Grand Line, Reverse Mountain.
Six pirate ships, in a single file, were carried by the waterfall current, flowing upstream from the South Blue sea, all the way to the summit of Reverse Mountain.
On the leading pirate ship.
"Wah! We're going to be thrown off! Hold onto the gunwale, Ginny! Kuma!"
At the violently pitching bow, Ivankov clung tightly to the gunwale, shouting loudly at Kuma and Ginny beside him.
But his voice was completely drowned out by the howling wind and roaring waves.
Beside him, Kuma held onto the gunwale with one hand, and tightly grasped Ginny's hand with the other, his eyes almost shut from the wind, curiously observing the steep mountain walls rushing past.
"This is Reverse Mountain. Even though I've experienced it once before, it still feels so magical."
"Right? This is the marvel of nature's craftsmanship! I heard there are even more wonders in the New World!"
Ginny's eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled, her pink hair a mess in the wind.
Her slender body was lifted directly by the strong wind.
If Kuma hadn't been holding her, she would have flown right off.
On the deck behind the three, Carlo sat cross-legged in a wicker chair, reading a newspaper, his body perfectly still.
Even the newspaper in his hand was unaffected by the howling wind around them.
John gripped the rudder tightly, watching the red mountain walls rushing past and the approaching summit. He shouted:
"Everyone pay attention! Make sure to follow the lead ship closely! Don't accidentally take the wrong current and end up in one of the other seas! We're not going to the Four Seas, but to the Grand Line! Those who fall behind can get off here! We won't wait!"
From the five pirate ships closely following behind, the pirates' cheerful shouts immediately rang out.
"Don't worry, Captain John!"
"Hahaha, we can't bear to leave the Sky Pirates!"
"That's right! We're going back to the New World, to follow our boss and become the world's number one pirate crew!"
"Whoa! Charge! Enter the Grand Line!"
The deafening clamor, for a moment, even drowned out the howling wind, echoing across the summit of Reverse Mountain.
Ivankov and the others couldn't help but get excited, joining in the cheers.
"Charge, charge, charge! Into the Grand Line!"
Seeing their excitement, John couldn't help but shake his head.
"Little Brats are Little Brats, their emotions are so volatile. Yesterday they were crying buckets, and now they're all pumped up again."
As he spoke, he suddenly turned the rudder several times to the right.
The pirate ship beneath them, at the moment it reached the summit, suddenly turned its bow and rushed into a diagonally downward current on the right.
This steep, downward current, as wide as a canal, was precisely the waterfall current leading to the Grand Line.
This magical current, connecting the Grand Line and the Four Seas, changes its direction periodically.
From the Grand Line to the Four Seas, and then from the Four Seas back to the Grand Line.
This constant back and forth.
Creates the magnificent sight of the water flowing upstream on Reverse Mountain.
At this moment, this current was Just right flowing back from the Four Seas, heading towards the Grand Line.
Carlo and his crew were taking advantage of this period to emerge from the South Blue and head to the Grand Line.
Last time they rushed from the New World to the West Blue, they didn't pass through Reverse Mountain.
Instead, Golden Lion used his Float-Float Fruit ability to make the ship fly through the sky, directly over the Calm Belt from the New World, entering the West Blue.
This saved them at least ten days.
This made Carlo sigh with emotion.
Golden Lion's ability was indeed very useful.
In terms of mobility, it was practically invincible among all pirate crews.
Actually, making a pirate ship fly.
John's Magnet-Magnet Fruit could also do it.
As long as more metal plating was installed on the ship, he could control the metal to fly.
But John's strength was still far inferior to Golden Lion's.
His stamina was simply not enough to support such a large heavy object flying for a long time.
Besides John.
There were actually two other people here who could make ships fly.
One was Carlo.
After his Garuda ability awakened, he could freely control the power of wind to send ships into the sky.
But that had special requirements for the ship's structure.
For example, adding retractable hot-air balloon sails and foldable side wings for gliding.
His current ships had not yet undergone such modifications.
Carlo could make a single ship fly.
But six ships would be a heavy burden for him.
Secondly, Kuma.
His Paw-Paw Fruit ability could send ships flying directly to the New World, indirectly achieving flight, just like he could swat people away.
But at this time, his strength was still too weak.
And he hadn't even been to the New World yet.
Even if he wanted to do that, he couldn't.
As Carlo's thoughts drifted, the pirate ship beneath his feet had already taken the lead, riding the current towards the Grand Line, rushing downwards like an arrow.
Behind it, five pirate ships followed closely, none falling behind.
In just a few tens of seconds.
They plunged from the thousands-of-meters-high summit of Reverse Mountain, rushing into the entrance to the Grand Line.
Looking back from the ship.
There was the waterfall current continuously rushing down like a cascade.
And the towering, reddish-brown Reverse Mountain, reaching into the clouds.
On the cliffs on both sides of the sea entrance at the foot of Reverse Mountain, there was a pointed lighthouse on each side.
This place is called Twin Capes.
In the manga, Crocus stayed here guarding the lighthouse and incidentally helped the Rumbar Pirates look after the whale Laboon.
At this time, Roger had not yet contracted his fatal illness, so Crocus should still be here, not yet invited by Roger to join his crew.
Carlo slightly released his Observation Haki, sweeping towards the lighthouse, and indeed sensed a strong aura.
He glanced over there.
A burly man with a sunflower-like hairstyle, wearing slippers and holding a harpoon, walked out of the lighthouse, looking somewhat warily at their ships.
"John, stop for a moment!"
Carlo suddenly shouted to John, who was at the helm.
"Huh? Why? There's nothing here. Shouldn't we be using this current to speed up to the New World?"
Although John said so, he still performed the corresponding actions, slowing down the high-speed ship and bringing it to a gradual halt.
Ivankov and the others looked at Carlo in confusion.
"Why did we stop? Captain Carlo, are we going to rest here?"
Carlo chuckled softly, shook his head slightly, stood up and walked to the gunwale, looking out at the sea, seemingly at something.
Several children curiously ran over, looking out together, but saw nothing.
Ginny asked curiously, "Captain Carlo, what are you looking at?"
Carlo patted her head: "I'm looking at whales."