Crossing Reverse Mountain

The Skybreaker.

Just as everyone was worrying, a streak of light flew toward the Skybreaker.

"Captain!"

"Lott!"

"Lott."

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the choice. Rewards: Advanced Conqueror's Haki ×1, top-tier physique ×1, limited-edition Garp dog-head hat ×1, Senzu Beans ×1,000, Skybreaker upgraded to advanced, System Space 50 × 50.]

"Cough, cough, cough! I'm fine!" As he spoke, Lott took a Senzu Bean from his pocket, tipped his head back, and swallowed it.

In just a short while, the injuries on Lott's body gradually healed.

His face, however, was still somewhat pale.

Fuse all the cards!

[Ding! Fusion successful!]

For a moment, Lott's aura grew even more formidable.

"Lott, how are you?" Nami ran to Lott's side and looked at him with distress written all over her face.

Lott raised a hand and stroked Nami's head. "Nami, I'm fine. I gained something from fighting Garp."

Hearing that, the other four relaxed as well.

Lott swept his gaze over everyone. "What did you gain from this actual battle?"

He saw all four nod.

It seemed they had improved quite a bit too.

"Nami, thanks for your hard work getting the Skybreaker out safely."

Only when they heard Lott's words did Zoro and the others realize: it hadn't been Lott making the ship fly, but Nami flying it away?

Kuro frowned slightly, looking at Lott in puzzlement.

Nami said, "Lott gave me a Devil Fruit as soon as I came aboard. I'm a Cloud-Cloud Fruit user now."

As she spoke, Nami turned her entire body into her element, becoming a cloud before everyone.

Originally, Lott had planned to go to Sky Island, seize Enel's fruit, and give it to Nami.

But since the system had rewarded him with a Cloud-Cloud Fruit, Lott naturally gave that to Nami first.

Lott believed that the Logia-type Cloud-Cloud Fruit suited Nami better.

First, Nami could naturally sense the weather, and with the Cloud-Cloud Fruit, she could also control and change it.

Second, the Cloud-Cloud Fruit could also be a very powerful offensive fruit. She could turn into a storm cloud and discharge electricity, or turn into the various clouds found on Sky Island.

Third, Nami was a navigator, and the Cloud-Cloud Fruit could lift the Skybreaker and control its course. Although it couldn't compare to Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit, it took less effort than Lott's Electromagnetic Fruit.

For all those reasons, Lott had given the Cloud-Cloud Fruit to Nami.

Kuro and the others nodded. That explained why the ship could still fly even so far away from Lott.

"All right, everyone, perk up. Our next step is entering the Grand Line. Compared to the Grand Line, the East Blue is practically as comfortable as a cradle. Are you mentally prepared?"

Lott looked around at everyone. Every face showed excitement to some degree.

"Nami, put the ship down on the sea. Flying straight to the Grand Line like this would be boring. I want to see just how amazing Reverse Mountain is, to stop nearly eighty percent of ships from entering the Grand Line."

After hearing Lott's words, Nami controlled the clouds beneath the ship, lowering them little by little until she set the ship on the sea.

"Vice Admiral Garp, why aren't we intercepting Lott's crew at Reverse Mountain?" A soldier expressed his confusion over Garp's decision.

Picking his nose with his right pinky, Garp replied, "Hahaha! You saw it too. That brat's ship can fly. We can't intercept them. For all we know, they've already flown to the Grand Line."

The soldier asked tentatively, "Then are we...?"

What he meant was already quite clear.

Garp shook his head helplessly. "Let's head back to Marineford. My vacation will have to end."

Meanwhile, Lott's group was slowly making its way toward Reverse Mountain by sea.

As time passed, everyone spent those few days digesting the experience of that battle.

Now the sky had turned gray, and a light rain began to fall.

"Hey! There's a mountain ahead!"

Everyone hurried out of the cabin. Before their eyes stood a continuous range of towering red peaks that reached into the clouds.

Nami murmured, "That must be the Red Line."

"What? That's the Red Line?" Zoro looked in surprise and doubt at the enormous red peak before him, whose summit was out of sight.

Kuro showed no particular expression. He was always that calm, giving an impression of gentleness and refinement.

