Red Line

The Sabaody Archipelago's greatest feature was its bubble culture—Yarukiman Mangrove roots secreted a special resin through respiration. The resin expanded upon contact with air, forming bubbles, which led to bubble cars, bubble wheels, houses built atop bubbles, and more.

"Brother Ye, what did you say?!"

At that moment, atop the bubble membrane of a Yarukiman Mangrove, an outrageously loud cry burst through the floating bubbles around them.

"I made myself very clear." Ye Qiong spoke calmly, his gaze cast toward the distant sea. Dusk was approaching, and scattered golden light spilled across the shimmering waves.

"Th-this needs to be discussed carefully!" Crow King broke out in a cold sweat and stammered, "No matter what, you want to break into the Holy Land. That's Celestial Dragons territory..."

"You don't need to say any more. I've made up my mind!" Ye Qiong said firmly. If that dark-haired girl who had been captured truly was Robin, and he failed to rescue her in time, allowing her to suffer at the hands of the Celestial Dragons, he would never forgive himself for the rest of his life!

Ye Qiong truly preferred to keep to himself and live freely. He was indifferent toward many things in this world, but if someone crossed his bottom line or touched his reverse scale, he would show them terror akin to hell itself.

Robin was his only reverse scale in this world. Every sense of belonging he had in this world came from Robin.

If anything happened to her, he would not mind dragging this entire world down with her.

"What should we do?" White Snow asked from beside him.

"You two should get a ship right now. Hmm... it must be one with bubble coating. Wait for me by the shore of Mangrove Island No. 75." Ye Qiong considered it. If they had to escape from here later, heading to Fish-Man Island would be the best choice.

"Alright!"

White Snow agreed without hesitation.

"Hey, hey, are you two really... not going to consider the consequences at all?" Crow King sighed helplessly. His dark eyes rolled around a few times before he said excitedly, "Hehe, we just got out of Impel Down, and now we're breaking into the Holy Land. Just thinking about it is thrilling enough!"

Ye Qiong shook his head helplessly. If he had not suspected that Robin had been captured, he would not have impulsively gone to provoke the Celestial Dragons.

"Leader, are you going to the Holy Land in Akatsuki's name this time, or in your own name?" White Snow suddenly asked.

Ye Qiong glanced at her in surprise. The more urgent the situation, the more White Snow's wisdom and composure showed.

"Does that make a difference?" Crow King asked in confusion.

"Of course it does." Ye Qiong nodded thoughtfully. After considering it for a moment, he said, "In my own name. Akatsuki can wait until later."

Akatsuki was, after all, still an immature sprout. Both in ideals and strength.

As the sun set and dusk deepened, countless floating bubbles throughout the Sabaody Archipelago shifted through light and shadow beneath the afterglow, darting through the fresh grassy woodlands like sprites.

This place seemed like a dreamlike fairy-tale world.

When the twilight faded and night descended, faint lights began to sparkle across the islands.

The Holy Land, Mary Geoise, was located atop the Red Line.

The Red Line was like an immense ancient wall that had stood between heaven and earth since time immemorial, dividing the sea routes into the Grand Line and the New World.

To enter the New World, one method was to coat a ship at the Sabaody Archipelago and dive beneath the Red Line, passing through Fish-Man Island.

The other was to cross the Red Line from above, but only the Marines could use that route, and they had to abandon their ships.

The side of the Red Line resembled a sheer cliff stretching ten thousand fathoms high. In the darkness, it formed a vast black mass that blotted out the stars and moon. There was no telling how high it truly was.

To climb it was harder than ascending to heaven. Even monkeys would turn away in despair.

Yet this was no difficult task for Ye Qiong. Space Cubes, requiring almost no physical exertion, formed invisible steps beneath his feet, allowing him to climb upward with ease.

Ye Qiong walked through the air as though treading on solid ground, continuously advancing toward the Holy Land above him.

The night was dark and the wind fierce. Against the sheer cliff, the cold and sharp atmosphere became even more pronounced.

"Hmm?"

Ye Qiong suddenly frowned. His Observation Haki clearly detected an unexpected situation not far above him—someone else was climbing as well.

"Who's there?!"

The other person had clearly noticed Ye Qiong's presence too. An urgent, harsh voice rang out.

Climbing the ten-thousand-fathom cliff leading to the Red Line was harder than climbing to heaven. And because the Holy Land where the Celestial Dragons lived stood above, no one dared to offend it.

Yet in the dead of night, two people were climbing the Red Line—something that might not happen once in a hundred years—and they had encountered each other. It truly could be called fate.

But under the current circumstances, that fateful encounter was enough to make them turn pale in alarm. Both instinctively guessed that the other was a Celestial Dragon guard tasked with monitoring or defending the Holy Land.

In that flash of lightning, the two people on the sheer cliff both came to the same conclusion: strike first!

Step!

The person above Ye Qiong lunged downward. With his own gravity and the force from that kick, his entire body rapidly descended, smashing toward Ye Qiong like a meteor hammer.

"Hmm?"

Ye Qiong had originally intended to teleport away, but he deliberately wanted to test his opponent's strength. If the other person was too weak, he would deal with him immediately. If he was too strong, Ye Qiong would retreat upward and rescue Robin as quickly as possible before the guards could surround him.

The attack from above came crashing down with a thunderous roar.

Ye Qiong solidified the Space Cube beneath his feet. Explosive muscles bulged across his powerful body as he clenched his fist and gathered force, driving a punch upward with all the strength surging through him.

Ancient Martial Arts—Inch-Extreme Collapse!

Inch-Extreme Collapse focused on condensing hidden force. Once a punch was thrown, the hidden force surged out like wave upon wave, impossible to stop and terrifyingly powerful!

Yet the attack carried by the man above was not weak in the slightest. His fist swung down with fierce force. "Fish-Man Karate!"

Their fists collided with a thunderous boom, evenly matched. Torrential pressure raged violently, and waves of air rolled outward.

Ye Qiong's expression turned stern. The Space Cube beneath his feet could not withstand the impact and shattered.

Before his body could even begin to fall, he teleported directly more than ten meters upward, and a Space Cube condensed beneath him again.

The man below was startled when Ye Qiong vanished without warning. His hands flashed into the solid cliff wall like lightning, steadying his body.

When Ye Qiong saw the man below resume his assault after noticing that he had climbed higher, he frowned slightly.

This opponent was somewhat strange. Fish-Man Karate... climbing the Red Line...

Ye Qiong suddenly remembered something. His expression grew slightly strange as he called out, "Could you be the Fish-Man Tiger?!"

The man abruptly stopped attacking at those words, but rather than relaxing, he became even more vigilant. "Who are you? Why do you know my name?"

Ye Qiong felt relieved. He had not expected it to truly be that legendary Fish-Man—and to encounter him here.

The adventurer Fisher Tiger, a leader from Fish-Man Island's backstreets, was a legendary figure of his generation.

"I mean no harm. I've heard of you, adventurer Fisher Tiger." Ye Qiong smiled. "If you've been following the news these past few days, you should know who I am. My name is Ye Qiong."

"'Demon' Ye Qiong?!" Fisher Tiger said in shock. He had not expected to encounter the recently escaped figure of the hour here either.

"Why are you here?"

"If I'm not mistaken, our purposes are the same."

Ye Qiong waved his hand helplessly. Well, now he had a companion.