Everyone except Zoro ran along the port route towards the going merry in a very cool manner.
Smoker blocked the intersection, and Orochimaru's right hand transformed into a snake, covered with a bit of Armament Haki, directly sending people flying towards Dragon. For a transmigrator, isn't Armament Haki a basic skill? (From the author's crooked-mouth War God.jpg).
Orochimaru's attacks were still very light. Compared to other transmigrator big shots who either stole Smoker's balls, beat him up violently, or stole his weapons, Orochimaru felt he was quite gentle.
Orochimaru's thoughts suddenly went astray. He vigorously shook those ideas out of his head. No, no, he couldn't be influenced by that one-tenth Blue Star person. He was Orochimaru.
On the other side, Dragon looked at Smoker, who had flown in front of him, a bit silently. He had intended to lend Luffy a hand, but not to 'be' lent a hand! And his son hadn't even seen him yet. What was this? What was he supposed to tell his old man? Was he supposed to say:
"Ah... I went to Loguetown to see my son off, but my son didn't see me. Instead, I was given a bunch of trouble by my godson. Why does my son have to recognize so many little bastards as brothers? Is it too late to return them now?"
But there was no choice. For Luffy's smooth departure, he reluctantly stopped Smoker. Although he had planned to do so from the beginning, why did it feel so stifling?
Orochimaru, who had carried Luffy and Zoro back to the going merry first, put them down. Just as he was about to say something, Zoro grabbed him by the neck.
"You dead snake, you did that on purpose, didn't you! You dragged me while flying, I almost got strangled to death! I'll cut you down!!!"
He blinked, thinking hard... Oh, right, he seemed to have dragged Zoro back as well. Looking at the red mark around the person's neck, he decisively apologized.
"gomen nasai, please forgive me."
Sanji and Usopp, who boarded next, put down the giant elephant tuna they were carrying—that was their trophy. Sanji lit a cigarette and slowly blew out a smoke ring.
"Mosshead, don't be so petty. If Orochimaru hadn't dragged you back, you'd still be in some unknown corner. You're just a directionally challenged who only holds us back."
"Huh? Who are you talking about, you perverted chef who can't move when he sees a woman?"
The two stood face to face, swords drawn, sparks flying in their eyes.
Nami, who boarded next, knocked down the two blocking her way with a punch each, took out her log pose, and began to prepare.
Next, they were officially setting off for the Grand Line.
Amidst the stormy winds and heavy rain, the going merry drifted, appearing particularly small. Luffy hung on the mast like a monkey.
"Hehehe, it feels like the ship is about to be overturned!"
Nami's eyes sparkled, filled with yearning. "Look at that light, the Guiding Light. The entrance to the Grand Line is at the end of the light."
"Is the Grand Line ahead?" Luffy held his straw hat, looking at the lighthouse.
In the storm, everyone smiled brightly.
Sanji brought over a wooden barrel. "To celebrate the going merry about to enter the great ocean, let's have a launching ceremony."
"Yay!" everyone cheered happily.
Sanji was the first to put his foot on the barrel.
"I am here to find All Blue."
The rest followed suit.
Luffy: I am here to become the Pirate King.
Zoro: I am here to become the greatest swordsman.
Nami: I am here to draw a map of the entire world.
Usopp: I... I am here to become a brave warrior of the sea.
Orochimaru: I am here to see all of you achieve your dreams.
"Let's go!! Grand Line!"
"Oh!"
The next day, Luffy excitedly slapped Sanji's back, making loud smacking sounds.
"We're finally almost at the Grand Line, hahaha, Sanji, we're almost there, almost there!"
"That hurts!" Sanji's veins bulged as he performed a scorpion kick, stomping on Luffy's face.
Luffy then switched to slapping someone else.
"Zoro! We're almost there! Almost there!"
"Stop slapping me, get lost!" Zoro drew his sword.
Nami stood by, her brow furrowed.
"Hmm... is this really how the log pose depicts it?" Nami gathered everyone.
"Everyone, look at this. If we follow the map, the entrance to the Grand Line is on a mountain."
"A mountain? Are we supposed to climb a mountain?" Sanji didn't believe it.
Nami placed one hand on the log pose. "I also find it impossible, but the map shows a canal going up the mountain. We might need to go up along the mountain."
"How interesting!" Luffy bit his cup, swaying his head. The juice inside had long been drunk, leaving it empty.
"What are you talking about? Whether there's a canal or not, how can a ship climb a mountain?"
Zoro's tone was somewhat irritable, clearly not believing such a thing.
Orochimaru, on the side, was eating cheesecake (private setting: Orochimaru prefers cheese-flavored things, because he once said it was 'quite tasty' when eating Chouchou's potato chips given to Mitsuki). "It's on a mountain. This mountain is called the Red Line." Orochimaru drew a circle on a blank piece of paper, with a cross inside.
"The world we live in is a sphere. The Red Line and the Grand Line are two perpendicular rings, so there are two intersection points. The four regions divided by these intersection points are the four seas: East, South, West, and North. The first intersection point is Reverse Mountain, which is where we are about to enter. The second intersection point is Holy Land Mary Geoise, on the other side of the sphere, where the World Nobles reside. Once we reach there, we will have completed half of our journey."
Luffy raised his hand, pointing at the Grand Line ring. "Then why don't we just go directly to the Grand Line? Why do we have to go over the mountain?"
Orochimaru pointed at the two crosses on either side of the Grand Line. "The area between these two lines is the Grand Line. These two lines represent the Calm Belt, meaning there's no wind and it's full of Sea Kings. If you can defeat the Sea Kings, you can swim across directly. Sailing a ship will lead to attacks from numerous Sea Kings, so you can only enter through the Reverse Mountain entrance. However, the current going up the mountain is rapid, and it's easy for the ship to be destroyed and people to die, so be careful."
Nami quickly jotted notes in her small notebook. "Orochimaru, how do you know all this?"
"Luffy and I have an older brother who is also skilled in navigation. I heard him talk about it when I was little."
Meanwhile, Luffy finally reacted, his eyes gleaming with wisdom (zhàng). "In short, it's an incredible mountain, got it... Ha... Ha... Ha... Ha..."
Alright... Orochimaru chose to eat his cake... They finally reached the entrance of Reverse Mountain. Zoro looked through his binoculars at the ocean current, shocked. "The seawater is really climbing the mountain."
After a flurry of frantic operations, coupled with Luffy's shock absorber, everyone finally entered the ascending canal without incident.
"Now we just need to push straight to the top of the mountain!" Nami excitedly waved her jacket. Sanji and Usopp laughed, arms around each other's shoulders. Luffy rode on Zoro's neck, looking out, while Orochimaru sat on the railing, still leisurely eating his damn cake.
"everyone, look this way... Cheese!" An Orochimaru clone took a picture with a camera from the system's shop, and the memory was captured in the photo. In the corner, Orochimaru even made a 'ye' sign.