling game.
This was the Marines' strategy.
But now, the strategy seemed to have failed, while its strategic objective had already been achieved—the Four Emperors had lost their supply of fresh pirate blood, and in just two or three years, they had weakened more than ever before. Yet even more terrifying was the rise of the Revolutionary Army.
By the time Luffy and the others reached Twin Capes, the candle ship, as tough as steel, had already sprung quite a few leaks.
Fortunately, Mr. 1 patched them up with a casual wave of his hand. The ship was nowhere near the kind of hidden damage it had suffered in the original story. "We have to bypass Whiskey