บท 14: The Reverse Mountain!

"Everything is ready, captain!" Bartolomeo shouted to Jhin.

"Tie everything immediately once we enter that strong current pulling us towards the mountain. Be sure not to leave anything hanging, or it will be trouble!" Jhin shouted back. To enter the reverse mountain, you must not go against the current, or your ship could crash, and escaping from the ocean with no Island nearby is not easy.

"Yes, sir!" The three shouted back. They held ropes ready to tie the sails.

Although everything looked easy when the Straw Hat crossed it, reality is often disappointing. The current is strong, and as you go deeper, you would encounter the rain and some other things happening in the sea.

"Let's go!" Jhin held the wheel with all his strength, afraid that the Pearl would go out of control.

Finally, the ship felt the current pulling them towards the small entrance of the reverse mountain.

"Now, tie them!"

The three got to their work, pulled the rope they held, and tied the sails.

"Hold on!" Jhin shouted again. He carefully steered the wheel guiding them to the narrow entrance of the Reverse Mountain.

...

"Captain Smoker, they are finally entering!" A petty officer who was holding a binocular reported with a loud voice.

"Dammit!" Smoker sat on a chair with his usual cigar. He looked weak and his face was pale and unsightly. The wound on his chest was stitched, he really was gutsy to still move with that kind of move. Beside him was an officer who held a Den Den Mushi on his hands.

"Is the word from the admiral now here yet? That Kuzan, he sure is taking his time." The first was asked for his subordinate while he only murmured the second half.

"No, sir, it has not come yet!" answered the officer attentively.

Suddenly-

Purupurupuru! The snail rang!

"This is smoker!" Smoker took the Den Den Mushi and spoke.

"Oh, Smoker. I just got a word from the Fleet Admiral. That man is very dangerous, let the other higher ranking officers deal with him once he enter the Grand Line." the laid back voice of Kuzan, also known as Admiral Aokiji sounded from the snail's mouth.

"What do you mean?!" Smoker asked angrily.

"Ah, you really are a pain. From your report, we are pretty much sure that... what was his name again... well, whatever... he has a Devil Fruit with a nullifying effect. And... has the ability to use the Conqueror's Haki! And you, captain who can't weild Haki actually thinks that you can face him?" Kuzan still sounded laid back, but Smoker was sure that he was being mocked!

"What?! Conqueror's Haki, you say!? That's impossible!" Smoker held his stomach. His wounds hurt from his shock.

"Nothing's impossible. You are ordered to stand down and investigate were this kid's origin is. An emergence of someone with a Conqueror's Haki is an immense threat to the Navy. Another team is coming there to help. Good Bye, hwaay..." Kuzan ended the call after he finished talking, he even yawned, clearly indicating that he did now want to talk anymore.

"Oi, Kuzan! Kuzan! That bastard!" Smoker cursed. If it wasn't because he was severely wounded, he would have raged.

His subordinates were sweating seeing their captain cursing an Admiral.

"We're leaving!" Smoker finally decided.

"But captain, don't you want to see if they will really be able cross the mountain?"asked an officer.

"Of course they will cross the mountain. How can someone with the quality of a king not be able to cross a mere mountain. Were leaving!" Smoker stood to look at the pearl before turning around to enter his cabin.

...

Jhin looked serious as he carefully aimed where his ship would enter. Dark clouds and rain collided with his face but he did not care. He just held on to the wheel with all the strength he had in one arm.

At a distance, he looked cool and majestic! The only thing he prayed for was for the wheel not to break.

"WOW! So HUGE!" The other three exclaimed!

"So this is the Red Line?! I can't even see the top!" Alexander shouted from shock.

"Captain, I don't see any entrance! Is there even any path here?!" Bartolomeo asked with worry.

"Just a little more! Oh, there is is! You see the crack there? That is the entrance to the Grand Line!" Strong currents pushed the Pearl from behind. There were many cyclones surrounding the entrance, it was like a path to hell.

"Isn't that too narrow?!" even Hatchi was shocked. As a fishman, he had seen a lot. He was a former member of the Sun Pirates, but it was his first time seeing this so called reverse mountain.

"Don't worry, once we enter the entrance, there will be no more trouble. Just make sure to hold on, or you will be tossed out." 'Well, there is another trouble on the other side though.. hehe.' He laughed in his heart.

With the current getting stronger and stronger, the speed of the ship also got faster.

