The sea breeze carried a salty, damp scent and filled the sails marked with a pair of wine glasses.
Since leaving Port Carkas, Aiden and the others had been sailing for some time.
The men who called themselves the "Wine Pirates" were an odd group, but they certainly knew how to enjoy life.
Music played across the deck while the smell of grilled fish drifted from the fire. The crew laughed, drank, and argued over the food as if there were no war waiting ahead.
Aiden leaned against the railing of the upper deck and watched them with interest.
In the future, finding so many races living together on one ship would be almost impossible. Eight hundred years ago, however, the crew treated it as completely normal.
At the helm stood a Longarm Tribe navigator named Chord. He checked the sea chart, adjusted the wheel, then lifted his violin and played a few notes. The crew trimmed the sails to his rhythm as the ship changed course.
At the center of the deck, a leopard mink named Spot roasted a row of freshly caught fish. Every so often, he threw a handful of spices over the flames, and several crewmen gathered closer as the smell spread.
"That smells great! Spot, give me the slightly burnt piece!"
A Fishman sailor climbed over the side with two massive lobsters in his hands. He raised them above his head and laughed along with the others.
No one cared about race or origin.
Humans, Fishmen, Longarms, minks... They threw their arms around one another's shoulders, ate meat, and passed bottles back and forth.
This place is almost peaceful, Aiden thought.
Beyond this worn ship, the 20-Nation Alliance pushed other races aside while the Great Kingdom stood on the edge of defeat. Here, none of that seemed to matter. For a little while, everyone ate and drank as equals.
"Food's ready!!"
At Spot's shout, the waiting crewmen rushed forward and fought over the roasted fish and lobsters.
Aiden did not hold back. He took a large piece of grilled fish from the Fishman sailor and bit into it. The skin was crisp, the meat was tender, and a mouthful of spicy rum washed it down. He rested against the railing and enjoyed the simple meal at sea.
After eating and drinking their fill, most of them were already a little drunk.
Whenever these men gathered around a few bottles, the conversation eventually turned to the same two subjects: women and war.
They argued about which tavern owner in Port Carkas was the most attractive, then debated whether Longarms and humans had the same taste in women. Before long, someone changed the subject, and the conversation moved toward the war spreading across the sea.
As usual, the crew began arguing about politics.
"Hey, if the Great Kingdom really loses this war, which country in the 20-Nation Alliance do you think will gain the most?" a drunken crewman asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" another crewman said without hesitation. "It has to be Alabasta!"
"Think about it. That country is all desert and poor as dirt. They must have wanted the Great Kingdom's fertile land and fresh water for years!"
"That makes sense. If my people had no water, I'd probably fight to the death for land too."
The men laughed as they spoke. None of them sounded serious.
Several voices around the deck agreed with him.
Then a sharp sound cut through the laughter.
Everyone heard it at once.
Crack!
Wood splintered in the corner of the deck.
Everyone stopped and turned toward the sound.
Tia sat there with her head lowered. Her shoulders shook as she tried to control herself.
The wooden cup in her hand had been crushed. Splinters had pierced her palm, and blood ran between her fingers and dripped onto the deck.
"Alabasta... is absolutely not doing this for land!"
Her hoarse voice trembled. "They would never follow the others blindly! That Queen... she has..."
No one moved.
The lively deck fell completely silent.
The crewmen glanced at one another. Their smiles disappeared, and several of them lowered their cups.
They scratched their heads and avoided Tia's eyes, unsure what to say.
"Uh... Miss Tia?" The crewman who had spoken first raised both hands. "Don't... don't get upset. We were bored and talking nonsense. We didn't mean anything by it."
"Yeah, we're just a bunch of rough idiots who don't know when to shut up. If we said something wrong, don't take it to heart."
"Look at your hand. You're bleeding. You need to bandage it."
They did not understand why the quiet woman cared so much about a distant country, but the tears gathering in her eyes made them realize that their careless words had hurt her.
As their apologetic and concerned looks settled on her, Tia realized what she had done.
She came back to her senses.
What was she doing?
Right now, she was only an ordinary woman named "Tia." She could not show this much attachment to Alabasta.
She had spoken as if she knew the truth herself. Her defense had been too sudden and far too personal.
Besides, the crew had meant no harm. She had let her emotions take control.
Heat rushed to her face, and panic tightened her chest.
Tia sprang to her feet. She did not want anyone to see her tears, so she turned toward the cabin.
But Aiden stepped in front of her, and she ran straight into him.
