The next day, Ethan and Robin set out.
They boarded a passenger ship heading toward the Red Line. From there, they would cross the Red Line and enter the first half of the Grand Line.
Normally, there were three ways to go from the Four Seas to the Grand Line.
The first was the way Ethan and Robin were using: taking the regular passenger routes and entering the Grand Line through Marine-controlled shipping lanes.
The second was the Calm Belt.
The Calm Belt was a very strange place: not a breath of wind anywhere, with gigantic Sea Kings lurking under the surface. In an age of sail where almost all ships still depended on the wind, going in there was basically the same as going to your death.
The third way was the pirates' secret routes, the most famous being Reverse Mountain.
Why? Because Reverse Mountain's starting point was Loguetown.
The place where Pirate King Roger awakened the Great Pirate Era, the point where everything began.
To pirates, departing from the starting point and sailing out to seek Laugh Tale had a powerful symbolic meaning.
After entering the Grand Line, they arrived at a very lively island.
This was the first stop for normal commercial routes and passenger routes, so it was crawling with all sorts of people.
A Marine branch base stood right next to it.
Ethan's first destination was Drum Island.
There were some issues he wanted to consult Dr. Kureha about.
That ageless witch doctor's medical skills were extraordinary, and he hoped he could convince her to help him with a few things.
However, sailing the Grand Line required Eternal Poses.
If there were no direct passenger ships headed for Drum Island from here, things would get troublesome.
Fortunately, he found out that a few merchant ships were about to form a convoy and sail for waters near Drum Island. Once they reached that area, he could look for a way to get to Drum itself.
Those merchants dared to make such a long crossing because a Marine warship was heading to that sea zone on patrol.
The one leading the mission was the so-called Admiral Who Doesn't Kill, Zephyr.
If it had been a warship led by any other admiral, those merchants would never have dared to follow.
If it were someone like Akainu, a single shot of Hellhound would be enough to wipe out their ships and everyone on board.
Zephyr's reputation on the sea was excellent.
So long as it was not an emergency mission or a classified operation, he did not particularly mind merchant ships following in his wake.
This time, he was bringing recruits out to broaden their horizons, so he had even less reason to interfere with others.
Following a Marine big shot like that gave the merchant ships a powerful sense of security.
Ethan spent some money to join the convoy.
The sooner he got there, the sooner he could get things done.
He no longer had the time to sit around waiting for random ships.
With Zephyr's level of strength, there was a very real chance Ethan might be discovered traveling in the convoy.
Even though getting too close to a former admiral was a bit dangerous, Zephyr's view of justice made it unlikely that he would pull anything too extreme.
If it were Zephyr after he lost an arm, Ethan would definitely have stayed far, far away.
There was no telling what kind of terrifying thing a former admiral pushed to the extreme might become.
They boarded smoothly.
There was not much hard training Ethan could do on the ship; he could only sit in his cabin, meditate with his blade, and refine his sword intent.
He wrote a little, sometimes went out to the deck for fresh air, and tried his best to keep a low profile and cause no ripples.
But some things were impossible to avoid just by hiding.
A week into the voyage, everything had gone smoothly so far.
Then the lookout suddenly shouted an alarm.
A pirate ship was heading toward the convoy.
There actually were pirates this brainless on the Grand Line.
They hadn't done any reconnaissance at all and just came screaming in at the sight of a bunch of merchant ships.
Had they really not seen the Marine warship sailing ahead?
After grappling hooks were thrown, the pirates herded all of the crew and passengers onto the deck.
Then a pirate captain with no special features beyond his explosive afro jumped out.
"Know who I am? I'm the 25-million-berry man, Explosive Billy from the North Blue!
Now, hand over anything valuable!"
Up ahead, the Marines' warship began turning and charging toward them at full speed.
At first, Zephyr had not paid it any mind, not even bothering to use Observation Haki.
Under normal circumstances, the moment pirates saw a warship, they turned tail and fled, and the Marines would then give chase.
But this pirate crew had come charging straight at them instead.
That was a bit unexpected.
Still, it worked out fine. It would be a good chance for the recruits to see some blood.
"Don't think that warship can save you!" the pirate shouted. "I've slaughtered more than a few Marine ships in the North Blue!
If you know what's good for you, you'll do as you're told. Anyone who doesn't listen is going to the bottom!"
"How dare you attack the Marines, such a heinous man."
"Who the hell said that? Tired of living?"
Billy whipped his head around. Huh? Marines?
When did he get on board?
Didn't matter.
Just some old geezer. Chop him up and move on.
In truth, Zephyr was worried that the people on board might get hurt, so he had come over early to take control of the situation.
Billy swung his sword without another word. To be fair, he did have some presence. On the North Blue, that level of strength really could put him at the top.
But that strength just made Zephyr want to laugh.
He had several recruits in his training camp who were already at this level.
Zephyr reached out and grabbed the blade with his hand.
Billy, feeling looked down on, was furious.
Veins bulged on his forehead as he cleaved down with all his strength.
Shing.
His sword stopped in Zephyr's grip.
He tried to yank it back, but it would not budge.
Fine, then he would just abandon it.
He hopped backwards, pulled a pistol from his coat, and aimed it at Zephyr.
"So, this is that so-called Devil Fruit power, huh? Impressive. You can even block my sword.
But can you block my gun, old man? Huh? Times have changed!"
"Pfft."
Ethan could not hold it in.
This afro idiot was actually making serious-sounding jokes and dropping memes. It really did surprise him.
Hearing someone laugh behind him, Billy went ballistic.
He was in the middle of a robbery. He was a great and fearsome pirate who committed every crime under the sun, the kind of man whose name alone made children cry.
How dare someone laugh at him?
He turned his gun on Ethan.
"Pretty boy, what are you laughing at? You even know how to write the word 'death'?"
Billy tossed out another line, and this time Ethan broke.
"Pfft!"
Billy could not take it anymore.
"Today I'm going to make sure you die a horrible death on this sea, you little pretty-boy! Not even a Marine admiral can save you. I, Billy, said it!"
Ethan was trapped in a hell of bad comedy.
Was this Billy a transmigrator too? He had way too many references.
Billy pulled the trigger. Ethan simply tilted his head and the bullet passed by.
That only made Billy lose even more face.
In front of everyone, he started reloading: powder, bullet, then using a little ramrod to tamp it down. Flintlock pistols really were a pain.
He fired again. With another small shift, Ethan dodged it again.
Even Billy was not dumb enough to miss that something was wrong.
The Grand Line was really cursed.
His first robbery here and he had run straight into some weird old Marine and a pretty boy who was actually pretty strong.
Meanwhile, the Marine warship had already come alongside.
"Move in. Capture them all," Zephyr ordered.
At his word, the recruits started brawling with the pirates.
Five minutes later, every pirate was pinned to the deck.
Zephyr ignored the cleanup.
The vice admiral would handle that.
He walked straight toward Ethan.
The moment Ethan laughed, Zephyr had swept him with Observation Haki and, sensing the young man's highly trained body, his curiosity had been piqued.
"Kid, what's your name?" Zephyr asked. "You've got some skill. Mind telling me where you're headed?"
As a former admiral, he felt responsible for at least getting a rough idea about the appearance of a strong fighter like this.
"I'm a writer with a bit of a name," Ethan replied, smiling. "Adam. I'm headed for Drum Island."
That was Ethan's first meeting with Zephyr.
(End of Chapter)
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