The Going Merry was like a stubborn leaf, tossed about on the furious sea at the edge of the East Blue.
The dark clouds hung extremely low, with lightning snakes occasionally darting through the inky layers, bringing a fleeting, pale light before being swallowed by deafening thunder.
Rain poured down like a waterfall, splashing cold water on the deck, and the wind howled as it tugged at the sails.
Yet, amidst this disaster-like chaos, the scene on the going merry presented a comically fractured image.
Luffy gripped the mainmast tightly with one hand to keep from being flung off, while his other hand stretched towards the galley door, hoping to find something to eat, and he let out a loud laugh: "Wahahahaha! What huge waves!!"
By the ship's rail, Zoro sat steadily on the ground, clutching his three swords. No matter how violently the ship tilted, his figure remained like a rock, only muttering with a frown: "Too noisy, Luffy. Nami, is the direction okay?"
"Shut up! What more do you want when I'm just trying to keep us from capsizing!!!"
Nami gripped the helm tightly, the rain soaking her orange short hair and plastering it to her forehead. She concentrated fully, feeling every rise and fall of the waves.
"Miss Nami~~~! Please use this towel! Ah, even when you're soaked by the rain, you're still so beautiful!"
Sanji maintained an odd balance on the pitching deck, carrying a cup of hot tea and a towel, trying to get close to Nami.
"Waaahhh! I'm going to fall! I'm going to die, die, die!" Usopp, meanwhile, clung to the sheep's head at the bow, screaming with every tilt of the ship.
And Giyu Tomioka was the only'stillness' in this chaos.
He stood silently at the relatively sheltered cabin door, his sole left hand resting lightly on the door frame.
His body made imperceptible adjustments with the rocking of the ship, always perfectly neutralizing the force of the bumps, steady as if he wasn't on a ship in a storm.
The hem of his half-red, half-green haori flapped in the wind, and his damaged empty sleeve also swayed.
Just then, Nami's gaze finally briefly left the sea. She wiped the rain from her eyes and happened to glimpse the silent figure at the cabin door.
She paused for a second before suddenly remembering that this person had rushed onto the ship with Luffy and the others.
"Wait a minute!" She practically yelled, her voice cutting through the wind and rain, "I noticed it just now! Luffy! Who is this guy? Is he another one of your inexplicably recruited crewmates?"
At her words, Luffy's rubbery neck snapped around, and a wide grin spread across his face: "Hehehehe! Yes! He's super—amazing! Just now in town, he sliced through that execution platform in a flash! And he can spray water!"
Everyone's gaze instantly focused on Tomioka.
Tomioka felt their gazes and spoke expressionlessly, his voice steady and clear, cutting through the rain:
"No. I'm just temporarily traveling with you. I am not your crewmate."
This statement was like a chunk of ice dropped into a noisy pot.
Usopp immediately let go of the sheep's head and scrambled over to Nami, pointing at Tomioka, his voice trembling: "You heard him, right, Nami! This is bad, this is bad! The person who came aboard isn't our crewmate at all! What if he's a Marine or Buggy's spy?!"
Luffy immediately puffed out his cheeks, stretched out his rubbery arm, and pulled Usopp over by the neck, rubbing his own face against Usopp's with exaggerated, funny expressions: "Come on, come on~ Usopp~ Don't say that! He saved me! And he doesn't look like a bad guy!"
"Ow, ow, ow! Let go of me, Luffy! Your rubber face is hurting me!"
"Alright, Luffy." Sanji lit a cigarette, and although the rain immediately soaked the tip, he habitually kept it in his mouth. "Don't force him. This... gentleman, seems to have his own plans."
His gaze lingered on Tomioka and the Blade at his waist for a moment. As the former sous chef of a sea restaurant, he had met all sorts of people and could sense an extraordinary aura about this man.
Nami helplessly massaged her forehead: "I can't believe you guys... You just brought him onto the ship. We're pirates! Can't you be a little more vigilant!"
Although she complained, she quickly glanced at Zoro and Sanji and saw that they also showed no signs of vigilance towards the man in front of them.
Nami sighed slightly in relief, looked at Tomioka, and softened her tone a bit: "By the way, I still don't know your name?"
Everyone's gaze focused again.
Tomioka was silent for a moment, then simply replied: "Giyu Tomioka."
A brief silence fell on the deck, leaving only the sound of wind and rain.
"My name is Monkey D. Luffy!" Luffy suddenly grinned, his rubbery arm slapping his chest with a 'pat,' splashing water everywhere. "I'm the man who's going to be the Kaizoku-ō!"
This abrupt, confident declaration rang out in the storm, as sudden and yet as natural as ever.
"..."
Usopp was the first to break the silence. He leaned into Sanji's ear and grumbled in a voice he thought was quiet but everyone could hear: "So brief! He really just said his name! Does this guy think that's cool?!"
Sanji ignored Usopp's grumbling and smiled at Tomioka, saying: "My name is Sanji, and I'm the chef on this ship. If you're hungry or want anything to eat, just come find me."
Looking at the curly-browed chef named Sanji, Tomioka thought that he could ask him to teach him how to make some pastries, and a rare smile appeared on his face: "Mm."
Just then, Nami, who had been observing the sea, suddenly let out an "Eh?"
"Look, everyone!" She pointed her hand towards the distant, rain-blurred horizon. "That light!"
At the end of the inky black rain curtain, a steady and bright light pierced through the harsh weather, like a lighthouse in the fog, shining resolutely.
"Is that a lighthouse on an island?" Usopp squinted, trying to see.
"No," Nami's eyes became sharp and focused, the gaze of a top-tier navigator, "That's a navigation light! The entrance to the Grand Line is right in front of that light!"