"Hold out your hand." Aiden blocked the doorway and looked down at her bleeding palm.
"Leave me alone..." Tia tried to hide her hand behind her back.
Aiden said nothing else. He caught her wrist, led her to a nearby wooden barrel, and made her sit down.
He took medicine and gauze from the system's storage space, cleaned the wound, and carefully removed the wooden splinters.
"Bear with it. This will hurt a little."
Aiden kept his head down. He held her hand steady and removed each splinter without pulling her skin more than necessary.
Tia watched him work. Little by little, her shoulders loosened and her breathing settled.
Several quiet minutes passed.
She sniffled and asked in a low voice, "Aiden... do you also think they're right?"
"About what?" Aiden asked without looking up.
"About... Alabasta starting the war just to take land."
Tia watched his face and waited for his answer. "Do you also think... the Queen of Alabasta is a greedy tyrant?"
"Of course not."
Aiden gave a quiet scoff. He tied the final knot and patted the back of her hand. "Of all the countries in the 20-Nation Alliance, Alabasta is probably the one that wanted this war the least."
"Why?" Tia leaned closer, waiting for him to continue.
Aiden looked toward the distant sea. "Call it intuition. I'm only a wandering swordsman, but I've heard enough stories about that family. They have always tried to do what is right."
Aiden was not lying.
His thoughts returned to something that had happened before he was sent eight hundred years into the past.
At the time, he had been assigned to escort King Cobra to the Levely.
In the Kingdom of Karga, Aiden had killed several Celestial Dragons after seeing them slaughter commoners in the street.
Then Akainu arrived.
Cobra could never have stopped an Admiral, but the young king still stepped in front of Aiden without hesitation.
Afterward, Cobra contacted other affiliated nations and used every political connection he had to protect Aiden. Their combined pressure forced Marine Headquarters to keep him alive and answer for what had happened.
Back then, they had only been a king and the Marine assigned to guard him. Cobra had owed him nothing.
There was another reason Aiden trusted the Nefertari family.
He already knew what would happen after this war.
The Nefertari family would be the only member of the 20-Nation Alliance to reject a place in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise and refuse to become Celestial Dragons.
They would willingly give up the chance to rule the world from above.
How bad could people like that possibly be? Aiden thought.
Then another, much less serious thought crossed his mind.
The records Aiden had read said Queen Lily had been a great beauty. If she had moved to Mary Geoise, she might have raised the average appearance of those pigs by herself.
Aiden let out a short laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" Tia asked, displeased.
"Nothing." Aiden stopped smiling and looked at her. "Anyway, I believe that Queen. She must have her reasons, and she is probably trying to protect something in her own way."
Tia stopped moving.
For several seconds, she only looked at him.
The sea breeze lifted the loose hair from Aiden's forehead, but he did not look away from her.
No one had trusted her so easily before. Tia's grip on the edge of the barrel slowly loosened.
She continued watching Aiden from the side. Her pale blue eyes softened, and she made no effort to hide it.
...
The thirteenth day of the voyage.
The laughter on the ship gradually faded as they sailed deeper into the unknown sea. More crewmen remained at their posts, and fewer bottles were opened.
"Ships ahead!!" the lookout shouted, breaking the afternoon silence.
Captain Banks immediately ordered the sails lowered, and the ship slowed to a stop before they came within range of the fleet.
The crew rushed to the bow and raised their telescopes.
More than a dozen warships flew the flags of the 20-Nation Alliance on the distant horizon. They moved back and forth across the sea, leaving no open path between them.
"Tch, the rumors were true. They've completely blockaded this sea,"
Captain Banks said as he lowered his telescope. "That's the Alliance's main fleet. With patrols that dense, we won't get through without being seen."
Their ship had been specially modified, but it could never survive a full volley from so many large cannons.
"Captain, what do we do? Turn back?" Chord asked.
Banks did not answer at once. He turned toward Aiden and Tia.
His smile disappeared. "The normal route is closed."
"I'll ask one last time." Banks looked from one to the other. "Do you have to go that way, even if the only path left leads through hell?"
"Yes." Tia answered without hesitation. "I have to get there."
Aiden nodded without speaking.
"Good!" Captain Banks grinned again.
He pulled the bottle hanging from his waist. It was the one Aiden had given him, and only a small amount remained.
Glug!
He emptied it in one swallow.
The last traces of drunkenness left his face. He wiped his mouth and smiled like a man ready to risk everything on one throw of the dice.