"AAAAHHHH!! The-- there is----" Bartolomeo suddenly screamed on top of his lungs!

"What the hell are you screaming for?! Don't tel me there's a Sea King! But that is impossible this is the Red Line we are-" Jhin immediately stopped talking just as he turned his head around to look.

"Grrrrrr!!!" A sound so loud that even the moving current vibrated, seemingly terrified.

Suddenly, the current strengthened several times. The waves pushed the Pearl so hard that it nearly flipped.

Behind the pearl, a wave was suddenly dashing towards them. It was very huge that it could probably swallow a town.

"What the hell is going on?! I thought you said that there wont be any trouble?!" Bartolomeo screamed hysterically while he and Alex were clinging hard to the mast. Hatchan also used his six hands to his advantage, he locked each pair of his hands. Seemingly very fearful of what was happening.

He laid on the floor, his face looked terrified to the utmost level. It looked there was something suppressing him.

"What's wrong, Hatchi!?" asked Jhin while still holding the wheel with both of his hands with all his strength.

'Just what is going on? There seems to be something coming out from the sea. Is it a Sea King? No, it's not possible! Even with their huge body and enormous strength, they would have been dragged by the current! The current should be stronger below by several times than on the surface. Just what is causing this. If this goes on, we could crash to the Red Line! What do I do?!'

Thousands of thoughts surfaced in Jhin's head.

"Waahhhh!!" Bartolomeo and Alexander continued to scream on top of his lungs.

"Uwuwuwu.." Hatchi started to cry.

Just as Jhin was thinking on what to do, everything suddenly calmed down!

The current stopped, the waves stopped, everything stopped.

'What's going on? Don't tell me... the time stopped?!' Jhin was swinging his head around trying to make sense on what was going on.

Suddenly, a gigantic head came out from the sea. It did not disturb anything, passing through the wave that was stopped.

'Dragon?! Why is a dragon here?' Jhin stared wide eyed at what was happening.

The dragon was humongous, it's eyes alone was ten times bigger than the Pearl. A single wing spanned 10 kilometers each. It was like a dragon from the movies, just hundreds of times bigger.

It's bronze skin glowed, It had no fangs but those white teeth were as tall as a building. Jhin tremble and nearly went down to his knees, but he gritted his teeth and suppressed his fear.

That's right. It was fear! There was no oppressive force or anything attacking him. It was just pure fear and terror!

'Ding! Appraiser's Eyes is unable to update the status of this Creature. The system is unable to help the host.' The indifferent voice of the system echoed in his head.

'What? Did you not tell me that I can appraise anything in this world?!' Jhin was frustrated and despair covered his heart. if the dragon suddenly decided to destroy everthing, then there was nothing he could do. And his greatest trump card, the system was unable to help him!

'Ding! Correct, anything in this world, but that creature isn't from this world.' The system immediately replied.

'Does that mean that that dragon is from another world?!' Jhin already knew the answer, but he asked anyways.

'Ding! Host is correct.'

KrrrgGRAAAWWWWWRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

Bangings seemed to echo in his head when he heard that roar. It only took a second for his hearing to go numb. Silence echoed as the dragon's wing started to flap, and strangely enough, it did not stir any reaction from the surroundings. It was like nothing was happening at all, it was only the sound that was echoing.

Jhin watched as the dragon started to fly until it finally flew very far that he could only see a little dot.

But unbeknownst to him, as soon as the dragon passed the Island that he used to stay with Old Jack, an old man suddenly appeared on it's back.

The old man was Jack! He stared at the direction of the reverse mountain and it looked like he could clearly see what was happening.

"Jhin, your Grandpa is leaving." He closed his eyes and a smile emerged from his lips.

The Dragon flapped its wings as it rapidly disappeared in the sky. They seemed to ignore the trembling white lightnings dancing on the whitened sky.

When the dragon and the old man finally left it's territory, they also slowly vanished.

...

Crash! Waahhhhh! Uwuwuw!

Jhin was startled when everything suddenly resumed. He heard the screams and cries of the three and was finally relieved. It was really a good thing that he still held on to the wheels, otherwise, it would have gotten out of control.

"Hey, stop crying. You're making mo lose focus!" Jhin shouted. Thoughts were still echoing in his head, but he decided to ignore what just happened and think about it later when they fianally cross this damned mountain!

"Stop crying out already! It was just a little wave and you are already scared!" He was planning to surprise them, but another surprise came, what a day!