Ling'er looked at the enormous red barrier ahead of the bow, hid behind Nami, and clutched the hem of her clothes in lingering fear. "Nami, hurry and make the ship fly. At this rate, we'll crash into the Red Line."

At that moment, Zoro brought a barrel of liquor from somewhere and set it in the middle of the group.

Having read the original story, Lott instantly understood Zoro's intention. This sort of ritual might seem useless, but it could engrave everyone's dreams firmly in their hearts and bring some good luck as well.

Zoro placed one foot on it and said, "My dream is to become the World's Greatest Swordsman."

Then Lott placed his right foot on it too. "My dream is to overthrow this world and let everyone live freely."

Kuro went next. "My dream is to see the ugliness of this world and help Lott build a peaceful world."

Ling'er said, "My dream is to become stronger, then stay by Lott's side and lend him a hand!"

Nami said, "My dream is to chart all the seas in the world."

She glanced at Lott out of the corner of her eye and added one more sentence in her heart: And always stay by Lott's side.

Then everyone raised their feet. "Yeah!!!"

Just as the Skybreaker was about to crash into the Red Line, Nami calmly took out a sketch and spread it on the barrel.

"Look, this is Reverse Mountain, the route everyone from the Four Blues must take to enter the Grand Line..."

After hearing Nami's explanation, everyone found it rather unbelievable. Even Kuro's expression became somewhat animated.

"Nami, since you said there's a ninety percent chance of the ship being destroyed and everyone dying, I think we should just fly over." Ling'er was badly frightened. She didn't want to sink to the bottom of the sea without even knowing what had happened.

Nami said confidently, "Don't worry. If we're really about to crash, Lott will step in too, right?"

Lott nodded at her words. "Also, don't think the Skybreaker is that fragile. Even crashing into the Red Line won't damage it."

Nami stood and walked to the bow. Narrowing her eyes, she said excitedly, "Mira, look! That's Reverse Mountain's waterway."

Everyone excitedly walked onto the deck at the bow.

Zoro looked incredulous. "You're kidding, right? It's so narrow! How's the Skybreaker supposed to get through?"

Ling'er took a look, her legs trembling slightly, but she still defended Nami. "Moss Head, you need to trust our navigator."

She turned to Nami. "Right, Nami?"

Nami jumped up and punched Zoro. "Of course! Wherever you want to go, I can get you there!"

As the Skybreaker continued forward, violent winds began to rage, and whirlpools appeared one after another on the surrounding sea.

A river channel flowing uphill gradually came into view before everyone.

Zoro's eyes widened. "No way! The water really is flowing upward!"

It was Kuro's first time seeing Reverse Mountain too, and he silently marveled at it. "The ocean currents probably flow toward the Red Line and happen to meet an opening, so the seawater flows up along the channel. The currents that don't squeeze into the channel form whirlpools around the Red Line."

As he spoke, Kuro habitually adjusted his glasses and continued, "Have you noticed something strange? This channel looks like it was excavated by people. Its purpose might have been to let people from the Four Blues enter the Grand Line."

After hearing Kuro's words, Lott rubbed his chin thoughtfully as well.

"Hey! Stay sharp! We're about to enter the channel!"

Nami's voice rang out, interrupting Lott and the other's thoughts.

Lott used electromagnetic force to guide the Skybreaker into the channel.

Ling'er turned into a mass of flame and floated around the ship, exclaiming, "W-we're really climbing a mountain! This is amazing!"

The Red Line was very high—so high that people from the Four Blues might never climb it in their lifetimes, so high that those living atop it looked down on the mortal world like gods, so high that no one had truly seen its entirety in eight hundred years.

The seawater surged along the channel toward the summit, bursting into sprays at the mountaintop. In the sunlight, the rainbows were so colorful.

Zoro looked at the summit and murmured inwardly, Once we cross this mountain, we'll reach the Grand Line. Dracule Mihawk is there.

Nami thought, The weather there changes constantly, and there are countless treasures and endless sea charts to draw.

Ling'er thought, Is the Grand Line Lott talked about on the other side?

Kuro thought, Beyond it lies a world even vaster than the East Blue, with the most complicated human hearts and struggles.