"If the main route is blocked, we'll make our own!"
"An old drunk who spent his whole life at sea once told me about an ancient route on the far western side of the Strait. They call it the 'Death Corridor.'"
He looked west. Far beyond the calm water, a bank of black storm clouds covered the horizon and never seemed to move.
"They say enormous Sea Kings gather there, and the wind and currents change without warning. Sailors have known about that route for generations, but no one who entered it ever came back alive."
"But if that's the only way to get my friends where they need to go..." Banks struck one fist against his open palm. "Then I'll risk everything on it with you today!!"
"What do you say? Do you have the nerve to cross it with me?!"
Banks laughed as he faced the dark sea marked on the chart, while Tia stared at the route in silence.
She drew a slow breath, steadied herself, and nodded. "I agree!"
Aiden gave a small shrug. "Lead the way, Captain."
"Hahahaha! Good!!" Banks's laughter rolled across the deck. "Boys! You heard them! Secure every rope, watch the sails, and follow my orders if you want to stay alive!!"
"Hard to starboard!! Set a course for the Death Corridor!!"
...
The moment the Freedom entered that sea, every sound seemed to fade.
The wind died without warning.
The sails hung loose, and the surface of the sea lay flat without a single ripple. Even the creak of the hull sounded too loud.
"This is too quiet... I don't like it." Spot walked to the side of the ship with an empty bottle.
He stared at the smooth water for a moment, then raised the bottle as if he meant to throw it overboard and break the silence.
"Stop!!"
Before the bottle left his hand, Banks caught his wrist and took it away.
The captain's smile was gone. He lowered the bottle onto the deck so carefully that the glass did not make a sound.
Then he pressed a finger to his lips.
"Are you trying to get us all killed?" Banks whispered as he watched the still water. "The old sailors said enormous Sea Kings sleep under this part of the sea. There are so many that the bottom looks covered with them, and they hate noise."
"Lower the oars slowly. Don't strike the hull, and don't lift the blades high enough to splash. We have to pass without waking them."
Banks kept his voice low and watched every dark shape beneath the surface.
But the expected attack never came.
Ten minutes passed.
Then thirty more.
An hour went by.
Nothing disturbed the ship along the way.
"Strange..." Banks checked the water on both sides of the hull.
Was this not supposed to be a nest of Sea Kings? They had not seen a single one. Could their luck really be this good?
Banks had no answer.
At the stern, Aiden watched the water and shook his head.
"What a pain."
The moment he realized they had entered something like the Calm Belt, Aiden extended his Observation Haki several kilometers around the ship.
Beneath the silent surface, dozens of enormous bodies moved through the deep water.
Sea Kings large enough to swallow the entire ship had noticed the movement of the oars. One after another, they rose from the darkness with their jaws open.
Three hundred meters to port, a giant sea serpent pushed half its head above the surface.
Aiden turned toward it.
Vmm!
A narrow pulse of Conqueror's Haki struck only the serpent.
The creature stiffened before it could roar. Its eyes rolled back, and its heavy body sank beneath the water without making more than a few ripples.
A moment later, five hundred meters behind the ship and to starboard, an octopus-like Sea King raised a tentacle toward the surface.
Aiden shifted his attention to it.
Another controlled pulse of Conqueror's Haki forced the creature unconscious.
He kept the pressure within a narrow area so the crew would not feel it.
Every Sea King that came too close went still and sank.
One, two, three...
Aiden continued watching the sea. Whenever another massive head rose toward the surface, he knocked the creature unconscious before it could make a sound.
Behind the ship, the water slowly began to move.
Splash... splash...
One after another, enormous Sea Kings drifted back to the surface.
Their eyes had rolled back, and foam gathered around their mouths. Their motionless bodies floated belly-up in the ship's wake.
The crew bent over their oars and never noticed what had happened behind them.
At last, the ship crossed the dead sea without being attacked.
"Phew..."
When the first gust of wind filled the sails again, Captain Banks finally released the breath he had been holding. "We... we made it out?"
He turned, checked the calm water behind them, and suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Hahahaha!"
"We actually made it through!!"
"No one has crossed that route in hundreds of years! I can die happy now!!"
The crew shouted, hugged one another, and pounded the deck as they celebrated their impossible luck.
Only Tia looked toward Aiden at the stern, then glanced back at the empty sea behind them. She understood without asking.
...
Their luck did not last much longer.
Beyond the dead Calm Belt, violent currents collided beneath a sky filled with black clouds.
