Chapter 74: “Reverse Mountain”
Yamamoto, the cause of such a mess and news that shocked everyone, was quietly reading the newspaper while having breakfast in the ship's galley on his way to Aurora Island.
The newspaper was talking about the battle that took place in the vicinity of Battleship Island. The death of Sengoku and the reign of terror that the Fire Demon will begin.
Getting his reputation to continue to worsen and at any moment be treated as the worst criminal in the world.
"That's amazing Fire Demon- I mean Yamamoto, your reward reached 10 digits!" said Yosano with admiration while having breakfast and looking at a poster in the center of the table.
Yamamoto had asked her to stop calling him by his nickname and call him by his first name. Something Yosano happily agreed to.
As for the digits, it was about Yamamoto's bounty poster that again increased, now his head was valued at 1,250,000,000 berries. A huge increase compared to his previous bounty. Unlike other posters, Yamamoto's poster only put the option of dead.
After assassinating a World Noble, a CP0 agent, and a Marine Admiral the World Government and the Marines only wanted him dead.
"With the reputation they are giving you it will be hard to recruit people for the nation" commented Olvia over coffee.
"They should have given you a higher bounty!" said Yosano disagreeing with the bounty poster.
"You killed that stupid Buddha so famous in the marine, he was considered a hero" added the girl.
"That's true, Sengoku the Buddha many times faced Roger and famous pirates of his era" nodded Tesoro in agreement.
"Well, it must be because both Dragon and Yamamoto took him on" said Roche.
"Yes, bad luck for you Dragon, you didn't get any reward" said Yamamoto while looking at Dragon who was having breakfast quietly without his hood.
"I don't think so, it's better. I could move without having so many eyes on me" said Dragon with a slight smile.
Yamamoto felt a little jealous, as Dragon was right. Right now his face was known worldwide, and not in a good way. Wherever he went he would cause quite a stir.
"By the way, is there any news from Ivankov?" asked Yamamoto as he put the newspaper aside.
"Yes, before we get to Reverse Mountain we'll meet him. Somehow he managed to escape with Lego, Ralph, and the families of the ex-Marines" Dragon replied.
"How come the families agreed to follow us so easily?" asked Tesoro somewhat confused.
Although they had a family relationship, most were not the same as Lego which was about the wife and child. Many of the ex-Marines like Ralph were parents or younger siblings. It would not be an easy decision to leave your island to go live on the Grand Line, the pirate graveyard.
"Could they be spies...?" asked Roche as he adjusted his glasses.
The atmosphere in the kitchen was silent, everyone was thinking about this possibility. First of all, when Ivankov, Ralph, and Lego arrived they were attacked by the Marines, so they might have had time to threaten the families or do something.
"Should I make them talk when we see them?" asked Yosano as a creepy smile formed on her face and she grabbed a butter knife.
With her devil fruit ability, interrogating people was very easy. She could torture them to the brink of death and then heal them and repeat the process.
"Don't say such things in front of the children" said Tesoro looking at Apis and Robin.
Yosano clicked her tongue in annoyance and began to butter the bread quietly.
Yamamoto looked at Yosano with a strange face, he thought that he should watch her much more than the others, lest she torture an innocent person and because of her he would lose merit points.
"I don't think that's the reason, based on what Ivankov told me the marine in charge of the 80th division has the entire population terrified and has them under his rule without allowing them to disobey his commands. They were not the only ones who wanted to leave such a reign of terror, however, we should keep an eye on them" Dragon commented calmly.
'It would have been a good opportunity to bring more people to Aurora Island' thought Yamamoto.
"Damn marines terrorizing innocent people" said Yosano indignantly as she ate the toast.
Everyone looked at her with blank expressions, thinking she was the least fit to speak.
"We should keep an eye on them just in case, but I don't think they'll bring any trouble" said Yamamoto as she stood up and walked out of the kitchen.
