The sea didn't lift them.
It hurled them.
The current exploded beneath the Going Merry, launching the ship skyward like it had been caught in the jaws of a sea god. The bow tilted up. The deck strained. The sails whipped like torn flags in the rising wind.
And Reverse Mountain loomed before them—impossible, unnatural, glorious.
A crimson wall of rock, towering into storm-choked skies. Its sides carved not by erosion, but by force. Water raced up both flanks in rivers that defied logic, gushing vertically toward the peak like veins pumping toward the heart of the world.
Nami gripped the wheel, her voice shaking. "This current… it's insane!"
"It's not a current," Usopp yelled, flattening himself to the deck. "It's a water dragon!"
Zoro dug his boots into the wood, eyes narrowed at the climb ahead. "Whatever it is, we're not backing down."
"Of course not," Sanji muttered, cinching a rope across the mast. "This is what we came for."
Luffy stood near the bow, his eyes on the rising peak, the wind screaming past him.
Then the system blinked.
[Reverse Mountain Current Detected]
[Incline: 64 Degrees – Rapid Acceleration Engaged]
[Ship Stress: High – Hull Integrity Stable]
[Shadow Support Recommended]
[Deploy General – Arlong?]
[Confirm.]
He dropped one hand to the soaked deck.
"Arlong."
The shadow burst from beneath his feet. Taller than before, armored now in overlapping scales of deep black steel, Arlong knelt low, then spread both arms into the water flowing beneath the ship.
He grabbed it.
And rowed.
The ship groaned as the force multiplied.
Black tendrils wrapped around the base of the mast. Another curled around the rudder to keep the line steady as the Merry ascended.
The climb became brutal.
Waves crashed down from the sides, trying to drag them off the current. Wind slammed against the sails with deafening shrieks. The wheel fought Nami's grip with each twist.
"Starboard wall incoming!" she shouted.
Luffy turned to her. "How close?"
"Too close!"
He barked, "Tendrils, brace starboard!"
The shadow lines whipped out and slapped against the railing, forming a wall that scraped across the cliff face, protecting the ship as it dragged upward, metal grinding on stone.
The sails caught the next gust and nearly ripped free, but Zoro leapt across the deck and pulled down the boom, grunting as the ropes burned his palms.
Sanji dove to the other side, adjusting the secondary sail, boots sliding against soaked wood.
"Are we climbing a mountain or flying into the sky!?" he growled.
"A little of both!" Usopp shouted, white-knuckling the mast.
The Merry tilted again—almost vertical now.
Mist coiled around them as the air thinned.
They reached the crest.
Everything slowed.
The roar of the current dropped into silence.
The ship floated for a breathless second at the very peak of the Reverse Mountain. The sky parted, showing a strip of grey-blue above. Mist curled along the red ridges.
No one spoke.
Only the creak of the hull and the whistle of the final wind.
Then—
The bow tilted forward.
Gravity returned.
And the ship began to fall.
It wasn't a drop.
It was a plunge.
Like the mountain had vanished beneath them.
The current seized the Merry again, hurling it downward at breakneck speed. The hull shook. Sails twisted. Water split into vapor around the bow as it tore through fog and wind.
Luffy's hair snapped back. He shouted, "Arlong, brace the base!"
The general crouched and dug both arms into the hull, using tendrils to lash every loose rope and anchor point into place.
Zoro and Sanji held firm to either side of the mast.
Usopp screamed at the top of his lungs.
Nami didn't scream. She gritted her teeth and turned the wheel hard into the current, keeping them centered even as the ship threatened to spin.
Lightning flashed.
Fog surged.
And then—
The mist parted.
A shape emerged.
Massive.
Still.
Floating in the sea ahead.
It was black. Smooth. Immense. At first, it seemed like part of the mountain—until it moved.
A low rumble vibrated through the air.
Then a blinking eye the size of the ship itself opened, glowing in the mist.
"A whale," Sanji muttered.
"No…" Nami whispered. "It's too big."
The system pulsed.
[Unknown Creature Detected]
[Species: Island Whale – Code Name: Laboon]
[Threat Level: High – Defensive Behavior Probable]
[Distance: 280m and Closing]
Luffy stepped forward.
His eyes locked on the scar on the whale's forehead.
"This is it."
Arlong rose beside him, ready.
Nami's voice broke through the noise.
"WE'RE GOING TO HIT IT!"
The ship kept falling.
And the massive black whale grew larger with every second.
No time.
No steering.
Just gravity and sea.
And Laboon.
[End of Chapter 96]
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