Rumble!!
Lightning split the clouds and struck the sea around them.
Waves dozens of meters high crashed over the bow and swept across the deck, throwing the ship from side to side.
"Hard to port!! Hold steady!!"
Chord gripped the helm with both hands and shouted over the storm.
The wheel fought him with every turn. His arms shook, and the ship barely responded.
Each new wave struck harder than the last. The Freedom lost its course, spun sideways, and was dragged wherever the currents carried it.
Creak—creak—
Wood cracked throughout the hull.
"It's no good! The keel is giving way!!" the shipwright shouted from the lower hold.
They had reached the ship's limit. The keel bent with every impact, planks split along the hull, and seawater began leaking through the gaps.
"Ah!!"
A huge wave broke over the deck and tilted the ship. Tia lost her footing and fell backward.
Aiden caught her around the waist before she hit the deck.
"Careful," he said beside her ear.
Tia pressed against his chest. Her face had gone pale, and both hands clutched his coat.
Aiden held Tia with one arm and the railing with the other as another wave struck the hull.
He could not wait any longer. The keel would not survive many more hits, and another direct blow could tear the wooden ship apart.
Should I use the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to break the storm apart? Aiden considered it for a moment, then rejected the idea.
Clearing the entire storm with lightning would draw too much attention and reveal far more power than he wanted to show.
I need something less obvious...
Aiden looked down as another crack spread across the deck, and the answer came to him.
If the ship isn't strong enough, I'll reinforce it.
In the past, covering a hull this large with Armament Haki would have drained much of his strength.
Now that his Overall Rating had reached Transcendent, maintaining it required little effort.
Vmm—
Hidden beneath the dark water, Armament Haki spread from Aiden's feet through the planks and coated the outer hull from bow to stern.
The groaning wood darkened below the waterline and hardened under the coating, while the deck above remained unchanged.
Crash!! The largest wave yet struck the bow head-on.
The hull bent under the impact.
But it did not break.
The reinforced ship drove through the falling water. The deck shook hard enough to throw several men to their knees, yet the hull remained intact.
"This..." Banks grabbed the railing and stared at the unbroken bow. "Since when could this ship take a hit like that?!"
Before he could think about it, an even larger wave rose ahead of them.
"Hold on tight!!"
A wall of water more than a hundred meters high climbed from the sea and blocked the entire horizon.
"Keep the bow straight!!" Banks shouted. The current caught the Freedom and drove it up the steep face of the wave.
The ship climbed higher with every second.
When it reached the crest, its momentum carried it out of the water. The Freedom burst through the clouds and spray, then flew into the open sky.
The crew's feet left the deck as barrels, ropes, and loose tools rose around them.
...
For several long seconds, the ship hung in the air.
Boom!!!
With a deafening crash, the Freedom slammed back onto the sea.
A column of water rose around the hull. Crewmen struck the deck, loose crates broke apart, and the ship tilted so far to one side that the mast almost touched the water.
Aiden's Haki held the hull together. After several violent swings, the ship slowly righted itself and settled back onto the water.
Then everything around them became quiet.
The Freedom moved forward on its remaining momentum. The storm had vanished behind them, and only the bow's soft splash broke the silence.
For the first time since entering the storm, no wood cracked and no one shouted.
"We're... still alive?" The crewmen opened their eyes, their bodies still trembling.
"We're not dead! We're not dead!!"
The crew threw their arms around one another. Some laughed, some cried, and others shouted until their voices broke.
Their celebration faded almost as soon as it began.
One by one, the crewmen lowered their arms and stared at the sea around them. Bottles slipped from loose hands, but no one looked down.
The water was perfectly clear and almost completely still. Seven moons and the bright Milky Way shone overhead, their reflections covering the surface.
The reflection erased the horizon until the sea and sky seemed to meet.
For a moment, it looked as though the ship were floating among the stars instead of sailing on water.
The hull moved quietly forward and left a narrow trail of ripples through the reflected sky.
Beneath the clear water, another world stretched into the darkness.
Countless schools of fish crossed below the ship, their silver scales flashing like distant stars.
Fish from the East Blue, West Blue, North Blue, and South Blue swam together. Cold-water species moved beside tropical fish, while creatures none of them had ever seen darted between them.
Species that should have lived in different seas and climates shared the same endless water, as if every ocean in the world met in this one place.
Tia remained against Aiden's chest and made no move to pull away. She watched the fish below as tears ran down her cheeks.
She did not try to wipe them away.