Yamamoto walked to stand still in place watching the ocean noticing that the currents were becoming more aggressive. He began to do a mental count of the families of Lego, Ralph, and the others.
If he takes an average of each family having 3 members not counting the ex-Marines, that would be 21 people approximately, which would be 210 merit points. However, he must get these people to accept him as a leader, so he will have to earn their respect once they arrive at Aurora Island.
The trip to Aurora Island lasts between 12 to 14 days depending on the weather and ocean currents. Currently, since the fight with the Marine, it had been 3 days. In a short time, they would arrive at Reverse Mountain.
Reverse Mountain is a unique mountain located in Red Line where the currents of the four seas meet, meeting at the top and forming a downward current to enter the Grand Line.
Many pirates who attempt to enter the Grand Line die before they can even climb the mountain, as the sea currents and hostile storms force them to crash into the walls of the mountain.
However, Yamamoto is not afraid of this, as they own a marine vessel, which is one of the most prepared and sturdy ships for sailing.
This entrance to the Grand Line goes only to Paradise, the first part of the Grand Line, so called because it is less violent than the second part, which has the name of New World and where the most dangerous pirates are found.
Aurora Island is somewhere in Paradise, which according to Dragon is difficult to find. Dragon was already prepared for this trip and already had a Log Pose, it is a special compass for navigating the Grand Line.
Yamamoto opened the status window and looked at his new strength.
[Name: Fudo D. Yamamoto
Template: Shigekuni Yamamoto Genryūsai
Progress: 18.88%.
Merit Points = 4,000
Skills Points = 0
Devil Fruit: Mera Mera no Mi
Devil Fruit Mastery = Beginner 92/100
Physical Strength = [32]
Endurance = [20]
Defense = [21]
Intelligence = [15]
Speed = [20]
Spiritual Power = [15]
Time of life = 11 years...
]
His progress had increased a lot thanks to the 13 points he gained. In addition, in the days that passed he did not leave his training aside and also gained some points thanks to that.
The only thing he didn't use skill points on was his Spiritual Power, which increased rapidly with training, unlike other stats.
*When we get to Aurora Island I will start training Hakuda and Hohō* thought Yamamoto. What he wanted to learn the most was Shunpo, which thanks to this technique he had a great advantage over Sengoku in their previous battle.
He was also planning to continue with the training of Robin, Apis, Olvia, and Tesoro, and he had already decided to pass the Basic Reiryoku Manual to Dragon so that he could learn it and teach it to Ivankov and Kuma.
Although Dragon already had a high level of haki and even possessed conqueror's haki, if learning Kidō spells his battle power will increase remarkably. However, in this manual, there were no spells as powerful as Fairy 96, but more basic spells like the barrier Yamamoto used on the ship earlier.
Hours passed and finally, they could see in the distance the gigantic mountain that would take them to Grand Line.
"That's Reverse Mountain..." said Tesoro amazed by the view.
"I hope the currents don't make us crash into the walls once we enter that narrow path" said Clover somewhat worried.
"Don't worry, if the currents drive us into the walls with my hands I will stop the crash" said Saul with a smile.
Many heard this and sighed in relief, with a giant like Saul they could easily stop the crash and enjoy the ride.
Yamamoto seeing the giant mountain was also excited, but it did not show on his face. He had killed the Sengoku Buddha, he could not be impressed by just entering the Grand Line.
"Let's wait for Ivankov, in a few minutes he should be here" Dragon said.
After about 20 minutes they could see another ship in the distance heading towards them, it was a marine ship, but on it was a big head with purple hair.
"Hey guys!" shouted Ivankov with a big smile as he waved with his oversized hand.
As usual, they robbed and escaped with a ship belonging to the marine. The ship could be seen in very bad shape and had many broken parts.
As they got close enough, they could notice Ralph and Lego. Behind them were other people. From women and middle-aged men to children, teenagers, and the elderly.
They were the families of former Marines who decided to follow their children, siblings, etc. to a new life, escaping the reign of terror in the 80th Division.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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