"That's all."
After annihilating the enemy fleet, Kaoru Tsubasa returned to the Going Merry, stepping through the air with effortless Moon Steps.
"Wouldn't that be a little too cruel?" Nami asked, watching the distant wreckage drifting on the sea.
Her tone was casual, almost detached. As a thief who'd long made her name across the East Blue, she'd already seen enough violence to be unfazed by it.
"Cruel?" Kaoru dusted his hands and shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We're pirates—and those Marines captured Abis. They weren't exactly innocent."
He knew men like that. Behind their so-called justice, there were always hidden sins.
Luffy grinned, resting his straw hat on his head. "Yeah, we're pirates! No need to worry about fighting a few Marines."
To Luffy, the Navy was simple: they were the bad guys. Anyone who hurt his friends was the enemy.
"Alright then," Sanji said, exhaling smoke. "Let's get Abis home to Battleship Island."
"Yeah!" Luffy jumped onto the rail, pointing forward. "Set sail for Battleship Island!"
Guided by Nami and Karina—better known as "Bloodthirsty" for her sharp instincts—the Going Merry soon reached their destination.
"Whoa! Is that Battleship Island?" Luffy shouted in awe as the island loomed ahead, shaped exactly like a massive warship cutting through the waves.
"It's incredible," Kaoru said with a rare spark of excitement in his eyes. "The world really is full of wonders."
Ever since he began this journey, his dream had been to see every corner of the sea—to witness every strange island and sky. Battleship Island was another marvel added to that list.
The others, too, leaned over the rail in amazement. None of them had ever seen an island shaped like a warship before.
Then—
"What's that sound?" Luffy tilted his head.
A deep, resonant roar echoed over the waves.
"Is that the Millennium Dragon?" Usopp stammered, staring into the sky where a massive, western-style dragon emerged from the cliffs of Battleship Island.
"Lord Long! Why… why did you leave the cave?" Abis cried out, eyes wide with confusion.
The dragon—ancient and majestic—hadn't left its lair for as long as she could remember.
"Just watch, Abis."
Kaoru stepped beside her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.
She nodded, biting her lip and turning her gaze back toward the island.
"Over there!" Nami pointed toward the cliffs.
From the mountain ridges, dozens of Millennium Dragons took flight, their wings glinting under the sun.
"It's true," Kaoru murmured, watching them soar. "Battleship Island really is the legendary Lost Island."
"Really?" Abis's eyes shimmered with joy. "Then Lord Long must be happy too!"
When the Merry finally made landfall, Abis bolted across the shore and ran to the side of the ancient dragon.
"Are you happy, Lord Long?" she whispered, eyes brimming with tears as the dragon's deep voice rumbled in reply.
"You can understand him?" Nami asked curiously.
Abis nodded, smiling softly. "I ate the Whisper-Whisper Fruit. It lets me understand the voices of creatures."
With that, her reunion was complete.
After ensuring that Abis and the Millennium Dragons were safe, the crew quietly returned to the Merry. Nelson and Eric—the villains who once threatened this island—had already fallen by Kaoru's hand. There was no longer any danger here.
"Alright!" Luffy shouted, jumping into his favorite seat. "Let's set sail for the Grand Line!"
"Look at this," Nami said, unrolling a nautical chart across the deck. "I've heard from other navigators that the Grand Line's entrance is right here—on the Red Line, where five sea routes meet."
She pointed to the intersection marked in red ink.
Then she turned to Kaoru expectantly.
The others did too. After all, Kaoru Tsubasa had once been known as a powerful pirate long before joining them.
He felt all their eyes on him and scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Yeah… to reach the Grand Line, you need to ride the ocean current that climbs the Red Line."
Nami frowned. "But can the Merry really climb something like that? It's a small ship. How could we possibly go upstream on a mountain?"
Kaoru chuckled. "That's where the upwelling current comes in. There's a powerful stream right at the entrance. If we catch it, it'll carry us up the mountain and straight into the Grand Line."
He paused, glancing toward the horizon. "You could technically sail through the Calm Belt instead—but with a small ship like ours, we'd be dead in the water."
Nami's eyes lit up with realization. "An upwelling current… I get it now."
"Hey, who's steering this thing?" Usopp shouted.
Kaoru walked over to the helm and placed his hands on the rudder beside him. "Let's do this together."
Usopp swallowed hard. "Do you feel that? The current's getting stronger!"
Kaoru nodded, though he was just as inexperienced. This was his first time entering the Grand Line from the Four Seas.
Nami leaned over the chart again. "I see it now. The currents intersect right here—Upside-Down Mountain."
She traced her finger along the Red Line's border.
"The guiding light points there," she explained. "That's the only entrance. The current will push us upward along the canal. If we miss it, we'll crash into the Red Line itself—and that'll be the end of us."
By now, the Merry was already being pulled toward the updraft. The deck tilted slightly, the wind howling louder by the second.
"Kaoru! Zoro! Fold the sails!" Nami ordered.
"Got it!" both men shouted, rushing to secure the rigging.
"Ahhh! I'm being sucked in!" Luffy yelled from the crow's nest, clinging desperately to the rail.
"Hold the rudder steady!" Nami called out.
Sanji sprinted to the helm, gripping it tightly as the Merry trembled under the roaring current.
"It's really intense!" Kaoru shouted over the wind, eyes gleaming with excitement as white foam surged past the railings.
"Nami! Where's the entrance?!" Luffy yelled, pointing toward the sheer wall of red rock ahead. "We're gonna crash!"
"There—look!" Nami's sharp eyes spotted a narrow crack running up the cliff face. "That's the canal! Aim straight for it!"
Kaoru stepped to the bow, his coat snapping in the wind. "Let's go! Whatever happens, leave it to me!"
He loosened the bandages around his hands, his aura flaring. "First Gate—Release!"
Power rippled off him as the Going Merry plunged into the rising torrent, surging straight toward the Red Line.
But Kaoru already knew—on the other side of that mountain, another ship was racing toward the Grand Line as well.
...
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