"The... Grand Line?!"
Usopp's legs instantly started shaking again, his voice tearful, "You're not seriously thinking of telling us to charge towards that light in this storm, are you?! We'll die! The ship will definitely be wrecked, and we'll all perish!"
"Well! Isn't this exciting!" Luffy excitedly jumped onto the bow. "Let's go! Full speed ahead!"
Sanji somehow brought out an empty wine barrel, placed it in the relatively stable center of the deck, and laughed: "Alright! Since it's decided, let's have a..."
He hadn't even finished speaking!
Boom—!!!
An unprecedentedly huge wave suddenly crashed down from the front-side of the Going Merry! The ship instantly tilted almost forty-five degrees to one side!
"Waaahhh!"
"Hold on!"
"The ship's going to capsize!!!"
The wine barrel rolled 'guruguru' towards the sea, Sanji scrambled to grab it, Luffy stretched out his arms to pull Usopp and Zoro, and Nami clung tightly to the helm.
The moment the giant wave hit, Tomioka's feet seemed to take root. His center of gravity suddenly sank, and he was firmly planted on the deck, only his empty sleeve and haori fluttering wildly.
He even had enough presence of mind to extend his left hand and lightly block the wine barrel rolling into the sea, changing its direction so it got stuck in a pile of ropes.
After the wave passed, the ship slowly righted itself. Everyone was still shaken and soaking wet.
"No!" Nami wiped the seawater from her face and immediately said to everyone: "The waves are too big right now! It's too dangerous to charge blindly! Let's go inside first! Everyone, let's look at the sea chart together!"
"Yes~~~ Miss Nami is always so rational and reliable!" Sanji immediately responded.
The group staggered into the relatively dry and warm dining room. Tomioka took one last look at the distant navigation light, then silently followed them in.
Inside the dining room, the orange lamplight dispelled the cold gloom from outside.
Nami slapped the sea chart she had taken from Buggy onto the center table, drawing everyone's attention.
"Look here," Her finger pointed to a key spot on the sea chart, her expression serious, "The entrance to the Grand Line—"
She took a deep breath and stated the incredible fact.
—is a mountain."
"A mountain???"
Except for Nami, who already knew, and Tomioka, who remained calm, everyone else was stunned. Even Zoro opened his eyes.
"Yes! Look at the sea chart, although I don't quite believe it myself..." Nami's finger slid along the lines on the chart. "Look here, the navigation light is indeed erected on Reverse Mountain on the Red Line."
"What's going on?!" Usopp was the first to jump up.
He pointed at the sea chart and said: "Nami! Are you sure you're not mistaken?! Are we supposed to crash into a mountain?! That's no way to commit suicide!"
"Don't talk nonsense, Usopp!"
Nami irritably tapped his head. "Look closely, isn't there clearly a canal drawn here?"
Usopp leaned in for a closer look, his eyes widening even further: "A canal!!? Even if there's a canal, a ship can't climb a mountain!"
"But that's how it's drawn on the map!" Nami was also a bit frantic. This was indeed different from the navigation techniques she had learned in the past.
"What are you idiots doubting the beautiful and intelligent Miss Nami for? Just follow orders! If Miss Nami says we can go up, then we definitely can!"
Zoro, arms crossed, frowned and poured cold water on the idea: "Hey, cook, calm down. Don't forget, this sea chart was stolen from Buggy the Clown. Can we really trust everything from that guy?"
"Climb a mountain with a ship?"
Luffy's eyes, however, suddenly lit up, sparkling with immense excitement. "That's so interesting! Incredible! I can't wait!!!"
He waved his fists. "Let's call it the Incredible Mountain! Let's go! Let's climb the mountain!"
Amidst this noisy debate, a calm, unruffled voice interjected. It wasn't loud, yet everyone strangely heard it.
"Since there's a light and a sea route," Tomioka spoke, his deep blue gaze falling on the sea chart, his tone as devoid of fluctuation as ever, "Go through it, and you'll know."
His logic was utterly simple and direct: the destination is there, the path is there, just go. As for whether the method is walking or climbing, by ship or something else, it made little difference to him.
Everyone was momentarily choked by his overly simple conclusion.
Sanji exhaled a smoke ring. "But indeed, as Mr. Tomioka said, there's no mistake, we always have to move forward."
Just then, Usopp, who had been staring out the window trying to find other clues, suddenly let out an "Eh?"
"Look out the window, everyone..." he murmured.
Hearing this, everyone looked towards the navigation room window.
The rain, at some point, had stopped.
The roar of the wind and waves had also disappeared.
The Going Merry, which had been violently shaking moments ago, was now as stable as if it were resting on an inland lake.
An eerie silence enveloped everything.
"Huh?" Nami froze for a moment, then lunged to the window, looking out. Her face instantly changed. "No way? It can't be..."
An ominous premonition clutched at her navigator's heart.
Everyone followed her out of the navigation room, confused, and returned to the deck.
The sight before them stunned them all.
The sky was no longer inky black, but had turned a dull, lifeless grey-white.
The sea surface was smooth as a mirror, without a single ripple. The air was stiflingly still.
The storm that had almost capsized them had vanished without a trace, as if it had been merely an illusion.
"The... the weather's really nice..." Usopp said dryly, looking at the eerie calm.
"Haha... hahaha..."
Only Nami, cold sweat beaded on her forehead, her face turning pale.
She looked around this windless stretch of sea, and the most dangerous term from a navigator's textbook surfaced in her mind.
Her voice held a barely perceptible tremor as she murmured.
"This is bad..."
"We've entered the Calm Belt..."
[Power Stones Required]
[2069 Words]